Peering out of his room, Rai looks to his left and then to his right.
It had been a day after his discussion with Dahlia, but his mind still wandered to how the siblings are faring in Hilden.
'I have to check it out for myself!'
Click!
He winced at the low sound of his door's lock.
Making a front flip to hide behind another wall, he watches Mae walking down the corridor.
Yawn!
Mae stops in her tracks, feeling something odd had transpired behind her.
Placing her hand on the metal wall, she closed her eyes as she listened to any form of disturbance.
She furrows her brows in confusion as she mutters, "I could have sworn I heard something."
Shrugging it off as a part of her imagination, she skips along while humming a melody.
Phew!
Rai let out a sigh of relief. Crawling towards the exit, reaching for the door handle.
"I knew it would be you!"
Rai's hand froze at the sound of Mae's voice.
Stiffly turning his head to his side, his eyes bulge at how close she had been in closing the distance between them.
"Fuck no!" He exclaims, pushing back, pressing his hand onto his chest, and hyperventilating.
Mae had a bright smile as she gave a body scan, "there's something metallic on you."
Rai looks to his side, shaking his head in denial but his hand over his pocket proves his words false.
He had not realized something as little as a flash drive could be detected by her so easily.
With his brows raised, he asks, "you put up an act?"
Pointing at his hand over his pocket, she stood on her tiptoes, "what's in your pocket?"
Dodging her attempts to pull on his hand, he took three steps back. "I didn't come this far to be distracted."
Mae's lips broke into a mischievous grin. "You're sneaking out, aren't you?"
"A stroll out for fresh air." Rai Immediately responds with a lie.
Snnf!
Snff!
"What are you doing?" Rai asks, subconsciously taking a sniff of the air.
"I wanted to test if there was bad air here," Mae explains, stifling a laugh.
Rolling his eyes, he clicked his tongue. "I don't have time for this."
Pulling on the door handle, he had one leg over the threshold when Mae spoke up.
"Does Dahlia know you need to get some fresh air?"
Looking behind him, he noticed her making air quotes in the latter part.
"I believe we are all entitled to freedom of movement." He answers through gritted teeth.
Shrugging at his words, Mae shoves her hand into her pocket, throwing four silver coins at him.
Catching them, Rai raised a brow as to the reason she had given him coins.
"While you go get some fresh air, could you get me a bottle of milk? I've been craving for some for a while now."
"You are two coins short." Rain complains.
"Would you want Dahlia to know of your little stroll?" Mae threatens with a sweet smile.
Forcing an eye-shut smile, Rai walks out, closing the door behind him.
Their settlement was situated deep into the forest, surrounded by a maze-shaped path separated with high hedges created with the help of Dahlia.
Pulling out a map from his pocket, he locates several landmarks that his teammates had placed on trees, rocks, and footpaths to make it easier for them to navigate their way through it with ease.
At the sight of the city neon lights ahead, he hurriedly made his way to the next landmark.
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Stepping onto the pavement, he pulls his hood over his hair to keep a low profile while watching each person walk past him.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, he gives thought to how he could locate the siblings.
Counting his steps, he ponders over a thought, 'what would I do if I was with a toddler?'
He halts in his steps at the unusual sight of staring at bare feet.
Raising his head to meet the eye of the individual, his mood was immediately elevated the moment he locked eyes with Sylvester.
On his shoulder was Lila sitting on him, squealing in delight while imitating a plane with her arms.
There was an awkward silence at first as they locked eyes with each other.
'They look much healthier than before, I'm glad.'
Rai observes the siblings dressed in matching black shirts over black pants.
His brows furrowed on one slight issue–shoes.
'Why are they barefooted if they could somehow manage the clothes?'
Lila patted Sylvester's bun, tugging at his hair, curious as to why they had stopped abruptly in front of a stranger, "brother Syl–"
"Not now." Sylvester cut in through gritted teeth, his glare turning sinister at the familiar face from the group of teenagers that had abandoned them in the forest.
Rai looked to his side at the citizens giving them weird looks as they passed by. "Could we talk somewhere... umm...private?"
"No!" Sylvester flatly declines, walking past him without giving a second thought.
Clenching his fist, Rai summoned up the courage to follow behind closely but also openly showing he was doing so.
Lila looked behind her, spotting the hooded stranger following closely.
Leaning onto Sylvester's head, she whispers. "Another weird person is following us."
Sylvester pretends to not listen, instead, he scolds her, "could you not disturb me with unnecessary talks? It makes it hard for me to concentrate on where we are headed."
"Sorry." She muttered, biting down on her bottom lip, constantly looking behind her to search for the stranger following closely.
Rai waves at Lila with a bright smile, but all he got as a reaction from her were narrow eyes and scoff of disinterest.
With Sylvester taking a right turn, vanishing from his line of sight, Rai panics and doubles his pace in a bid to keep up.
Huff!
Huff!
Rai crouches over to catch his breath.
Looking around, his heart sank at the thought of losing their trail in just a short period.
'There's no way he could disappear with a child on him!'
Walking a few steps forward, he constantly looked to his left and right, hoping to spot at least Lila.
Making a stop at a dead end, he was about to turn and give up on his search.
Before he could properly react to a hand grab on his arm, he felt a pull into the dark corner.
Bam!
Tossed like a rag doll, he had his back hit against the wall.
'That fucking hurt!' He hissed in pain.
Staring back at him with glowing eyes, Sylvester grabbed a hold of his neck.
Gasp!
"Wait!" He coughs out, struggling to be set free.
Using his ability on Sylvester was out of the question if he needed their conversation to be diplomatic.
Lila sat on a wooden crate, kicking on some dirt, periodically glancing at the two while repeatedly sighing.
"Are you going to kill him too, just like that other stalker, brother Sylve?"
'Kill him too? Who was the other?' Rai's eyes bulge in panic at the girl's words.
He couldn't tell which was more disturbing, being termed and killed as a stalker or a toddler not flinching while witnessing a potential murder.
'How inhumane were those in the facility to ruin you two's emotions?'
Feeling the corner of his eyes cloud, he could tell his end was close if he didn't do anything about it.
"We... need... your... help."
Sylvester tilts his head, snarling at Rai. "I help no one."
Thinking back to the little gesture and faces the stranger made while following behind, Lila walks up to her brother, tugging at the hem of his shirt. "It doesn't look like he wants to hurt us."
'Yes, listen to the little girl. She knows who is a friend and a foe!'
Sylvester shook his head, tightening his grip on Rai's neck, hoping he could feel the thrill of a worthy battle if Rai retaliated with his ability.
Almost as though reading Sylvester's motive, Rai asserts his stance. "I... won't... fight!"
'I can't win.' He concludes in his thoughts.
"What do you want from us?"
Pointing at Sylvester's fingers still gripping his neck, he hoped to get rid of that obstacle first.
Letting go of Rai, he watched him fall to the ground in a coughing mess.
Using the wall as a support, he gets to his feet, inhaling and exhaling. "Give me a moment."
Lila clutched onto Sylvester's left leg, watching and waiting for the stranger to explain.
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Author's note
¶ A +1 if you find it intriguing in some way.
¶ Do check out the weekly auxiliary chapter[Bonus chapter task] to know how you can participate.