EDEN (Completed) (EDEN Series Book 1)

Chapter 18

After hours of walking, the sun begins its departure to hiding behind the tree line. Dusk rolls across the sky, painting it like a warmly covered canvas. My feet feel like they're about to fall off and my stomach is rumbling as loud as that earthquake earlier.

"So, can we find some food? Don't even tell me to eat some berries, or leaves, or something," Decoy says.

"It's getting dark, we should find a nice place to camp, then if we're lucky, we can snag a rabbit or a deer," Snap replies.

Heading into the woods, the sun is all but erased from the sky, and the moon starts to glimmer with brilliant luminosity. Sol falls to her knees, groaning with pain. Everyone stops and watches, but doesn't come to her aid.

"Kill us... if... you... have to..." Sol pleads.

Us? Who is she talking about? Her hair turns a deep, dark purple. Her naturally olive-touched skin becomes an almost glowing, pale ivory. Her groaning resides, as she slowly picks herself up. She surveys the area, with a sense of confidence that looks foreign on her.

"The hell you starin' at?" She asks me.

"Uh, nothing, but, are you okay, Sol? I question. She looks at me, discontentedly.

"You're new here, so I won't kill ya. Insult me like that again, and you'll be six feet under, got it, kid?"

Am I missing something here? Her voice has become heavy and raspy. I thought her and I were friends. It seems I was mistaken. She has to be sick or something, right?

"Now, Luna, give our sister a break." Aroma says.

Luna looks me up and down, trying to decide whether she should accept me.

"I seen your little chains, what else ya got?"

"I don't know, really," I respond.

"You wanna die out here, kid?" She asks, swirling a purple fireball in her hand.

"What-" before I can finish my sentence, she hurls the flames at me. I brace myself and fall to one knee as a large black wall blocks the fire. It raises without me even trying to conjure it, almost instinctively.

"What the hell?!" I shout.

"Ah, so ya got that, too. Not bad, kid."

She tries to walk past Snap, who extends his frozen arm out, blocking her path.

"Ya wanna go, snow cone?" She says.

"I'm sure you remember what happened last time," he replies.

She smiles at him, running the back of her palm softly on his cheek. Snap grabs her by her wrist and rips it away. She licks her lips at him and ignites her hand, freeing herself from his grasp.

"You always did make me hot, snappy boy."

He scoffs and turns away from her. Decoy comes to my side, me still trying to get up. His hand extends to me. I almost don't want to take it; I don't want to look weak.

"Told you it would be more fun this way," he says, helping me to my feet.

"How does she know about my chains?"

"She sees and hears everything Sol does, like a messed up t.v. show where you have to watch your life without having any control over your actions. We've only been graced by her presence a handful of times," Decoy responds.

Great, another person I have to win over. I don't know if I want to befriend her, she seems so reckless. What if I didn't react in time to block the fireball? I want Sol back, I really, really want her back. I wonder if she has to watch through Luna's eyes, too. I thought losing control was a burden, but she has absolutely no control at all. I guess I should count my blessings.