Chapter 2: The man in the forest.

The morning sun shining down on the forest and birds chirping woke Uri up. Although he only slept a little in the early morning, his health had completely recovered.

He stretched and sat up dreamily, looking around. It took him a while to realize where he was and what had happened. Sighing, he splashes water on his face to wake up, then takes out a packet of cookies from his backpack and eats it. The dry crackers were nothing like the delicious hot breakfast Mrs. Jane had, which his mother made for him and his sister every morning.

After eating, Uri jumped off the tree branch and started moving forward. He had to find the wooden house he and Clement had built three years ago to shelter from the harsh summer sun. The wooden house is very close to a small stream, surrounded by a fence of climbing roses, and inside there is a small courtyard.

In this dense forest, Uri could not locate him. The fastest way to know the location was to open the phone to locate, but if he did, he would indeed be discovered by the other people and continue to chase. So now that he wanted to find the wooden house, he only had to search for that small stream.

Uri walked quickly; he stepped on the grass, still wet with night dew, deep into the forest. During the day, the sound of birds chirping on the trees makes the forest more lively and joyful than at night.

Wandering until noon, when the sun shone vertically down the treetops, Uri still had not found the small stream. He tiredly sat down on a tree stump, took out water and food from his backpack, and leaned back against the tree to eat and rest.

When Uri felt that his health had recovered, he stood up and continued to search for the spring. Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance, making him jump in fear. He thought he had escaped the pursuers but did not expect him to hide in the forest; they still found him.

He immediately turned around; his arms hurriedly turned the forest trees, and he ran as fast as possible. He knew that with his speed, those people wouldn't be able to catch up unless they deliberately set a trap.

But all of a sudden, that person did not lag. Even if Uri used all his speed to run, that person still followed him, and they were only a few trees apart.

Uri was surprised; this was the first time someone had caught up with him. Running for a long time in the forest, Uri was so tired that he was out of breath; his heart was pounding, but the strange man was still clinging right behind. If he kept running, Uri couldn't escape the man either, so he finally decided to stop, ready to face the pursuer.

"Who are you? Why are you chasing me?" Uri hunched over, panting, and looked at the strange man with angry eyes.

"I'm someone like you." The man stopped, too; he was standing behind a tree, and his deep black eyes did not reflect the light. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you!"

Uri did not understand what the man said. "Like me?"

"Don't you see how much we have in common?" The man gave a friendly smile.

"I don't feel we are the same. If you want to arrest me, there's no need to say that." Uri wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking at the man with sarcastic eyes.

"So you were discovered and killed by them?" The man took a step forward.

Uri stepped back, shouting: "Don't come here. Why do you want to kill me?"

The man immediately stopped to look at Uri, lowering his voice very low:

"Boy, calm down. I'm not harming you; I'm not the one who chased you."

"Don't lie to me. I don't believe you." Uri retreated deeper into the bushes behind, "Let me go! I want to go home."

"Boys." The man stood still and looked at Uri. "I understand your situation; you have no idea why you were chased and killed. Please listen to me. I have the same running speed as you; I can see in the dark, my skin will burn when the sun shines on it, and my eyes will turn red when angry. Do you understand what I am saying? You and I are alike!"

Uri looked at him in surprise; what he said were the diseases he had suffered since birth. "I don't understand what you mean. You and I are not the same, and the doctor diagnosed me with an illness; I will recover after treatment."

The man laughed loudly. "The person who adopted you was so good; even the doctor lied to you."

"No one cheated on me," Uri shouted angrily, his eyes gradually red.

The man ignored Uri's anger and continued to ask, "Have you ever found out about your illness?"

"I researched and asked the doctor, but this is a rare disease, so there is not much information," Uri replied honestly.

"So you and I have the same running speed, many times faster than humans. How do you explain it?" The man asked

Uri thought for a moment; he still didn't understand what this strange man wanted to say. "It could be random."

The man laughed again. "Random? If you want, I'll show you there are more people like you and me."

"What do you want to say?" Uri was highly annoyed. He felt this strange man was like a predator playing with his small prey.

"Okay, then I'll tell you, you and I are not human, so that I won't harm you; I will help you." He held out his hand in front of him. "My name is Egan."

Uri was surprised. He glared at him, and his words were paranoid. "Not humans? Do you think I'm a three-year-old child?"

"I did not deceive you. You also know you're not like a normal person, don't lie to yourself." He brought his hand closer. "Let's get to know each other!"

Uri did not dare to shake his hand; he stood still in place, and his heart seemed to stop beating. He was right; from a young age, he knew he was not like the people in his family and the people around him. So if he's not human, then what is he? After a while, he regained his composure and stammered:

"My name is Uri… Uri Miller."

"Oh, a human surname, you were raised by humans, no wonder you don't know who you are, and you don't know the danger humans bring to us." The man pulled his hand back, shoving it in his pocket. "Come with me. I will take you to meet people like us."

Uri did not want to go with this strange man. After the chase, he did not dare to trust anyone.

"I don't want to go with you!"

The man named Egan wasn't angry; he was sympathetic. "I know you don't believe me, but if I wanted to catch you, you wouldn't be able to escape. Humans might have difficulty catching you, but I don't."

Uri silently looked at Egan because what Egan said was true.

Feeling the confusion in Uri's eyes, Egan smiled gently and said:

"Believe me; it is hazardous for you to continue wandering in the forest alone. The Red Leaves have found you and won't let you go."

Surprised Uri, the people chasing him are the same organization that Egan said.

"Those people belong to the Red Leaves? But why do they want to kill me?"

"There's a lot you don't know. If you want to know, follow me, I won't hurt you." Egan said, then turned and walked away, quickly disappearing behind the thick bushes.

Uri didn't want to go with Egan, but the truth was that he would be in danger if he roamed the forest alone. Furthermore, he needed to know what the Red Leaf organization was and why they wanted to kill him. So Uri immediately ran after Egan.