Perilous Flames [clifford a.u]

chapter twenty six - into the woods

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX - INTO THE WOODS

I didn't know for how long or for how far I had been in the woods.

My mind didn't pay attention to the minutes or the hours that past by. Not at first when I ran inside of them in, filled with rage that was burning to steam off. Not when my mind was wrapped in an angry state that kept urging me to go back and kick Ashton in the ass.

That was all that I could think of at first when I trekked through the thickly grouped trees. To go back and shove him around until he realizes that he can be a big jerk sometimes.

But in the front of my mind, the more sensible one, kept telling me to cool off. To remind me that people say stupid stuff in the heat of the moment and I just needed to calm down and rethink things.

That's why I was in the woods in the first place--to have some time alone away from Ashton, from training, from everything.

A part of me was a little annoyed that I over reacted about what happened. I shouldn't have burst out like that. I should have just told him firmly what he did was wrong, but clearly the anger in my mind and heart took over too quickly.

Another part of me felt bad. Bad because all Ashton wanted to do was help out. He just wanted to help us prepare for this battle to kill Scarlet, and all I did was tell him off.

And then the other, the very big part of myself, told me that I had the right to and shouldn't feel sorry at all for what I said and did. For one thing, he brought up my dad in the whole conversation. I understood that Scarlet did have a part in the reason why he wasn't alive today, but stopping Michael from retracting the flames had nothing to do with Scarlet. Or my dad. At just the thought of it, the corners of my eyes prickled in frustration.

Ashton had just gone too far in all situations. We had seen what happened to Michael when he ignited the fire for the first time and lost control and yet Ashton still urged him, pushed him to do something that was draining him. I didn't care if I had ruined Michael's concentration. I would never want something like the fever to ever happen again to him just so he could gain control of something that was beyond powerful.

Michael.

My footsteps slowed. My eyes were so fixed on the scattered leaves and dirt on the ground beneath me that I realized that I hadn't paid attention to where I was going.

Stopping altogether, I brought my gaze up to the trees before me. The sunlight streamed in only certain places in the woods, where the leaves at the treetops weren't as clouded and bushed together. And from what I can see in the dim light, everything was the same. There wasn't a large rock at right in the distance or a specific fallen trunk behind me. It was all the same. And I had no clue where I was.

Panic crawled inside my chest. Lost. I was lost.

Usually when I was in the woods, it was never alone. I was with the others and Ashton was almost always among us, leading us inside and out the woods easily with no hassle. And when we were on our own without him, we always carried around a can of spray paint or something that could be marked on trees to remind us of where we were. A way to keep track of the path that would prevent us from getting lost.

You're so screwed Aiden, nice going.

Stopping altogether, I whirled around and started backwards, walking the way that I came from. I knew I had to have walked straight when I first came and that the possibility of me taking any turns was slim. Except for the couple of jumps I had to do over rocks and trenches and large trees I had to dart around, I was sure that I was just walking straight.