The Shadow and The Light

Chapter 7

Alina

I've had time to think about the 4th part of my plan. It's either confront him or forget about it. I mean come on, Mal has been my best friend for as long as I can remember. We did everything together. He can't be doing something so bad that I need to hurt him. No. He wouldn't do that to me.

I notice the stag is bringing us into the woods. Is this where Aleksander is staying? The woods? It's getting dark, I really hope he knows where he's going. He better not be bringing me to my death.

"How much longer?" Louis wines.

"Not long. Are you getting tired?" I respond.

"Yes and my feet hurt. We've been walking all day."

"Here, jump on my back. I'll carry you," And he does just that. He goes and jumps on my back so I can carry him to our destination, "We should do something. Like play a game. Or talk about something. It would make this trip go by a lot faster." I somewhat lie. It will surely make time seem like it will go faster but it will also distract me from carrying him. Not thinking about carrying him will make it seem like I'm not carrying him.

"Let's play a game." He says.

"Okay, what do you want to play?" I have no idea what we could play without wasting time.

"I made it up so there's no name for it, but you just say something you see and the other person tells you where it is. So I would go........ I see a light." He explained.

Now I'm looking for the light. It's dark so it shouldn't be as hard to find as it actually is. I look to my left. Nothing. On my right there's nothing either.

Then I see it right in front of us. In the direction we are walking in. A light. "I see it. Right in front of us." I say. Is that where we are walking to? We're going in that direction.

Are we going where that light is? I think to the stag.

"Yes," the stag said, "that's where the Darkling is."

Yay. Family reunion. I'm excited but the stag on the other hand doesn't seem to happy.

"The light you were just talking about. That's where we are going. Where you'll be safe. Okay?" I said in a calm tone.

"Okay! Who's there?" Louis asked.

"A friend." He is a friend but also a lover. Louis doesn't need to know that though.

"What's their name?"

"Aleksander."

"Cool. I'll call him Aleks."

"I'm sure he'll love that nickname. Do you mind if I use it?" It will be very funny to see his reaction if I call him Aleks.

"Sure!" Louis said with enthusiasm.

The closer we got the more nervous I became. I don't know why though. It hasn't been long since I've seen him and I'm very happy to see him again. Maybe it's the fact that I have to see Mal soon. The faster Louis is to safety to faster I have to see what Mal is doing.

I'm scared of what I might find. If he's doing something bad, I don't know what I'll do. Hurting him is the last thing I want to do, but what if I get hurt in the process? Will he care if he's hurting me? Does he even care that he's hurting me?

This is something I never thought would happen. Mal and I falling apart. If he has known that he can read minds, if he can, why did he keep it from me? Has he really been lying to me the entire time we've known each other?