Beyond the Stars

Liam

Liam kept his eyes glued on Antoinette and her friend. Things had changed since they split a year ago. If he could just talk with Annie, maybe they could both move on with their lives.

When it looked like she and her friend were done conversing with the gathering man, Liam cautiously began walking towards them, accidentally cracking twigs as he went along. That grabbed Mariah's attention. Mariah stared down at him like a ferocious tiger as he approached and tapped Annie's shoulder. Annie takes one look at Liam and steps behind her friend. Mariah whispered something to Annie, who in turn nodded. "What do you want," the ink haired girl barked.

Liam put his hands in the air. Jeez, I didn't even say anything and already she's mad at me. "Uh... I just came over to say hi and chat. You know, see how everything's been lately."

"Why are you here?" She barbarously demanded.

"I was going to Detroit for a job interview." Mariah looked as though she thought he was pulling a story out of his ass. "I'm not lying or anything." Liam continued, "I got an interview at GM." He kept his hands up, unsure whether or not it was "safe" to put them down. "Why are you guys here?"

"We were going to Paris for school," Mariah bluntly responded. She narrowed her eyes at him. "Did you know we were on this flight or was it by coincidence?"

"No, no, it was totally by chance that we were in the same plane." Liam glanced at Annie, who was standing right behind Mariah. He sighs, "Look, I'm not here to fight or anything. I know I've done wrong in the past and I want to make it up to you. I know you're probably surprised to see me here, but, uh..."

Annie crossed her arms and leaned towards Mariah, whispering something into her ear. "She wants nothing to do with you." Liam could feel her glaring daggers at him.

"I'm not asking to get back together or anything." As Liam speaks, he recalls all the times when things got violent. "I've gone to counseling..." He utters as the memory of blood and broken glass flashes through his mind. "I've gotten better and I know what I did was wrong and I want to make amends."

"Bullshit! You're just trying to get on Annie's good side so that you can worm your way back into her life," Mariah accuses.

Soon a handful of people were watching the encounter, curious as to what was going on. Others observed them at first, quickly retreating back into their tasks as they believed what was going on was none of their business.

Meanwhile, Elwin just outside the camp gathering sticks with a small party, which included the pilot. Right as he was bending down to pick up a thick one, he heard an angry, "Bullshit!" He jolted up and saw Mariah giving a death glare to some guy in a football jersey and messy brown hair. At her heels stood Annie, noticeably freaked out. Unsure of whether or not to approach them, Elwin looks over to the tiny woman several yards away from him. "Mariah seems pretty pissed at this guy, and Annie looked pretty uncomfortable. Shouldn't we do something?"

The woman looked over towards them. She shrugged, "I don't think we should be getting involved. It'd be one thing if they want to share with us what's been happening. But until that point, their situation has nothing to do with us." She continued to scan the area, finding twigs with brittle leaves.

Elwin wasn't sure if he agreed with her position. On one hand, yeah, he shouldn't butt into other people's private business. But on the other... Annie and Mariah were important members of the group. (Really, everyone was important. But still.) If there was some kind of conflict involving those two, it would probably be in everyone's best interest if it was resolved as quickly as possible. Thing was, Elwin didn't feel like he was qualified to solve a... mystery dispute. Maybe I should let the pilot know. Then tell Cole. They'll probably have a better handle on the situation. Elwin practically skipped his way to the pilot avoiding stepping on sticks. He found the pilot helping a man bag up some dried leaves. "Hey, Mr. Hugh." He looked up, greeted Elwin and told him that he'd be with him in a moment. "Well, I don't need help, personally," Elwin stammered, trying to be quick as to not take too much of Hugh's time. "If you have the chance, would you be able to check on Annie and Mariah? They seem to be really upset with this one guy."

"Will do! Before I do so though, I'm going to need to ask you some questions to assess the situation. Namely if they know the man or not. And if he has been harassing them," Hugh responded without hesitation.

A bystander on the sidelines scoffed at them. "They're just having an argument, what's the problem? Let them settle the score like adults." Elwin and the pilot gave him an agitated glance at him before moving back to their conversation.

Back in the camp, Liam thought to himself, What the fuck?! "No, I'm not. I wanted to explain my side of the story, then get her side of the story. I wanted to apologize too, since I feel I owe her an apology. I thought that maybe this way we could both move on," Liam distraughtly responds.

That gave Mariah some pause. The copper haired girl whispered something to her friend, the only words he could pick up were "lying" and "not sure." Liam finally puts his hands down, with a clap at his thighs. "Look, what do I gotta do to prove to you that I'm telling the truth?"

"You can show us your boarding pass!" Mariah retorted.

Liam fished his phone out from his pocket. He made a few taps on his screen. As soon as he found what he wanted, he gingerly held his phone out towards Mariah and took a few steps towards her. As soon as she had his phone, he quickly took a few steps backward. He could hear her susurrate, "Looks like he wasn't lying about going to Detroit."

Mariah and Annie look at each other for a moment. Annie was not willing to trust Liam and open up to him ever again. Some doors ought to stay shut and locked up for good! The fact that she might have to work with him was sickening to say the least. Despite this, she understood that as an interpreter, there would be the chance of having to cooperate with her ex in order to survive. Her wishing for a different circumstance wouldn't change a thing. Annie, inaudible to anyone else but Mariah said, "I wish someone would just deal with Liam for me." She shuddered, memories of them getting into violent fights flooded her mind. She sniffled. "Oh God, what do we do?"

Fury kept building up within Mariah like water in a kettle. She wanted to punch Liam for making Annie feel the way she did now and in the past. And for having the nerve to approach them with a flimsy excuse! She was sure it was an act to get back into Annie's life and ruin it. She stared at Liam's boarding pass before looking up at Annie. "Okay, here is what I think we should do..."

Liam Cringes. It's so unfair! They're so determined to make me a villain without hearing me out. The women began discussing among themselves and Liam respired. I hope they aren't looking at anything else on my phone. The sweat build up was making his shirt heavy. He pinches it and shakes it a little. Then he put his hands behind his head and cracked his knuckles. He gazes up at the forest canopy. The sun shone through the leaves, painting their shadows on the forest floor. A brisk breeze blew through the encampment, which felt refreshing against the blazing bonfire. Birds chirped in the distance. Liam mumbles to himself, "I hope GM can reschedule the interview..." He lowered his gaze back down to the giant inferno. "Why is it taking so long for a rescue team to get us? Sick of nature already...

No sooner when he finished that thought, someone shrieked. The trio spun around to see two people both holding someone walking back into the camp. The man they were carrying had some kind of injury on his abdomen. He was bleeding profusely, even with his attempts to apply pressure to his wound. He was hacking up blood too. Someone alarmingly asked one of the men who was lifting him what got to him. His answer worsened their fear.

"Something that shouldn't exist on Earth."