Chapter 4: The Chase

“No.”

“No?”

Adira shook her head, “Brax is…”

She hesitated. Telling this complete stranger about her brother seemed like a bad idea, even if he didn’t seem to mean her any harm. He would simply have to deal with the lack of explanation and wonder why his nickname was such an issue for her, just another part of her intrigue and mystery.

“I’m not calling you Brax.”

Braxton raised an eyebrow, “Why not?”

“I said no! That is reason enough!” Adira snapped, frustrated by the man’s pestering as if he was entitled to answers and she should spill her guts to him simply because he had questions.

At least he seemed to get the message from her outburst. Braxton stepped back a little to give Adira some more space. She wasn’t sure if he actually understood or was just caught off guard by the way she snapped at him but she didn’t particularly care; she had only just met this man and he meant nothing to her. Adira liked to think that she was a good and nice person but something about Braxton frustrated her without the man really having to do anything at all.

“There she is!”

Adira gasped when she heard that yell. She would recognise his voice anywhere.

“Guard Breeley,” she whispered, frozen in place for just a moment before she started to run.

Footsteps close behind Adira let her know that Braxton was following her but he wasn’t her main issue right now. If he wanted to follow her, as long as he wasn’t threatening to get her caught, she had bigger problems.

“Where are we going?”

“I am getting away from these guards. They aren’t after you, ya know?”

Braxton scoffed and Adira wanted to slap him for his patronising tone when he responded, “You really think they are going to let me go? They saw me with you, Red, they aren’t going to let me go that easy.”

With shame, Adira realised that she hadn’t considered this. It wasn’t as if she had the time to think properly about what was happening but the thought of Braxton being impacted, being in danger, was one which hadn’t crossed her mind for even a second. She was much more concerned about how she was going to get out of this alive when, for now at least, it seemed like the two of them were stuck in this together.

“Fine. Whatever.”

Braxton mumbled something under his breath but he quickly shut up when Adira glanced back at him. Part of her wondered if her initial perception of him had been wrong but she had never been wrong about a feeling like that one before. Reading people came as naturally to her as breathing and for it to fail her now-

STOP THINKING! YOUR LIFE'S ON THE LINE!

The guards were following them closely, there was no hope that they would simply outrun them. Things may be that simple for Braxton but Adira was tired, she was sore, her senses were overwhelmed after so long of barely being used and the minimal water she had managed to get at the stream was only a temporary fix for her dehydration, one that running had quickly undone. Every step Adira took felt like she was being stabbed but she would take the illusion over the reality and likely worse consequences she would have to face if she was caught. Still, determination wasn’t enough to hide the fact that her body was tired and it was slowing her down.

“Stop running, Adira! It’s not too late to work this out!”

Somehow she didn’t believe that. Maybe it was the way that the excessive weaponry they were carrying clashed as they chased her, but they weren’t exactly inspiring her good will. If she turned back now, she would be killed, she was almost certain of that. Even Braxton wasn’t safe anymore and for some reason that knowledge inspired her to keep running.

This man was a complete stranger, she shouldn’t care what happens to him, but for some reason even just the idea of leaving him behind filled her with guilt. After all, the guards weren’t after him; not until she got involved that is. Whatever happened to him now, if it was by the hand of the guards, was her responsibility. They both had to get out of this. She wouldn’t sacrifice herself for him but she wouldn’t let her past bring him down either.

Exhaustion began to creep in as the duo weaved through the trees. Adira thought she had known exhaustion before but even her worst levels of fatigue in the past didn’t match this. This was the kind of exhaustion that made her dizzy and brought along a stomach ache. The edges of her vision seemed to blur just slightly and the young woman wasn’t sure how she was still upright.

Push through. Trust in yourself, Adi.

Her brother’s voice rang in her head. It was a gentle and encouraging moment from their youth. Perhaps when Adira was learning to ride a bike and struggled to push through her anxiety around taking the training wheels off. Or perhaps it was when she was struggling with procrastination when she tried to work on her school project. Maybe it was neither. She had been in the warehouse for so long that remembering her life before had turned from a comfort to even more pain. Reminding herself of what she had lost only intensified her grief; forgetting, though likely unhealthy, was the least painful option.

So she gave in. She let go of her memories so she didn’t have the constant reminder of joy to compare her pain to.

Now it was different.

The memory, Brax’s voice itself, was the only thing keeping her from giving up. It was the only thing standing between Adira and the hell the guards would inflict upon her the moment she was caught and it drove her forward. Through the trees. Past the clearing.

“Oh no.”

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Braxton’s voice and she looked up from the ground, instantly seeing what the issue was.

The two of them were surrounded by guards on three sides. The fourth? Not an option either. The two of them had found themselves facing the edge of a cliff and, unless a bridge appeared out of thin air, their only other options were through the guards. Adira didn’t like those chances at all.

She cautiously stepped forward. With her unsteady vision, getting closer to the drop was likely not the best idea but she had nothing to lose right now. She peered over the edge, trying to assess whether the torture of the guards or the probable injuries from a fall off the cliff would be a less painful way to go.

There was a river running below, a pleasant surprise though Adira wasn’t sure how much good it would really do. It didn’t help her get away from the guards safely and offered no real benefits for someone who was about to die other than a pleasant final view.

“We’ve got to jump.”

“WHAT?!”

Adira was horrified by the idea. It certainly wasn’t a small drop and she couldn’t remember the last time she had been swimming. What if her body failed to help her swim like it refused to let her tap into her senses? She would have no choice but to trust Braxton, to hope that he wouldn’t leave her behind. 

Trust him and risk him leaving her to die or face the guards and hope, naively, that they would show her mercy? Neither seemed like a good option but one had a slightly lower chance of death and Adira would settle for self preservation right now.

“Shit.”

She took a deep breath and took hold of Braxton’s outstretched hand, closing her eyes as he jumped and simply allowing herself to be pulled down with him.