The Next to be Taken

Chapter Twenty- Nine

It was now getting late, the sun was going behind the trees and darkening the sky. The air got just a little bit cooler. I walked down a familiar trail I use to take all the time in the woods. Not wanting to be sitting under that tree the whole time, I felt I should take advantage of being out here and actually walk around some.

I asked if Riley wanted to go walk but he was preoccupied with some of the kids that wanted nothing but to play. I dug my hands into my front pockets of my jeans, wondering around and looking at the scenery.
I did keep attention to the direction I was going and made sure I didn't wonder off the trail and get lost.

I pulled up the sleeves on my arms, seeing my busies finally start to fade away little by little. Huh, I guess that stuff Dash gave me really does help. I pulled them back down, covering my slender arms once again.

I heard noises, making me almost completely freeze where I was at. It sounds like something was moving. Forrest creature? Possibly. Person, another possibility. I was debating if I should just walk back out or continue on what I was doing and ignore it. I looked over the area, trying to find what the thing was and where it was coming from.

"So, you decided to choose them?" A voice kinda echoed.

I spun around to come face to face with a familiar person. I eased. "Travis?"

"Yeah," he got off from leaning on a tree and walked up to me. "You know, that person that you were suppose to leave with. The person you could have escaped with." He began to walk around me almost teasingly.

"Travis, I-"

"What? You what?" He snapped at me, spinning back onto his heel to actually look at me. "I thought you were on my side, I thought you wanted to get out of there. We HAD our chance! And you just threw it away!"

"I couldn't just leave them!" I yelled back, clenching my fists.

"Oh no, you became attached." He turned away.

"Come on, Tra-"

"You care about them now don't you?" His dark eyes bored down onto me.

"I-...I.. um.." I was at a lost for words. I didn't expect to find him here or what should I even say. For some reason he was upset at me for not going with him. Why would he need me? What use could I have been?

He shook his head, groaning and continuing his walk in circles around me.
"I tried to help you, Mavis. I tried to get you out of there before you got Stockholm." He wrapped an arm around me, tapping my head with his finger.

I grabbed his hand and pulled it off of me, spinning to face him at the same time. "I'm fine, Travis." I stated firmly. "You don't understand, there's so much that you are missing about all of this."

"Yeah, I'm sure I'm missing a bunch..." He said with sarcasm leaking from his voice, rolling his eyes. He held his hands behind his back.

"Why do you need me anyways? What use am I to you?" I asked him, demanding for him to tell me.

He finally looked at me. "You know living out here can be pretty lonely right? Well, when I was thrown in that little prison I'm sure you are calling home, all I wanted was to get out of there. I was just like you. I looked at you as someone who could help me get out and I wouldn't be alone when I would get back here. I wanted a friend, Mavis. I thought you would be that friend, but I guess I was wrong." He shrugged his shoulders up a little carelessly.

"Travis, did you not see what was happening? I could not leave the kids like that. They needed my help, the littlest I could do was to do something instead of watch them being taken away from Dash and Kent. And by the time you were there, I did want out. But I understand so much more about what is happening in both worlds. Dash is actually doing our kind a favor. A bunch really. This world is not as safe as you think it is."