Maybe (COMPLETED)

Chapter Seventeen

For some reason, talking about Ash and his father and his powers calmed me down a bit. I kind of felt like I was in some sort of spy movie, fantasy style. But whenever I thought about home... about Jessica and mum and dad, I felt so guilty. I was forgetting them, almost... just like they have forgotten me.

Maybe it was for the best.

But... no matter how fake it all was... I still grew up with them, they were still my family. Whenever they crossed my mind my heart literally ached... Why and how could I possibly forget them? My sister and my parents? How could I?

And then there's Jackie. Apparently not human. Probably looking for me. I really hope he is looking for me... I miss him so much. Now I know he was the only real person in my life, even though he kept such a big secret from me, he was keeping his eye on me, I guess...

"We're getting close to that bog." Archer called out, bringing me out of my trance. We'd started walking again after I had confirmed I felt a lot better. It's probably been a few hours now.

"Bog?" I repeated, and quickly took in my surroundings, which was the same as before. Lots of tall trees.

Mekhi spun around and started walking backwards. "Yep! The one with those paralysing reeds I was talking about! Not to mention snakes and spiders and-"

"God – Mekhi-"

Mekhi's eyes widened as he rebounded off of Archer's arm, jumping back forward away from the squelchy stickiness he had stepped backwards into. "Fuck!" He exclaimed, sounding genuinely shocked. "Where the fuck did that come from?" I came to stand next to the bickering dorks, and Ash. We gazed out at the clearing in front of us, where there was only water, mud, reeds and islands of what I hoped was dry sand. I could see on the other side, there forest continued further on. Archer rolled his eyes at Mekhi' shock.

"Pretty sure it's been here for hundreds of years."

"Whatever smartass." Grumbled Mekhi, picking up a stone and throwing it at the muddy water. "It's moved. I swear."

"Since when have you even been here?" Archer accused, raising his eyebrows at Mekhi. "This is way out of hendassi territory. In fact, this is on the way to okirima borders. Didn't you say you've never been to Ganyan? Sorry to tell you, but that's exactly where this path leads us."

Mekhi put a hand over his heart as if he was deeply insulted. "Jeez, brother, I didn't realise you were too old to recognise a joke! Your age must be getting to that big ol' brain of yours."

Ash sighed. "Calm down guys. Why are we going here again?"

"Two reasons." Archer began to explain. "First, we're escaping from the Okirima, right? They don't expect us to go closer to them. It's a strategic move. Secondly, we're looking for Saga, and this is another place he's most likely to be. Capital of illegal trading and dirty secrets. Perfect for him."

"Guys..." I muttered, looking down at my feet. They all turned to look back at me, and I returned their curious gazes. "What am I doing exactly? Where do I fit in?"

Ash smiled at me, like the sweetie he was, blue eyes shining. "You fit in with us, obviously. Don't worry, we're not gonna abandon you, we'll help you settle down. After we've sorted out all of our stuff, we'll go back home, find you a place to stay, teach you everything you need to know. Okay?"

I wasn't sure if I could trust him. Not that I thought he was lying straight to my face but... I think he knew that there was a high chance it wasn't all gonna end in sunshine and rainbows like he was making it out to be. "Okay."

Mekhi shuddered. "Now we have all that gross icky stupid shit out of the way, shall we get down to business?"

"What's your problem Mekhi?" Snapped Ash.

Mekhi side eyed Ash. "Nothing. Other than a big fucking bog!" He growled back. "You? Got any issues? Because it sure does fucking seem like it!"

Woah. Back to aggressive Mekhi. He was fuming again. Ash seemed to notice this, and simply shook his head and looked at Archer questioningly. "What's the plan?"

"We find the path." With this vague statement, Archer began searching to the left of where we were, crouching low and studying the ground with intense care. Mekhi sighed and wandered off to the left, a lot more careless then Archer. "Don't bother Mekhi, it's not over there. It's always on the left!" He called back, without glancing over. Ash shrugged and joined Archer on his search. I, like the loner I was, stood still and watched.

I watched Mekhi as he strode over some grass confidently and then squatted down and studied the ground. I studied his actions as he stood up, looked over the other side of the bog, and then crouched back down again. He glanced over at Archer and Ash, swiped his finger on the dirt, and tasted it.

What the fuck?????!!???

He stood up. "What about this?" He shouted, pointing at the ground he had just studied. Very, uh, carefully.

Archer immediately halted his actions to look at Mekhi suspiciously. I joined Ash and Archer as the wandered over to the still moody guy. We all looked at the small indent in the ground, which did indeed lead like a small one-man path into the bog, and, supposedly, onto the other side.

Archer looked at it for quite some time. He squatted down and touched the dirt with his finger curiously. He rubbed it between his fingers thoughtfully. He didn't taste it, so that was cool.

Archer then rubbed the dirt onto his clothes. He slowly stood up and looked very carefully at Mekhi. "Never been here, hey?"

Mekhi shrugged. "Lucky first try?"

"Right." Archer snorted in disbelief. "Sure, like I'm gonna believe- you know what? Fine. Whatever. You do you. If you've dabbled in the illegal trading of goods, I don't really mind. But I would appreciate if you'd tell me the truth, Mekhi."

Mekhi scrunched his forehead. "Nope. Never 'dabbled in the illegal trading of goods', though it sounds intriguing."

Archer kept staring at Mekhi, waiting. After what felt like a few hours, he gave up. "Whatever. As long as you don't bring any danger to Ash, I don't care. "Let's cross this bog, shall we?"

Hello my lovelies! Here's chapter 17 :) Sorry it's a little late, I've had exams... ugh... 

Hope you liked this chapter! It's a little boring, but trust me, it's gonna get more interesting next chapter! (I'll probably updated in a week or so :))

Thanks so much for reading my book!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Babyy xx

P.S It's 12:30 am right now... lol...