The Ruby Secret

Chapter 9 - Saying goodbye

Pat and Jen are in the cave, freezing in the harsh storm. "W-we need to get out of here or find a way to make fire...or anything..." Jen stuttered, hugging Pat. "Y-yeah..." Pat agreed. "Hello?! Can anyone hear me?! Please!" Jen called out. She then noticed that Pat was shivering, badly. "Pat! Please hold on!" Jen pleaded. 'I need to think of something... Anything! This is the worst situation we've ever been in!' She thought to herself. 

"Pat... I-it's dangerous... But I think, I need to go out and get help." Jen told him. "No..." Pat replied. "I-it's dangerous, I-I know. But we won't survive long if we don't-" Jen was cut off by a thud, realising that Pat had fainted. "Pat? Patrick! He's ice cold! Patrick please wake up!" Jen cried, yelling out Pat's name telling him to wake up...

At the lodge, Ian was checking of anything is wrong with Cloud. "He doesn't have a temperature... His vitals seem normal but I'm sure you've all noticed it." Ian told the 2, but both were confused. "Noticed what?" Jemma asked. "Jemma, you haven't known Cloud long but look closely at his face." Ian answered. Jemma looked at Cloud's face but couldn't figure out what's wrong. "You don't need to see his entire face to see that something is off." Ian remarked. "Really? What is it?" Jemma said, still confused.

"His eyes..." Dan answered. "His eyes? They look the same to me..." Jemma commented. "Cloud's eyes are naturally olive green but his eyes are red." Dan explained. Jemma took another look at Cloud's face. "You're right! I didn't notice that before." Jemma realised. "I think that we were all caught up in finding him that we didn't think to question it." Ian explained. "To be honest, I was just glad he was back safe and sound." Dan told them. "We all were, especially Jen." Jemma agreed.

"Cloud, what exactly happened to your eyes?" Ian asked. "What are you talking about?" Cloud asked back. "Your eyes are a different colour." Ian answered. "They are?" Cloud questioned further. "Yes, they are. Does anyone have a mirror?" Ian asked the 2. "I do! It's small but it should work. Here Cloud, look. See?" Jemma said, showing the small mirror to Cloud. "My eyes are red. That's my natural eye colour." Cloud told the group. "No they're not! Cloud, please remember."  Dan yelled.

"Look... Dan, is it? I appreciate you...No... All of you in helping me recover from the cold. But I don't appreciate you guys acting this way towards me." Cloud told them. "What do you mean?" Ian asked. "Well first off, Dan over here keeps screaming his my caretaker even if he isn't screaming it, he gives me a dirty look." Cloud answered. "No, I don't!" Dan denied but all of them could clearly see that he's glaring at Cloud. "What?" Dan said looking at everyone. "All I'm saying is, I'd like to be respected a little more around here." Cloud finalised. "We understand. Don't we Dan?" Jemma asked him. "Yes, we understand. I'm sorry, Cloud. Something is just really getting to me." Dan reluctantly answered.

"Well, I hope whatever it is, resolves itself soon." Cloud replied to Dan. "Yea, me too." Dan agreed. "Now that's out of the way, we-" Ian was cut off by Cloud. "Wait! Is my caretaker okay? I had gotten separated from him before." Cloud explained. "Caretaker?" Ian asked, confused. "Are you talking about James? Is James here?" Dan asked him. "Who's James?" Jemma asked him. "I'm sure you remember him, he's one of my friends! Anyways, last I remember James was travelling for personal reasons. It's very possible that he-" Dan was cut off by Cloud. "No, I'm not talking about James." Cloud told him.

"Oh, so you remember him?" Dan asked, having a little bit of bitterness to his voice. "Dan, please! Go on, kiddo." Ian told the 2. "Kiddo? I'm an adult... Well, alright. We were in the woods camping and next thing I know, we got separated in the storm that was building up." Cloud explained. "Cloud, what is your caretaker's name?" Dan asked. "His name? What is this? Some kind of joke?" Cloud laughed. "No it's-" Dan was cut off by Jemma. "Dan! Lay off the caretaker thing! We're going to drive Cloud from telling us anything if you keep this up!" Jemma scolded. "Alright..." Dan replied.