Children of the Elements: Prey to Him

Chapter Seventeen: Alone Again

Chapter Seventeen: Alone Again

Nathan had taken the back of the group as they walked through the town and into the woods again. It was tedious: he hadn’t even realised how many trees there were in this ever-expanding stupid forest. Eva was leading the four of them through its wilderness, confident with every stride that she was going the right way. Nathan was sceptical. He felt bad. They’d all had the powers for a month or so now, but he still didn’t believe that she could just ‘hear’ where a place was. It was so unrealistic.

“Hey daydreamer,” Ash’s voice cut through his thoughts and he wrenched his gaze up from the floor. She was smiling at him sweetly, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight of midday.

“I wasn’t daydreaming so much as thinking.”

“Well you looked as though you were dreaming, smiling oddly to yourself and frowning on occasion. Anything interesting spring to mind?”

Nathan shrugged. “Not sure yet. But you shall be the first to know if there is anything worth mentioning.”

Ash smirked at the ground, before her head pinged up at the sound of shuffling in the leaves. Eva and Chris had both stopped suddenly as well, leaving Nathan to look around suspiciously. He closed his eyes, listening intently. He could hear the rapid breathing sounds of Eva as she panicked, and the more controlled breathes of Chris and Ash as they breathed in synchrony.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the surroundings. There was definitely something in the bushes. He felt his heartbeat start to get faster, and lowered his density just to be on the safe side. With a glance at Ash, he balled his hands into fists, feeling the heat tingling in his fingertips as they got excited.

A gunshot sounded, and all four of them ducked onto their knees immediately. On the floor, Nathan was suddenly more panicked. A second gunshot sounded, and Nathan was on his feet, darting into a nearby bush. He glanced around, still unsure of where the bullets were coming from, until his gaze landed on Ash crouching behind a tree opposite. Their gaze connected, hers burning with determination, turning their vivid orange, whilst Nathan remained unsteady. He lowered his density in preparation for something striking him from behind.

A breath appeared on his neck, and Nathan rolled out from the bush, whipping around as he drew out a blade. However, there was no-one there, causing him to stand up properly, confused for a second. On blinking, Eva appeared in the bush, her eyes bright green with a finger over her lips, telling him to be quiet. With another blink, she was gone again, a scream replacing her.

Nathan’s density decreased again, flying around to see an army of Creshnev’s robots dropping from the trees. Ash screamed at him again. “Nathan, run!”

As Ash darted off, he didn’t look back for the other two: he presumed that they were following him from the footsteps in the leaves which came from just behind him. But when he turned around a few minutes later, eyes and ears scanning the area he had stopped in thoroughly, none of them were anywhere in sight.

More shots sounded, but they were further away now, giving Nathan the slightest bit of comfort. But he still felt a pang of guilt: he had left the three of them without a thought for them. That was a shit move, not just because he was alone again, but because he was supposed to protect them just like they were supposed to protect him.

Sighing and checking his density was lowered on a nearby tree, he ran back the way he’d come.

He seemed to be running for hours, but there was no sight of them. The gunshots had stopped and there was no sound but the sound of his own breathing and his footsteps cracking the twigs under his feet.