[completed - under editing]
[last chapter edited - 8 | setting a trap for yourself]
"You're told all your life that you're broken, insane, mentally ill. And then you're told that you are going to repair the world."
᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽᯽
Thirteen...
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Leo
Scowling, I sock Vienna in the shoulder right back. She attempts to ignore me, tilting her head away from me and tipping her nose up in an impression of superiority.
Leilani seems to be glad to see her little sister, wrapping her in a big hug and examining Vienna's ankle. She lightly shoves Leilani away.
Carina hangs back, checking every corner of the thin forest as if she'll find a monster there.
"We should get going," Carina decides, running fingers through her tangled dark hair. "And be quiet, too. We need to find the rest."
"While not being found," counters Leilani.
"Oh," I say innocently, "does that rule out screaming for help?"
Vienna whips around and snaps, "Idiot, yes it does."
She always falls for my mock stupidity. Amusing, really. It hasn't failed, not once.
We silently move through the trees, Leilani going so far as to actually hug a tree. Snorting, I consider making a joke, but even though Carina and I are both on the Darktale side, I still feel outnumbered by the Inez sisters.
I catch the malicious gleam in Vienna's eye and hang back, letting Carina and Leilani pass before blocking Vienna. "You look like you want to say something."
"I don't," Vienna answers, trying to move around me before slipping around in the other direction. She starts walking faster and I struggle to catch up with her.
"Yes, you do," I counter, but she just rolls her eyes and doesn't bother to answer. "Hurry up and say it." She does like keeping me in the dark.
"Oh. That," she says innocently, "If we get into any trouble, you'll probably have to —" Vienna snaps her long fingers together as if trying to remember "— self–destruct or whatever it is. Though you're already destructive as it is."
"Oh, shut up!" I swat at her, but she ducks easily and breaks into a jog.
"Watch what you say," she calls back, "I might just go psycho, as my dear sister fretted."
Okay, her ears are not just uselessly large. She can actually hear things with those ears. How shocking.
I snort quietly as we pick through the forest. The feeling of being followed only increases. I poke Leilani in the shoulder, "Do you feel that?"
"Yes, I do," Leilani says sarcastically, "the presence of an annoying person." See what I mean? I'm outnumbered.
Frustrated, I inhale deeply and try to explain in a condescending tone, "I feel that we're being followed."
"Oh. That," Leilani straightens up and glances around briefly before mimicking my tone. "I'm sure it's nothing." There is no way she could've picked up anything not immediately obvious by that cursory glance.
