Emma's POV:
We had been walking throughout this forest all night and all day now. We didn't want to waste any more time and wait till morning. Between Chloe being a powerful witch and me being a vampire, I wasn't scared of anything that may be lurking in these woods. I kept a close eye on Chloe to make sure she wasn't overexerting herself, but she seemed so focused on finding our destination every time I looked over. There was a fire in her eyes. Even if she was exhausted, I don't think she would even know it, which is why I needed to be the one to notice it.
"I think we should take a break. Just for a little bit." Chloe's intense eyes met mine.
"I'm fine, Emma. We can keep going." She started to walk ahead of me, but I grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Please, just for five minutes. We can take a seat on that log over there that is out of the sun and by the stream." I pointed over to where the log was.
"We don't have five minutes, Emma. People are dying as we speak. Mila is getting closer and closer to death as we stand here wasting time. I don't want to stop, and I'm not going to. Not until we find this witch." I sighed out.
"Will you at least drink more water then?" She rolled her eyes at me.
"Fine, I'll drink more water, especially if it means that we can keep going." She sounded very reluctant at this, but I didn't really care. If she wasn't going to rest, then she was going to hydrate more. I wasn't just watching out for her; I was also watching out for the baby that was growing inside her stomach.
As we made our way deeper into the forest, the more the sun began to fade. It was honestly getting to the point that it was almost as dark as nighttime. Barely any light made its way through the thick foliage that was provided by the trees above us. The way they shaded us from the sun made me think of umbrellas. I wonder if rain could even make its way through. I looked over to Chloe.
"How much longer?" She just shrugged her shoulders without saying a word.
"Do you even know where you are going?" She huffed out in annoyance. I swear if she wasn't pregnant, I would have a horrible attitude back at her.
"In the story, it says that you go deep into the forest and that you will find her in the middle of the forest." I threw my hands up.
"How the hell are we going to know when we are in the middle of the forest." She rolled her eyes.
"If you had let me finish, then I would have gotten to that." It took everything in me, every ounce of strength, not to huff in annoyance at her. "The story said that you'd know you've made it to the middle when you've found a huge clearing. It is the only clearing throughout the whole forest. It is described as always having sunlight, even when it rains. It says that you will feel nothing but peace once you step into the clearing." I nodded.
"Okay. It seems simple enough. Just have to find this huge ass clearing to be in the middle. I hope that it is absolutely massive, so it will be extremely easy to find." Then, she said something that completely caught me off guard.
"I agree." Wow, that is literally the first thing we have agreed on since we started this journey. It's a fucking miracle.
"What's that look for?" I looked at her, confused. "That look of surprise that was just on your face. What was that for." I hummed.
"Uhh, nothing." She huffed.
"Emma, I won't ask again." I sighed; I should prepare for my death now.
"I was just surprised because that was the only thing we have agreed on in a while." I kind of flinched back after saying this expecting to get smacked. But, instead, she just started laughing.
"You are so right. I did not realize that till you said it. That is the first thing we have agreed on in a while. Oh, wow. Wow, that is pretty funny." For you or for me?
"I guess mostly for me." I looked at her weirdly. "I can't read your mind, dumbass. You just said that out loud." Oh, shit. I pinched my arm, and when I felt it, I felt relieved. I wasn't dead. This is good. I said that out loud, and I am still alive. I must be a cat, and I probably just used one of my nine lives to save my ass there.
"Dear Lord, are we ever going to fucking get there?" I groaned out. "I am so bored." Chloe just gave me a look.
"You are such a child. Do you know that? Mila literally has three kids instead of just two." I was offended.
"I am not a child, nor do I act like one." I was defending myself at this point.
"Look at you." She gestured to me. "You are literally pouting right now because I said you were a child. And not but a minute ago you were complaining about how you were bored... Child." I could feel myself pouting more but immediately wiped the expression off my face. The last thing I need to do is give her more ammo.
"Whatever. You know you're bored too. We've been walking for hours." She stopped on her own without me stopping her like I did earlier and looked at me. Her look was ferocious.
"We are on a mission to find a way to save everyone's life. Including your wife's." She poked me in the chest. "Get your shit together, Emma. This trip isn't supposed to be fun. It's serious! One of my best friends, no more like my sister's life, is on the line. So, how about you focus on that." She then pointed to her head. "The thought of Mila dying or you or Julian or Jazmine or your kids or my mom or anyone we love is what's keeping me going. It's my drive right now, and it should be yours too. Think about if we don't find this witch and fast your wife, your kids' mother, your fucking soulmate could die." She ripped into me all the way to the bone. I was left speechless and feeling like total shit. I felt like a fucking scumbag.
"You're right. I'm sorry. Let's keep going." Nothing else was said, and we just continued our journey.
It was soon night, and here I thought that there was no way these woods could get any darker. Well, I was completely wrong. Not only was it pitch black, but you could feel that the temperature had dropped by at least twenty degrees. Chloe had cast some magic to were a couple of orbs of light hung above us. I didn't need them to see in the dark, but she did. Then, all of a sudden, the lights went off.
"What's going on?" I looked over toward Chloe, and she shushed me. I became extremely quiet and focused on everything around me. I took in everything I could hear, smell, and see. It was eerily quiet. Too quiet. I then heard a twig snap. I let my vampire side fully take over. I put Chloe behind me to where she was between a tree and me. That way, nothing could try and come from behind and grab her. I heard a bit of breathing from behind some bushes about ten feet away from me.
"I can hear you. Show yourself, now" I could hear the deadly growl in my voice. I was prepared to kill if I needed to. No one was going to harm me and especially not Chloe, and with her being pregnant, my vampire side was extra protective. "I said show yourself!" My voice boomed out in a commanding tone.
I heard the bush rustling a bit and saw a wolf make its way slowly out of the bushes. It looked up towards me, briefly making eye contact with me. I took this as a threat and intensified my eyes as a rumble was heard coming from my chest. The red specks in my eyes were glowing so brightly that I could see the illumination from them. The wolf's head snapped down immediately. The wolf then slowly lowered itself to the ground, trying to show me that they were no harm.
"What are you doing here?" I asked the wolf. They didn't say anything but started to shift back into their human form. Their human form was very small and seemed very weak. They have medium-length curly brown hair. Their head was down, covering their face and chest, while their hands covered their lower half, so I couldn't tell what gender they may be. Most werewolves weren't shy about their bodies, so I'm confused about why this one is.
"I don't mean any harm to either of you." The meek voice stuttered out. "I heard rumors of a couple of girls heading to find the ancient witch. I need to see her too." I still held Chloe close to me if this being meek and helpless was just an act.
"So you've been following us?" My voice was still dark. I wasn't going to come out of my vampire side until I knew we were absolutely safe.
"Yes, but I promise I mean no harm to either of you." Chloe grabbed the back of my shirt and brought me a little closer to her.
"I believe them. They are showing all the signs a werewolf does when they don't mean any harm. So we can trust them." I huffed a bit and got closer to the werewolf till I was towering over them.
"If you at any point try to cause harm to either of us. I won't even think about killing you; I will just do it. Do you understand?" They moved their head slightly, exposing their neck, showing submission. My chest rumbled in satisfaction at their submission. I let my eyes go back to normal, but I still stayed alert.
"Do you have any clothes?" Chloe was right beside me now. The werewolf looked up at her, and I put my arm in front of Chloe just in case. "They aren't going to hurt us now, stop." She pushed my arm down. "Sweetie, do you have any clothes with you?" The werewolf looked towards the bushes.
"Yes, over in the bushes." They snapped their head back down. "May I go change into my clothes?" Chloe immediately responded.
"Yes, you can." They didn't move, though, and she jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow.
"Okay, okay. Shit Chloe, your elbow is deadly." I focused back on the werewolf. "Yes, you may change into your clothes." They scurried over to the bushes and came back quickly, fully dressed.
"Sweetie, what's your name?" Chloe was about to elbow me again, but I caught her arm.
"You can talk. You don't need permission. As long as you don't cause us any harm, then I won't kill you." I grunted out as her elbow hit my ribs again. "What was that for?" She grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and brought me in close.
"Stop scaring them. They know that you are the alpha in this situation, and they aren't going to harm us. For fuck sakes, Emma." I rolled my eyes and huffed.
"Fine." I looked over in their direction. "I'm sorry..." I didn't fully mean it. "What's your name? And yes, you can look at us. I won't hurt you if you look me in the eyes." They slowly raised their head up and only looked at Chloe. They didn't dare look in my direction.
"My name is Riley." I could see Chloe smile.
"Nice to meet you, Riley. My name is Chloe and the mean way over here." She gestured to me, and I rolled my eyes. "Her name is Emma. We don't mean any harm to you either." I could see Riley's body become a little less tense after Chloe said that.
"Alright, we need to keep going. We've wasted enough time." Chloe started walking and grabbed Riley's hand and was pulling them along with her. I didn't like them being that close to Chloe; it made her very vulnerable, but again what she says goes.
Chloe had the orbs floating over all of us going again. I looked ahead and saw a flicker of something.
"Turn off the orbs." Everything went dark, and I let my vampire side take over so I could see further away. "Do you see that? I think there's light coming from just beyond that set of trees." I pointed off in the distance. I saw the other two lean their heads forward a bit.
"I see it too," Riley spoke out first, and Chloe soon agreed.
"I think we are close. Let's go!" After Chloe said that, she took off running in the direction of the light.
Riley and I were stunned for a second, but soon we started running after her. It didn't take us long to catch up to her. We all came to a stop right in front of a huge bush in between a set of trees. You could see a bright yellow light coming from just beyond it. It looked like sunlight. I grabbed Chloe's hand then she grabbed Riley's hand. I looked over to Chloe, and she nodded. I took in a deep breath and started making my way through the bush.
Once we got to the other side, it was a huge clearing. It stretched in every direction for miles. I could feel the sun's warmth raining down on me. This place was absolutely breathtaking. Chloe's story had some truth to it, this place had a serene air to it, and I did feel at peace.
"I've been waiting for all of you." A voice came from behind us.