Whispers In The Wind

Chapter 16

After an hour and a half of hiking, Keisha and her friends finally reached the first checkpoint of the hike. Brandon let them rest under a large tree for a while, and they took it as an opportunity to take more pictures. They spread out and find their own perfect spot.

All of them went in pairs except Gaia who went on the southern direction alone. Keisha saw her walk away and was about to follow her when Antoinette suddenly grabbed her. She was smiling widely but her eyes were blank.

"Where are you going? Come with me." Antoinette said.

"Uh—I actually want to go to that direction. I think there are great spots there for selfie." Keisha lied, but Antoinette simply shook her head.

" No, you're coming with me." Antoinette's voice turned serious, and Keisha was stunned. Her heart skipped a beat when she heard that veiled hint of threat in her voice.

"Uhm, okay. Yeah, sure." Keisha replied hesitantly.

Out of fear and curiosity, Keisha went with Antoinette. The direction they were heading was too far away from the others. There's this little voice warning her of what Antoinette may be planning to do.

The two girls continued walking until they reached a cliff. That's when Keisha's heart started beating rapidly. Antoinette's weird behavior, the strong wind and the terrifying height of the edge gives her chills like no other.

"Antoinette—"

"You're so curious of everything, Kei. Have you heard of the phrase: 'curiosity kills the cat'? You're always snooping, asking questions, and do you know how irritating it is."

Keisha took a step back when Antoinette turned around to face her. There's this dark aura radiating from her, and it scares the hell out of Keisha. However, there's nowhere else to go.

"Antoinette, what are you doing?" Her voice tremble with fear. It's almost as if the girl in front of her is no longer her friend.

"Why do you have to be such yourself, Keisha?" One wrong move and one or both of them will fall off the edge. They could suffer from broken bones or worst, die. But, Keisha will not let Antoinette hurt her. She prepared herself to fight back, and then—

"Antoinette, Keisha, what are you guys doing out there? Come on, we have to go. Can't you see how dangerous that spot is?" Brandon appeared behind a large rock not too far from them.

"Right, I'm sorry. Come on, Kei. You heard the man." Just like that, Antoinette acted as if nothing happened. She just walked away and followed Brandon, leaving, Keisha alone in the cliff.

"What the hell!" Two minutes after Antoinette left, that's the only time that Keisha realized that she hasn't move an inch. Her whole body is trembling not because of fear of heights or the cold wind, but because of relief. She really thought that Antoinette will kill her.

"Oh, my God! Oh, my freaking God!" Keisha's knees buckled when she tried to walk. "That was so close!"

After successfully calming herself, Keisha went back to her friends. Antoinette completely went back to her normal self. She's laughing and making jokes like nothing happened. She even smiled at Keisha when she arrived.

From then on, Keisha became alert whenever Antoinette is around. They were all ready to go when Serra noticed that Gaia hasn't come back. Brandon told them to wait for another half an hour, Keisha can't wait that long.

"Where do you think you're going?" Brandon asked angrily.

" I will find my friend. If you want to sit here and do nothing, fine. Get out out of my way!" Keisha insisted.

" You will only make things worst, Kei. Just sit down and wait here, for God's sake!" Antoinette added. She's always acting differently around Brandon, and it's not a good thing anymore.

"You know what, guys? Why don't we head back to town and ask for police help?" Margarette suggested.

"That's a good idea. Why don't you take some of our friends and ask for help from the local police? I'll go ahead and and search for Gaia. Anyone who wants to come with me, thank you. For those who don't want to, no pressure." Keisha replied.

Only Camila and Lina went with her. But, before they could even get out of earshot, Serra yelled that Gaia finally came back. Her left arm is bleeding and she has no recollection of what just happened.

"What do you mean you don't know? You were gone not fifteen minutes ago. How could you not remember what happened to you?" Keisha asked, the irritation in her voice is imminent.

"I mean I don't know. I have no idea of what happened to me or why am I bleeding. What more do you want from me?" Gaia replied, frustrated that she's being questioned and that she doesn't know how to answer them.

"We have to go back. We can't continue this hike knowing that there's something dangerous out there." Keisha then decided. "Take us back."

When she turned to Brandon, he looked like he could care less about what happened to Gaia. That made Keisha clench her fist involuntarily. She still doesn't understand what is happening, but it's making her angry.

"Are you crazy? Go back? We've already come this far. Besides, Gaia was hurt because she strayed too far. If she stayed with us, none of that would have happened to her." Antoinette said, blaming their friend.

"Are you seriously blaming Gaia—"

"That's enough, Keisha. Antoinette's right. If I stayed with you guys, I wouldn't have gotten hurt. Let's just continue the hike. Besides, I was the one who booked and paid for this. Let's go. We're losing sunlight."

Keisha could not believe what just happened. It felt like they don't care if something bad would happen to them. None of her friends stood up against Antoinette. They just nodded, and agreed.

It'll be more dangerous for her to go back alone, and there is no way that she would leave her friends with Brandon. Something is going on, and she has to figure it out before it's already too late.