The Hunt

[34] Resolutions And Sick Routines

Aiden's POV:-

Our lives became more of a routine that we all shared. It was starting to hurt me, not just physically but mentally too. And I could easily tell I wasn't the only one.

"You noticed Adriel, didn't you?" Brian sat down on the muddy ground, hugging his knees to his chest.

I have to say, that question grabbed my attention; Adriel has been off lately. She often skipped the small meals we had, she never bothered to sit with us around the fire anymore, she cries so much at night that it was beginning to worry the rest of us.

"Yeah." I stared ahead at the sunrise, unable to process anything any longer.

"You know, Aiden... It's not fearful," he muttered, scratching his Adam's apple before trailing his fingers up to his head and patting his hair.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "What is?"

"This," he replied.

"Brian what?" I glanced at him, my mind slowly shutting off.

"The Hunt, Aiden. It's not scary."

Seriously? Is he with them or something?

That thought alone made me chuckle which caused him to raise an eyebrow at me. "What's so funny about that?" he questioned, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's not funny. I just think it is." I smiled, shaking my head. If I reached the point where I'm pretty much laughing about how stupid my thoughts are, then I'm definitely tired. Somehow though, I don't feel tired.

"We can all lie about that, Brian." Lauren came up from behind us. She placed her hand on his shoulder as she sat down next to his side. "No matter how much you say it, you're still going to be afraid."

"I'm not scared," he whispered, looking as if he zoned out but in reality, he was just glaring at a tree. "I'm not scared, no." His voice cracked, signaling his obvious lie.

Lauren sighed. "Come on," she stood up, "let's get you to the river." She helped him up too and they both started to walk away.

If not now then never.

"Wait Lauren." I pushed myself off the ground and hurried a little after her. She turned to look at me, her eyes glistening. "Can we talk?"

Ever since Kenric's death, Lauren has been throwing me nasty glances every now and then. Mostly, whenever she got the chance to.

I don't blame her. It was something I did that I myself wouldn't forget... but I can't go on with more than one person holding so much hatred toward me. One is already enough.

"I won't take long, okay?" she spoke softly to Brian and he nodded a couple of times with his head hung low before he walked off, probably going back to the others.

For a while, we just looked anywhere but at each other. The silence was bugging me uncontrollably so I gathered up my courage and began.

"You know, I... I took time to think," I hesitantly said, "and I wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

"Apology not accepted." She started to walk away but I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Would you stop? I'm trying to be nice here."

"Yeah for once." She rolled her eyes. "Look, Aiden... you have people at your mercy. You didn't even leave Felicity alone without leading her to pass out even though you of all people knew she was weak and scarred by what your father did. To be honest, I really want to know why you didn't stop him. Why didn't you do like you did with her brother?"

"Kill my dad? Lauren What're you trying to get to here? What does Felicity even have to do with this?" I yelled in frustration, angling my body away from her in defense.

"I'm not saying you should've killed your father, I'm just saying you could've stopped him. Plus, yes, Felicity is a living proof of your nasty ass."

"I couldn't." I tilted my head down till my eyes met the ground. "Lauren, I couldn't stop him." It was damn clear I was beginning to cry because my voice cracked at the end. And let me tell you, I hated it. I hated being weak. "He threatened he'd kill the three of them too if I did and I... I just couldn't."

There was a moment of silence before she put her hand on my shoulder, making me look up. She opened her mouth to speak but then decided against it which forced me to back away from her.

I'm an idiot that I even thought of making amends with her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Maybe you're not all that bad." She shrugged, causing me to glance at her in annoyance. Can't she be nice for once? "Seriously, I'm willing to give you a second chance. Also..."

I furrowed my eyebrows when she trailed off, curious to know what she was going to say.

"Do you like her?" she asked, crossing her arms.

I rolled my eyes. "Lauren, I said I was sorry not be my wingman."

"Be your what?"

"My wingman!"

"What does that even mean?"

"I don't really know." I shrugged. "Nick just told me about it once... I don't even think that that's the right use for it." I chuckled, making her laugh along with me.

"And yes, Lauren," I said, making her look at me in confusion as I nodded. "I like Felicity."