Crossroads (19 page)

“
Well, maybe he stepped on
it on purpose. Maybe he wanted to die because Merope didn’t love
him back the way he wanted her to.”

“
Perhaps, or he was just
stupid for killing himself over a girl.”

“
But when you’re that much
in love, who knows? Like Romeo and Juliet.”

“
Yeah, I don’t understand
that one either,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“
Okay…” I smiled, amused
by him.

“
I don’t know if you know,
but when you smile, you shine like the stars. Your eyes twinkle
especially when you talk so excitedly,” he said, looking straight
into my eyes.

Feeling more nervous than before,
warmth quickly spread all over my face. I was too embarrassed to
say anything, but I didn’t want to be rude. Why was he saying this
to me? He hardly knew me at all. “Thank you.” I quickly turned
away.

“
Andrew speaks very highly
of you. He says that he has never heard you gossip or speak badly
about anyone.”

“
Really? Andrew said
that?” I was surprised. Patty must have said something nice on my
behalf. “Well, I was taught never to judge a person unless you’ve
walked in their shoes.”

“
Good rule. I’m glad you
won’t judge me because I’ve done many bad things,” he said, arching
his eyebrows.

I was stunned by his words, which was
clearly expressed through my facial expression. What bad things was
I not to judge him about? Seeing the expression on my face, he
immediately eased my mind.

“
Relax, I’m joking.” He
nudged my shoulder. “I’ll walk you to your tent.”

“
It’s okay. I can walk
there myself. Good night.” I started walking away, but he caught up
to me. I thought I should take this opportunity to ask him about
Andrew’s feelings toward Patty. I didn’t know if he would share
that kind of information with me, but thought I’d try. “So, is
Andrew leading Patty on, or is he really interested in
her?”

“
I’ll tell you this much,
Andrew doesn’t lead anyone on. He wouldn’t let Patty follow him the
way she does if he wasn’t interested in her.”

“
I just wanted to make
sure.”

“
I understand. You’re just
looking after your friend’s interests,” he said.

“
Well, I’d better get some
sleep since we’re hiking tomorrow, and I’ve never hiked before.
This trip is pretty much a first all the way around for me. It’s
also getting awfully cold.” I used my free hands to hug the blanket
even tighter around me. “Aren’t you cold?” I asked.

“
No. It doesn’t bother
me.”

I couldn’t understand. It was freezing
to me, but he was only wearing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He
stopped walking.

“
Seriously, you’ve never
hiked before?” he said, looking surprised.

“
Surely I’m not the only
person in the entire universe that’s never been hiking,” I defended
myself.

“
Either that, or you are
very sheltered.”

“
Well…” I started to say
and lost my words when I realized we were at my tent. “Here we are.
Thank you for walking me,” I said politely as I tried to untie the
knot he made with the blanket.

“
Anytime,” he
replied.

I turned around to give his blanket
back, but he had already disappeared. I tried to look for him, but
there was no sign of him, not even the sound of his footsteps. How
odd, I thought. As soon as I got into my sleeping bag, Patty
immediately rolled over next to me and shone her flashlight on me.
“Wow, what are the odds of you liking the best friend of the guy I
like.”

“
What! Whoaaa, Patty I
never said I liked him.”

“
Well, you could have
fooled me the way you were flirting with him and getting him all
wet.”

“
What?! I was not
flirting! Not at all. And getting wet was by accident. It was his
fault for scaring me. You weren’t even there. I was being nice.” I
emphasized the word “nice.”

“
Well, he was definitely
into you,” she smiled, grinning from ear to ear.

“
Really?” I pretended to
be surprised. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you and him, but I’m
not remotely interested.”

“
Anyway, that’s all right.
I’m just so glad you came. Are you glad you came with me, Claudia?”
She suddenly sounded concerned.

“
Yes,” I replied, not
wanting to admit she was right. “It’s better than I thought it
would be.”

“
See!” she said loudly,
sitting up with excitement. “I knew you would! And you didn’t want
to come. See what happens when you listen to me? You always end up
enjoying the things I make you do!”

“
Hey, quiet in that tent!
We’re trying to sleep!” someone yelled.

“
Shhh,” I said to Patty as
we both laughed quietly.

After the laughter subsided, I
realized I was extremely tired. Feeling a bit uneasy about sleeping
outdoors, I wiggled myself closer to Patty. I needed to feel her
presence close to me, and I thought that physically touching her
sleeping bag was just what I needed to make myself feel secure.
Still feeling uncomfortable, it dawned on me that I was actually
sleeping on the ground. Even though Patty’s sleeping bag was plush,
soft, and warm, sleeping on the ground was not what I was used to.
I was out of my own comfortable bed, and I needed to readjust
myself to my new environment. Thank goodness it was just for one
night.

“
You okay?” Patty
whispered, probably wondering what the heck I was doing tossing and
turning so much. “You’re not scared, are you?”

“
I’m fine,” I replied, not
knowing exactly how I felt.

“
Just go to sleep, and
before you know it, it will be morning.”

“
Okay,” I answered. “You
know what?”

“
What?” she asked, as if
anticipating that I was going to tell her something
important.

“
I feel like a hot dog
lying here all bundled up.”

“
What? You’re
hungry?”

“
No, that’s not what I
meant. I’m the hot dog, and the sleeping bag is the
bun.”

Patty busted out laughing and then
covered her mouth as soon as she realized how loud she was. “I know
what’s on your mind,” she finally managed to say after she calmed
down.

“
What?” I whispered out
loud. But I started laughing too, thinking how silly my words
were.

“
Okay, but I want to know
who you are thinking of, Michael or Austin?”

“
What! Gross, Patty. Just
because your mind is there doesn’t mean mine is.”

“
Oh yes it is, ’cause if
it wasn’t, you wouldn’t know what I was talking about. And since
you know what I’m talking about telling me that you are not talking
about it, then you are thinking about it.”

I was really confused and too tired to
try to figure out what she just said. “Good night, Patty,” I said,
giggling and ignoring whatever we were talking about.

“
Michael or
Austin?”

“
Good night, Patty.” I
ignored her as my eyes became heavy, and I couldn’t fight to stay
awake any longer. The last thing I remembered was Patty rambling on
and on about hiking in a whisper as I dozed off to
sleep.

Chapter 12

I was in a deep sleep, exhausted from
the day’s excitement, when I was suddenly awakened with a jolt. I
didn’t know if a couple of hours had passed or if it was the middle
of the night. A strange noise disturbed my sleep. I realized it was
the sound of Patty’s snoring. After I turned her head slowly to the
opposite direction, the snoring stopped, so I tried to go back to
sleep. As I turned around, my back to Patty, I heard a faint
voice.

“
Claudia…come.”

At first, I thought it was Patty. I
turned to look at her, but she was snoring again. Not knowing if
the voice was real or just my imagination, I hesitantly stepped out
of the tent, holding Patty’s mega flashlight. The flashlight was so
bright that I felt like I was holding a spotlight. I could clearly
see what was around me. Since I couldn’t see anyone, I turned to go
back inside, when the voice called me again. It became stronger and
more intense, and I felt a force. I found myself being pulled
toward the forbidden area.

I stepped into the forest, holding
Patty’s flashlight with a tight grip. I could see the intricate
branches tangled in all directions and it took every ounce of my
strength to push my way through. As I got in further, the branches
slowly slithered away like snakes, welcoming me as if they knew
that I was coming. It gave me chills. The trunks of the trees were
so huge that it would take ten of me with my arms extended just to
measure half of its width. The height of the trees was even more
remarkable; they could have touched the stars.

Although the trees looked intimidating
from the outside, I was mesmerized by their beauty. Moving deeper
into the forest, these colossal trees became less apparent. The
combination of the full moon and Patty’s mega-light provided enough
brightness so I could see where I was going. I didn’t know where
that was, only that I was being led to the one place Andrew said
not to go.

Oddly, no movement was visible and no
sound was audible from this peculiar forest. I wasn’t sure if it
was my imagination, but I had an eerie feeling that I was being
watched from the darkened woods. I walked the twisted trails, and
noticed that the path was leading to a cliff ahead. My body kept on
walking, like a puppet being pulled by its strings. Without warning
my crystal necklace began vibrating softly. I looked down; it had
turned jet black. I heard his voice, the same voice I had heard on
the bus in my dream.

“
Claudia, come to
me.”

Where was this voice coming from? What
did he want with me? I needed to hide. It suddenly hit me that I
wasn’t dreaming, and it might be one of the fallen. I was
terrified, and adrenaline began fiercely running through my body.
As I was trying to catch my breath, I could see the cold mist
finding its way out from my mouth. I hadn’t noticed how chilly it
was. I didn’t know if the shaking of my body was from the cold or
the absolute fear of what was to come. Every time he called my
name, my body involuntarily succumbed to his calling. I knew I had
to fight with everything I had because with each passing second, I
was getting closer to the edge of the cliff.

“
Claudia, come home to me,
and let your soul be free. Give me your soul.”

I could see everything, but I felt
like I was sleepwalking. Mesmerized by the sound of his voice, my
eyes were finally fixed on him. He was floating out beyond the
cliff. It was hard to distinguish the shape of his face or his
body, but my body stiffened to see such a sight. It was like
something you would see only in the movies. Who was he? Why was he
trying to hurt me? I was only a few feet away from my demise, and
no one would ever find me. I was screaming inside for help when I
heard Michael’s voice loud and clear.

“
Stop, Claudia!” His voice
pulled me out of the trance.

Knowing Michael was there, my heart
found a steadier beat. The stranger froze, and his eyes gazed past
me. He looked in disbelief at the sight of Michael, as if Michael
was the last person on Earth he would have expected to encounter.
“Michael, it’s been a long time.” He was pleasant, almost
friendly.

“
Sorry. I can’t say the
same,” Michael said, moving steadily toward me.

“
Did you stop by to help?”
he asked sarcastically, still floating in midair over the
cliff.

“
Yes, as a matter of fact.
I came to help you leave.”

“
Now, now, don’t be rude,
Michael.”

“
I’m going to give you a
chance to leave, and make it quick,” Michael said
sternly.

Fear emanated from the stranger’s eyes
when he realized Michael was closer than before. He glided further
back and cried out furiously, “Michael, it’s too late!”

“
Aden, you don’t have to
do this. What do you want from her?”

This man was Aden, the fallen’s
leader. Terror began running through my body, and the temporary
calm brought on by Michael’s presence had now turned to absolute
horror. It was Aden who was after me.