We jumped off the railing, plummeting down towards the ground with a rapid speed. Just as fast as we jumped off, we came into contact with the cold I so much feared, but the cold never came. Derrick and Angeli quickly recovered from the fall, but I felt as if walls were starting to close in on me. Tightening around my lungs, my breath was lodged in my throat.
Two strong arms hauled me up and another different arm wrapped around my lower torso. I hadn't realized that I was picked up off the ground and a sudden voice startled me.
"Come on, Mathias. Don't give in!" Angeli's voice urged me. Although my vision was unclear, I let my feet do their tricks and saw rushing figures gliding around us. Loud voices rung in my ears, mingled with the distorted profanities being screamed into the night air.
"Just a bit further." Derrick announced beside me, hauling me along with him, though I was unaware of it. We drew closer and closer to a small forested area, and the voices I had heard were fading away. My vision started to come back, along with my only other sense - hearing. As of now, tasting and feeling weren't going to function properly. At least that was clear to me.
"Did we lose them?" Angeli asked between heavy pants.
"I think so." Derrick glanced back and nodded. "We did." I plopped down onto the ground with exhaustion and that seemed to alarm them.
"I'm fine guys, don't worry. Just tired." I chuckled lightly at that. "Even if I've been asleep for five days straight." It was no laughing matter, but I still somehow found it funny. Laughing at my own misery.
"You told him?" She questioned, staring at Derrick.
"He asked." He stated. However, something different occurred to me.
"Umm... Exactly where are we?" I thought that forests were cut down all over the place in the countries, but if we weren't in a place with houses scattered all over the place, then where were we?
"Namur. We're still in Belgium, just further down in the south." Derrick explained, crouching down beside me. He wasn't going to sit, so that his entire lower half wouldn't get frozen off, but that was the least of my worries. If I suddenly couldn't walk, it wasn't like I would feel it.
"Does that mean we're closer to France?" I didn't know much about European geography and was clueless about where we would be on a map.
"Yes. You are getting a bit closer." A sudden voice replied instead of Derrick. A heavily Spanish-accented person, it seemed. Angeli tensed at the stranger, where he only leaned against a nearby tree, and stared at us while hiding within the shadows.
"Great." I mumbled under my breath, hearing the seemingly unknown voice.
"And who might you be?" Derrick's firm voice asked, sounding slightly irritated. I couldn't blame him. We were constantly being followed, bothered, or messed with. Even I was getting tired of it.
"Philipé. Or, how you gringos call it, Philip." He reluctantly gave his name, still hiding underneath the overcast shadows of the trees.
"Philipé?" Angeli probably had never heard of a name like that, same with Derrick. I couldn't blame her. In Russia, there weren't many people named Philipé.
"Si. Problem?" I could picture him raising his eyebrows in a questioning stature, but he wasn't in my field of vision for me to have confirmed it.
"No. No problem. Just wondering what you would be doing in a forest. Just when we arrive." I looked up at Angeli, intrigued with her change in mood. Actually, intrigued with her change in personality. Had the fall we just had affected her much more than I thought? I hoped not.
"Ah, I see. Ever heard of a coincidence? This is mi hogar. My home." I stared at his silhouette in disbelief. He lived in the forest, even if he was a Rich? Living in forests was more suited for Lankies, Poors, and maybe Middles, but never for Riches or Moderates.
"You live here - in the open?" Derrick also seemed to find it hard to believe, by the way his tone had changed. "How come?"
"Are we playing veinte preguntas? Bueno, bueno, I live here because I do not want to live the way de los Ricos. I am not the only one." He finally stepped away from the shadows and into the faint moonlight, faded over with heavy snow clouds from above. What stood before us wasn't much at all like we expected. You know when stereotypes get the best of you? Yes, this was one of those times.
Instead of coming face-to-face with an older man wearing a mustache and sombrero, we stared up at a young guy. He didn't even look Hispanic, nor did he look like he would be able to speak the language. Looks really could be deceiving.
"What do you mean?" I finally spoke, listening to my own voice rumble deep from within my throat.
"I am not the only castaway. We have hidden ourselves in the forests of Belgium, to avoid los Ricos." His dark grey eyes stared at us mischievously, almost as if questioning why we were looking back at him with our mouths hanging wide open. Metaphorically, of course.
"Good to know." Angeli replied, shivering slightly. It came to mind at last that we were still outside and even though I couldn't feel the cold, it didn't mean they couldn't.
"You three look tired. You cold too?" Philipé glanced at Angeli, also noticing that she was visibly cold. She nodded in response, but Derrick remained wary in his crouched position. "Then let me help you." He flashed a sly grin, motioning towards the deeper parts of the forest.
"We are cold, but how could you help us?" Derrick narrowed his eyes, still unable to trust Philipé.
"You will just need to put faith in my word." He confirmed, looking back at Angeli. "Hm? What will it be?"
"Derrick, what other choice do we have? We could die out here in the snow. This is our only chance." She pleaded, her eyes begging him to let us follow the Spanish stranger.
"I don't know..." He glared at Philipé, but he calmly stared back. Unaffected by Derrick's intense gaze, he soon sighed exasperatedly.
"It is a cold night. I have no time to stand out here and wait for you to make a decision." He challenged us by starting to walk away, but Derrick stopped him just in time.
"Wait!" He turned back, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Yes?" Derrick gave out a soft sigh and glanced back at me. He and I both knew that whatever was waiting for us wasn't bound to be anything good.
"Where to?" He asked.
"Follow me." His smile returned as the two of us stood and Angeli followed. I could already feel the regret starting to build up inside me. Looking back at Angeli, however, it only reminded me that by doing this, I was helping her while putting her in danger. Strange mix.
"Exactly where are you taking us?" I inquired, a bit nervous of the situation myself.
"To the Golden Zorros. The Golden Foxes." I furrowed my brow to his response, but he only chuckled at my confused face. "You will see."
"I hope so." Derrick murmured, quiet enough so he wouldn't hear him. Still, I heard it loud and clear. It was obvious Derrick wasn't going to trust this guy easily and, to tell the truth, neither was I.
Our surroundings were starting to get different as we walked on. The snow seemed to melt as we got closer to our destination and it made me strangely comfortable. Even if the cold wasn't reaching me, it still gave me a sense of safety. At least here, in this "special" area, snow seemed to not be a problem.
"You are questioning the snow, no?" Philipé looked over his shoulder at me and gave me a small smile. I nodded slowly. "It is because it is warmer here. The fires we make melts away the snow and the heat spreads in other areas of the forest. That is how we know where we are." He explained skillfully, as if it were a simple explanation.
"Fires? Wouldn't it burn down the trees?" Angeli stared at him with a strange look, but he smiled back at her.
"I did not find it possible either. Thankfully, the fires are never that close to trees, so they do not catch on fire." Just as he finished his sentence, a flame pit came into view and just as he described, it was nowhere near the surrounding trees. They thought ahead. Good thing, too. I couldn't imagine what a forest fire in winter would be like.
"So... The Golden Foxes? What is that?" Derrick raised an eyebrow, and like always, Philipé's teeth glistened in his smile.
"It's a lot to explain." He stated.
"Then I'll help." Another voice. Yay.
"No, that won't be necessary." He replied. "They'll find out on their own."
"Suit yourself." A massive tussling of trees sounded and it disappeared a few seconds later.
"Do all of you do that?" I made sure to have an irritated edge to my voice.
"No. Just me and her." He answered, leaving me struck.
"That was a girl?" I hadn't heard the voice as a female's, but of a male's.
"No, silly. That was Trevor. He likes to tease me when he gets the chance, but I never let him and do it instead." I froze at his answer.
"T-Trevor?" I stammered, my face growing pale.
"Yes, Trevor Redwood. You know him?" His curious gaze turned towards the three of us, where Derrick and Angeli had stopped walking too.
"He's... here?" I croaked out.
"Do you know him?" Suddenly, Philipé's accent disappeared, along with his kind stature. "Who would've known?"
"Wait! Was this all a trick?" Angeli narrowed her eyes at him. She was probably cautious of his sudden accent change.
"No. I just use that accent so no one recognizes me." He switched to his usual American-sounding voice. "I can also do: Russian, French, Arabic, German, Swahili, Southern American, and Indian." He mimicked each of the accents as he said them.
"Of course." Derrick muttered, wearing an amused face. "I know you." He chuckled lightly. "Grayson, right?" Grayson looked up at Derrick with a distant confusion.
"You know me? How?"
"My family is from the Rich country. I would know." Derrick stared at Grayson for a while before turning back to Angeli and I. "We can trust him. I remember him from when I was younger. He might not remember me, but I do." I looked back at Grayson to see him looking like me, when I was trying to remember Sam.
"Hmm. Well, enough of that. We're almost there." He waved away the confusion and continued to walk us to his desired location. I, on the other hand, had lost the comfortable feeling I gained when the snow around us started to lessen. Now, I felt uneasy about this. If Trevor was working with this group of people along with Sammy, then I had all the more reason to want to stop him.
Once we arrived, Grayson stopped walking and let us take in the scene before us. Like the rest of the forest, a grassy clearing lay down on the ground like a carpet shielding away loose dirt. A large fire sat in the center, circled with big rocks and chunks of wood. A few people sat around it and looked up at us from their spots. An awkward silence filled the clearing, until Grayson finally spoke.
"This here, is the Golden Foxes' den. Make yourself feel at home." He left us standing there as he found his own place near the fire and sat down beside another guy.
"Umm..." Angeli mumbled and once again, the awkward silence returned as the other Golden Foxes continued to stare at us questioningly.
"Mathias?" One of them stood up and as soon as I saw their face, I quickly regretted ever stepping foot in this clearing.
"Trevor... What are you doing here?" My face contorted in a solemn worry. What business did my brother have with these strangers?
"I could ask you the same thing." He glanced at Derrick. "But I have my guesses." His eyes wandered over to Angeli and a soft twinkle in his eyes sparked with the fire. "Ah, Angeli."
"Trevor." She spat out his name like if it left a bad taste in her mouth.
"No need to be rude." He shook his head lightly, and soon, the other Golden Foxes started to ease away from their suspicions.
"Back to my question... What are you doing here?" I motioned towards the large clearing and a distant grin reached his lips.
"I'm a Golden Fox." He looked back at the small gathering of people. "We all are."
I shook my head, unbelieving of what I was being told. Instead of asking follow up questions, I asked something else. "Where's Samantha? I need to talk to you and her." Angeli gave me a worried look, but I didn't look back at her and held my gaze with my brother's amber eyes.
"She's in one of the smaller dens. I'll... go get her." He walked away, leaving us just like Grayson did.
"What are you doing?!" Angeli whispered, staring at me with clear eyes.
"Setting things straight. I need to know what is going on now. I can't take all these secrets everyone is keeping from me." I grumbled angrily.
"I'm not keeping anything from you, you know that." She protested.
"I know. I didn't mean to include you." I picked up my head and looked up at her, meeting her eyes. Just as I did, Trevor came back with Sam at his side.
"Where do you wanna talk?" Unlike the day he killed our parents, his eyes were gentle and sincere. Almost like the way he used to be.
"Anywhere private." I requested, and he nodded before leading me back towards the den he had just retrieved Sam from.
"So," We sat opposite from each other, Sam and Trevor on one side of the den and me on the other. "What did you want to say?" I was surprised by how cooperative he was being. Never had he acted this way with me, even before the world's fall.
"I want you to tell me everything. Why you're here, why you don't want me following Derrick, why you did what you did, and what makes you think I should listen to you. Everything. If Sammy could help, that'd be great." He raised an eyebrow at me.
"Sammy?"
"Yes. Sam, Sammy, Samantha. Whatever." Sam grinned softly, but no smile appeared on my face. I was already too angry to be smiling.
"I'm sorry, Mathias. I would tell you, but I can't." I took a single breath before speaking in a calm tone.
"That's fine. Is there anything you can tell me?" He paused for a while, thinking.
"Be wary of Derrick. He's... a mystery that can't even begin to solve itself." Samantha nodded in agreement.
"He's trustworthy, but we can't tell if it's all just an act, or if there's something else behind that." She added.
"I'll keep that in mind..." I murmured, bored with this. They had already told me this. I didn't need things to be repeated to me.
"Also," I looked up at him. "Be careful. I heard what happened to you with the Rich Guards..." A look of worry crossed him.
"Yeah. Thanks." I wearily spoke, eyeing him like if he were a stick of dynamite.
"One last thing." He stood up and scraped at the wall for a while, until a metallic golden figure fell onto his palm and he held it out for me to take. A little golden fox lay on my hand, looking up at me with small and black coal eyes. "Would you like to join the Golden Foxes?" I looked back up at him and wore a shocked expression.
"I-I dunno... What are the Golden Foxes even about?" He smiled and chuckled lightly at my little silly question.
"Oh, nothing much. Just an organization out to stop the Riches from what we suspect they're doing." He played with another Golden Fox he had been holding and stared at it.
"And that is?" I questioned.
"Sorry, Mathias. I can't tell you." Once again, he replied with an apology and a refusal to answer.
"Secrets." I murmured.
"Ones I wish I didn't have to keep. Do you accept my invitation?" He looked at me with hopeful eyes.
"I..." The hesitation in my voice was as clear as the snow. Therefore, Trevor noticed it just as easily as I meant it to be.
"You don't have to choose now. Just... Think about it, would you? I know I haven't been the best brother, but..." He looked away, averting eye contact. "I still have to be there for you."
"Don't you think you're a little late?" I asked coldly, narrowing my eyes at him.
"I am. I know that. Just... Consider it?" I paused for a moment, thinking over my options. Staying here would allow me to gain information about Trevor. Going with Derrick would do just the same, except this was easier.
"I'll consider it," I crossed my arms. "If you let me stay for the night, with Angeli and Derrick."
"Sure. As long as you don't do anything drastic." He warned.
"Deal." I agreed.
"Alright." Standing, he walked out of the den, leaving Samantha and I behind. I glanced down at the little golden figure in my hand, staring at its little black eyes.
"You have it hard, huh?" She asked me after a while. Her voice echoed rhythmically as I remained hypnotized by the small fox.
"You can say that again." I mumbled, placing the fox in between us so it faced the den's entrance. "And it only seems to get harder."