The Enhanced

Chapter Forty Five

"Quick! I want to catch the sunset!" He calls over his shoulder as he scales the rocks.

I chuckle to myself and pull myself up along the rocky cliff face, up higher and higher. Aiden was already at the top, I hear his grunting cease and gasps of awe replace them. I smile in response.

It takes me a little while longer, I was still struggling a little, but everything here was so free, so open, I couldn't help but revel in it. Aiden turns with a huge smile plastered on his face as he hears my footsteps. I stumble breathlessly onto the flat land lean forward to regain my strength.

Aiden holds me and offers me his walking stick. It was a long, perfectly sculpted stick, with one end flattened to place your hand and the other sturdy enough to hold your weight, Aiden had found it on our first day here and was still mighty proud of it. I take it gratefully and lean as much as I dare to.

My body had been beaten bloody over the past few months, I had to let it heal and grow. Aiden, on the other hand, was blossoming. He was faster, more agile than he had ever been. he was amazing at climbing and could run circles around me in my normal state.

I feel my hand being clasped and I am led over to the edge of the cliff face where he lowers me down and helps me to sit. And then, he holds my hand for real and I lean into him, breathing in the scent of his growing beard.

His fingers find my chin and turn my face forward, towards the open plain. Down on the ground, there was a herd of bison passing through, there was no one else in sight. And above all of that, above the trees and the land, the sky was changing. The light was fading into beautiful colours, bowing and peaking wherever they saw fit.

The oranges and reds were breath-taking and the time seems to slip away as the sun dips lower and lower below the horizon until slowly it is gone, and only the dimly lit sky is left behind. It would be a while before the dark settled in so Aiden and I sit atop the mountain for a while longer.

"We should go soon," he murmurs in my ear, squeezing my hand.

I nod, "we have the tent set up, we can stay a bit longer," I reply.

Aiden nods and kisses me on the cheek. "I didn't mean that," I turn to him, questioningly, "This is our sixth night, it's been amazing, every second of it, Juliet, but we need to set a new destination in mind." He explains.

Though his tone is sad and full of regret, I can't help but smile. I knew Aiden didn't want to leave this place, he had realised his true passion for nature here, he had moulded into a new person, his angry fits disappeared and I don't think he ever thought about alcohol anymore. I knew he wanted to be here forever.

But I had a new appreciation for times like these in your life. There had been moments in time where I had thought I might die, I grew knowing I wouldn't reach old age. And then, suddenly, everything changed. I learnt new things, met new people, and realised I could live a life. And through that, I realised the bad times are only temporary, you just have to have the strength to get through them, and just the same, the good times don't last forever. You have to make them live on in memories, relationships and in life.

I would remember this week for my entire life. I would remember Aiden for the rest of my life, and hopefully he'd be around for most of that. I won't sour this experience by wishing it wouldn't end. I'll savour every second of the good, every second of the mazing.

I sit and think to myself for a while before Aiden fills in the silence. "I always wanted to go the Grand Canyon," he suggests.

I wrinkle my nose and laugh, "where's that?" I ask.

He laughs in response. "It's in Arizona, it's cool, I promise!"

I shrug my shoulders and give him a look that says 'why not?' and we stare up at the sky with the stars becoming more visible overhead.

The dark eventually creeps up on us and Aiden helps me up before we slowly make our way down the rocks, careful not to trip and fall, towards our tent. It's a long way down but I don't mind, we had been doing this so much lately that it felt like second nature.

The tent was small but big enough for us to sleep in together, so there was no problem.

"You hungry?" he asks , searching through our depleted supply of food.

I shrug and shake my head.

"Do you want some of these?" he asks, proudly showing me packs of food I don't recognise.

I give him a bewildered look and he can't help but laugh. When he can finally keep a straight face, he begins to explain, "these are marshmallows, chocolate and some graham crackers," he says, pointing to the individual packets, "we'll put them over the fire, they'll be really nice, I promise," he says before assembling the strange foods.

It takes a while for Aiden to finally finish as I build the fire for him. We learned early on that I was better at those things, despite him being more knowledgeable, he said I had a 'knack', which wasn't a word I had ever heard before but I didn't question it.

Aiden comes through on his promise, and we sit around the fire, warming s'mores as he calls them, and eating them until our bellies are stuffed full of sugar. Even then, we sit and relax for a while before getting ready for bed. We were running out of toothpaste and other necessities, whether we liked it or not, we'd have to make our way back into the real world even if we wanted to come back here.

Slowly, the night fades away and I fall asleep.

*

*

*

The next day we were making plans to leave, Aiden sat with a map propped up on his legs, chewing on some salted crackers as the sun rose over the mountains and wisps of cool air blew down from their peaks. I was taking the time to appreciate where I was before we were gone again. The atmosphere was so different to what I had been used to, so quiet but so full. The facility had been all noise and no substance, everything was so stale and efficient.

Here, there was a spring in my step and a feeling of optimism that I couldn't bear to push away. It was like I was feeling happiness for the first time. I was with the person I wanted in the place I wanted.

Somehow I find myself feeling grateful for my past life, for one simple reason, everything seemed amazing compared to it. If I was having a hard time, or I was stressed or tired, willing the day to go away, all I'd have to think about was sat on my tiny bed, hunched over my laptop, typing away about the history of neuroscience or a questionable essay on Russian ideology. In the end, its all depressing enough to make my shoulders perk up and allow me to thank God for every single day of freedom I get. Whether I am mopping away at a disgusting floor after sweaty customers, or laughing the night away with friends, it's all freedom, its all life.

I lean back and soak in the sun while I wait for Aiden to figure out our directions. He was intensely focused on the paper before him and I didn't doubt his mapping skills, despite the strange glare on his face, I knew he enjoyed the satisfaction of it all.

The time passes quickly as I stare around me. There was a family far off, beginning to scale a nearby mountain, and even further away a herd of bison were trampling the land on the horizon. And above all of that the wind whistled and the sun beat down on us.

Finally, Aiden collects himself and catches my attention. "Okay!" he begins, flicking off a few crumbs from the paper, not taking his eyes away from the annotations. "So it all seems to be pretty perfect, we're a few hours away from the nearest town, we can pack up all our stuff, take a leisurely hike in that direction and we'll get there when its dark and do the honourable deed of stealing a car and starting off somewhere else, sound good?" he asks.

I smile and laugh slightly. It sounded strange when he described it like that. I nod and sit up to face him, "sounds awesome," I reply, "we'll be on the road, on our way to somewhere new before the day is out," I continue.

He nods and returns my smile. I could see the allure of being a runaway now. Before I had been all alone and scared, everything was foreign and new. I had nowhere to go and everyone was a stranger. But now I had Aiden, he was my home and I didn't need anyone else when I was with him. Now, it wasn't all about the destination, where I was going, how long it was going to take to get there. Now, the journey was the best part, the laughs, the knowing smiles, and we always found a way.