Catching up with them, after I got rid of the laughter within me, I followed them inside a different house, knowing that there wouldn't be anyone inside this one. We remained wary of the fact that possibilities were endless.
"Like I was saying earlier, we shouldn't just walk around in the open." We stalked in the shadows of the houses, going through them with rapid speed, almost like thieves robbing houses, while Derrick lectured on about things I already knew. It was staring to get annoying, but he eventually got me interested.
"Mac," He called him over to his side, where he stood by the staircase of a fairly large house.
"Yeah? What's up?" He asked, looking up at Derrick with a careful curiosity. And yes, he was looking up at Derrick, meaning he was taller than Mac. Actually, Derrick was the tallest one out of the five of us.
"You were saying that the Bomber wore a long tailcoat, correct?" Although I glanced over my shoulder at them and I couldn't see Mac's face because his back was turned to me. I could tell he was surprised by Derrick's sudden question.
"Well, yes. He or she would wear a black tailcoat." Mac confirmed.
"Then it is likely that this certain person is a Rich, if not, has something to do with the Riches." Angeli and Naomi stopped what they were doing, going through drawers and cupboards, and turned to look at them.
"Why would a Rich be bombing the border of Germany?" Angeli questioned him.
"That's why I suspect this person not to be a Rich, but someone that is associated with them, in some sort of way." His hair still covered over his eyes, shielding the expression he wore, but something about his voice made me think Derrick was slightly afraid of something.
"How's that?" I asked, putting away a can of peaches that was buried deep within a small supply of rancid food.
"Well, some people pose as Riches in order to gain higher authority. The Riches are the only ones who wear tailcoats and if that person is pretending to be a Rich, which is a posing threat, then they must be working against the Riches." He was more like talking to himself, rather than us.
"You know all this, how?" Naomi stared at Derrick, a bit wary, but kept her posture. Derrick, however, replied simply.
"Most of my family is in the Rich country. I'm against them and don't really want to be with them. Yet, I still know a few things about them."
"Is that how we're going to get help finding Trevor?" I piped in, suddenly relieved to know the reason for going to the Rich country at last.
"Yes, I hope. They don't like me very much, but we're still family. They should help me with the Trevor problem and such." It really started to make sense now. This was the reason why Derrick was sensitive to things involving the Rich. Since his family was there and they didn't really appreciate him, he was cruel about all things having to do with that family. It was no wonder.
"Who... Is Trevor?" Mac was as confused as I expected him to be, so I gave him a pretty accurate answer.
"He's my murderous brother. We're trying to find him, mostly because he's dangerous and can hurt anyone he just feels like hurting, but it's also because he is my brother. I guess I just can't let go of someone I've known for so long." I averted my eyesight with everyone else's. It was true, that I couldn't let go of my brother. He was family, after all, and like Derrick had said, if you still cared about family, you would help them. If I still cared about Trevor, then I could help him go back to the person I once knew.
"Oh. That makes sense. Well, I hope you end up finding him." Naomi gave me a sincere smile, which I returned.
"Thanks. I hope you two find what you're looking for, too." We finished off what we had to do in this house and went on to continue in the direction of our destination. It wasn't midday by the time we reached Rich country, but we were only about an hour "off schedule." Derrick didn't seem bothered by this, so I supposed it was around the time he planned to arrive.
"Here we are - Rich country." Derrick announced, signaling that we had finally arrived. Luckily, we had no trouble with getting past the country borders. There were a few people patrolling, but we remained silent and stealthy through most of it. That is, until now. Letting our guard down got the best of us.
"I can't believe it. Finally..." Naomi whispered, seemingly a quite calm and collected person. Throughout most of our trip, she hadn't said much. When she did, they were fair warnings and little tips. Sometimes, even compliments or encouragements. She was a tightly closed book under lock and key. It was a mystery to me on what Mac was so transfixed about.
"Yeah, it is hard to believe," Mac's eyes twinkled with a sort of happiness as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "But we made it." He kissed the side of her head as she smiled. It really warmed my heart to see them both so happy to be here, but this was just the beginning of their long journey.
"You think you'll stay here?" I asked, grinning a little.
"Not sure. It might be better if we got the chance to... 'Weigh our options,' as they say." Mac responded, a bit unsure.
"Does that mean you'll be sticking with us a while longer?" Angeli joined the conversation, asking a question I was about to ask.
"If Derrick lets us." He glanced up at him and Derrick nodded in response.
"Stay with us for as long as you like, until you find what you're looking for. I advise you either pick the Netherlands or Belgium. One or the other." Derrick finished speaking, looking as if lost in thought, but brought out the resources he had collected to inspect them. Mac had taken a liking to Derrick, even though Derrick was hardly a talker, and sat down beside him. He began helping Derrick and talked with him once in a while, probably about future plans.
Angeli, however, didn't seem very interested in either of them, while Naomi tried getting closer to her. It must have been because she was the only other girl here, but Angeli was putting no effort to make any new friends. That being said, Naomi was left to go and listen in on the conversation the guys were having while Angeli came and sat beside me, shrugging off her backpack.
"She's weird, isn't she?" She asked after the moment of silence where I drank a bit of water from a canteen. Like mentioned before, water was very hard to come by. I only took a nice, long swallow every day.
"Huh? Naomi?" I looked over at where she sat, silently helping with the food inspection.
"Yes. What other 'she' is there?" She rolled her eyes, taking it the wrong way.
"I know she's the only other girl here, but I was just making sure you weren't talking about some imaginary friend or something." I teased.
"What?" She raised her eyebrows, but I only chuckled.
"Seriously, though. I didn't think you were talking about her." I stashed away the half-full canteen. "She's not weird to me. Just quiet."
"Exactly. Weird." I shook my head silently as I smiled at Angeli. "No, really! Usually, people I travel with are talkative and lively, like when we were laughing back in Germany. Then, when Mac and Naomi joined us, it just got quiet."
"It wasn't because of them. It was for the explosion. Even if Mac and Naomi hadn't tagged along, I bet you, Derrick and I would have gotten just as silent to avoid getting detected." I looked over at where the two of them sat. Mac was still talking to Derrick while Naomi looked rather bored. "Maybe you should talk to her. Who knows? You two could have a lot in common."
She crossed her arms. "Oh really? Since when are you so wise?"
"I wouldn't call it wisdom. Just common sense."
"Ok then. I guess I should listen to Mathias' Words of Wisdom." She stood up and walked over to where they were. She sat next to Naomi and even at a distance, I could feel the awkwardness that came off of them. Then, Naomi caught eyes with me, and then turned to say something to Angeli. Immediately, the tension between them lifted. I got really suspicious with whether they were talking about me or something else having to do with me. It actually caused me to worry.
Pondering over what they were talking about, I looked over beside me and noticed something there. My worry rose as I realized what it was. It was a thin piece of paper with a simple question written on it in red ink.
"Should I, or should I not?" It led me to wondering if we were being followed by someone, or rather, someone we knew.
With the paper grasped in one hand, I could only stare at it with confusion. What was most frightening wasn't the question, but the ink that was used. Could it have been ink or was it... something else? The words were sprawled across the single page, seeming to drip at the bottom of every letter. The paper itself had creases in various places, like if it had been handled roughly with intense carelessness - almost like it was stuffed into a pocket.
My mind was taking too long to process what I held in my hands and before I knew it, Angeli had come back from chatting with Naomi. Not thinking of hiding it from her, she leaned over and looked at it over my shoulder.
"Where did you get this?" She asked, slightly in a panic. I kept my eyes on the blood-like letters and shook my head, not knowing how to answer. "Should we tell the others?" I shook my head again.
"We don't need to worry anyone. They can find out on their own." I folded the paper and left it on the ground in front of me, still unsure of what to think of this. "I have a feeling that we're being followed." I whispered to her. She glanced up at me, a startled look in her eyes.
"Who could be following us?" I thought for a moment, but couldn't think of anyone at the top of my head. Trevor was a possibility, but would he really reveal himself so easily? It was unlike him to leave anything behind, especially when stalking somebody. "And what does that mean?" She continued to ask. Should I, or should I not? Did that make sense for Trevor to ask? What was it that he should or should not do?
"So many questions that don't have answers..." I responded silently, looking up at Derrick who was now walking over to us.
"You guys ok? We're about to start traveling again, but you two seem a bit pale." I stole a glance at the paper and Derrick caught the flicker of my eyes towards the ground. Without saying anything, he picked it up and unfolded the note.
"What...?" His hair remained covered, hiding his face from view. I watched closely as he folded it again and set it down in front of me. "How strange... Who do you think it could be?"
"No clue." Angeli answered, keeping her eyes on the paper.
"I didn't even feel it when someone set it beside me. It was just after Angeli went to talk to Naomi." I recalled it carefully, starting to feel creeped out by this. If they were so quiet that when they were next to me, I couldn't hear them, then this was something much more unsettling.
"Hopefully, this isn't something that will cause us to be sidetracked. We've had enough problems." Derrick rested his chin on his hand, staring down at the note.
"Agreed. Enough is enough..." Angeli mumbled, agreeing with him. I secretly hoped that this person would show themselves after a while. If this was their way of communicating, then I was very interested in what all this was about.
"Come on, let's gather up our things. I'll try not to think too much about this." I grabbed my pack and stuck the note in my own pocket, intending to study it with a higher intensity.
Angeli followed closely behind me, seemingly shocked with the blood-stained piece of paper and waited patiently while Derrick and Mac put away the food. She gave a small smile to Naomi as she went to stand next to her, which caused me to smile too. At least Angeli was trying to get something good out of all this.
"Onward!" I yelled, after everything was put away and marched ahead of everyone.
"Mathias," Derrick warned. "You have no idea where you're going."
"I know. I'd be one heck of a leader." That made them laugh a little, which was what I intended on getting them to do. Wanting to lighten up the mood, I decided that maybe being too quiet wasn't good. It would give us time to fill up our thoughts with worry and hesitation- something I wasn't going to be subtle about.
"So... What's different about the Netherlands?" I asked, curious on how this place would look like.
"Well, there's a lot more buildings. We're still near the border, so there's not many here, but once we really get into the Netherlands, you'll see how different it is from places like the Lankie and Poor countries." So... more buildings? Was it because they were Riches? I guessed so.
"We should be arriving tonight, if the dark creeps up on us too early, then we might have to wait until tomorrow before continuing on towards Tilburg." Mac butted in with useful information.
"Ok then. Wash, rinse, and repeat. Got it." He chuckled at my remark and I slowed down my pace so Angeli and Naomi could catch up. They were really hitting it off, getting close to being like best friends. "What are you two talking about?" I asked, treading along with Naomi beside me.
"Oh, just about Angeli's sister, Aubrey. She sounds so kind." It was no wonder why she looked so happy. She was talking about someone she was passionate about, someone she missed.
"Yeah, I was just telling her about the time she-" Angeli giggled and stopped herself before continuing. Naomi started laughing along with her and I gave them a strange look.
"Ok... I'll let you two keep talking about whatever it was that your sister did..." I heard their laughs from behind me as I picked up my pace to walk on my own, in between the two pairs of people. Derrick and Angeli were getting along fine with them, but I felt rather lonely.
A sudden voice startled me as it whispered, "Don't worry. You won't be so lonely for too long." I looked around, but found no one. Was I losing my mind? What was even weirder was that the voice was of a girl. A vaguely familiar... girl.
"Who are you?" I muttered to myself, putting my hand against the pocket that had the note inside. Could this be the same person who gave me the note? Were they asking me if they should or should not reveal who they were? It was a very delicate subject, but I really wondered who this girl was. I just didn't know that they were someone I had met before, but never saw again.
"Naomi!" Mac screamed, breaking my train of thought. I hadn't noticed that she suddenly collapsed and Angeli was trying to help her up. It wasn't until now that Mac finally noticed. He raced past me and towards his dearly beloved, getting on his knees beside her."What happened?" Angeli was filled with shock and froze in place. I ran back toward them and crouched down beside her.
"Angeli? What happened?"
"S-she just... fell." She was trembling slightly, but remained calm. "We have to wake her up."
"I know what this is about... she told me she would be fine, but she just never listens to me." He held her close to him, picking her up in his arms. "Don't worry, this is normal." He looked down at her with sad eyes.
"Mac, what's wrong with her?" I asked, not meaning to sound rude.
"Nothing's wrong with her. She's as normal as you and me. She just has a weak heart..." He whispered, walking along with her in his arms, carrying her in a bridal-styled way.
"That's not what I meant.. I know she's normal. I wanted to know what was wrong with her health, not her."
"Yeah, sorry. I'm a bit... protective of her." He answered shyly, holding her tightly against him.
"I'll carry her things." Angeli offered, taking the backpack Naomi was carrying with her and slung it over her own shoulder. I smiled at her, but she didn't notice. Nonetheless, I was happy that she was being nicer to Naomi and Mac.
Derrick watched carefully, not wanting to interfere with anything that he could mess up. He remained quiet as he waited for us to catch up to him. Mac strongly continued to carry her the whole time, like she didn't weigh a thing. Maybe she did, but Mac did look strongly built.
It was at this point where I felt a really uncomfortable feeling, like I was being watched. I tried to shake it off, but it wasn't working. Was I really losing my mind or was there someone truly following us?
As we continued on, I started to feel more and more uneasy about the feeling I was getting from being watched. I had no idea who it could be or why they would be doing it, but it wasn't setting in right with me. I kept glancing around, half-expecting someone to pop out and grab me from behind.
"Hey..." Angeli tapped my shoulder unexpectedly, causing me to jump. "Woah! Calm down, it's just me." I nodded, not answering to her. "Are you okay? You look a little out of it." I shook my head, unable to steady my shaking hands.
"I seriously feel like I'm being watched..." I whispered, probably paranoid with the note.
"You feel it too?" I quickly lifted my head and turned towards her, seeing a weird look in her eyes. "I thought it was just me..."
"No, it's not just you. If we both feel it, then there has to be someone following us." I glanced at Mac, who walked in front of us with Naomi still held in his arms and noted that even he was glaring at the surrounding area. Watching Derrick, he did the same. Not as often, but he still did.
"Definitely." She answered beside me. It wasn't just me... whoever was following us wasn't doing really great at being undetected. Still, what if they were intentionally doing this, making sure we knew that we were being followed? If there was something I learned out here, it was that all things happened for a reason. This reason? It was a complete blank to me.
"We can't really try to ignore it." I said, rubbing my hand against the back of my neck. "It's like a ghost, floating around, but you can't see it..." I added, describing the stalker-like feeling.
"I know. Well, we can try, but it won't work. Do you think Derrick would know who's the one doing this?" I thought for a moment. Would he?
"I don't know. We could ask."
"We should, then. I don't think I can take much more of this without knowing what's going on." Without waiting for a reply, she jogged ahead and came to a slow pace just as she reached Derrick. Going after her, I did the same and approached his other side.
"Watching me?" Angeli already went ahead and asked him if he felt like someone was watching him. That was his response. "So, that's what it is..." His voice became slightly confused, but he continued answering our questions. "I guess so. It really does feel that way."
"We've been feeling the same thing. Do you have any ideas on who might be following us?" I questioned. He stayed quiet for a few moments, but then came up with a reply.
"It could be the Bomber." I didn't think he would say it was Trevor, but the Bomber?
"The Bomber...?" I repeated, watching him carefully.
"Think about it. This started after our encounter with the Bomber. If it had been Trevor, we wouldn't be followed yet. He stays away from getting detected, unlike this person. It almost seems like they want us to know they're there."
"That's what I was thinking!" I exclaimed, maybe a little too loudly.
"It's weird, though... Who would be bombing Germany, be a Rich or against the Riches, and have a reason to follow us, other than Trevor?" Angeli was thinking carefully about what we knew on the Bomber, but she was right. We knew no one who fit the description.
"I guess we'll have to wait and see." Derrick responded quietly, leaving us to wonder what we were supposed to do about this sudden disturbance.
"G-guys..." We heard Mac's weak voice from behind us and saw a look of panic come across his face.
"What's wrong?" Angeli looked down at Naomi and back up at Mac. "Did something happen?"
"Her heart rate is speeding up..." He mumbled, getting visibly paler and paler by the second.
"Set her on the ground." Derrick instructed, bringing down his own backpack. All the while, I could still feel those eyes piercing through me, vigilant to my every move.
Mac settled Naomi on the ground and did as Derrick told him to do, trying to do everything he could in order to calm down Naomi's racing heartbeat. They had to wake her up, forcing her to follow certain breathing patterns in order to slow down her sudden burst of accelerated heart rate.
At a distance, Angeli and I could see her panic lessen, still wearing a worried expression. Once Derrick checked her pulse a few times, he finally nodded and helped her stand up.
"Anxiety." He mumbled, meaning that anxiety caused her heart to race so rapidly. "Weakness of heart and anxiety put together will not wield a lovely outcome. Try to stay calm from now on and don't think too much about any troubles you might have." She nodded and stared down at her trembling hands.
"Hey, everything's gonna be fine." Mac hugged her gently, letting her head rest on his shoulder. "Trust me." She nodded again, but didn't speak. I took this chance to turn my attention to Angeli. She was observing them closely, a vacant expression on her face. During this time, I felt something rub against my shoulder. Quickly turning to face it, nothing was there. But on my opposite side, I heard a soft voice speak in such a hushed tone, only I would have been able to hear it. "I guess I should."
"No!" I yelled, panicked at what they were going to do. The four others were startled by my sudden action, but didn't say anything as they saw the far away look in my eyes. "W-who are you?" I asked the thin air. It obviously didn't answer, but I wished it had. Then, I would have known that I wasn't just imagining these things in my mind. It was all real.