The Scars of Six

15. Revelations

A/N: Back to Selene's POV!

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The next two days were spent in a bittersweet atmosphere, enjoying what was left of our freedom and also not speaking about what Denali had drunkenly spilled out to me nights ago. After that night the tension between us was stiff and unwelcoming towards each other and it wasn't because I didn't feel for Denali, but because she made it that way the morning after revealing her past to me.

That morning Denali went back to her usual bitchy attitude but with more determination each time she addressed me. I confronted her about it of course but I may have overstepped by mentioning her mother, not in a rude way — no way, but just referencing back to the details that Denali had given me the night before. Of course Denali didn't see it that way or maybe she did, but didn't want to acknowledge the fact that I had been the first one she had spilled the beans to — in a way I understood her perfectly. For years I carried seeing my parents lifeless bodies being fished out of my towns lake without ever telling anyone about it, so I understood her in that sense. What I didn't understand was why she was being rude to me again, but she didn't give me a straight answer, she just started ignoring me. So, I let it be; allowing her to have the space she desperately needed, so she could understand that I was in this mission for similar reasons as much as she was. Perhaps telling her about my parents would have made things better, but I had yet to find out the whole truth, I only knew part of it, so I couldn't talk about something that was so fresh and so unknown until I knew more.

"Do you have your map ready?" I asked Denali as we finished packing up before making our way back to our cabins. She just nodded and started towards the door before glancing towards the digital clock that laid on the bedside table.

6:04 a.m.

We both made our way downstairs, leaving our keycards at the front desk and getting into the taxi that was already waiting for us outside. We both tucked our bags in the trunk of the vehicle and made our way into the back seats. From there we just made ourselves comfortable until we got to where we needed to go, letting the deafening silence engulf us both as we pondered in our own thoughts.

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"Wake up Denali" I nudged at her side so she could wake up from her slumber. She reluctantly obliged and we both got out of the car to grab our things and pay the taxi driver away. As the car drove away, Denali and I stared at the dirt road ahead. I had no idea what she was thinking but from the looks of it, it wasn't far from my own thoughts. I stared onto the dirt road and then the green forest that laid opposite to it and then to the rough rocky terrain that laid to its other opposite. I sighed in defeat and flung one of my backpacks behind my shoulder and secured it with two 'clicks' across my chest then flung the other one across my chest and started walking towards the forest with my map in my hand — Denali following shortly behind.

It was exactly 11:24 am and we had to get back before sundown or else it would be almost impossible to find our way back. Without a map I was lost — obviously, but with the map in my hand I could read it almost perfectly — very confident knowing we'd be back in a couple hours if we picked up our pace.

As we walked through the endless forest, the silence around us was still deafening and quite honestly, kind of cut throat, so I decided to do what I never thought I'd do. "My parents — I — they died when I was younger. I saw their bodies as they were being fished out of the lake in my town." I started not making eye contact with Denali as I could feel her eyes snap towards me as I began telling my story.

"I was twelve when my aunt had broken the news to us, after coming home from school, that they had died on their way back — both of my parents were in the army. Apparently they had been delayed by a week or so from coming back and the day they were on their way back we were told that they lost control of their vehicle while driving through a storm and drove off a cliff and into the towns lake. I didn't want to believe it, I was only twelve you know. I thought my aunt was lying or that I was just hearing everything incorrectly, but as stubborn as I was I knew deep down that she wasn't lying." I continued as we made our way through the trees and the never ending dirt.