make me stay.

three

"seven days left," the guard spoke, one of the corners of his mouth curling before he let me through.

like i wasn't aware of that?

crossing the border, it would be at least another two hours on foot, one until sunset.

the footpath we followed meandered through the woodland, leading the way up the mountain. footprints in all sizes had stepped in the overused dirt creating a trail seeming to continue without an end; each twist and turn it took, taking us into new territory.

at some points, muddy footprints had spread out, showing multiple ways of getting around the damp ground, at others the dirt was cracked, the mud having dried in the first heat of the new season leaving casts of every shoe prior to us.

when the woods seemed to grow closer, we slowed down, the path intertwined with thick tree roots and fallen logs, forcing us to pick our way carefully, mindful of what a twisted ankle would mean for the rest of the journey.

"lily," i had called out in the last hour, suddenly noticing how she was wiggling in her gate. "are you hurt?"

the group came to a halt as graham picked up lily's fragile frame, putting her down on a log. i kneeled before her, rolling down the sock on her left foot, revealing purple flowers forming on the skin.

"why didn't you say anything?" harvey grunted, a deep frown folding the skin on his forehead.

"i'm not dying just yet, belle." lily replied simply, taking in a sharp breath as i applied pressure on her ankle. it wasn't broken, but definitely bruised and in need of a break. "i barely twisted it before,"

"how long until sunset?" i asked, glancing upwards. between the tree crowns i saw how the sky was changing shades, getting darker by the minute. the higher up you went, the colder the weather became, the harsher the night.

"not long," gram had followed my gaze, seeing how we were losing daylight. "are we even allowed out here during the night?"

"tell me, one of us read up on the higher kingdom's laws before we left," lily joined in, looking through her bag to find an extra pair of socks to support her ankle.

"doesn't look like it. can't we just leave her here?" harvey shrugged his shoulders, a wide grin spreading on his face.

"shut it, belle." lily hissed, flinching as i helped ease her to her feet. "even if we were allowed to stay out here, i highly doubt any runners that should pass by wouldn't just kill us."

harvey was the first to yawn.

night fell quick up here. not more than an hour before our break, the sky had been painted with hues of red and orange, but all colour had faded leaving only a matt black canvas to be looked upon.

i had been pushed in the front, the responsibility of leading the group in the right direction having landed on my shoulders, being the only one who wasn't completely blind in the darkness.
i had heightened senses, such as vision and hearing. it wasn't something i usually spoke up about, knowing eventually someone would take it the wrong way, but it was in cases like this one, i was thankful to be that tiny bit different.

every once in a while i would wiggle my toes, flex my fingers and roll my neck, just to make sure my joints wouldn't stiffen up. lily had an arm over my shoulders, relying most of her body weight on me, which hadn't exactly increased speed.

but soon, we were making our way into one of the south towns. graham's aunt and uncle lived up here, and had allowed us to stay throughout the week.