Earth comes home

Chapter seven - Help from a sibling

When I was finished packing Scott's bag I decided to head downstairs, I assumed Scott and Ben would be nearly finished by the time I got down there. But I was wrong. They were in full flow when I reached the foot of the stairs so I decided to stand by the door and wait. 

I tried not to listen but the front room was only a few feet away and they were talking loudly. Ben was angry at Scott for something but Scott was just as angry in return. 

"What do you mean 'It means nothing'? You were going to kiss her!" Ben was now obviously angry about what he had walking in on upstairs. But If Scott really did say it meant nothing I felt a little hurt. 

"Yes, I know but that was just a moment of stupidity. I know I can't be involved with her. She's an element and I'm only a searcher. She isn't important, just some dumb kid." That hurt. To hear Scott talk about me as if I was nothing more than a job that needed completing, which to him I suppose I was, but it still hurt.

"Okay then, brother, so long as you know. But I guess I should complete the job, just in case." Ben sounded unconvinced that it meant nothing, but to me it sounded pretty truthful. 

"No way, you only want to go so you can make me look bad. She's my element, I found her and I'm taking her to London. She'll be in The Land by her birthday. Then I'll go home, to my wife, and carry on with my life. Now if you excuse me, I must go and hurry the stupid girl up so she doesn't attract more monsters and get us almost killed again. Good bye Ben." The anger in his voice wasn't controlled and he sounded cold when he said his brothers name, like it pained him that they were related.

Scott stormed out of the room but stopped abruptly when he saw me standing by the door. I fixed my eyes on the floor as I didn't think I could control my emotions if I looked at Scott again. 

"No need to hurry me up, I've been ready for a while. So if you're finished, we should go." I tried to keep my voice calm, but I guess Scott could tell I was upset. He didn't say anything but I could tell he was shocked. "Thank you Ben for healing me, and I'm sorry for all the bother I've caused." 

I didn't wait for him to say anything. I opened the door and left. I headed down the street at a brisk pace and it took Scott a while to catch up. I still didn't want to look at him as I didn't know if I would cry or punch him. I guessed I really did mean nothing, but if that was true what had happened back up in his room? It was probably just me being stupid. 

"Look, Willow-"

"It's okay. No need to explain anything to me. I'm just 'some dumb kid' right?" I still didn't look up, but I knew Scott was watching me with his beautiful grey eyes. He didn't say anything. He knew I was hurt and he knew it was his fault. Weather he cared or not, I didn't know, nor did I really care.

We travelled in silence for a while. I just followed Scott whichever way he went. He could of been leading me off a cliff but I didn't care, so long as he was leaving in a couple of days. The closer we travelled to London, the more I felt pulled towards it. Little signs appeared on the ground, they looked like small green vines. It was like the earth was showing me the way to safety. I didn't know if Scott could see the vines too, but either way I wasn't going to ask. 

London is one hundred and forty miles from my hut in south wales. In the whole three days of travelling we'd only covered around thirty miles. At this rate we were never going to reach London by my birthday, which was only a couple of hours short of two days away. Don't bother asking how someone who had lived in the same place their whole life knew how far away London was, because I didn't know either. I guessed it was one of the perks of being the earth element. 

It was morning by the time Scott decided to set up the tent. I didn't particularly want to sleep next to that self-centred pig but I felt drained from my encounter with the demon I had no choice. But the good part was that Scott still hadn't said a word to me. I was glad about that, he didn't deserve to talk to me after what he had said. 

I wasn't sure why I cared so much, he was only my protector. He was married to a woman who seemed lovely once she realized I didn't want to steal her man. True, he did tell me he didn't love her but he always referred to her as his wife and he certainly looked happy in his wedding photo. I wasn't sure what his game was, maybe he just got a kick out of making girls fall for him. Not that I had fallen for him, in any way. 

As I lay there in the tent thinking about it time went on and Scott fell asleep. It must have been around eight when I realized I wasn't tired. It was like the sunshine had given me strength. So I lay there for a while just soaking up the energy, but then I realized something. Scott didn't want to be here, he wanted to get rid of me, quickly. He wanted to get back to his life at home, and I shouldn't hold him back. 

Scott was sleeping and I had enough energy to carry on travelling. I had my dagger for protection and with the way that demon reacted I felt pretty safe. I had to go, it was better for everyone. Scott could go home and I wouldn't be tempted by him (not that I was in the first place.)

So I left. I quietly got up and sneaked out of the tent. With my bag on my back and the earth spread out in front of me I set off. At first I was fine. I still had little vines on the ground telling me where to go. But after a while I realized I still wasn't travelling fast enough. The quickest rout was along the motorway but I knew that it wouldn't help me as it was surrounded by man-made monstrosities. There would be little natural earth there and it might drain me. I had to stick to natural land. It was my best option. 

In two hours I had only covered around eight miles. It was helped by the energy I was harvesting from the plants. It meant I was able to run for longer, without getting tired. Every now and then I would grow a fruit tree or a berry bush so I could eat and have a bit more energy. But even with the boost from the earth I still wasn't covering enough ground.

But thankfully another mile along the vine path there was a field with horses in. But the bad thing was that I'd never ridden a horse and I guessed that larger animals weren'y my domain. Scott had said something about a sibling who controlled the spirits, so horses were probably their part of the world.

But nevertheless I had to try. Horses were faster than me and I might then be able to reach London in time. But the main reason I needed a hores was that they might be faster than the creatures after me. Over the past few miles I'd felt a lot of evil presences, some stronger than others but all just as terrifying. The horses were my last hope.

I walked up to the field, there was a horse right by the edge. She was beautiful and seemed calm. Her sandy coloured hair looked golden in the sun and her dark mane and tail shimmered in the light. She had a dark muzzle with a small star of white in the middle just above her eyes. Her brown eyes glistened as she looked out into the world. 

Okay, sibling if you can hear me please help. I need this horse to help me get to London, don't let her kill me. I thought it would be respectful to ask their permission. Hopefully my sibling had heard it, despite the fact Scott had never mentioned anything about my siblings being able to hear my prayers. 

"Hey girl. You got a name?" I approached the horse wearily and spoke softly. She neighed and I took that as a no. "Do you wan't a name? How about Spirit? That what my siblings element is. I think it suits you perfectly." Spirit neighed softly again, she seemed happy with the name. The problem was I still wasn't sure if she'd let me ride her to London. "Do you mind if I hitch a ride Spirit?" I felt stupid asking a horse for her permission to let me ride her. But however daft it seemed she knelt down, like she was telling me to climb on.

So I approached slowly and climbed on. I was surprised by how calm she was, it was like my sibling had answered my prayer. I made a secret vow to thank them...if we both ever managed to make it to The Land alive. But with that Spirit jumped the fence that was boxing her in and she set on the was of the vines. 

I was almost sure she could see them too but that was stupid. She was under spirit control, not earth. Maybe she just knew the way to London, but either way, I didn't care. I was getting to London faster on Spirit, without Scott than I was before. I didn't need him, I was fine on my own.