THE TRIO | #Wattys2019

CHAPTER 19 : HER TEARS

Leena's P.O.V.

              - "Well?", Blake enthusiastically asked, sitting across me around our small bonfire.

-"Well what?", I asked back, as I took a
a bite from the hot dog he just barbecued.

-"Oh my God. Girl, he's asking about the food he made! You just daydreamed throughout the whole conversation, again", Anna ran her fingers through her hair in annoyance, and I couldn't help but admire how pretty she was under the moonlight, even though the fire glowed right across her face. Did I look as pretty? Or was I just scary?

-"It's as good as always, of course. He's THE king of barbecues", I faked a bow at the end, while Blake's smile ran from ear to ear.

                   - "Too bad Douaa, Jace, and Stephanie aren't here to taste it", Mark scoffed from the blanket on my far right, as he played on the strings of Anna's guitar. Speaking of which, those three are missing for the whole day now.

-"They might be dead, somewhere deep in the forest where no one could hear their agonising screams of torture ", I licked my lips, and hoped my low voice and the creepy smile I had would give the horror impression I imagined.

-"There she goes again with the creepy stuff", Anna sighed as she rested her head on Blake's shoulder, who responded by intertwining their fingers. "I think I preferred it when you were daydreaming", she laughed.

-"You gotta admit. It was good", I argued in a poor attempt.

-"I couldn't care less. They betrayed the group. Anna, sing please", Mark, interrupted both of us, as he handed Anna the guitar, before sitting right across from her.

                            To describe Anna's voice as angelic would be under rating. She truly had the most amazing voice I've ever heard, and no one could ever get enough of it. With a smile, she started singing in a foreign language, and just as we started melting into the tunes, a loud rustle from the bush behind me interrupted us, and surprisingly, it was Stephanie. She was pale, and out of breath. To me, she seemed as if she truly was running from a murderer. She walked four steps towards us in a very slow motion, her leg as stiff as log, before she collapsed on the ground.

                         I moved towards her, and was shocked to see the tears flowing down her cheeks.

-"Steph, what happened?", Mark asked with pure concern, after squatting in front of her, but she didn't respond.

-"Honey, you need to tell us to help you", Anna stroked her hair, as she kneeled beside her, and yet again, Stephanie didn't respond. Anna sighed, and hugged her, assuming as all of us that she doesn't want to talk about the issue at the moment.

-"Can you tell me then where Douaa and Jace are? You went after them. Did something happen to them?", as if Anna's words triggered something, Stephanie stopped crying, and pushed her away.

                               She then tried to stand up, but her wobbly legs didn't help her stand straight. I quickly tried to support her, but she acted as if I wasn't there, and tried to go straight, making it hard for me to hold her.

-"Stephanie, you should sit down", Blake tried to stop her, but she ignored him as well, and kept trying to walk ahead, resisting my help. I struggled to keep her standing, however, she seemed unfazed. Blake stepped in, and took her other arm, shifting her whole weight towards him, that for which I was thankful. "It's okay, you can let go. I got her", and with Blake's words, I let go of her waist.

She still kept moving in slow, small steps, with Blake silently supporting her. Anna and Mark were standing where they were previously kneeling, both of them having their eyes glued on Steph. I stepped forward, and squeezed her hand, praying in my heart that she comes back to her senses. To my utter surprise, it happened.

                               With dilated pupils, she looked at me, before she bursted out crying, again. She threw her arms around my neck, and cried her eyes out. I didn't know what to do, and kept stroking her back in an attempt to calm her. She took her time with that. Somehow, we convinced her to go rest, but she didn't let us leave the room until she fell asleep.

Anna and I went back to the bonfire, where the boys sat speechless.

-"What did she say?", Mark asked, once they both stood up as soon as their eyes landed on us.

-"She refused to say anything to the very end", Anna sat down on Mark's blanket, unable to take this anymore.

                            - "I'm just worried something bad might have happened to Douaa and Jace", Mark said as he sat back down.

- "What about us?", Douaa sang as she sat next to him,whilst Jace stood behind them. All of us jumped in surprise at their sudden appearance, as if Mark was introducing them before an audience in a T.V. show.

- "Oh my God", I breathed out, almost crying in relief that I didn't mock actual dead people.

-"What's wrong with the both of you?", Anna struggled to hold her breath, "How could you guys do that?!".

-"First of all, what's wrong with YOU?!", Douaa snapped.

-"How can someone be this insensitive?", Anna was clearly loosing her cool, but thankfully Blake rushed to her side, calming her down. She shook her head, before allowing him to escort her back to the girl's lodge .

                      - "What's wrong with her?", now was Jace's turn to scoff. I was so pissed with their attitude, and tried my best not to loose it, thereby creating an awkward silence. Blake was soon back with us, and looking the calmer than both Mark and I, he sat at the blanket before asking DJ about what happened.

-"What do you mean what happened? We did nothing wrong, and we come to find all this anger, so you should tell us what HAPPENED?!", Douaa didn't even try to mask her words.

-"What's wrong with Stephanie then?! I think you should at least expect something after you guys let her come in that state", I spit my words, not caring less about anything.

-"Wait, what do you mean?", Jace was confused, in turn confusing me.

-"Stephanie. She was with you guys, and now look at her", Mark said as he too took a seat, before motioning for me to sit too.

                           -"Stephanie wasn't with us! She was with you guys", Douaa tapped her feet furiously.

-"No. She wasn't. She went after both of you when you guys left", Blake calmly stated, and after DJ denying this again, we understood that they had nothing to do with what happened, so we all apologised to each other like little kids, before explaining what happened.

-"Where is she now?", Jace seemed, oddly, very nervous.

-"She's sleeping. I should probably go stay with her", I stood up, dusting off my clothes.

-"Wait. I'm coming with you", Douaa rushed to me, and once we were far enough from the group, she said what shocked me the most.
"If it was true, and Stephanie did go after us, then I'm afraid she might have saw us with our guardian. She could be aware of the Trio"

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