Chapter 7
1779 Words
Venus
It’d been three days since my birthday.
I was still living my normal life. My new normal life.
As much as I had to get used to this life, I had to admit something that after Nathan took me out to the town – I missed it. And I wanted to get out again.
But I knew I couldn’t be this selfish.
I knew the consequences if I walked out of here unsupervised.
I wanted to go to that river again. Maybe I could satisfy myself with the river right next to me. Yes, this river was beautiful but something about the previous river was calling me.
Hunters Spring Park.
Oh, I would love to go there again. Maybe since I already knew where I wanted to go and where I was now, I could ask Nathan to take me there. Of course, with him around. Nathan needed some refreshing too. He deserved to take some day off. Even Auntie Feli.
I knew we were in the middle of a war. Refreshing time maybe was out of our minds now. We couldn’t rest as long as Micah was out there. But I thought, for the past six months and no sign of Micah around, maybe we could get relax a bit, especially Auntie Feli and Nathan.
Or maybe not.
Because even though I didn’t see him physically, Micah always appeared in my mind. Whether as an illusion or in a dream.
I had thrown the engagement ring. I thought by throwing that beautiful ring away, I would be free from Micah but maybe it was not that easy. It was never meant to be easy. Especially when I was around him before, I had developed a feeling towards the man.
I couldn’t lie to myself that I indeed loved him.
Sincerely.
Deeply.
Wholeheartedly.
Even when I remembered Grant, yes, the feeling of me loving him returned but my love for Micah was never been replaced.
I knew over time I would forget about Micah soon.
I could move forward.
Everything took time.
When I could forget him?
What should I do?
“Venus?” a familiar voice called out for me. Shocked me. I knew I was here with Nathan and Auntie Feli. The thing was, none of their voices entered my ears. It was someone else.
My heart thumped loud immediately, ready to jump out.
I slowly turned around, finding Steven standing behind the tree. Wait, Steven? He smiled widely, showing his dimples as he walked closer to me and immediately sat next to me. With him wearing black and grey shirts with black running shorts as well as white shoes. “What are you doing here? I was just wandering around the forest and I didn’t expect someone is living here. And you are.”
I still couldn’t believe what was happening now.
Steven was here. A normal human. He just passed Nathan’s barrier. How did that happen?
“Venus?” he called, making me blink.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I was running and I thought to go for a run in the forest. For eight years I’ve been living here, I never see someone living deep in the forest. I remember you told me before that you’re looking around the town to see if you would stay here.” He looked at the cottage and turned to me again. “Are you living with someone?”
“Um, yes.”
“Is it the man from three days ago?” I was about to answer once I saw the man himself walked out of the house together with Auntie Feli. Looking as confused as I was now. And anger. That came from Nathan, by the way.
“Venus!” he shouted and immediately sprinted his legs toward me. Steven and I stood up together as Nathan stopped and was glaring at Steven. I wanted to ask him how Steven could enter but I couldn’t. At least not now. But we had to say something to Steven because he had seen our secret hideout. And we didn’t even know who he really was, other than he was the local here. Well, not exactly local because he moved here when he was sixteen. Where did he come from?
“Good morning,” Steven politely greeted him while Nathan was still glaring at him.
I stood between them while facing Nathan. “He was just running, Nathan.” His golden eyes were set on me and by the time Auntie Feli stood next to angry Nathan.
“Hello, ma’am. I’m Steven Preston,” he introduced himself while extending his hand.
“Oh, hello, Steven. I’m Felicia.” She accepted Steven’s hand. “I’m Venus’ aunt and Nathan here is her big brother.” I could tell that Nathan was nowhere happy with Auntie Feli’s friendly demeanor towards a stranger. “Are you Venus’ friend?”
“Well, we just met three days ago back at the river. She looked like about to cry and I thought someone dumped her.”
Auntie Feli slightly laughed. “Fortunately, that’s not the case. Come, let’s get you inside,” she invited, earning her a disapproval glare from Nathan. I was sure Auntie Feli aware of it but she ignored him. Of course, with her kindhearted nature, Auntie Feli couldn’t exactly kick him out of our hideout. “Were you running?”
“I was.”
“You must be thirsty. Let’s get you some water.”
“Oh, thank you for the offer. I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Steven politely refused.
“Nonsense! You are welcome here,” she insisted. Steven turned to me, almost like he was asking my permission as well. I bet he could sense how Nathan didn’t want him to be here. I could only smile. Auntie Feli was like most women out there, especially moms. Very forceful and there was no room for anyone to say no to her.
In the end, Steven was defeated and he followed Auntie Feli to the house.
This felt kind of weird.
We never had a guest lurking around the area. Of course, with Nathan’s barrier, nobody could find us. And someone did.
I turned to Nathan as he kept his golden eyes latched to Steven’s back. I was sure if one look could kill, Steven’s back must be pierced right now. “Are you okay?”
Turning his eyes to me, he replied. “Yeah.” He looked different. No, since last night he looked exhausted. I thought maybe he was just tired but this morning he was quite pale and he looked paler than an hour ago.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.”
“Please, don’t lie to me. I know something is wrong with you. And it already happened by Steven found us here. Please, tell me, Nathan.”
He inhaled, looking down to the grass before he found the courage to look back at me. “The barrier is consuming me, Venus. My power and energy. My barrier was strong because of that.”
“Oh, my God.” I couldn’t believe it. The barrier was the reason?
“Maybe I have worn out and that’s why that guy found us here,” he added.
I couldn’t believe what I just heard.
For six months we were saved, all because Nathan sacrificing his power to protect us, to protect me. And it cost him, his power. “That’s why you took me out.”
He exhaled, nodding his head. “I needed rest, Venus. I need to recharge myself. One hour we spent yesterday was quite enough for me.”
“But not sufficient,” I continued.
He smirked. “You’re so smart right now.”
“This is not the time to be joking around. God, no wonder Auntie Feli looks so content having Steven around. She knows, right? She knows you can release the barrier for a moment so you have the time to recharge. Oh, my God, Nathan. I wish you could tell me.”
“Maybe I should but I couldn’t risk it.”
“I will blame myself every day now knowing that I am the cause of your current state.” For a second, his expression changed. Hurt. Guilty. Had he ever thought that far? Or maybe he thought I would never realize this? But I had seen how Nathan slowly growing weaker. If he pushed himself too much, he would faint soon. Or worse, dying. Oh, God. That was the part I refused to think about.
“I have enough with people around me dying, Nathan. I lost my parents. I lost Grant. I don’t want to go through that again with you, even Auntie Feli.”
“Oh, f**k. Come here.” He pulled me closer, trapping me on his chest. “I’ll be fine, Venus.”
“You’re an i***t, Nathan.”
He chuckled. “For now, I will forgive you for that. You’re right, I should just tell you instead of hiding this secret from you.”
“I don’t want to lose you.”
“You will never lose me, Venus.”
“Just take a break already.”
He chuckled again. “Felicia already told me to.”
“Yeah, but you’re so stubborn to listen.” I pushed myself from him and stared at his tired-looking gold orbs. “How much time you need to take a break?”
“Usually, a whole night. I don’t have to take a rest like sleeping for a whole day like a human caught a cold. I just need to pull off the barrier.”
“Do it then. It’s not like people will start coming here if you did. Steven came because he was running and found out accidentally.”
He smirked. “If he was one of them, I would kill him here.”
“But he’s not.”
“Lucky man.”
I laughed and held his wrist. “Come, let’s go back to the house.”
- Writer
