Chasing His Rose

6. The Terrified Creatures

Nyla

With a young female office, Officer Rida, walking by my side and Zayan walking ahead, I was slowly heading towards the depth of the Embalian forest while trying to keep my calm. It was dark, terrifying, with a simple torchlight lighting the way. Both Rida and Zayan were carrying baseball bats, while I had my hands tied behind my back- just in case.

It was terrifying.

The night moon was howling across the deep depths of the forest, and the animals seemed to be echoing whispers of terror. Each creak and crispy crushing of the leaves haunted my soul. I knew what was going to happen. Zayan was confident, calm and in an extremely happy mood, but I knew what we were heading towards. The gulps that constantly arose with that feeling had me breathless.

I kept staring at the ground, as I walked, feeling my heart constantly jump up in my throat as the fear had me trembling. Not again. The thought of witnessing yet another murder, hearing the sound of the shrieks of people whom I knew getting mauled and bleeding towards their dead before my eyes, had my soul pushing me to retreat. But I couldn't.

The terror and the trauma of thinking about how I could feel if that creature hurt Rida...Zayan made me feel faint. Even if he had never cared, I didn't want him to get hurt. 

My usual was something that would traumatize me on a daily basis.

I tried keeping my breath calm to keep me from hyperventilating, kept silent to control my emotions. The wind was blowing softly. There were thick bushes and old trees around us, yet the forest canopy was easy enough to observed. We weren't going to become animal preys here.

"Ladies, it is a fine time for a long walk, isn't it?" Zayan suddenly joked without looking back at us, causing Rida to giggle in a feminine manner. I stayed quiet, simply staring at the floor, my heart depressed and helpless.

"I don't mind long walks," Rida spoke with a sweet smile escaping into her tone.

"What about our sweetest criminal? Nyla, are you enjoying going on this long walk with me?" He momentarily looked back, an amused smile being suppressed on his face. I simply rolled my eyes, turning my face away from him.

Annoying!

However, somehow, Zayan's comment didn't settle well with Rida, and I could feel her glaring at me.

"Detective Zayan, Nyla shouldn't really be enjoying anything. I just hope she cooperates with us tonight. I wouldn't stop myself from raising a fist if she dares to step out of the line," she hotly threatened. I clenched my jaw, still not choosing to respond.

The situation didn't demand it.

My heart and soul was worried about so many other things.

This woman was just being an ignorant fool.

Soon, the rest of the walk turned into officer Rida trying to impress Detective Zayan while belittling me. She would snarkily demean me for being a criminal, share heroic episodes of her young days, and Zayan would politely listen to her compete for his attention with an amused stance. There was no point in defending myself. Having so many people think horrible about me, was a norm. I had learned a long time ago that my worries were much more than feeling petty emotions.

There was momentary thought of how this woman was being sweet with my husband, and in a normal situation, a wife would have raged with jealousy. But when one has been fighting alone for so long, they can't really afford to be jealous-especially over a man who had already rejected them.

We were the main meadow when Rida started about her visit to about one of her memorable trips. This woman was rich. Her adventures and tales of having explored so many countries of the world had my heart wonder about how I was missing out on so many experiences because of some deadly creatures. The world sounded so beautiful, but I didn't have the time to explore it.