A Chaotic but Perfect World: In the Epping Forest

Happy accidents

Thanks to that beast, now it's 11:35. Emily and Selena aren't back.
Oliver was lying on the sofa and Serly was stitching the tent's fabric.
-Okay, done. What else is there to clean or fix?
-That table you put all the trash on.
-Right.
She went to the table and curiosity appeared on her face.
-What is it?
-Oliver, the ball. It's... it's glowing.
Oliver sat up.
-WHAT?
-Lie down.
-WHY IS IT GLOWING?
-Don't shout.
She carefully examined the ball.
-It's this bloody paper. That's the password. A very stupid password. But we unlocked it!
-Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. The ball is unlocked?
-Yes, it is. Now it's showing something...
-Why now? I want to see it too!
He stood up and walked with difficulty.
-You're supposed to rest.
-I want to become a workaholic like you. No rest. Only fun. And by fun I mean work. Because this is fun.
Serly tried to look disappointed, but failed.
They looked in the ball. Different colors were floating around in it and different sounds were heard. Shouts of women, men, sounds of sharp weapons, cries of babies, voices of men chatting, sounds of men and women moaning and groaning, whimpering, begging and sounds of thudding. Blurry pictures were showing. Grey background, black things that looked like weapons and torture objects and it seemed that different people were hanged, tied, getting tortured. The people looked like they had no clothes on. The pictures changed. It showed a different angle of the same place. Again, different naked people were moving around, but it wasn't clear what they were doing. Some were lying on the floor, some were standing, and it looked like they were separated in groups. There were people who were lying on the floors on their own, but most of them were separated in teams and it looked like almost every team had only two members. Then a crazy laugh of a man and a loud wild howl was heard. The ball became black.
-What was that?
-I don't know, but I recorded it. Maybe if we use the location tracking potion, it will show us where all that's happening.
-Great idea, Oliver.
As she said that she drowned in a pain. It was the same pain she felt that day. Her body loosened. Oliver caught her in his arms and seated her in a chair. She held her head and breathed heavily.
-No, no, no, no, no, not again, not again...
-It's him again. He...he...
-He's trying to control you again, isn't he? Don't worry, I got you, he has no chance. Do you need anything? Can I do anything to weaken the pain?
Tears streamed down from her eyes, again. That panicked Oliver.
-Please don't pass out, please don't pass out, please don't pass out, please don't pass out, God I'm begging you, help her, don't pass out, please... don't...
He held her hand and wiped her tears with his other hand.
-Oliver, I-I c-can't...stop h-him...
-You can, of course you can, you can do anything, you're strong, just please don't pass out. Don't let him win, you got this come on.
She kept breathing heavily.
He held her hand tighter. His tears were ready to leave his eyes, but his hope wasn't letting them.
Serly calmed down. Her breathing quieted and her face looked so serene.
But Oliver felt the complete opposite. He panicked more and had no idea what was happening and what to do. Tears now dampened his face. He breathed heavily.
-No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
He raised her chin up, she looked gone. He rested his head on her shoulder. His hands didn't change their positions. One was holding her hand, the other was on her neck.
-You save my life and I let you suffer...epic.
His tears slightly moistened her clothes.
-Fuck! I'm an idiot! Useless!
He stood up and breathed heavily, while continued frustratedly expressing himself. He turned around and lied his hands on the table.
-I loved her...and just...
His fist punched the table.
-Fuck!
After calming down a bit, he returned to her lap, laying his head on it and sobbing.
Her hand caressed his head.
-Liar. I'm here thanks to you.
Her voice whispered.
He raised his head and met her calmly smiling face.
Oliver immediately brought his face closer to hers and kissed her cheek. He pulled her to his chest and held her tight.
She wrapped her hands around his body. Tears fell from both of their eyes.
-You could've died...
He slipped in through his tears. She embraced him tighter.
They stayed in that position for some time. When they let go of each other, they glared at each other's faces and chuckled in embarrassment.
-Sorry about that. Didn't even know why I did that.
He untruthfully stated.
-Likewise.
Likewise, indeed.
-Is that your favorite word?
-No.
-Second time you're using that word.
-I thought Eve told you to rest.
-I thought Eve told you to stay well.
They chuckled.
She looked at him expectantly, but decided to stir the conversation away from intimacy.
-So... about the recording...and the location tracking potion...
-I'm on it.
Oliver voiced.
-No, I'm on it, you have to rest.
-You just survived a near-faint experience!
-That's not even a thing!
-Everything's a thing!
-What I survived is mental, yours is physical...
-And mind over body. I'm on it!
-W-what...
She didn't stop him. She just felt palliated. And she also felt something else, but she couldn't determine what that was. Soft, warm and... it made her happy.
He did the stuff, and she watched him with keen attention. It was clear he had an athletic body. His muscles were visible as diamonds and his broad shoulders on top of his attractive back worked restlessly.
-Okay, the potion's ready, can you bring the recording?
Serly snapped back to the present and nodded.
She took the recording and went to Oliver.
-Does it work with recordings? Shouldn't it be a picture?
-We're about to find out... that's liquid proof, so nothing will happen to it.
They put the recorder in the potion. Bubbles began appearing in the potion. But nothing else was happening.
-Just wait a little longer...
The bubbles kept popping and reappearing, but still nothing happened.
-In a minute now...
Steam began coming out of the potion.
-Uhh...is that the recorder burning or is that supposed to happen?
-That's a good sign. It's meant to happen.
The steam intensified. It began to shape into a number...
-Is that a 3? 2? What is written?
The shape was finally clear.
-3.
-3 what?
-3 km away from here.
-But where? North? South? East? West? North-east? South-east? Where?
-Doesn't say anything about the direction.
-But it's called a location tracking potion!
-Uhh...
-I guess it's like the bread called baguette, but that's not actually baguette, it's just a bread which posseses the name baguette.
They laughed.
-Is it in one of the hideouts on the map that's 3km away from here?
-Possibly.
-Does that mean we're going to continue marking on the map?
-... yeah...
-It's not even interesting. Why can't the other teams do it? Like the NFs? I don't trust the SPs, and the SJs already did a lot.
-We're going to discuss about this the next day, we'll tell them that. By we I mean Selena. And by them I mean Selena.
They chuckled.
-We have nothing else to do, and you want to become a workaholic like me, so... let's do it.
-Sure, okay.