Judging You ✔

Chapter 4 ~ A Sense Of Security

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With a conscious thought, Akira realized that she wasn't dead. Her eyes blinked several times before they fully adjusted to the glowing sunrays, meeting branches and leaves. Every muscle seemed sore after the accident. She sobbed in pain as her hand remained steady on her tender limb. As slowly as possible, she tried sitting on the hard ground, wailing in pain.

Her blue skinny jeans, white shirt and pink jacket were covered in soil particles. She shook them off and observed her surroundings. There was no sign of her friends or the van. It's only then her blurry memory recalled that she had removed her seatbelt, some people were shooting at them, the van flew in the valley and she had fallen out when the van was tumbling over and over.

It was purely luck that she has survived the crash.

Breathing heavily she wanted to stand but for the moment her legs have given way to gravity. They were shaky and weak. She placed her hand on the nearby tree to support her crippled body and finally managed to get up. She wiped off her tears and limped forward. She has to find her friends no matter what.

With all the energy she has mustered, she ventured into the woods trying to find a way. She could be on the right path or lost as well but she didn't lose hope. However after barely an hour of wandering here and there, Akira stopped. She couldn't walk any further. Exhaustion and thirst were literally killing her.

She roamed her eyes around when her exhaustion transformed into fear when they caught a snake lying on the ground. By its enormous size she concluded that it's an anaconda, one of the most dangerous reptiles in the world.

Fear had engulfed her to the core but it was her father's words that were standing in front of her like a shield. 'Always face fear with courage, understand it and then let it go.' Her instinct advised her to make the minimum sound possible so as not to attract its attention towards her. Her eyes remained fixed on the beast as she walked backwards until she could no longer see it.

Akira sprinted at bolt's speed to create an utmost distance between her and the anaconda. Turning her head to look behind, she collided into someone. Her hands wrapped around his neck while his were around her waist in a fraction of a second.

Akira stared at the stranger, trying to read his enigmatic features while panting at the same time. Unknowingly she felt a sense of security in his arms, like he meant no harm for her. He helped her standing on her feet and removed his hands.

"Thank you," she said extending her hand forward. "I'm Akira Malik." He returned the hand shake and said, "Han Issam."

She removed her hand from his grip carefully.

"What are you doing in the woods alone?" He asked and Akira narrated the incidents that occurred since the morning.

"Don't worry. I'm sure your friends are alright but right now we need to go. It will be nightfall soon," he said with a thick Asian English accent.

Akira kept following him as he was her only resort. She has to trust him or she'll end as the anaconda's dinner by nightfall.

Taking long strides, Han walked so fast that sometimes Akira had to run after him. To diminish fearful thoughts, she decided of engaging into a conversation with him.

"So are you from China?"

"Why do every white people think that an Asian guy has to be from China?" He asked her very calmly, not sounding offended at all while Akira mentally face palmed herself as it was probably a dumb question to ask someone she recently met. She can do better than this.

"I could be a Malaysian, Filipino, Nepalese, Japanese or even an American you know."

"Sorry." She muttered and decided to not ask anything else. However he turned his head behind and said with a smile, "I'm from Tokyo by the way."

"That's nice. So do you drift, you know like in the movie Tokyo Drift?"

"Seriously how old are you Akira?"

"Eighteen."

"No wonder." Akira felt sarcasm in his remarks and confronted him. "How old are you?"

"Thirty."

She was totally surprised by his answer as she has expected he was almost the same age as Adam, in his early twenties. They didn't say anything else until they found themselves in front of a cabin. It looked very small and old from the outside.

"Come in," said Han.

Rule number one never takes or accepts any stranger's offer, but the situation Akira was in, she had no other choice. Till now Han has been a gentleman and even if she doesn't want to, she's forced to trust him.

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