"Mother...Mama! Mama, where are you?! No!" Sophie cried. She wanted to jump to the little depleted pebble. 'Mama... Mama needs me... I should be with her," she wept uncontrollably. Axel hugged her behind her back.
"Take it easy, Soph! Please calm down." The boy was trying to calm her down. Sophie was pulling, but his embrace was strong. He wouldn't let her go. He wasn't going to let her go for anything in the world. The fight that they had earlier melted away. Now all he wanted to do was to protect her.
"Mama..."Sophie fell to the ground. Tears streamed down her face.
"I'm sure your mama's okay. Come on, please don't cry. She wouldn't want you to cry. You will see her again. I promise. So come on, smile!" Mariana squatted next to her and pardons her.
Marnie pressed her belly with her hand. She still couldn't breathe well. Even though there was more oxygen here, the girl could barely catch her breath. But still, she smiled at Sophie to make her feel better.
"Mama...Mama is fine, right?" a child's hope appeared in Sophie's wet eyes. She was acting like a small kid.
"Yes, she's fine. I'm sure of it! We're going to sleep here in peace today. Come on, get up. Come and wash your face with the water from the lake. You will feel much better!" Mariana replied and smiled warmly.
Something in her gentle smile calmed Sophie down. She stopped crying and Axel let her out of his arms. Marnie helped her get back on her feet.
'It hurts... so... very...much' Mariana could barely breathe. She was so much in pain. But she still stayed straight on her feet. 'No... I have to help her. Then I'll think of myself.' it was one of the specific things about her personality – she always thought of others before herself. This had often cost her health. She bravely moved on and led Sophie to the lake.
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Ron was watching Mariana from the sidelines. He wished he could run to her and catch her. For the first time in years, he was willing to hug someone to help. He took one step, full of desire, but stopped nailed to the spot. 'No... I know what will happen if I get close to her...I can't...' the boy thought. His eyes were darker than usual. He wondered why Florencio hadn't already gone to her to help her. 'I... I can't get near her... I can only watch her from the distance...'
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Isabelle was worried about her friend. And also, for her parents. Since Thomas disappeared, they had only her, their most precious little girl. Now, who knows if they were okay. The girl was sitting sadly on one of the stumps near the fire. But she couldn't feel the heat at all.
Before she knew it, Lucas sat next to her. The girl could feel him breathing heavily. 'He's obviously still in pain,' she thought and looked at him. Their eyes met. She lowered her head, recalling how she had saved him....the girl froze in place, as a terrifying thought went through her head.
"If Valentina is right and we're not in a digital world....and if we're actually alive here....that means if we die here, we'd die in the real world!" her eyes filled with tears, and she looked frightened at Lucas, "You... you could have died from the bite! Or worse, could have become a vampire and never be the nice and generous human you are again!
" And you did everything just to protect me! I can't believe it! You could've disappeared! No, no, no! No way!" Isa shouted. The thought that Lucas could have been hurt because of her was driving her crazy.
"So that's what happened. I have wanted to protect you. I expected it to be the reason. Even if I knew this world could hurt us for real, I would still do it. Otherwise, you'd get hurt, and I would never let that happen," Lucas said softly and gently hold her arm. It was so warm and tender.
Iza stopped crying. The shock was stronger than the sadness. The girl looked stunned at her best friend. She didn't trust her ears. Lucas continued:
"Well. We finally found out the reason. Now tell me what happened next? How come I didn't become a vampire? How is that even possible? And don't cry, you little charmer! I'm fine now!" he smiled at her and wiped away her tears.
Iza's head came to the memory of the kiss. Out of shame, she stepped back. Lucas's hand stayed in the air. "Iza? What is it?" the confused boy asked.
'Tell him! Come on, tell him! He will understand. You see the way out of the tough situations. You can do it!' an unfamiliar voice said in her mind. She got up on her feet. There was a shock in her grey eyes.
'Who...? who's talking? Get out of my mind! You're wrong! It's going to get so bad... he'll get me wrong!' she replied furiously to the voice.
'But you have to do it!' the voice kept talking without saying who it was or what it was. A strong green light showed in her mind. It was so bright that it dazzled her.
"Isa... Stop scaring me like that....what's wrong?" Lucas slowly stood up. He tried to grab her arm. She backed away.
"Not... can't. I... I can't say that... I can't!" Isa was not herself yet. She hadn't heard Lucas' voice at all.
The girl was scared of the voice and the sound was increasing even more with every second. She ran with his eyes closed to the dark. The green light still shone in her mind and dazzled her. The voice kept whispering. 'Don't run away from your destiny. You have to do the right thing. You have to tell him!' it was so insistent that she couldn't hear her own thoughts anymore.
Isabelle squatted on the ground. Lucas had caught up with her and was quietly standing behind her. He was about to hug her and ask her what was wrong with her when she whispered "Please. Leave me alone!" and cried.
Even though it was a quiet whisper, Lucas heard her words. He froze on the spot, not knowing that she wasn't talking to him. A lump got stuck in his throat. He looked sadly at his dear Isabelle. He was divided over whether to leave her or hug her despite her words. But he gave up, leaving his desire and turned around.
'Okay. I will do as you wish. I will leave you for now. But just so you know, that's how you drive him away too,' the voice whispered. The light has finally disappeared. Iza was breathing calmly again and she wasn't crying.
She raised her head sharply and looked behind her. Lucas was walking away with his head tilted to the ground. He looked overwhelmed. The girl held out her hand to his direction. She imagined grabbing him while she was closing her hand. She put her hand close to her heart. She lowered her head and a lonely tear rolled down her cheek.
'I'm... I really don't know how I feel or what I want...' there were so many thoughts in her brain that her head hurt again.
She stayed a little bit longer alone with herself in the darkness. Eventually, Valentina came to her and cuddled her. She asked her what was wrong, but Isa didn't say a word. In the end, Tina gave up on persevering. She told her the dinner was ready and helped her get up.
The girls went to the others. A small pan of iron stood on the fire, full of vegetables. Near the campfire, there were small wooden bowls and metal utensils.
"How... what do you mean, there are utensils?" Isa asked astonishingly.
"I created the wood bowls! Unbelievable, isn't it? And Lucas created the pan and the cutlery! Can you believe he's capable of that now?" Valentina replied and clapped her hands happily.
Iza looked at Lucas. He looked exhausted. 'The iron creation probably takes out all of his energy…is he alright?' the girl asked herself in her mind. He didn't look at her at all. That made her feel sad.
The girl sat quietly and stared at the flames of the campfire. She looked at the others.
Sophie was better now and was speaking with Mariana and Theresa. That way the girls were distracting her from the problems.
Even Ron was talking with Stefan while he was giving Mariana secret glances if she was feeling better or worse. Sadly, she didn't notice them. Valentina felt strong feelings in the air too but didn't guess that it was from Ron.
Laura was having fun too. She was thinking about telling a scared story which would be perfect for a campfire. The others were waiting for it while chilling.
Everyone was happy even through these heavy days. Only Isa and Lucas weren't talking to each other. The misunderstanding had made them sad and they didn't want to fix it.