CORRUPTED (Book 3 of the Tempted Series)

Chapter Eleven

"Hey Chase," you call. "Bet you can't shoot a tea bag to land on top of that weird branch coming up."

He looks to where you are pointing and scoffs. "Easy. Watch and learn little sis."

He then runs ahead of you, teabag prepared in his hand, and jumps as soon as he passes the branch, tossing the bag into the air over his head behind him. You watch the bag fly up... Barely touch the branch, and fall straight back down to the red dirt ground.

You stifle a laugh, then cover it up with a cough.

"That was just a practice," he assures.

"Sure it was," you taunt.

He seems surprised that you're mocking him and raises his eyebrows. "Oh, okay. Let's see you do better." He tosses you a new tea bag and you catch it.

You smile. "Okay. Choose my target."

He looks around with a hand on his chin, pondering. Then he sees something.

"Aim for that, over there."

You look to where he is looking and see an oddly shaped tree that splits in half near the roots. He wants you to land the bag right in between where it splits.

"Alright." You step forward a few steps and he smirks as you pass him. You prepare the bag in your hand, look where you're aiming, and toss it off the path.

The two of you watch as it flies a few feet away, through the two trees you were aiming for, and land behind it. You missed.

Your face scrunches up in frustration and you look at Chase. He puts his arms up in a shrug. "Field goal?" Then laughs. You do as well. It's so refreshing to see Chase as himself again.

He pulls out two more bags and hands one to you. As you look around for another target, an idea pops into your head. You pull Chase aside as you're walking and whisper in his ear. "Let's see who can get the most points before getting yelled at."

He makes a confused look. You not to Schneep walking ahead of you. "20 points if it lands on a shoulder. 50 if on his head."

Chase playfully nudges you away biting his fist to keep from laughing. He nods silently, afraid to burst out laughing. You grin and put a finger to your lips as you find yourselves a reasonable walking distance behind the unsuspecting doctor.

You'll go first.

You bite your lip and toss the tea bag towards Schneep's shoulder. It misses short and lands with a soft fft on the ground. He doesn't notice.

You scoop it up as you walk past it and Chase prepares for his turn. He holds it close to his face, takes a deep breath, then swings his arm and releases the bag into the air. It arches perfectly and it softly lands on the edge of the doctor's lab coat. With the shoulder strap around him that carries his bag of supplies, he didn't feel a thing. It sits there for a few seconds, then slides off the back. But it counts.

You look at Chase with your jaw dropped. He looks back almost with the same amount of surprise, but also with pride.

"What the fuck," you mouth to him.

He silently chucked and shrugs.

Alright, you think. "Game on Chase."

For the next mile or so the two of you are throwing tea bags back and forth, trying to get some to land on Schneep, and not get caught. On occasion he would turn around to check up on everyone, and you would just hide the tea bag until he turned back around. He knew Chase was "practicing his trick shots," but he didn't know you were playing along too.

You maybe accidentally hit him in the back of the neck once, in which he turned around and asked what it was. In reply you apologized and said don't worry about it. Then you proceeded to blame Chase and said he threw a tea bag and horribly missed his target, hitting him instead.

For that, Chase playfully slapped your shoulder, but Schneep didn't think anything of it. He was probably just as glad as you were that Chase was doing something he normally enjoyed. He just turned around and continued to walk.

Neither of you get any more points, and stop the game.

"It's probably best to quit while you're behind," said Chase. "We could have played for miles and I still would have won. Even with an an aim like you have."

You laugh mockingly. "Oh shut up, you." Then you chuck the last tea bag in your hand right for his arm, but he dodges at last second, and the bag goes flying ahead of you into the woods.

"HA!" he laughs."

You groan and walk ahead to look for the lost tea bag, refusing to meet the gaze of your contender.

You saw it land somewhere off the trail, so you make sure you can still see the group in your peripheral vision so you don't get lost. It couldn't have gone far.

You look in the red grass, around the crimson trees, under the scarlet leaves, and behind fallen logs, but for some reason you can't find it, and are about to turn back when something catches your eye.

Just a little deeper into the woods, something stands out against the red shades of the trees. A black figure. No, a substance? A material? You're not quite sure, but it doesn't take the shape of a person.

It's large, but not any bigger than you. You decide to walk in a little further to get a closer look.

It's constantly moving, floating above the ground. As you get closer, your mind is trained on finding this object and not keeping an eye on the group. But you don't really care. Something pulls you towards this thing.

Then you can see it clearly: it looks like a piece of torn black silk. It's thin enough you can almost see through it, and light enough that it can float in the air. Though you don't feel any breeze, it looks like it is blowing in a slow wind, yet remaining stationary in the area. What surprises you more is seeing the small tears and holes in the silk. It almost looks as if it should be hanging off the mast of a pirate ship. How it is still floating with the air passing through them?

It's actually kind of beautiful. But where did it come from?

You don't touch it, but it looks so invitingly soft to the touch. Something about it captivates you in a small trance. The way it blows in an invisible wind, the small slow flaps of the torn scraps, and the color: so dark yet almost transparent. It's mesmerizing.

"(Y/N)!"

You are startled by a voice calling your name. It's Chase.

You shake your head out of the trance and step back. "I'm coming!" You shout back, turning to run away and back toward the gang.

Thankfully, you easily find your way, and Chase and Schneep greet you with nervous faces.

"(Y/n), where did you go!?" Chase asks.

"We were afraid you got lost," Schneep adds. "Did something happen? Are you alrright?"

"Guys, I'm fine!" You say waving them away. "I'm alright. I just couldn't find a tea bag that I threw, that's all."

"So it WAS you!" Schneep proclaims. "You hit me before!"

You rub your forehead with your palm. Shit. "Um... No...?"

"I knew it! Yes it was!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," you say as you walk ahead of the group, leading them forward. "Why would I of all people partake in such foolishness." You look at Chase and give him a wink. He chuckles and crosses his arms. "Come on, we don't have time to play games, Schneep. Don't you remember we've got two worlds to save?"

Schneep looks at Chase and grunts in frustration, but continues to walk behind you.

"You gotta keep up, Doctor," you say while walking away, trying to keep a straight face.

You hear Chase laugh behind you. Finally. An actual laugh.

As you lead the group on, you remember what you saw in the woods just moments ago.

You decide not to tell the others.