SAGE POV
I've been walking for like twenty minutes now which I usually don't, I would have been home ten minutes ago if that one message hadn't come.
I got a notification from the group chat saying "I'm fine" and I already crossed all the houses and came to the ending part of this street from where a forest starts.
As usual I find Delilah's shoes under a newspaper which has a stone on it to prevent it from flying away.
I don't know why she hides her shoes under newspapers though.
Delilah is my best friend.
She's the tallest among us and I'm not even kidding when I say she's very very very strong, she's also a little weird, like twisted in the head.
In our friend group which has four members she is the most unhinged, she is not scared of anything, if you put her in a cage with a lion, she would either tame it or kill it, worst case she would die smiling after making sure her opponent took a few good blows as well.
She also likes a lot of weird things and does extreme crazy things, she lives on high adrenaline all the time.
But only those closest to her who are very few would know she's also very kind, loves animals and children and even though she's never cried (again I'm not kidding, never seen or heard of her crying) she gets upset or angry at small things sometimes (key word being sometimes) but it never shows on her face.
It's rare for her to actually care about things around her or naturally show emotions, considering her face is unreadable most of the time, so her being upset or angry sometimes is cute and she often shows us that she cares about us through little things.
The problem is this is all I know even though I am very close to her.
We've known each other for three years but this is all I got on her.
I don't know what goes on in her mind most of the time, none of us actually do, she does the most unexpected things most of the time as well which will scare you if you're new, if you're someone she hates, prepare for your funeral.
Even her shoes here right now indicate she's gone into the forest again, she lives really far away from me (that's what she told me atleast, I don't know exactly where she lives) but you'll find her here or in some creepy places like abandoned buildings, places known to be haunted most of the time.
This forest is the only one which is unwatched by the government because it's private property, there's a sign outside that says don't enter, wild animals everywhere but of course she doesn't care.
Why am I not worried?
Because she's been coming here since even before I've known her and only found out after we became friends.
She always manages to come back unharmed except her feet, even though she always has socks on it'll be torn sometimes with her feet bleeding or she'll be out with no socks on sometimes with her feet dirty and bleeding from everywhere and scarred and yet she won't be limping, she'll jump the gate smile and say hello, put her shoes on and then walk till my house after which she calls her driver who questions me, since she comes here unannounced and then I lie for her and she goes home.
No one would ever suspect she went into someplace so dangerous because she comes out untouched, not a hair out of place or skirt or pant and top torn or dirty.
Her feet would have been her only giveaway but her shoes keep them out of sight.
I've or specifically none of us have ever gone in with her not that she invited us and absolutely not that we would go if she did but last time we told her not to go she said it's okay she doesn't really go far just a little bit further from the gate.
Of course we didn't believe her but the last time we tried to tell her parents or ours, she went into a phase and didn't talk to us for like two weeks, which you could call indirect blackmail to which we never told anyone again, instead we made her promise us she would text us a 'im fine' message every fifteen minutes and would always tell us if she went here especially me since I live so close.
But I still have my doubts.
I can vouch that she has probably been here many times without telling anyone.
I'm waiting right beside her shoes for what felt like an hour but was actually just twenty five minutes.
My feet were starting to hurt and then just as I decide to go back, I get a "I'm coming out" message in the group chat from Delilah and I look towards the gate, spotting a tall silhouette walking slowly and almost gracefully, like a predator but her face comes into view when she's close to the gate where a street light is on and it's my friend, she's smiling and oh my god her feet are bleeding, this time they're bleeding a lot more than usual but she's walking straight, no limping or skipping as though her feet are perfectly fine, she comes towards me and I have to look a little up, since she stands at a beautiful 5'11 feet tall and I'm stuck at 5'8.
The three of us except Delilah ofcourse are all 5 '8 feet which is pretty tall as well but we're older than her by a year and she's still way taller than us. We're all 17 and she's still 16, but we're in the same class since she skipped one.
Sigh.
She quickly puts her shoes on, smiles and starts walking towards my house, I walk a little fast and stop in front of her making her come to a halt.
"Are you okay"
"Mhm, why are you asking"
"Your feet are bleeding"
"and?"
"Their bleeding more than usual"
"Oh don't worry"
"But I am"
"Don't"
"Can I see them"
"No"
"Please"
"No"
"I'm telling your driver" she just looks at me with a cold stare for a second which felt long enough to want me to run but then she bursts into laughter and says
"I'm fine Sage, nothing different, it doesn't even hurt"
"I don't believe you, I can't even give you a hug because your anti-touch"
"Is the hug to comfort me or yourself"
"Since you don't like hugs, I can't comfort you or myself to be at ease after seeing your bleeding feet"
"I'm fine, so let's go now okay, he said he'll be there in five" she says looking at her phone.
"Okay I guess" and we continue walking till we're at my house and her driver's already there waiting, the moment he sees her he opens her door, she hops on and they're off.