Shaye Mitchel is a simple twenty-four-year-old Australian man, he loves Family, money, adventures, animals, and weapons in that order. Standing at 6'5 with two barrel twists stretched to his lower back and mixed with Kenyan, Greek, and Puerto Rican roots, he was a sight to behold. However, it seemed like his list of things he likes is about to be shortened.
"Stop it, Marie," I said shortly. I was in the back seat of a safari car, holding a camera to photograph an emu passing by, but a tanned hand kept hovering next to my cheek.
"But I'm not touching you," Marie said innocently while she inched her finger closer. Though her actual name is Mariane, Marie is a 6'2 Brazilian/Ethiopian pop star with sun-kissed skin, a figure that would make an hourglass look like a cube, curly black hair that made up the biggest afro Shaye had ever seen, and a beautiful face. A face that she found annoying ever since the literal president of 2072 jumped into a crowd and proposed to her in front of his wife on his inauguration day. She's also the soon-to-be ex-best friend of Shaye.
"Stop it."
"Stop what?"
"What you're doing"
"What am I doing?"
"STOP BOTHER-"
"Sir, could you please refrain from yelling? Driving through a forest is already stressful enough as it is," the safari driver said.
"S-sorry", I said while my face flushed in embarrassment while Marie failed miserably to hold back her laughter. I shot her a withering look and Marie laughed even harder, much to my annoyance.
"Why did I ever bring her along? Oh, wait. I didn't. Someone just happened to book the same safari I never told her about, even when she has a tour tomorrow" I murmured.
" Oh, don't sweat the small details. I pushed back the tour, so you're stuck with me for a whole week," Marie said playfully.
I just rolled his eyes and flatly said "The main point of this trip was to get away from you." Instead of a reply, silence ensured for a while, to the point that I looked up from my phone and saw Marie with her face covered by her hair, her expression unreadable.
I sighed in exasperation and said "Marie l didn- GET DOWN!" Shaye tackled her to the ground as three projectiles zoomed towards their seats in the corner of his eye. On the ground, they heard screams and cries of anguish as more projectiles pelted the safari car. Shaye looked across from him as a man and a child's head and torso were split open, their expressions froze in shock. The projectiles were something Shaye had never seen before, blue luminescent shards of what looked like energy were strewn everywhere.
"Shaye w-what's happening," Marie said, but I put a hand over her mouth and slowly brought her up to a crouch.
"Look, let's try to get out of here first, and then I can tell you what's going on," I said as she slowly nodded. We inched towards one of the truck's open windows but paused as a few voices came into range.
"Check and make sure everyone's dead, higher-ups said people close to the temple are allowed to use as a sacrifice."
"""AYE-AYE CAPTAIN"""
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU"
"""AYE-AYE CAPTAIN!!"""
"I'm surrounded by idiots"
"Hey, you try having kids and being forced to watch a yellow square three hours a day"
"Bro you know he got divorced on his wedding day, but I don't blame the girl, even I wouldn't bed that face"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Let's just check the bodies"
During that conversation, I removed my shoes and jumped out the window onto the dirt, my feet deadening the sound of his landing. I then stretched out my hands and caught Marie in the air. We hastily crept into the treeline and dashed away until the voices became a whisper.
I panted, "Let's find a hiding place and see if we can call for help." She nodded, her face still frightened. I wanted to comfort her, but we needed to be as far away as possible from those people. We stepped further into the heart of the jungle in silence, dodging the multiple poisonous creatures and plants.
Marie eventually said, "What did you mean you wanted to get away from me." I looked at her and saw that her hands were in a tight fist.
I sighed. "I just wanted some time to myself. We hang out almost every day, and I thought I would get the opportunity to with your career starting to go international."
She looked down, "I didn't know I was bothering you that much."
I rolled my eyes and pulled her into a hug. Her hair felt like a cloud. "Hey, our time spent together created some of my favorite memories. There are just times I would rather be alone."
I felt her hug me back tightly and said "You sure?"
"I'm sure, now let go of me your hair is choking me"
"Just five minutes"
"I said you're choking me"
"Just get bigger lungs"
I just sighed and closed my eyes and hugged her back, a soft smile coming to my face.