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CHAPTER SEVEN
WHEN THE SKY FADED into a shade of deep black, Athena found herself once again all by herself in some distant corner of the camp. Whilst the rest of the group sat around the camp fire, chatting blissfully as they munched on the fish that Andrea and Amy caught, Athena remained perched on a log with her back to the group.
She was in her own little world, the safe place that she had conjured up in her mind that she visited during hard times. But recently she found herself going there more often. Her big brown eyes were glued to her wrist as she studied the small chain wrapped around it, playing with the tiny blue gem attached to the bracelet. The bracelet was the one thing she had with her from her past life and was one of the things that meant most to her.
After the whole ordeal with Jim, they had finally managed to calm him down and help him return to his natural state. Jim appeared to have no idea about the reason to why he was digging, and that made Athena worry if anyone else in the group would start to behave the same.
"You haven't had anything to eat, you hungry?" A voice asked from behind her, causing the young woman to jump a little before she turned quickly. Once she turned, her eyes landed on the bowl of food that was presented to her by an outstretched. A hand that belonged to Shane.
Athena tucked away her bracelet back down her sleeve before sheepishly taking the bowl with a small smile — the food looking too appealing to reject the offer. The young woman was still a little weary around the man but she most definitely wasn't afraid of him. "Thanks."
As the brunette tucked into her food, she felt Shane sit beside her, his hands clasped together before he looked at the young woman. "So what you doing over here all alone, still trying to avoid me?" Shane asked forwardly with an intent stare.
Athena paused, slightly taken aback as swallowed her food slowly. She went to open her mouth in reply but it came out as a stuttered no as she continued to look ahead. Shane nodded with a sorrowful look, fully aware that her response was a lie. "Look, I get it. What I did, it scared you, it scared the others. I mean I even scared myself. But I promise that guy you saw back there, that is not me."
The woman sighed before placing her dish on the floor and finally looking at the man. Instantly she could see how apologetic he was judging by look he was giving her. It was a look that somehow made her feel weak and vulnerable. "I wasn't avoiding you. I was just giving you some space to cool off and to try and get my head around everything. After hearing Jim earlier, about what happened to his family, it just brought back some painful memories."
Shane could see the hurt she was trying to hide, it was a common thing she did and he had slowly started to pick up on it. "You wanna talk about it?"
