Imperfect Life: Arc 7

Chapter 30

"Thank you." Tomas replied kindly.

"This is gonna be so much fun!" Brandon said happily.

"I think so!" Crys responded, being optimistic.

The three friends kept walking for a few minutes until they arrived at the campsite.

It was a peaceful little bit of the forest. A small clearing surrounded by trees, bar the path leading back to Tomas' house, which was treeless. The campfire was set up towards the middle of the clearing with some large logs set around it to act as benches. The extra firewood was piled up off to the side while the snacks were next to Emma. Two tents were set up just by the treeline.

"Hello." Emma said as she saw the rest of the crew approaching.

"Hi Emma!" Crys said with a smile and wave.

"Howdy." Brandon said.

Tomas walked over and sat next to Emma. Brandon and Crys made their way over to the log next to Tomas and Emma's and took their places.

"Mind handing over the marshmallows?" Crys asked.

Tomas grabbed a bag and threw it to Crys. "You and Brandon split that one. We have another one we'll use for smores." He said.

Crys grinned. "Thank you!" She said before opening up the bag and immediately grabbing herself a marshmallow out of it.

Brandon reached over and nabbed a handful of marshmallows for himself to snack on.

"It's nice out, tonight." Crys said in-between bites.

"I saw the forecast for the next week or so. It looks like we should be getting some rain." Tomas spoke up.

"Good thing we went tonight, then." Brandon chimed in.

"So, Crys, are you going to tell us now?" Tomas asked.

Crys finished chewing before speaking. "Yeah." She said, a tad flat. "Um... yeah, so I guess it started right around when school did. This guy kept showing up in the middle of the night in my room. He kept threatening me and saying I was a danger and stuff like that." Crys glanced off to the side. "He uh... he paid off some people to commit a robbery just to see how I'd handle it, then he gave me some sort of drug that made me unable to control myself... a-and that's why I was so rude that one day and almost broke Connor's wrist... and then..." Crys trailed off, zoning out.

Tomas exchanged a concerned glance with Emma.

Brandon gently nudged Crys' arm.

"And then he put me in a simulation and I thought the world was ending. I woke up back home and it took Brandon hours to help me calm down. I didn't even know if anything was real or not." Crys said lifelessly.

"Oh..." Tomas murmured in shock. "Crys..."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in concerned sympathy.

Brandon reached over and took Crys' hand that she had balled up by her gut. It snapped her out of her trance and she took a deep breath.

"He kept threatening to go after both of you or Brandon to get the information that I wouldn't tell him." Crys added on.

Tomas and Emma kept quiet as they took in the information. Neither of them were able to speak.

Crys hunched over and looked to the ground.

The only noise was the cackling of the campfire. Everyone was silent.

"He's gone now, though." Crys spoke up again quietly after several moments. She looked back up with a weak smile that she could only hold for a few seconds.