Chapter Five: Uncanny Reunion

JULIA

I warily stared at the back of the cloaked man while walking alongside Zeke in the forest. The man—or boy looked young and he kept looking back at us and stealing glances at me and Zeke. I can’t help but wonder who this boy was and how Zeke knew him. I’m not even sure if going with him is safe right now.

I walked closer to Zeke and whispered, “Are you sure we can trust this guy? Do you really know him?”

Zeke looked down at me with his usual expression and nodded. His nod did not reassure me. He looked like he didn’t know what he was doing. He was trapped in a cave for so long so maybe he doesn’t know how much the world changed. People are scarier now, and even though I have no memories of it, it was quite obvious.

“I don’t know if we could trust him, Zeke. He might be a scary person and try to harm us.” I tell him but I only heard a snort from the boy and a smirk growing on Zeke’s face. He stared at the path head-on and whispered something I barely heard.

“Everything in this forest knows who they should fear.”

My face soured and looked at the path in front of us. It looked like he was leading us deeper into the forest. The trees were getting taller and the leaves were getting thicker which did not let the sun penetrate into the woods. The air was cold and the ground was damp.

Most importantly, as soon as we entered this part of the forest, the hair at the back of my neck started to stand up. There were eyes looking at us, or at least it felt like it. Sometimes I could see movements and peek at the side of my eyes which made me even more uncomfortable. Both the people I’m with didn’t look like they were bothered, even one bit. They looked as if they were used to this kind of environment.

I started to notice how Zeke was starting to grow restless. His jaw was clenched and his hands were balled into fists. He looked straight ahead and rolled back his shoulders as if he was preparing himself for a fight. I realized that he could feel it too. The eyes and the ominous aura were all around the forest they were in. It was as if they entered a guarded territory where they weren’t welcome.

“Don’t worry, Zeke, I’ll protect us both.”

Zeke turned to me looking bewildered. I even saw the boy stumbled in his tracks when I said that. But I knew that it was my responsibility. I brought Zeke out to the world and brought him in this situation. He may have been too naïve and was scammed by this boy but I was ready to take responsibility for whatever was going to happen.

“No, you stay behind me,” he shortly told me without batting an eye and pulled me close to him. I suddenly jumped back when I felt a spark of electricity the moment his skin touched mine, and I knew that he felt it too because he pulled away.

“I—I can manage,” I stuttered and briefly smiled at him. We stopped in our tracks when the boy in front of us also stopped. When I turned, a man was standing in front of us with a long scar on the side of his face. The boy who was in front of us suddenly kneeled down in his presence.

“I knew you were coming when my scar started to hurt,” the man said in a low snarling sound. “You shouldn’t have come back here, brother.”

“Brother?” I muttered which caught his attention. He looked down at me and a sheepish smile appeared on his face. He tilted his head with an amused expression and exchanged looks with Zeke.

“A human, eh?” he said. “You even brought us a meaty one.”

I couldn’t help but scoff at his remark. “Excuse me?”

I looked at him with a bewildered expression and looked back at Zeke who had his eyes glued to the man in front of us. Soon after, the bushes rustled and people started coming out of them and making their way to surround us. They had a feral look and some even licked their lips when my eyes met theirs. I started to grow restless and scared but couldn’t let Zeke see it.

As they started to get close, I couldn’t help but also stumble back closer to Zeke.

“Get away,” I warned them and looked at the man in front of us. “I don’t know who you are but you should leave us alone.”

The man raised his brow at me and laughed as if he was mocking me.

“No, little mouse, you were the one who stepped into our territory. Whatever we do with you is your own fault.”

“We didn’t know!” I raised my voice at him and tried to intimidate him but it feels like my shaking knees gave it away. He did not even budge.

“I doubt that this guy didn’t know,” he said. “This guy willingly walked in here knowing what would happen to him.”

“Zeke,” I called out in a shaky voice. I was starting to feel scared and I could help but call out his name. He was just standing behind me all this time looking unbothered but the tension was starting to get heavy and I felt like I couldn’t handle a situation like this any longer.

I yelped when someone tried to reach out to me and grazed my arm. My heart felt as if it was going to jump out of my chest but before he could actually hold on to my arm, Zeke pulled him away from me. Everything happened so fast that when I blinked, I saw the guy flying meters back across the forest. I couldn’t help but gasp.

Zeke did that? But how?

“Oh, I see what’s happening here.” The man with a scar on his face walked closer. “You are actually gatekeeping your prey.”

“Where is Mikael, Carl? I have no business with you,” Zeke firmly said. “Take me to him.”

“Are you crazy or what?” the scarred man named Carl asked back. “Why would I do that when I have my chance to kill you right here? You won’t be able to see him until I rip your body into shreds.”

“My patience is running thin, Carl.”

I felt confused and scared. Two big men were talking about killing in front of me. I was more scared because even if we got into a fight, I knew that we wouldn’t win. This Carl had a whole group of people behind him. We were outnumbered by a large amount.

“Zeke, let’s get out of here,” I told him and held on to his arm. “I don’t want any of this.”

“Too late, the moment you stepped in you can never get out alive.” Carl must have heard what I said and nodded at the people surrounding us. They were hesitant about closing in on us after what happened to the last guy but here they are with their fighting stance.

“Zeke, please, let’s get out of here,” I told him with more urgency now. My grip on his arm was getting tighter and tighter as I was tugging him and pulling him back but he just wouldn’t budge. I didn’t want to die here. I didn’t want to die without even knowing what happened to me or why I lost my memories.

“Zeke, please,” I begged.

“Enough, both of you.” A loud booming voice was heard across the forest and made everyone retreat. Carl snarled and retreated back, his deathly glare remaining on Zeke while the others fled back into the forest, leaving us alone.

I could feel Zeke’s muscles tense up under my touch when he heard that voice, and when I looked up at him, I saw his eyes glow for a moment until they returned back to their original color. I blinked my eyes to see if I was hallucinating but the color of his eyes was just the usual. Maybe I was just imagining stuff because I was panicking.

A group of people walked in on us with a very tall man leading them. Behind him were a number of at least five people with two females. I have never seen females this attractive before. They were all so tall and slender. Their features were sharp and charming and they had these fantastic bodies. Even the men were ripped and tall but they weren’t as bulked up as Zeke.

“Mikael,” Zeke muttered with distaste. His voice had venom and the way he said his name seemed as if he hated every part of his whole being. I dropped my hand off of his arm and slightly stepped back. He looked like a different person, a person way different than who she was with these couple of days. I didn’t realize how much a person could change this in such a short amount of time.

“Long time no see, brother.”

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END