The Chest of the Lost

Chapter 8: The Crystal Effect

 We got up and started walking in the direction Kira thought she had come. We had been walking for about an hour before Kira claimed she was getting tired. Griffin hoisted her up onto his shoulders and we kept going.

"Mommy's gonna be so happy to see you," Kira said, brushing her hand across a rough tree trunk as we walked. I noticed Griffin's fallen expression and wondered what was going through his head. I remembered his lost Crystal and immediately realized what he must have thinking. He wasn't planning on going home.

The thought made me upset because I knew how much he wanted to go home, but he couldn't with his life in danger like this. If those guys got a hold of his Crystal, they would get the information they wanted and he could die. I didn't know the severity of the bad things that would happen once someone else watched your Prophecy, but I knew it couldn't get much worse than death. I hoped with everything in me that they wouldn't find it.

After a little while of walking, Kira had fallen asleep and Griffin was carrying her in his arms, cradling her like a baby. He looked over at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, noting my concerned expression.

I looked up at him. "Oh, nothing," I said, trying to sound casual.

"You're not very good at lying," he told me with an amused smile.

"Neither are you," I said, looking into his dark brown eyes.

He hesitated, taken back by my reply. "What do you mean?" He looked confused.

"I know you're not planning on going home with her," I said.

His expression turned sad and he sighed, looking away from me. "I can't," he said. "And I mean, what about you?"

"Me? Don't worry about me. What about your Crystal?"

"I don't know, we didn't find it. What makes you think we'll ever find it? Hawthorne probably already has it. His men are looking everywhere, and it's not going to be long before they do."

"What's that attitude? Are you just going to give up?"

"I don't know what else to do," he sighed. "But I can't go home with her."

"Why not?"

He paused before answering. "Look, you saw what Hawthorne and his men are capable of. If I go with her, that puts my family in the direct line of fire. Just because I decide to go home doesn't mean Hawthorne is going to give up. He's going to keep coming after me until he gets what he wants, and one of these days, someone is going to get hurt." He breathed out a long sigh. "If I stay away, maybe my family will be safe."

I thought about he said. "Then what about you?" I asked. "Are you just going to keep running the rest of your life? Griffin your family misses you, you saw how excited Kira was when you found her. There has to be another way."

"There's not, okay? This is the only way. Besides, even if there was another way, it-" he stopped. "It wouldn't be the same."

"What do you mean? Don't you want to go home?" I watched as he stepped carefully over a large root growing out of the ground, adjusting the sleeping Kira in his arms. She stirred quietly and he brought her closer to his chest.

"Of course I do, it's just..." he sighed. "I haven't seen any of my family in almost two years. What if they don't even want to see me? I don't know, I'm nervous."

"Why wouldn't they want to see you?"

He looked down and avoided eye contact. "Well, I mean, I burned down our apartment. My family was already struggling and my dad wasn't getting paid very much. I'm sure my mistake only made their situation worse. Do you think it was easy getting an affordable place for a family of seven?" He shook his head as he continued, "I messed up big time and I don't think I would be too eager to see me after that."