Capturing Ella

Chapter 12 - Ella

Half an hour later

'How do you tell the difference between Jake's twins – they are identical.' Phoenix said. We were coming up to the 2km mark and were at the front of the group. We had run up until now but decided to walk in order to have a good old gossip. The only obstacles we had overcome was six solid hurdles, some tunnels we had to crawl through in thick mud and four inflatable pink hurdles you had to roll across. We were already covered in mud, but I seemed muddier than everyone else. Mainly because I came preparing to get covered in mud, and refused to leave unless I was covered. In about 200 meters another obstacle was coming up – strings in various diagonals we had to climb through. Some of those who were doing the event seriously and were running were already tackling this one whilst the volunteers were throwing watery mud at them.

'Funny how identical twins are identical,' I joked, but she gave me a sideways look. 'Amelia is smaller and the younger one. She's a lot more giggly then Isla.' I explained, and they nodded.

'How do you know them so well?'

'When Jake can't settle them down, he puts me on Skype and makes loads of ice patterns. It calms them down.'

'Like Elsa?'

'I don't appreciate the comparison, but yeah. Like Elsa.' I answered Crystal as she hugged me to her side. There's about three times a joke can be repeated with it still being funny. However, when you're compared to Elsa by grown men at least seven times a day for over six months it's not funny. I mean, I don't mind kids doing it because for them it's funny and it's logical for them to assume it. They don't have the correct perspectives to know what true and what's a cartoon so I could deal with the haggle of young cousins calling me Elsa, and getting confused between Ella and Elsa. I can understand. But when my brothers do it – they're going to get kneed in the privates if they're not careful.

'Okay, we're away from Joe's family correct?' Sky asked, and I looked around. We were pretty clear from everyone. The woman running the entire thing was at least 15 meters ahead, and those who are walking it were at least 250m back. Leannah was the only family I could assume would tell anyone, and she was at the back of the group to start with, walking the whole thing.

'Yes, fine, ask questions if it'll mean we can enjoy the two weeks without having these daily Q and A's.' I snapped.

'Sorry, we'll keep it simple. We just want to know you're okay and you're not getting in too deep.' Phoenix said, and I stopped where I was looking at them both. These three were so insistent on hooking me up; I guessed they didn't stop to think about how I was feeling. I understood, I was one of those people that hid their emotions and got internally annoyed when people didn't consider what I was hiding even though it was all completely emotional.

'What brought this on?' I asked, started to walk again. Before the wires, I got down and belly crawled straight under the wires as they took the slower but more logical approach of climbing through them. If they were sensory lasers, they would have triggered the alarms – I thought. I forgot the girls weren't trained to Maui secret standards. We don't go in looking for trouble; we slide through security and get the results we need.

'We discussed it when you handed Amelia back. We've all been so absorbed with the prospects of you getting with Joe we didn't consider the reasons you didn't want too. You have reasons for everything.' Phee simply said, first to make it through the wires after me. She flicked some of the dry mud off her arms. I was surprised it was her who made it through first – whilst she works on and off with the FBI, she never had the proper training that both Vick and I had to go through. But I suppose her thief days had led to some quick swift movements.

'Is this an apology?' I asked as Sky passed through the last wire, followed shortly by Crystal as we started to walk to the next obstacle; the mud pit.

'Sort of.' Sky admitted, and I knew that she suddenly felt guilty. 'I mean, we all just wanted you to be happy and complete, but if you know it wouldn't make you like that then we understand. I mean, we haven't told anyone.'

'I think you're lying about that.'

'I haven't told anyone.' Sky said, and I knew she was telling the truth, but Zed still knew.

'So how did your Soulfinder know then,' I asked and turned immediately to Crystal, who was conveniently looking for clouds. 'Oh yeah?'

'He asked!' she simply replied, still looking into the sky.

'Wait, why did Zed ask you about Ella's Soulfinder?'

'He foresaw me holding a kid and then freaked out thinking it was my kid. It would make more sense though if it was Jake's kid –' because that was the only logical assumption. 'Xav knows too.' Crystal said and I rolled my eyes.

'Yves doesn't. You're welcome.' Phee said and I hugged her too my side. Such a good secret keeper, this one.

'Okay, so we'll tell them not to tell anyone and you have logical reasons for postponing it shall we say. We'll be fine then. We can give you the time you want to think it over. If you don't want to do it, we'll trust that you're making the right decision because whenever you make a mistake, you'll correct it properly, and we'll just drop it.' Sky explained. 'Sorry.'

'No, I understand you was doing it with the best intentions, don't apologise.' I simply said as we walked around the grass corner leading to the mud pit. We would hear the volunteers talking through the megaphone to those who was clearing going through the pit as we speak, but we was yet to see the upcoming pit of mud. Those who were running and was now past the half way mark and was running back, through some more obstacles absolutely covered from the knees down in mud. Only from the knee's? I didn't sign up for this. I signed up to be covered in mud.

'We still nearly forced you into a relationship that you wouldn't be comfortable just because we thought it was right. For that, we're sorry.' Crystal said, and I heard her voice crack slightly. Crystal barely ever cries but for some reason she felt the burden of guilt because it was her gift. She felt she was responsible for pushing me to do this.

But here's the thing I wasn't going to admit to anyone; she made me wonder what it would be like. The most part of me was dying to talk to Joe about it but the small, anxious fragment of my brain was keeping me from even having a coherent sentence with him. Earlier, when he was with Jake when I had to hand Amelia back, my brain refused to even speak to him. I was appearing so hostile and hateful towards him and I didn't mean too. I was too worried I'd cock it up, and by being so scared I was cocking it up anyway. Before long, he would learn to hate me because of the way I acted around him and I would have fucked this wonderful event up for both of us. I knew that I would be bad for him before it had even started and the events of the last few hours have only gone and cemented that theory in place. For his sake, it was better if I just never spoke to him again. I was fairly confident he didn't like me in any way shape or form, and even when he saw me about half an hour ago there was no emotion showing – a dramatic change from the slight appreciation he showed after we did the interview together. So, the next step would just be disgust, or hatred. I have ruined this all just from me being, well, me. I couldn't go speak to Joe now; I had no self esteem or self confidence to start with. Oh God – why did I have to make this such a mess?

I realised I had remained silent for a few minutes now, the girls thinking I was probably sulking.

'Nah, you was doing what was correct from your perspective.' I simply said, as we approached the mud pit. I say pit, it was a giant pink swimming pool filled with slightly watered down mud, with ropes across the top so you had to crawl through it.

'You forgive us?' Phee said.

'Of course, now let's get muddy.' I added, pushing back my anxieties to the back of my brain for a second as I climbed over the inflatable side and belly flopped straight into the mud whilst one of the volunteers shouted "that's the way you do it!" across the megaphone at me.