From Within The Ashes

Chapter 11 - Twisted Endings

DAKOTA FANNING - JULIET ANDREAU

All of us stood in shock as she dragged Xander off to the start line. Even though I felt a bit of jealousy, I couldn't help but laugh at the lost look on his face.

"Come on, then." Jack said as he led the way to the start line.

"Okay. These are the rules. Your scores are determined by your screams, meaning who screamed the most loses. You are allowed to scare your opponents but are prohibited from scaring your partners."

"But isn't it unfair for us since you apparently made this course?" Xander grumbled moodily.

"Just shut up, Xander. This is for fun. And don't plague it by our usual mood swings." Ulysses snapped.

"I DO NOT have mood swings." Xander jumped toward Ulysses but I leaped forward to intervene.

"That's enough, Alexander Verlaine. Just calm down." I took the reprimanding chance to call him by his full name. He backed away by surprise and resorted to mumbling his curses.

"Alright back to where we were before I was so rudely interrupted. You must finish the course with the designated time of 30 minutes and return to this very spot. Understand?" He descriptively explained briefly.

"Yes." Everybody answered in unison. The teams scattered off, in their own direction. Jack took the liberty to lead the way while I took the liberty in tripping on a giant root of a tree, only few minutes in to our game.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jack asked as he towered over my compromising situation.

"Does it look like I'm fine, smart guy?" I snapped as he just stood there with no help whatsoever.

"Jeesh, you could ask for help you know." He smugly smiled, hoping for me to beg.

"And did you know that apparently all guys here can be dicks?"

"Well then." He raised his hands as if to surrender.

"No. I don't need any help. Just continue walking." My pride got in the way as I got up, wincing from the pain protruding from my ankle. My vision blurred from the intensity of the pain. I gripped the grass tightly in an attempt to steady myself, which of course didn't help much.

When I realized that Jack the jerk had leaven me vulnerable to the wild, my eyes began to water. Not from the fear but the frustration.

"Bellissima, (beautiful) what happened? Are you okay?" A heavy male voice erupted from my side, causing an estranged scream to escape from my throat.

"Hey, it's okay. It's just me." Xander enveloped me in an embrace. His warmth encouraged me to cry even harder. After, few minutes into my little breakdown, he placed me on the ground and examined my injured ankle.

"I think it's twisted. Have you ever twisted it before?" He asked with genuine concern.

"Noo. " I moaned with quiver of a voice and hid my face in my hands again.

"Are you hiding from me?" He asked with a soft chuckle.

"I'm not. Stop laughing." I grumbled, forcing myself to look at him dead in the eyes.

"Oh. There she is. Come on, let's get you back to the campfire." He turned around and kneel-ed, indicating that I should climb on. Which I did, rather awkwardly. I wrapped my hands around his neck and sank into the warmth of his back.

"Where's Jillian? And how did you even find me?" I questioned.

"She walked off after I became what Ulysses classified as moody, after shouting some colorful words at me." He said with a grimace. "But, I found you when I heard your loud falling sound. I swear to god the whole ground shook when you fell." He laughed loudly.

"That's not even funny. You're so mean." I whined as I wiped my nose into the back of his shirt.

"Yeah Ruby. Make sure to wipe that nose really clean unto my newly bought shirt." He said with obvious sarcasm.

"You deserved it for your unwanted comment." I pouted.

"Yeah I did. But, it was a funny one." He had me cracking up, and then I knew he was just trying to distract me from the spreading pain in my ankle.

"It was." I smiled as the surroundings blurred into a thick black.

*

"Come on, Rubes. Wake up."

"Ruby, mia morosa (my sweetheart). Wake up please." His voice pleaded.

I cracked my eyes open and winced as the bright light entered my eyes.

"What happened?" My voice came out in a gasp and a short cough.

"You blacked out from the pain of your twisted ankle." Darcy explained while pointing at my well wrapped ankle.

"Oh. Umm... Can I get a glass of water please?" I begged for at least a drop of water to soothe the arid desert feeling lingering in my mouth.

Ulysses, being the gentleman he is, helped me sit up on the bed and gently eased the glass of water into my hands. "Careful, Kitten. "

His unexpected endearment had me coughing out the water I had tried to swallow only few seconds prior.

"Jesus. Keep your pet names to yourself, Ulysses." Xander patted my back in an attempt to relieve my trachea of the water it had swallowed.

"Me? Pet names? You should keep your so valued Italian endearments to yourself. What is she? You're adorata (Beloved)?" Ulysses said in a scoff.

Xander only glared at him before storming out of the hut, we had had set up earlier to camp.

"You guys call your friends, endearments?" I asked with a smirk.

"No, by that I meant your his-"

"Ulysses, can I talk to you for a second?" Darcy asked with a forced smile before dragging off the green eyed boy, leaving me filled with unanswered questions. The rest of the afternoon, I was left to rest while many came in to "entertain" me. Before I knew it, I had drifted into a deep sleep.

Few hours later, I woke with a gasp and my body drenched in cold sweat. That same tragic dream kept on replaying in my mind as if it had infested my mind like a deadly virus. I lied down flat in the bed as I checked my phone for the time. 1: 50 AM.

A sudden gust of freezing, early morning wind blew in through the open flap of the tent. I thought I closed it? I gingerly placed my foot onto the ground and limped towards the open flap, to close it. My gaze was caught on by the muscular figure of Xander retreating into the cold atmosphere of the forest. Being the curious person I was, I decided to follow him with the branch Jack had gotten me as an apology for the incident. Twisted ankle, or not.

I KNOW I SAID NEXT CHAPTER WOULD BE UP TOMORROW BUT OH WELL. THIS IS A TREAT FOR REACHING OVER 100 READERS IN JUST A WEEK. THANKS ALOT. ENJOY.