White Eyes

Chapter 13 - Sea

— Eyder —

I woke up once again minutes before Ayra fell asleep, my head resting on her shoulder. I felt my face grow warm, but realizing she was tired, I slowly lifted my head. She seemed unable to keep her eyes open any longer, and when she finally let her head fall, I pulled her towards my shoulder. I loved letting her rest on my shoulder; it felt great, but I didn't know exactly why, at least not back then.

I stroked her hair, a beautiful shade of snowy white. I found her beautiful, but with each passing day, I was certain she didn't understand it. If she did, maybe things would be different. I kept gazing at her, letting my thoughts flow. I thought about how complicated the next day would be and how careful I needed to be. I still didn't know if the SAHs were on our tail, and it was making me increasingly anxious. If it weren't for Ayra's barrier, they probably would have caught us by now.

It was nice to see her at peace in her dreams. I hoped she had wonderful dreams so she'd have lots of energy for the next day. It was almost here, and I thought, "I just hope Reid is ready," as I nervously poked at the ground with a stick. "Tomorrow, everything needs to go right," I thought, biting my lower lip. Worry was keeping me on edge. The only thing that gave me peace was having Ayra, who created an incredible barrier for all of us. I rested my head against hers. I wanted to sleep a bit more, but it was better not to. So, I continued watching her, a habit that was becoming increasingly difficult to break.

When she woke up, I saw that surprised look in her eyes that she could still see. It was very cute, but it also made me angry—angry at those who had hurt her so much that someone as strong as her was afraid to close her eyes. Our gazes met, and at first, she was surprised that I was watching her, but now she was starting to get used to it.

When we were all ready, we resumed our journey. The sea of trees would soon end, and we would finally see the real sea. It was nearly noon when I realized we had at most three hours left to reach our destination, so we stopped to eat. Ayra seemed distracted by something.

"If you don't mind, could everyone stay silent for a moment?" She asked.

People listened to her, and she was better than my old teacher because she managed to silence 50 people of different ages. But we have to understand that she could kill people; teachers couldn't do that. In the end, I think she was scarier than a school principal, not to mention that everyone there depended on her, even though I knew nothing would go wrong. But they didn't know.

She looked at herself and started walking slowly with her feet relaxed to a spot nearby. She passed through her own barrier, and someone on the other side made a noise, reminding me that the barrier wasn't soundproof. She returned to the middle.

"I want everyone to follow us as before, but make as little noise as possible. I didn't hear any noise from them outside, but it's better to be cautious," she said, then came to me.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"I thought I heard something; are there larger animals around here?"

"Well, there are. It would be nice if your barrier were soundproof."

She looked at me as if I had just come up with the idea of the century, even though I thought it was obvious. Ayra looked at her barrier, then closed her eyes with a brief reluctance. She opened them again and smiled at me. I furrowed my brow.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Problem solved," she said with a huge smile.

"What do you mean?"

"Now we have a soundproof barrier too, but I made it so it only works on one side. So, nobody can hear us, but we can hear them. What a wonderful idea you had."

"You're amazing," I blurted out unintentionally. I put my hand over my mouth and felt my face grow warm. She looked at me in amazement.

"I know my ability is incredible; otherwise, they wouldn't have imprisoned me that way."

"No, I didn't mean your ability is wonderful. I meant you as a person, and I don't take back what I said." She turned her head.

I saw her ears turn red, and I couldn't help but smile. She looked beautiful even when she resembled a tomato. But she didn't mention that we had put up a soundproof barrier, and neither did I, so everyone talked in hushed tones, which was great.

Fifteen minutes later, the noise Ayra had heard turned out to be a large animal—a bear. But everything went well, and we didn't kill it, for those who are wondering. We just made it change its path, and we were safe again. Everyone seemed calmer after finding out that what Ayra had heard was just a bear.

Wow, but just a bear? For someone who was hunted by SAHs, that was nothing. A bear was much easier to handle than those terrible hunters who were always after us. Dealing with humans is much more complicated and laborious than dealing with wild animals, who only follow their instincts.

After about two hours, we began to see the sea on the horizon. It was still a bit far, but we were almost there. It all depended on whether Reid had prepared everything as planned.

I looked at Ayra as we approached to say something that I no longer remember because when I looked at her, I saw her eyes shining, and I remembered. This might be the first time she's seen the sea. I didn't know what her life was like before or how long she spent in the dome, but one thing was certain: This was the first time she had seen the sea in a long time or had ever seen it before. Tears streamed down her face, and she had an expression that showed she had hope, even after all this time.

What I was most eager for was to see her face when our transport arrived, and if everything went as planned, it would be there as soon as I called.

Hello everyone, how are you? I hope you enjoyed the penultimate chapter of part 1!

Don't forget to vote and comment to let me know what you think of the story!

It was a shorter chapter, just with Eyder, but I hope you liked it anyway. Tell me how do you think they will get to that island? I'll respond in the comments!

Have a good weekend and see you next Friday with the last chapter of part 1!