Chapter 13

The cool wind caressed my face, the long grass tickled my arms and legs, the stars above me held my gaze. For the first time in two days, I was strangely content. I could temporarily forget that my entire life had just been up heaved, and I could simply look at the stars like I would normally do. I breathed in deep, the smell of soil, grass, and concrete filling my nostrils.
Of course, I wasn’t actually in my forest. I gave up on trying to uphold my illusion as the heavy footsteps of the boy alerted me to his presence. I sat up and he jumped, clearly not expecting me to suddenly appear in the grass.
He got over his fright and spoke. “I talked to my parents and they would be willing to help you.”
“Are they willing, or do they want to?”
Cody was confused by my question at first but he figured it out quickly. “They want to help you.”
I smiled and stood, brushing myself off. “Okay, let’s go.” I was surprised my voice sounded so strong, cause I felt like I was going to crumble into a million pieces. I took a stride forward to join him and we walked several meters.
The grass ended and the concrete started, and I stopped too. Cody walked several strides ahead before he realized I was no longer following. He turned to look at me and I could tell he wasn’t surprised that I had stopped.
“It’s okay, Riley.” He held his hand for me to take. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I took his hand and he tugged on it gently. I stared down at the line at my feet, feeling dizzy and sick.
“It’s okay, I’ll protect you.”
I closed my eyes, and lifted my leg. It felt like my leg weighed a ton and I finally set my foot down on the hard, rough concrete. I paused again, the texture uncomfortable.
“I’ll protect you,” he repeated. I took great comfort knowing he was there and I wasn’t alone anymore. But the overpowering urge to run back to my forest gave me a great pain in my chest. I looked back in other direction, the way we had come. I could barley make out the dark outline in the moonlight, it was too far away.
It was too far away… I couldn’t go back now. I had to only step forward. And forward was the way I went, never again, setting foot in my forest, no matter how hard or painful it was, I never returned. I kept moving forward.

Fin

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A/N: The end! Yay! Third story to ever finish. (tho, technically the fourth but who’s counting?) I hope you enjoyed reading this as much I enjoyed writing this. This was much more fun than Grounded in Reality. Editing will start next week and the posting of the next side story, which I have decided on “Bloodstained Vows” (a tragic romance that contains daggers, gangs, nobles, lies, death, and Sorcery), will start posting the same time. So stick around for that and I hope you enjoyed this!
D.R.M./Broken Wolf