Epiphany

Chapter 27 Part 1~Tresor

The sight of the colossal trees that formed the forest was both mesmerizing and daunting. The trees were aligned together and could be mistaken for an enormous wall encircling the house and acting as a means of protection from the dangers of the inner forest.

The stoned tower far away was still there—of course. I could ask Elijah about it now that I was free of the gag that had kept my mouth from questioning anything. Actually, now that he was taking me away without anyone else’s company, I could ask him literally anything.

I heard a chuckle escape Elijah's lips before we broke through the sturdy wall of trees.

Now that we were inside the dense woods the petrichor that was pouring out of the trees was more evident than ever. So was the distant sound of the water running through a path.

I bent my neck and looked upwards.

The leaves and branches were intertwined with one another almost forming a huge crochet blanket over the wildlife, filtering the sun rays that desired to break in. This caused the place to be much dimmer than it really was.

“Are we going to Tresor?” I couldn’t help but ask.

His pace slowed, leaving me a few steps ahead. “You know that place?”

I slowed down, matching his speed again. “I don’t, but I’ve heard it several times. Is that… a town?”

“Something like that.” He shrugged, looking ahead of him.

“You’ve already met some of the citizens, so I’m guessing I won’t have to tell you to keep your voice down, right?” he said and that made me nauseous, thinking back to the creeps I’d meet before.

So we were going to a really dangerous place, full of these kinds of sick people.

“Are they all like that?”

“Huh?”

“Insane, I mean.”

He cringed, forcing a smile at the same time. “Of course, not.”

“Is that sarcasm?”

He sent me a small smile.

I gawked at him, not believing that he left my friend all alone. “And you left Julia all by herself?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Chase. Why don’t you trust me a bit?”

I couldn’t trust him for a variety of different reasons, but I kept my mouth shut.

But, at the same time, I trusted him a bit and felt safer with him.

“Julia is hidden in some place safe and as long as you’re stuck by my side, you’ll be safe.” He raised a thumbs up in front of my face. “Just don’t do anything that might grab any kind of attention.”

Distress munched on my insides as I felt obliged to reach our destination quickly.

I buried my hands in my pant pockets to keep warm as we plodded through the dense forest. After a while, the trees began to thin out as more light entered.

As soon as I noticed these changes, several voices were heard.

Voices of people.

We came to an abrupt stop. “There we are.”

I frowned, not deciphering where this place was. We were still in the woods, but the trees were much farther apart than before, and there was no doubt that some had been felled.

Even though there were fewer trees than before, the tall, thick beings still overshadowed this area.

Before I could say anything or express my confusion, I felt a soft push on my chin, causing my head to tilt slightly upwards.