The Immortals

Chapter Twenty-Four: Heart To Heart

Chapter Twenty-Four

There is a very strange thing about the clue; it tells us exactly where to go. It’s not so much a clue as it is a direction; there’s no problem solving behind it, it’s a straight up go there. It wants us to travel to a small town about half a day away from where we are now.

            “So are we going to go?” Leda asks.

            “We don’t have much of a choice,” I say. “We’ve come too far just to turn back now, there’s too much at stake.”

            They nod in agreement.

            “Should we break for the night or keep going?” Maya asks.

            “We should get out of here,” Tiffany shivers, “this place creeps me out.”

            We agree to head out and break for the night once we get to our destination. So, we set off into the woods heading for our run-down destination.

            As a pack we run without stopping until we reach the outside of the little town. When I was really young this now deserted town used to be alive, it had occupants. There would be parties and dances held here all the time but soon the population started to dwindle, to the point it was desolate. The once thriving little town had lost its appeal.

            I think it’s beautiful; the old buildings sitting on the side of the street, and the tall oaks and pines son every corner gives it a homey feeling. If there were people here I believe they would be a tight-knit community; everyone willing to help one another.

            We have some sort of that in our own community but it’s trailed off from what it used to be. My parents used to tell me stories of how it was when they were kids; it was a lot different. People wanted to do things for one another; now it’s more for yourself, or something that will benefit yourself in the long run. No one does anything to just help another person.

            I’m pretty sure it was when the prophecy came into effect that things really changed.

            “Should we stop here?” Felix asks.

            I nod in response, sitting myself down on the ground. Almost everyone drifts off easily; today has gone way beyond stressful, that sleep is a possibility due to pure exhaustion. I don’t though and only one other person doesn’t.

            I shift over so I’m sitting next to Felix.

            “So how are you dealing with all of this?” I ask him, waiting for him to answer. After a long pause he lifts his head.

            “I really don’t know,” he says.

            “Well, how do you feel about Skylar being taken,” I say.

            “It’s horrible but truthfully I don’t know how I’m feeling,” he says. “I wish she wasn’t taken but I’m not completely broken down and I feel bad about it.”

            “Why,” I ask. I should probably be asking him why he would say that out of spite of being Skylar’s friend but I just can’t help it, my curiosity gets the best of me.

            “I don’t know,” he says. “I think I like her more as a friend than anything else.”

            He winces at the end of the sentence like he’s expected to be scolded for saying so.