THE SPAWNS

Postponing the Inevitable

Chapter XXXIII—Lilibeth

© DarknessAndLight

"We're lost."

"We're not lost, we're exploring," Nikki answered enthusiastically.

"We're definitely lost," I repeated.

"O ye of little faith," she told me in a chuckle.

Nikki had been adamant about going for a walk in the woods behind her house. Apparently she knew the trails like the back of her hand.

Clearly she had no idea what was behind her hand, because we were definitely lost. We'd been going around in what felt like circles for about an hour. I was sure I had seen these specific trees a few times already and that we were trekking on the same path we had earlier.

Sure, it wasn't exactly the end of the world. There were worst places to get lost in. The forest was beautiful and kind of soothing. And even if we were lost, this patch of wood land wasn't that enormous. We would end up on a street at one point.

I didn't stop me from telling my cousin, "If we get killed by wild animals, I'll come back as an angry spirit, I can assure you that."

Nikki laughed, still leading the way confidently, "I like that kind of quiet rage. Really healthy."

"Thank you. You won't distract me from the fact that we're lost."

She waved the matter away, bending a little to walk under a low branch that was in our way. We'd cross that particular tree three times. I was sure of it. "We're not lost. We're just postponing the inevitable."

"The inevitable being yelling for help?"

"Nah, the inevitable is going back to the sad monotony of everyday life instead of being surrounded by the simple magic that forests offer you."

I shook my head, chuckling. My cousin truly had a peculiar way of thinking. It was really refreshing, I couldn't deny it. "You think forests are magic?"

She stopped in her path, and turned around gapping at me in faux-outrage. "You don't?"

"Well, I think there's magic in books, but I don't think it's real. You're talking about real magic, right?" I shrugged one shoulder.

Nikki narrowed her eyes at me. "You know, for being from the artistic part of our family, I really don't understand how you can be so literal sometimes, so pragmatic." She waved her finger at me. "You think magic isn't real because you can't wave a wand around and make people disappear?"

I made an apologetic grimace. "I guess..."

"And this whole concept of what is real and what isn't, it's always bothered me," she claimed, throwing her hands in the air. "Reality is something very subjective. What's real for some people can be unreal for many others. What's obviously factual and existing can be a lie to others. Reality isn't real either. It's just a concept you've made up in your mind."

I rolled my eyes, huffing in disbelief. "Oh my god, how lost are we really?"

Nikki laughed at my outburst. "I'm being serious here. You really have issues about things being real, like just the way you question Cole's feelings and the legitimacy of your own."

I didn't like where this conversation was going. I preferred focussing on the whole being-lost predicament. "There's nothing wrong with questioning everything," I pointed out.

"There's nothing wrong with believing in some things either," Nikki replied.

I sighed. "I know Cole cares for me, I just don't think he should."

"But that's your reality, not his."

"I don't get why you and Cole don't get along better," I admitted, trying to skilfully change the subject and the focus on our feelings, "he'd love your philosophical way of thinking."

"I guess we've both always sort of misunderstood each other. Also, I think he's hot and I guess he only wants one girl around him to think that," she admitted. "Thank god Maika's in love with Jay, right?"

I narrowed my eyes. "How do you know?"

She shrugged and started down the path again. "Doesn't everybody?"

"Jayden clearly doesn't," I replied following her.

"Oh Jayden knows, he just hasn't processed it yet. You don't give your brother enough credit. He totally knew about Cole."

That had been quite surprising. I had always been sure that my brother had no idea about my feelings for his bestfriend. Apparently I had been very wrong. Part of me felt a little ashamed about it, a little bad. Another part of me felt a great sense of relief and also a bit of joy. Thinking that my brother didn't know about my feelings for Cole kind of felt like he didn't know the real me either. It felt good to realize that my brother did know me. Such a big part of my heart belonged to Cole, and if Jayden hadn't known about it, it was like he would have been in the dark about a big part of me. It had always bothered me, even if I never would have admitted it out loud.

The fact that Jayden knew the truth made me feel closer to him.

"Jayden might have known about Cole, but you have no idea where we are."

"Again as an artist I thought you would be putting as much importance on the process of creating something than the finished product."

"I wasn't aware getting lost in a wood was a creative process."

"Oh, it totally is with me. It's like saying the journey is as important as the destination."

I looked at my cousin side ways. We'd spent so much time in the last couple of days talking about myself. Nikki had mentioned things here and there about herself, but I had never giving enough interest to her, I sadly realized.

"We talk about my reality and my finished product and my creative process, what about yours?" I asked her, quickening my pace so that we could be walking side by side.

"Oh, I'm a simple girl. I just want to grown up not too quickly. I want to find a job I love, any job really, I could be selling burgers, as long as it makes me happy. I'd love to meet a boy that makes my heart skip a beat the way Mr Mason did, and you know, for him to actually like me back, but it's no necessary. I'm also okay with being alone forever. There's something nice about not having to be accountable to anybody. I wouldn't want a boyfriend just for the sake of having a boyfriend. But if I meet the perfect guy, who am I to deny him the pleasure of my company? My biological clock isn't screaming about kids either, so we'll see about that. All I really want is to be happy. I want a job that makes me happy and I want to be surrounded by people that make me happy. That's all I need."

"For some people, being happy isn't all that simple though," I trailed looking at my feet and the ground and the dirt.

"It's all about the way you perceive your reality. Anybody with a positive outlook to life can find a way to smile."

I took a deep breath. The day was warm but the air under the trees was fresher. "But sometimes, you might not have any reason to smile."

"Then you find one. It doesn't have to be something huge and complicated. It can just be a good song on the radio, or the sun shining on your face, or a nice smell, or a stranger smiling at you."

"You smile all the time, don't you?"

"Smiling can trick your brain into thinking your happy even when you aren't. You bet I smile all the time. I'm all about tricking that brain." I laughed at her words. "Speaking of tricking brains, why don't you look at that? A road," Nikki said, pointing to a spot between the trees up ahead.

I followed her finger and there it was. She was right. The road was up ahead.

"See, we weren't lost after all, we just took a longer route," she told me, bumping my shoulder with her own.

I smiled. After all, the journey was as important as the destination, was it not?

___________

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry, short chapter again, the next one should be a bit longer and a lot of fun. XD

Also, it's NaNoWriMo, and I plan on working partially on this book for my 50K word goal. I really want to finish The Spawns by the end of the year. Let's hope we can get a lot of chapters done this month. :)

Finally, if you haven't check it out already, it would really mean the world to me if you went to read my new story The Claire Years. I upload it everyday. It's already completely written, so I just need to press on publish. It doesn't affect my uploading of other stories. It's just a fun, quick read. And I would love for you guys to love reading it as much as I've loved writing it. :D

So, that all for now. Hopefully, I can upload soon. :) The next chapter is 2/3 already written. Finger crossed for a new chapter within the next 5 days?