HIDDEN - Book 1 of the Elysium Series

Three. A shadow amongst the people.

[Picture above is how I imagined Garrick looks like.]

A SHADOW AMONGST THE PEOPLE.

  The day of the festival had finally come, and while the people of Moonshire were busy celebrating in the town's square, Garrick and his friends ran to the meadow to play.

  "Hurry up, Dash. You're running like a turtle!" Belle yelled over her shoulder.

  "But the turtle won the race before the rabbit did." Dash panted while running a few steps behind them. Garrick upon noticing how small his voice was, he slowed down and turned to wait for the boy as the others continued their path to the centre of the colorful flowery field.

  When Dash appeared by his side, he placed his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Garrick rubbed his back sympathetically and patted lightly, wincing when a cough left his friend's mouth though Dash gave him a thumbs up to tell him he was fine.

  "You don't have to run, you know." Garrick said.

  "But then I'll just slow you down with this limp."

  "No, you won't. There's nothing wrong with slowing down, you can enjoy the scenery while doing so. You can't really do that when running." He assured him. He'd known Dash well just like he'd known every one of his friends. In fact, both Dash and Belle were the first people he'd become friends with. Next came Silas, then Ruth and lastly the twins.

  Dash Stone was easily sick, but the limp on his left leg was forever a reminder that he was physically weak but his intelligence spoke otherwise. He'd once told him that he had gotten a limp when he was a kid, not more than the age of 8m though Dash didn't spare any details further and Garrick had thought it might've been a memory the former didn't want to remember so he dropped the topic.

  Though what baffled Garrick was when Malcolm blurted that Dash is the best jumper out of all of them when playing the leaping game. Which was a bit impossible considering Dash's bad leg would limit his speed and movements. 

  The silent walk between Garrick and Dash ended once they finally reached the rest of their friend group sprawling on the green grass and joined them. Garrick released a sigh and stretched his body like a cat. He closed his eyes for a moment, when next to him, Ruth sat up and looked at something far ahead.

  "Isn't that Elizabeth?" She pointed out.

  Garrick turned his head to where she was pointing and sat up too, which was then followed by others.

  "She's so lonely." Aeris said.

  "Oh please, she's with Ricky and his minions. She'll be fine." Belle waved off her concern. Silas nudged her by the foot and shook his head. "Belle, we already talked about this. No more making assumptions about Elizabeth when you barely speak to her."

  It has been a few days after Belle's outburst on Elizabeth's first day in school. Two days later, she apologized for making such accusations when she didn't even talk to her, but she still stood by her opinion and refused to see Elizabeth as the others did.

  "Barely?" Malcolm voiced out in disbelief. He scoffed. "Belle doesn't even acknowledge her existence. She ignores her." The younger boy then let out a dreamy sigh. "Elizabeth is too nice to be ignored. Did you know that she likes to paint? And that she wanted to ride a horse one day, but couldn't because her father does not allow her to– Aeris! Maybe we could invite her over to the farm!"

  Aeris laughed and pushed her brother away. "Looks like someone has a crush on the mayor's daughter." She teased. "Looks like you have some competition, Garrick."