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“But it could be gone,” Halim, one of the group members tells me.
“I know,” I nod. “That is a possibility as well. It may not be there anymore. It maybe be hidden under layers and layers of earth. It might be overgrown, or completely nonexistent. Let’s hope that’s not the case, because…” I sigh heavily, not really sure what to tell them.
At that moment, I feel Kano’s reassuring hand on my shoulder. He takes over.
“We go as if it’s still there, waiting for us,” he tells everyone.
I smile at him, appreciating the help. “Exactly,” I pick up. This is all I needed. “We need to stay positive. The well is here. We just need to find it.”
I can see that everyone felt that surge of hope. It’s not just for us. It is also for those we left behind, those who are counting on us to find the well. Failure is not an option.
“When do we start?” Halim asks again.
“I think it’s best we search at night,” I tell them.
“But we can barely see at night,” he frowns.
“It’s either that or we might as well walk into town and let the shifters know we’re here,” I shrug. I know my tone was uncalled for, but so was his comment.
Of course, we can’t fucking see at night as well as we can see during the day. But it’s not like we can waltz around, doing whatever we want around here. We’re outnumbered and not wanted. That makes it dangerous for us to be seen. Keeping a low profile is a must. I thought I already explained this, and I’m in no mood to explain it again.
“We start tonight,” I tell them. “Choose your partner. You’ll all report in the morning. Any questions?”
I look around. Some of them are avoiding my gaze. Halim first. The rest return it, revealing that everything is clear. They understood the assignment.
“Alright then,” I nod.
I turn around and walk back to my tent. It provides little privacy, but it’s not privacy we’re here for. It’s something else, something that might be our salvation.
I keep thinking about the possibility of the well not being there. The shifters might already know this and be unwilling to tell us. After all, why would they tell us anything? We’ve been enemies for such a long time now. I doubt anything would change that. I’m not here for that. None of us is.
We’re here because this is our last resort. This is our last means of saving our clan. If we don’t manage to find what we’re looking for, we’ll be trampled by the foot of time, and left to rot, as if we never existed.
These are the thoughts that are swarming inside my mind as I close my eyes. I won’t sleep, although my body is begging me to. It has been worn out by the sun, by the warmth of the light around us. Our bodies, although now able to withstand the rays of the sun, weren’t made for it. We simply endure it now much better than before.
There is so much we’ve had to endure, but I fear there is more. So much more.
Chapter Three
Bianca
The darkness threatens to swallow me. I know I shouldn’t be here. I should be back in town. I know it’s not the safest place any longer, but it’s safer than being in the woods in the middle of the night, where each sound could be a threat.
Gala and her pack might try and attack me again. I remember the rock that I’m carrying in my sweatshirt pocket. It’s not much, but it’s big enough to make a sizeable wound if I strike the right place. Without thinking, I pat it with my hand, just to reassure myself that it’s still there. It provides a little comfort. Not too much, but enough for me to keep going through the dark night.
There is the occasional sound somewhere around me. I try not to pay much attention to it. I keep searching, only I’m not sure exactly what for. Maybe I’m looking for a way out, a new path that would take me where I need to go. I just don’t know where that is yet.
Still, I keep going. Something is leading me away from the town and into the wilderness, although I have no idea what that something is. I know it’s dangerous to follow your instinct. I am not a shifter. As I’ve been reminded so many times, I am not one of them. I will never be. I guess I never expected to be. This also means that I am not in tune with my inner animal… if I even have such a thing. I can’t rely on instinct and trust it to take me somewhere where I need to be. The connection between my conscious mind and that inner animal, that inner voice, that inner guide which shifters can follow so easily, is lost in me. I am merely a human, after all.
Suddenly, there is the sound of a cracked branch and I stop instantly. I swallow heavily, my heart beating inside my throat, like a swelling that won’t go down. My mind is a blank. I don’t dare turn around. Instead, I listen. I focus on my breathing. I focus on the breathing belonging to whatever or whoever is behind me.
Seconds feel as long as hours, ticking away into the darkness around me. I am frightened beyond belief. Yet my entire body isn’t trembling. Almost as if it knows something I consciously don’t know yet. Something I am yet to find out. I listen intently to the sound of motion behind me. There is nothing. I am standing still, and whatever is behind me is doing the same, taunting me.
It is probably expecting me to turn around and face it. If it were a bear or a wolf, it would have attacked by now. It’s not a ravenous animal. If it was, it would be sinking its teeth into my flesh right now. It is something far more sinister, something that isn’t a slave to its most basic urges, something that can wait and bide its time until it is the perfect moment to strike.
“We gotta stop meeting like this, sweet human,” I hear him say.
