Chapter 9: To the Free Spirited

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-Dedicated to @onebookmaniac for all the comments and support! <3-

We grabbed breakfast and bid farewell to Jimmy and Peter before taking off to no real destination. We were back on the interstate, with the Pontiac being towed behind us.

"Where are we going exactly?" questioned Jordan.

"To find that damn river" answered Simon.

"Yes sir." replied Riley with a bass in her voice. Ugh.

We stopped for a refill of tanks. We are still surviving on the whole load of money Simon brought along with him. 

We met this guy at the gas station.That's where our journey took an unexpected turn.

"Hey man. Where can we find a river?, The closest one?" questioned Simon.

The guy observed the van before asking, "Are you looking for the Neverlanders?"

We all replied with confused expressions on our faces.

"That gypsy village" he stated, when he got no verbal response.

"Yes we are!" I exclaimed.

"We are?" questioned Jordan. I saw Riley give him the just go with it look.

"Where is it exactly?" questioned Marco.

"Wait a second" the guy said, and he pulled out a small notebook from a pocket in his pants. He then pulled out the pen behind his ear and started jotting down stuff.

We all exchanged whats going on looks.

"This will take you to the start." he said tearing the paper off and giving it to Simon.

"Good luck finding the four clues." he said with a grin.

"What are these clues exactly?" questioned Marco.

"To find the village in the woods? Hidden in plain sight, from what I hear." the guy said with a shrug.

"Those who fail to find the place apparently don't deserve to find it. Im sure you guys know this already" continued the man.

"Fun stuff" stated Jordan. We all wore a grin before saying goodbye to the man.

We were all in. We left with a hidden destination in mind.

We drove for hours and hours. Riley has not spoken to me much at all. There is something bothering her. The only thing keeping us entertained were Simon's jokes, Jordan's teasing, and Marco's life story.

Marco comes from a homophobic family and homophobic neighbourhood. His story said he had been bullied over the years. He said he had nothing but hatred for that place. I doubt it. I am sure he didn't start off that way. They made him hate it. Suddenly his introductory line, " I do graffiti because I am gay", made a whole lot more sense to me. Maybe art was an escape to him. Like it is to me. Maybe art combined with vandalism is how he expressed or portrayed his anger and pain, making it visible to the people that hated who he really was.

***

We finally reached the first stop marked on the paper. We were facing a road that ran deep into the woods.

"That man could be leading us to a psychopathic murderer, but whatever" said Jordan.

"Or... to that river" said Simon. Shut up about that river, already.

"Or to an awaiting adventure hidden in the woods" I exclaimed, grinning. 

 

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