Jack
We got out of the cab, tipped the driver and strapped our bags to our backs. He smiled, exceedingly grateful at the generous tip and kept thanking us till we walked out of his sight. He didn’t have to do that. It was just his lucky day. We wouldn’t have done it if we didn’t want to. We had more than enough cash to spare and making use of it to make someone else happy wasn’t that much of a big deal. We were going to an unknown island and would be in a forest pretty soon, it wasn’t like we were going to make use of cash there.
We had found the cab right after we stepped out of the plane and were on our way to the island. I looked at the sky and grimaced as I noticed that it was getting late.
I glanced at Quinn and sighed at the scowl on his face. He was angry that we had gotten here late despite how early we had woken up and how hard he had tried to make us get here early. I scowled at his guilt, wishing I could scold him for it but I kept quiet, knowing he wouldn’t listen to me. He was just as stubborn as Mia sometimes and yet he got frustrated that she was. I almost chuckled at how funny he was. He shouldn’t beat himself up too much, it wasn’t as if we weren’t going to spend nights in the forest. It wasn’t bad if we started getting used to the fear on our first night.
John and I carried the big bag containing our food and drinks, each of us holding the bag by a strap. Quinn had his head bent over the map, his eyes roving over it and of course, we couldn’t let Mia do any hard work.
It was hard on us already that she was here. We couldn’t watch her dealing with stress and pain though I feared that we might have no choice watching her suffer at a time. It was inevitable during a journey like this but I hoped that day never came. I prayed so.
We continued walking in silence until John spoke up. “What next, Quinn?”
Quinn raised his head from the map, looking distracted. “Uh! It says here on the map that there is an invisible secret door here that leads to the other world where the island of the Sea of Death is.”
I looked around and saw some humans staring at us. We must surely seem like a strange sight to them. It was a small town which hardly got tourists and yet here we were, four foreigners different from them with bags on and tugging a heavy bag between us that they must be driven to curiosity to know what was in there.
“How do we find the secret door if we can’t see it?” Mia asked.
“It’s only invisible to humans and not supernatural beings like us.” I explained to her.
“Oh!” She nodded and I knew she got the message.
“Just stick to one of us when we get to the door.” Quinn told her. “We will draw you in.”
“Stick to me, baby. I promise to give you a smooth ride.” I smiled at her.
John chuckled. “Now isn’t the time for this, Jack. Put your mind on the game.”
“My mind is there.” I snorted. “I am a super being who is good at multitasking. I see no reason why I can’t search for the secret door and woo a lady.”
“She doesn’t seem to be like being wooed at the moment.” Quinn scoffed. “Super multitasking being? Is that a joke?”
“Is it true that you don’t want to be wooed, sister?”
She didn’t respond and I smiled. That was progress. The Mia I knew would have snorted or roll her eyes at me.
“You know that wasn’t a joke, brother.” I told Quinn.
“Should I tell Mia that you are trying to impress of how you found it hard to shift early when you were young?”
“Don’t you dare!” I growled at him.
He laughed. “Will you like to hear the story, Mia?”
“Please tell me.” She replied with a mocking smile directed at me.
The little witch. I knew she would want to hear it.
Quinn opened his mouth and I knew he was about to tell her of how I couldn’t shift on the run as a child and whined to dad that I couldn’t run and think of shifting at the same time. The traitor.
“I found the secret door.” I shouted, glad I had found it on time.
“Liar,” Quinn scoffed at me, assuming that I was trying to avoid him exposing my childhood dilemma.
“I’m not.” I insisted, pointing at the door.
“It’s true.” John smiled.
Mia couldn’t see it but she looked at the direction I was pointing at too. The door was fixed between two trees in a bush off the street. Humans walked right through it but it wouldn’t be the same for us. We would likely get smacked in the face and bounce off if we tried to walk through it. I wondered if the humans knew something like that was in the bush and what they would do if they found out of its existence. They would surely want to destroy it. Humans were like that, always finding ways to destroy what they didn’t understand and particularly what threatened their superiority.
“Let’s go.” Quinn said, charged up with determination.
We walked into the bush, waited for a while and pushed the knob open when we were alone with no humans nearby to see us walk through. We would scare the poor humans and make them feel crazy if we did that.
Quinn walked in first as the door was narrow and we couldn’t walk in twos. John was next with the bag containing our food. I pulled Mia close to me, holding her dearly to my chest and walked in with her. I knew the door would close on its own once we were all done getting in.
“Wow!” She breathed, looking around the forest as I set her down. “This is amazing. A large forest as this within a secret door in a bush.”
Wow. This is amazing. A large forest as this within a secret door in a bush.
She jumped as her voice echoed through the forest, taking on the form of a growl. Her face went white with fear.
“Don’t be scared.” I cheered her.
The forest echoed with my words as soon as I was done speaking, the sounds a deeper growl than Mia’s had been.
Quinn placed a finger on his lips and hushed us. “The forest used to be dead but is now alive because of us. I’m sure all the animals in it are alive too as they would have sensed that life is now in the forest.”
Quinn had whispered but his words still echoed. We all looked at each other and scowled. This was a weird forest, a very strange one.
Quinn placed a finger on his lips and didn’t speak. We all nodded in understanding, deciding to be quiet and walk silently so we do not give our position away to what might want to hunt us.