Jasmine felt the waves of dizziness come and go as they clumsily felt their way through the forest, forced by the circumstances to stomp through it, unable to see what dangers could be lurking in the dark. However, Jasmine was happy that her headache and leg pain had subsided.
The only thing that kept bothering her was the wooziness. It made walking quite disorienting, causing her to stomp her feet too heavily or misjudge the distance of rocks and branches, tripping constantly.
It was exhausting to continually feel like the weak one, to be the one who always needed help. At times, it seemed Jasmine required more assistance than even the children.
"Dad, look! Bambi!" Arman exclaimed excitedly, pointing at a slim fawn standing in the single patch of moonlight that managed to pierce through the thicker part of the forest they were passing through.
The fawn looked magical, standing there with its huge eyes and brown body with pure white spots, the beautiful innocence that radiated from it was indescribable.
Maybe what added to the mystical feel of the beauty was that they hadn't seen any animals since the whole thing, invasion, whatever it was, first started. It was a pleasant surprise for all of them.
In Jasmine's books, that meant there was still hope. The chances of some other towns still being safe increased in her mind from barely any to quite a few. Her optimism increased so much that she believed they might go through it all unscathed.
"It's so cool," Arman whispered, lowering himself to the ground with his hand extended towards the fawn.
As he started to walk towards the fawn slightly bending over to be on the eye level with it, a light bulb went off in Jasmine's mind, one of those memories one has at the back of one's mind and which sometimes suddenly pop up at just the right time.
"Stop!" she exclaimed loudly.
The fawn fled immediately upon hearing the loud noise, disappearing as suddenly as it had appeared, reminding Jasmine even more of an ephemeral magical creature. One that appeared suddenly and disappeared in the same fashion.
"You scared it off," Arman said, pouting, already at the edge of tears.
"I'm sorry, but I remembered that when there are fawns somewhere, there are also parents nearby," Jasmine said, looking around cautiously. "And the deer have been known to hurt humans if they come too close to their babies. They don't mean to harm anyone. They only do their best to protect their babies."
"You're lying," Arman said, his lower lip trembling.
It wasn't the first time a child had said that to Jasmine, but this time, it hurt more than she thought those automatic words of children could. Because she usually knew those words were spoken in anger, she shouldn't take them seriously. But to her surprise, logic flew out of the window, and she felt genuinely upset.
"I'm not," Jasmine said, trying to keep her tone calm and reasonable. "Don't you know that every mother wants to protect her children?"
As soon as the words were out, Jasmine realized those were just the wrong ones to say to that specific child. They were the worst possible words.
"Yes, Jasmine is telling the truth," Asher said, intervening quickly before his son's loud crying could attract something dangerous. "Why do you think they have such huge antlers."
As he said that, Asher lowered his head like a bull, waiting to strike, aiming his head at the still red-eyed Arman.
It wasn't an easy feat to achieve while still holding the sleeping Ariyana, but the smile he received for his effort was worth the trouble. Making his children smile was what he loved doing the most, especially when they were on the verge of tears.
"So, be careful, please," Asher said back to his stern parent mode in the blink of an eye.
"Okay Dad," Arman replied cheerfully, even as he wiped away the remnants of tears that mere moments ago were threatening to drown them.
"Sorry," Jasmine whispered to Asher. "I wasn't thinking straight."
"No worries, I've known them since they were born, and I still slip up at times and say the wrong thing," Asher said, squeezing her hand supportively. "I appreciate you trying, though. It's more than what most people have done in the past."
Feeling relieved, Jasmine squeezed back his hand, quickly moving away upon noticing a meaningful look Isaac was giving them. The last thing Jasmine wanted was to give the wrong idea to the curious little guy.
"Dad, I am hungry," Arman said barely an hour later.
"Alright, let's rest here and have something to eat," Asher said, pointing at a snug little place between a row of bushes and a huge old tree.
Jasmine wasn't sure where he would get the food as their supplies were so limited. His backpack seemed like a magician's hat, containing far more than expected. She guessed it was a father thing to always be prepared with emergency snacks because she hadn't seen it before.
"Ari, sweetheart, wake up," Asher said, gently lowering Ariyana to the ground.
"Five more minutes," Ariyana murmured back groggily, snuggling to take a more comfortable position on the bare ground.
"I thought you said it's not easy to wake her up," Jasmine said inquisitively.
"It's not. This is just a reflex as we play this game every morning when Ari needs to get up," Asher said, looking at his daughter with so much love that it brought tears to Jasmine's eyes. "However, there is a trick to it. Watch this!"
Asher took a piece of the delicious-looking snack from the bag and slowly moved it left and right just under Ariyana's nose. It reminded Jasmine of dangling a carrot in front of a donkey to make it move that she saw in one drama or another.
"It's breakfast time," he murmured, emphasizing the word breakfast.
The second he said so, Ariyana's eyes snapped open creepily, reminding Jasmine of all those scenes from horror movies of vampires suddenly waking up, smelling the scent of fresh blood.
"Breakfast," Ariyana said sleepily, sitting up quickly and offering her hands to receive the precious food.
"It works every time," Asher said, directing his words to a still-astonished Jasmine.
Jasmine had no clever reply, so she stayed quiet, processing the strange situation, which was both endearing and creepy on a certain level.
"Ari will be a fatty when she grows up," Arman said teasingly. "Fatty! Fatty! Fatty!"
"I won't," Ari exclaimed indignantly.
"Fatty! Fatty! na-nana-na-naa," Arman continued to chant, sticking his tongue out.
"Daddy, he is mocking me again," Ariyana started whining, moving towards Arman threateningly.
"Enough you two," Asher said, finally exhausted by the constant bickering. "Ari, how is your head?"
Then he subtly placed himself between Arman and Ariyana, gently patting the girl's head.
"It doesn't hurt anymore," Ariyana said and then proceeded to stuff her face with the offered food.
It was fascinating to Jasmine how quickly children got over things. Not long ago, Ariyana was screaming in pain like a banshee. Yet there she was now, munching on the offered snacks without a worry in the world.
"Great! Then eat up, both of you, because we still have some way to go," Asher said, stretching his tired arms until his shoulders popped loudly.
Jasmine felt relieved to note that she wasn't the only one on whom their journey was taking a toll. It made her feel less weak, less fragile.
"How long will it take?" Arman asked tiredly. "I've never walked so much in my whole life. I am sooooooo tired!"
"Just a bit more," Asher said hesitantly, looking in the distance as if hoping to see their destination, which he knew wasn't as close as that.
It was clear to Jasmine that he couldn't tell how long it would take them to get there. However, Jasmine hoped they were at least going in the right direction. After all, they were still going through a dark forest Asher hadn't been in for years, even though Asher seemed sure of their heading.
Lost in thought, Jasmine didn't even register when she heard a branch snap and all the implications of what it could mean, until a knife glistening in the dim moonlight found itself under Asher's throat, making Jasmine almost exclaim in shock.
"Anyone moves, he dies," a confident male voice said decisively.
Had death come for them?
Was it in human form? Or was it something worse?