Destiny Island

Chapter 20

The Reunion

Once she regained consciousness Amber found herself in totally unfamiliar surroundings, and she started panicking having no memory of how she reached that place. The place she was in made a complete contrast to the dark cave that she barely escaped. It was bright and sunny. The general atmosphere was one of joy and that helped calm her nerves. No matter where she was, one thing was obvious, she was in no danger. There was a pleasant smell of flowers in the air and it felt like a completely different world from the stormy one that she had left behind. Upon raising her head from a soft pillow she was lying on she could see that all around her there were beautiful trees in full bloom. She couldn't recognize all of them, but she did manage to identify the tree she was under as a magnolia tree. It felt so good for her to just be there and enjoy the beauty of nature. So good, that she felt like she might start floating away at any moment. It was the best feeling ever, especially after all the fear that almost consumed her before she fainted.

Finally, she could see someone approaching her tree and was shocked to realize that it was Ignacio. "What are you doing here?" She asked. "Where is Royce?" "Well, I... I made a slight detour. Royce took the other road." He said sounding very hesitant. She had no idea why he sounded so odd, but she had a feeling that he was embarrassed about something. "So basically you got lost?" She asked trying to figure out what happened. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way but yes, I guess I did lose the sight of the right path. " He admitted in a barely audible voice. "Do you know where we are right now?" She asked hopefully. "Well, not exactly, but I am pretty sure I know where we should go," he said. In her mind, she understood that he had no idea where they were or where they should go, but she didn't say anything. She knew how fragile the male ego could be and didn't think it a good time to bruise his ego. It was so strange how men never wanted to admit when they made mistakes, especially in the kind of situation they were in. They were lost, had no idea where they should go, and yet for him the most important thing was to maintain his macho attitude. That fact annoyed Amber much more than she cared to admit, and she decided to take charge of the situation. While she was thinking it through, Ignacio asked: "Where is Jade?" That question made her chest ache but, she answered calmly: "We got separated. I am not sure where she is right now, but we will meet her again, don't worry." She said although she wasn't sure who she was trying to convince.

Ignacio seemed surer that they would meet the others again although he did rake his fingers through his unruly hair which was a nervous habit he was trying to keep under control. "Alright then, we won't get anywhere by just sitting here. Let's move." He said trying to sound much more confident than he actually felt. It was easy for Amber to sense his anxiety, but she decided to pretend she believed he knew what he was doing. He extended his hand to help her up and smiled at her. His dazzling smile with two small dimples on his cheeks caught her off guard, but she did manage to act fairly normal and let him help her get up. She wasn't sure why she reacted so strongly but there was no denying that Ignacio was a handsome guy who was on top of that nice. No wonder she felt so flustered, it was just a normal, human reaction or at least that was what she tried to convince herself. "We should go this way." He said in that rough but sensual voice of his that made Amber feel goosebumps all over her skin. Once she regained her composure, she became suspicious of his sense of direction. She wasn't sure why, but she had a strange feeling that they should go anywhere but the way he wanted them to go. However, she decided to ignore the feeling and go on hoping for the best.

The road Ignacio chose led to a dense forest that didn't look like an ordinary forest. As they went through it, often times he had to stop and give Amber a hand which she thoroughly resented. At one point there was a huge rock that they had to go over and it was too high for Amber to climb. So Ignacio was helping her up and slowly going backward in an effort to pull her up the rock. Suddenly they stumbled and fell down, but they had no idea where. One thing was for sure they were no longer in the forest. One moment they were in the forest struggling to climb over the rock and the next they were somewhere else. The place they were in was dark and cold and reminded Amber a bit too much of the cave that she barely escaped. On instinct, she grabbed Ignacio's hand and even though she felt a bit embarrassed she didn't let go. Holding his hand made her calmer and stopped her from having a panic attack. As for Ignacio, he didn't mind holding her hand because although he would never admit it to anyone he did feel a bit uncomfortable by the pitch darkness and the strange slimy feeling that kept spreading all around them.

The place was dark and gloomy, a kind of place no one would want to visit if they had a choice. Well, no one who liked joy, light, and happiness. But even in the darkest place, you could usually find some trace of light. That is exactly what Ignacio and Amber tried to do while stumbling blindly in the all-consuming darkness. Amber stayed close to the kind of wall she found and moved to trace its surface hoping it would give her some sense of direction. Ignacio was walking in front of her because space was too narrow for them to walk side by side. She couldn't see even a trace of Ignacio's form, but she knew he was there because she was still holding his hand. That made walking even more awkward but there was nothing in the world that would make her let go. She knew that no matter how brave she was in the cave, if she let go of his hand she would break down and that was to be avoided at any cost. As they walked, she started to be able to see the contour of Ignacio's body which meant there was light ahead. It felt good to know that for a fact because it made going on so much easier for her. Even Ignacio who was pretending everything was as normal as it could be felt relief when he was able to see where he was going.