Remember Me

Chapter 13

      Chapter 13

                ‘’How did you do that?’’ Darius glimpsed at Rosalie, shifting the torch into his left hand. Waverly trailed along behind them, keeping close. The path was narrow, framed by high trees and bushes. It felt like the darkness wanted to swallow her, her skin tingling.

                ‘’Did what?’’     

                ‘’Make Andrew stay,’’ he whispered. Rosalie fought to hide a smile.

                ‘’You don’t want to know, trust me.’’

                ‘’Was it that bad?’’ he asked, grimacing. His own family was proof that older siblings never listened to younger ones, without exception. Knowing Andrew, the deal Rosalie had given him must had been convincing.

                ‘’Even worse. I don’t regret what I promised to do in return, but I can’t say I’m not sorry. He just wanted to help, yet I had to sacrifice one thing that both of us will need someday.’’

                Waverly sped up to keep the pace, her eyes scanning the dark bushes. They took a sharp turn to the right, Darius tugging on her sleeve to make sure she follows his step. She would’ve brushed him off, but it was rocky so she was better with him holding her. Rosalie noticed her feet shaking with the effort to keep up.

                ‘’Waverly? Do you need to stop, we’ve been walking for a long time.’’ Darius adverted his eyes to look at her closely, examining her face to find any sign of discomfort. He’d known her more than enough to see she was afraid but couldn’t make herself admit it. One side of him admired her for that.

                ‘’Of course not, I’m fine. How much further do we have to go?’’

                ‘’We’re close, but it’s hard to know precisely because of the darkness. Pass the torch please, Darius.’’ He handed it over, looping his freed arm around Waverly to give her extra support. He bent his head to kiss her on the forehead when he saw a huge venomous spider crawling up her arm.

                ‘’Stay still, trust me,’’ he murmured softly in her ear. She stiffened under his touch, her muscles cramping with fear.

                ‘’What is it?’’ She tried not to move, closing her eyes tightly shut in order to keep herself calm. His sleek fingers worked their way into her hair, his heartbeat faster. Rosalie stopped to take a glance. She extended her arm, carefully bringing the torch flame closer to her wavy long hair. The spider backed away from the light. Darius tried to catch it, but was afraid not to get bitten.

                ‘’Is it gone? Talk to me.’’ Waverly started to fidget.

                ‘’It’s just a spider, don’t worry.’’ Rosalie responded, taking out her dagger to scare the animal away. It was too fast for both of them to catch, tangled in the hair. Darius motioned to cut off that part of the hair, but Rosalie shook her head, giving him a disapproving look.

                ‘’Why does it taking so long then? Don’t lie to me, Rose…’’ She tried to turn her head but Darius blocked her.

                ‘’We’ll have to cut off your hair, just a bit.’’ Her breath hitched, but she nodded.

                ‘’Just get it off me.’’

                Rosalie stood on her toes to get a good look where to cut. She wanted to damage as little as she could, but the black spider was much bigger than she’d seen before. He was restless, working fast with his small legs. Taking a deep breath, she brought the dagger just above Waverly’s shoulder and took a clean diagonal cut so that it would be hard to notice. The lock of hair fell to the floor along with the spider and Darius pushed them away. He bent to the ground and took a stick to push the mess aside. Rolling in the bundle, the spider freed himself and disappeared in the darkness.