INSIGNIAS: THE ABECEDARIANS

CHAPTER XVI: TESSA

But they were surprised like she was. They were catching their breath like they ran a marathon. The girl in a green shirt and tattered blue pants looked like her age. She had black hair that fell above her shoulders. Her blue-green eyes blinked at her several times. The boy seemed older in a black oversized coat and leather hat but his face looked young. A pair of light blue eyes looked at her like she was a ghost. Like Tessa, they didn't expect to run into someone.

I wonder what I looked like to them.

"Who are you?" the three asked at the same time.

It was the boy who pulled away from the staring contest. He looked at the girl and frowned.

"We need to go. She doesn't feel like them," he said to her. He looked back at Tessa then nodded. He was saying goodbye.

"Wait!" Tessa shouted before they could take a step. For the first time after she saw them, Tessa felt the undeniable pull towards them. She thought it was ridiculous. They stared at her, maybe waiting for her to say something.

Is it them? Please be them.

For Tessa, it was a prayer.

A sound of the gunshot made them look at the direction of the explosion earlier. It was close. Another two gunshots were heard followed by running footsteps.

"You should come with us for now", the said with a small smile. It wasn't the frightening smile that Redhead gave her or the comforting ones from Olive and Lois or the sad smiles of her Dad and Steve. This smile said acceptance.

"We better hurry." He started to walk south and the girl followed him.

"Where are we going?" Even if they don't seem bad guys, there was still the matter of trust. There were 'what ifs' haunting her mind.

The boy stopped but didn't look at her. He seemed to be listening to his surroundings.

"We need to hide first. This place isn't safe", he said the continued to walk.

"Come", the girl said. Tessa walked beside the girl while the boy led them. They seemed to be prepared for a long journey as Tessa eyed their bulging backpacks and hiking boots.

"I'm sorry if I need to ask but why were there explosions earlier?" She couldn't wait for a safe place to know what was happening. She looked at the girl. She looked like she was considering her answer.

But Tessa knew better. She doesn't want to press them but she had been on the run for days and she needed a reason to trust them. And myself.

"I know that I'm a stranger but I need to know where know where I'm standing at," she said with a low voice.

"It's okay", the girl replied with a smile. "Bad guys found us."

"Mortemians," Tessa affirmed.

The girl looked for a moment then nodded.

She heard the boy chucked in front. "We were hiding since yesterday until we fought them earlier. We set a trap so we are safe, for now, so we should leave this town immediately", he said.

"There were 13 of them", he continued. Tessa gasped.

"How did you..." she trailed then stopped. She wasn't sure if it's an appropriate question.

"How did we come out alive?" the girl offered. "We had a few tricks on our sleeves."

"It looked like you were traveling." The boy took a glance at her.