Chapter Seventeen

56 1 0
                                    


hiiiiiiiii. haven't worked on this story in a hot minute so yeah. anyway, just wanted to let you guys know that when I put their sentences in italics, its because they're using sign language as they cannot make noise. enjoy :)


Sophie steps echoed though the room as they walked to the last door.

Everyone stopped in front of it, taking a moment to take a breath and calm themselves as much as possible.

Alden stepped forward to open the door as everyone watched.

Sophie closed her eyes but when she didn't hear the the door, she opened them and almost gasped.

The doors were open now, they were just quite.

Cold air bit at her cheeks and she shivered slightly.

Alden motioned her forward, giving her the all clear to lead the way.

She took carful steps as she led them the way she came.

The trail Fitz had led her on seemed much longer than she thought. Although, when your family is killed in front of you, it's hard to focus on much else.

Everyone walked behind her. Or, at least she hopped they were. She hadn't taken a glance back to check in anyone, too focused on her own walking.

She barely even looked up until the trail ended and grass began. She glanced around, noticing the river.

The weather had warmed up a little bit and when she looked back at everyone, they all looked a bit better than when they left.

She motioned towards the edge of the water and went to say down, where everyone followed.

They all sat down carefully on the grass, putting their bags down.

Sophie went as close to the water as possible without getting wet.

Biana, Fitz and Keefe all came and sat with her while Alden was doing something with his bag.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" She whispered, making the other three jump.

"It's okay to whisper here, the water can cover the noise." She said so softly, the other three had to bend forward slightly to hear her.

"It is beautiful. I haven't seen nature in too long." Biana sighed wistfully, taking one last glance at the water before turning away and walking over to her dad.

The other three stood for a seconded longer, then joined the rest of their group.

Alden had pulled out his map, which had been transferred to cotton to make less nosie than the wrikly paper. Sophie looked at it, even though her photographic memory had already memorized the paper one.

They had only walked a mile, at most. It was another twelve to go just to reach the halfway point.

Sophie traced the places they needed to go with her finger to let everyone know, then repeated it in case anyone missed it.

Alden nodded, folding the map back up and tucking it back in his pocket.

Sophie looked around, finding the spot she had came out of the woods from and went in.

It had seemed like months ago with everything that had happened, but really it was just over a week ago.

She didn't exactly know where she was going, but every once in awhile she would recognize a tree or a bush, a street or a sign, until things started getting more and more familiar.

Her legs were killing her, begging her to stop but she knew if she did, she wouldn't be able to get up for a long time.

So, she forced he legs to keep moving until they reached the half way point, where she finally allowed herself to sit down on the road curb. It was a dead end road, so the pavement was cut off, grass and twigs replacing it with the small sand path made for people like us, so we could get by with out making too much noise.

She stretched her legs, wishing she could crack her back and neck but knowing she couldn't.

Everyone took out water and a snack, allowing themselves to sit down and rest for twenty minutes.

Sophie was glued to her spot, not even moving when the temperature went back down again and her whole body was shivering.

Keefe sat next to her and from the corner of her eyes she could tell his hands were shaking. From the cold or nerves, she didn't know. 

She nudged him with her shoulder to get his attention and when he looked over at her, she gave him her best attempt at a smile. 

"Are you okay?" She asked. it was weird to use sign language again after talking normally for a week.

"I'm fine, just cold," Keefe gave her a small smile and somehow she knew he wasn't telling her everything. 

"We're going to be fine, don't worry," Keefe paused at this and for a minute his shoulders relaxed.

At that moment, Alden hopped back up, not looking the least bit tired as he helped them up.

She wasn't sure how long they had been walking, but it had to be at least four hours since they had walked twelve miles so far. Another four hours and they would be at her house. 

Then the bridge.

Sophie calmed herself and forced her legs to stand up and continue leading the way.

This part would be harder, as the only path they could walk on was sand, surrounded by woods with twigs, crunchy leaves and traps. One wrong move, and they were all dead.

As they approached the path, Sophie turned to everyone, pointing at the path. 

"Don't step off the path, no matter what. Watch your step and give each other space to walk. I will be in the front, Alden will be in the back." She waited for everyone to nod then began to walk on the sandy path. 

Just as instructed, everyone walked behind each other in a line, giving every person at least ten feet to walk. The path was straight forward, with few turns, so she doubted there would be any problems with getting past this part as long as no one stepped off the path.

That's what she thought for the two hours they walked, up until a scream shattered the silence.


updated 8/2/22

sorry for the cliff hanger, hope you guys liked it tho. bye loves <33

A quite place/ kotlc AUWhere stories live. Discover now