Aloveen Rising

13. A Light In The Darkness

Jake watched over the hours as the sun continued to rise and creep closer until eventually, it reached the tents. He huddled closer to Ethan and frowned anxiously, Ethan had stopped crying and shaking a couple of hours earlier but he'd barely moved at all since and despite Jake's few attempts, he hadn't spoken at all. Jake sighed silently and rubbed Ethans back,

"I'll be here when you're ready" he whispered but Ethan gave no indication that he'd heard.

Jake could hear the twins beginning to move around and knowing that he couldn't avoid it, Jake took Ethan's hand and pulled him outside to sit by the fire

"What have you two done?" Jacie asked with a grin,

Jake smiled and shook his head, "Nothing, we just sat together."

Nate snorted, "That's a likely story"

Ethan's face went pink and he suddenly became very interested in the ashes of the fire. Jake glanced at him, slightly surprised by the sudden acknowledgement of what was going on around him but didn't say anything.

He looked at the twins who both had realised something had happened and were watching him with worried expressions and shook his head. It wasn't his story to tell and he didn't know enough to say anything and besides, he didn't want to embarrass Ethan. Jacie tapped her foot, obviously reluctant to let it go but Jake nodded slightly towards Ethan and she nodded before going to dig through their food supplies to prepare breakfast.

* * * * *

They had a breakfast of cereal with juice as they'd ran out of powdered milk the day before and when they finished eating Ethan briefly told them about what he'd found on the laptop and explained he'd like to explore the area where the marks on the map were.

Ethan could see Jake staring at him while he explained and he tried to ignore his surprised and questioning gaze knowing that he would have to open up at some point. While the others got ready, Ethan swam in the river and washed away the sweat. While he was treading water, he thought about the nightmare and hot anger flashed through him, he clenched his fist and his nails bit into his hand. He let out a sound of anger and sadness as he punched and kicked at the water spraying it everywhere. Eventually, he calmed down enough and pulled himself onto the bank and hugged his knees as the tears warmed his already wet face.

Ethan ignored the concerned look Jake gave him and quickly explained where he thought each mark on the map was and designating them each a colour. Jacie and Nate both had questions but Ethan hadn't found anything else on the laptop to help. They lingered in a group for a second before parting ways to explore their assigned area.

* * * * *

Lucy scowled into her book and chewed her lip,

"Aren't we meant to be getting proof?" Justin asked, sounding bored,

Lucy rolled her eyes, "I couldn't get close enough to take photos yesterday, those freaky twins were always looking."

Justin grimaced, "You don't think they saw us, do you?"

She stared at him like he was the dumbest person on the planet "Of course they didn't see us, or they would have come after us"

"Are you going to try again?"

"Maybe once it gets dark, if not I'll have to find another way." Lucy sighed

He grinned "As long as we get there eventually, it doesn't matter how long it takes."