The Guardians had proceeded to travel in silence, trying not to attract any unwanted attention. They’d learned their lesson; talking carelessly attracted their enemies. Silence wasn’t going to help them communicate, but until they got out of the dark forest, they’d have to be careful.
Luckily, they made it to the shelter Gabriel had mentioned to them earlier at sunset, without too many problems. Of course there were the occasional Shadow Creatures that could be seen stalking them from the shadows, but strangely enough, they never attacked anymore; as if someone was in control of them and had ordered them not to.
It didn’t really seem to bother anyone of the team though, as nobody had mentioned it aside from Samira, whose concerns were quickly wiped away from a sarcastic comment from Antonio.
They entered the shelter, which was nothing more than a two-roomed cabin; one room had a fireplace and a table with four chairs, and the other counted five beds. All built quickly, of simple materials. But it’d suffice for one night.
“I’d suggest we stay here during the night and hunt for food during the morning before leaving,” Thomas said. The others agreed with him.
“It seems safe enough to sleep inside this cabin,” James said. “There’s an oil lamp on the table. We should light it.”
“Yeah, and the fireplace too,” Antonio said sarcastically. “At least we’ll make sure we’re nicely roasted when those Shadow Creatures come to feast upon our flesh.” He then snapped at James. “DO YOU WANT TO BURN US ALIVE, RIVERDALE!?”
“No,” James said, raising his palms in a defensive manner, “but I just figured that the more light there is around us, the bigger the chance the Shadow Creatures will leave us alone.”
“Well, if you ask me, they’ll attack us whenever they feel like doing so, so I wouldn’t worry about that,” Antonio said. “We could, of course, let someone keep watch and switch every three hours or so.” His face was smug, but not for too long.
“Great idea,” Bella said with a smirk. “Then why don’t you be the first to keep watch, huh, Anton?”
Antonio’s expression shifted. He obviously hadn’t been planning to be the first to keep watch, or probably ever. “And why should I? There’s no need to!”
Bella was about to reply, but James decided to break up the argument by touching Bella’s shoulder and saying, “never mind, Bella; he’s not worth the effort. I’ll keep watch.”
Antonio rolled his eyes as he let out a loud sigh. “There he goes again,” he said. “The little kid trying to be a man. Give it up, James.”
James didn’t respond, which was probably the wisest thing to do. He simply walked out the door, shutting it behind him.
“Well... I think we should go to sleep, then?” Thomas said carefully. Everyone was staring at the door, except for Antonio, who’d already walked into the shelter’s sleeping area.
“Maybe we should...” Samira said silently. “Antonio can be so insensitive sometimes.”
“Yeah,” Thomas said, “but James takes it well. I think we should just leave him alone with his thoughts for tonight. I think something’s bothering him.”
“Then why don’t you ask what’s bothering him?” Bella said. “If you’re so sure... we should help him rest his mind, right?”
“No, Thom is right,” Samira said. “We should just leave him alone. He’ll come get one of us when he’s tired. Don’t worry.”
But James didn’t come. And it wouldn’t be until Samira would wake up hours later, until someone would notice.
James just sat outside the shelter, going through his thoughts. There was something about everything they’d experienced for the past few days which made him feel uneasy.
A part of him was still blaming himself for getting his friends involved into this mess; but when he thought back of what Rikki had told him about all of this just being fate, he started to wonder whether or not this truly was his fault.
Maybe it was his father’s fault, for reading that story to him and Samira over and over again.
Maybe his father knew? He probably didn’t.
How could he possibly have, after all? James’s father was probably just one of the many people who thought that it was just a fairytale, just another bedtime story to tell to their kids.
But what if his father did know? Even just the slightest bit?
James kept shaking his head every time this particular “what if” popped up in his mind. His father didn’t know. He never did. And secondly, what if he did know, what did it matter?
He wasn’t there for James to be able to ask him, anyway. And he never would be again.