daughter of esmund

Fourteen

A/N:

Hey y'all! Sorry for the slow updates, needed to take a bit of time off to recover my mental health, hopefully won't happen again! Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter! If you do I would really appreciate it if you would leave a vote (tells me to keep doing what I'm doing) or leave a comment with any feedback you may have on how I can improve! Thank you guys for sticking by me. - Joya

Word Count: 1613

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Annie's POV

"Are...you alright?"

I glance up to see Aaron in front of me, walking backward to keep his pace. His head is tilted downward, telling that behind the bandana, he's not making eye contact with me. He seems...more somber than usual, more reserved. Something that's hard to tell apart from how he normally acts. I sigh as I attempt to meet his eyes without moving too much, but it proves to be trivial.

"Are you gonna answer my question or not?" He asks, frustration now clear in his voice.

Well, he sure hasn't changed that much.

I huff, "I'm fine."

"Yeah...okay.." He grumbles.

With that, he turns, going to catch up with Aphmau at the head of the group. Vylad shifts back and gives me a side glance, frowning as he turns his head to the side, asking without words if it was necessary to use the tone I did. I roll my eyes, twisting away and crossing my arms. I can hear him breathe heavily from out of my sight, but I don't turn. Katelyn, who is walking alongside me, nudges my shoulder, hard. She's probably not very happy with me either. It seems like no one is. Then again, I guess I am being a bit of an ass. I pivot slightly so I can meet her cobalt-colored eyes. Her eyebrows are curved downward, forming a disapproving look.

"What is wrong with you today? You never act like this.." Her voice sounds irritated, but I can still tell that she has some clemency in her questioning.

"As I said, I'm fine.." My voice is low, almost like a snarl.

"Come on Annie, you haven't said anything-"

"I've spoken!"

"Let me rephrase that. You haven't spoken more than a sentence between when we left and now. Better?" She plasters a mocking, slightly annoyed white smile onto her lips, revealing a bit of her pearly-white teeth.

I roll my eyes, "Yeah, I guess. And like I said, I'm fine. Just...leave me alone.."

I speed up, passing her and getting to a slightly more isolated section of the group. Now, I'm right behind Aphmau, who glances behind her to see me when I move, and Aaron. Laurence, who is walking beside Vylad opposite me, gives me a look, before...smiling? Why the hell is he smiling at me? I don't need a reason though for it to be enough for my cheeks to flush red, eyes dropping to the ground.

No, not now. Later.

Maybe never even.

I shake my head dismissively and decide I won't glimpse back at him the entire time we're walking, which as it appears, is going to be a while. It becomes apparent after another hour of hitting nothing that we may be lost, not to mention Aphmau's frustrated expression. She's starting to get tired, as is everyone else. We've been walking for so long that the sun has almost dipped below the tree line and hills sitting in the distance, making it slightly harder to navigate. Eventually, I can only see the outlines of bodies moving through the dark wood, hearing the sounds of leaves crumpling and sticks snapping beneath feet as well as the sound of muffled conversation. At some point, my eyes have decided to rest on the movement of my feet watching as they move along the vibrant green grass.