Chapter 31
It was late afternoon and the night was coming slowly, thick clouds still hovering in the air, promising there’d be a heavy rainfall tonight.
Naomi didn’t seem to stop because Talia kept running at magnificent speed and Daniel wasn’t going to stop either.
Part of him wanted to figure out why Talia had been acting strange and what caused Naomi to run after her while the other part worried for Naomi. What if something bad happens to her? After all, Talia was obviously very strong while she on the other hand was fragile and petite.
After Daniel, Nancy who was the fastest amongst everyone suddenly stopped and like a chain accident, they all fell like a heap on the ground.
Daniel who was far off didn’t notice and hence left the others to push and curse as they stood apart.
“Great!! Now we’ve lost him,” Dora said and glared at Nancy. “And it’s all your fault. Why do you always have to be so absentminded and clumpsy! This is a serious situation. Did you think Daniel was going to turn back to pick you up from the floor and give you a pggy pack?!! Everything’s not about you Nancy p>
Everyone stared at her in horror, feeling that her words were stiffly and bluntly put.
Nancy looked down at her fingers, feeling hurt, not because she understood what she said but because Dora sounded exactly like the person she never liked to be around the most. Her step mother, Angela. She always shouted at her, always made her feel like she was a pathetic person who her father never hesitated in replacing.
Hey…chill…it wasn’t her fault. She was probably tired. Just as well as us Brittany said when she felt Dora went out of line.
Dora sighed in a silent agreement. Her feet was sore and her heart was heaving.
Everyone had to catch their breaths before Jephthah suddenly said,
“Do you hear that?” He turned to them but they stared at him blankly.
He suddenly took a left corner and began climbing down another steep hill.
Everyone exchanged glances.
“What’s with everyone and running around tonight,” Barton complained but they still jumped down the steep hill with him, their feet raising dust in the air as it scrapped across the hills, their elbows jabbing in dirt.
They finally landed on the ground and they all met with a horrifying scence.
Just close to a large lake surrounded by huge dark looking stones, someone sat on one, covered in mud while throwing smaller stones into the water.
“Talia?!” Royce called out in shock and she looked up in surprise. She was even more surprised at the look of fear and horror on their faces.
“Are we leaving now?” No one replied her even when she sat up properly. “What’s wrong p>
No one spoke a word until Brittany finally whispered.
“If this is Talia…then who was that Naomi was chasing p>
“What if that was Talia and this is just an intruder?” Dora whispered as well.
Talia stands, dusting her clothes as she jumped down the rocks, advancing towards the horrified group.
“What are you guys whispering about. What’s HAPPENING p>
As she stepped forward, Royce raised an arm.
“Don’t come any close p>
She was ready to blow a fuse again but hurt suddenly flashed in her eyes when she noticed how everyone looked at her like she had just killed someone, like she was a stranger.
“You guys went out in search of me just to treat me like garbage?” Talia calmly asked and without a word, made to leave. Nancy was at the point of tears feeling reluctant to watch her leave, yet unsure like the others.
Jephthah however reached forward and grabbed her arm to the surprise of everyone.
When his arm touched hers and their eyes locked when she turned, he tried not to turn scarlet as he turned to the others.
“This is Talia. We should be worried about Daniel and the Omega who went after the impostor. Whatever they’re chasing is definitely not something normal and they knew it from the beginning. We didn’t just believe them p>
A flash of admiration and warmth swirled in her eyes at how he stood up for her but she was surprised at his words. What was he talking about?
Wait p>
“Where’s Daniel?” She suddenly asks them.
“Oh no Royce yelled on the realization that the impostor they thought Talia was, was actually the one far from them. “We have to find them…Now p>
Everyone starts running up the hill, half shifting to use their claws and climb up while Talia held Jephthah back.
“What’s going on p>
With each stomp her feet made on the ground, a splash of mud could be heard resoundingly in the forest. She suddenly missed her step just like her heartbeat and fell to the ground. The sky rumbled again and the atmosphere turned very dark like it was night unlike the Packhouse where the weather was still nice with a glowing sun and white clouds.
A snake hissed at her and slithered into a quiet corner while she lifted herself up and ran away in horror. She sees the woman she had been chasing pause at the edge of a cliff.
Limping over, she stopped, just centimeres from the woman, panting hard and wondering what the woman was doing just standing there at the edge of a cliff. She couldn’t possibly jump, could she?
Daniel arrived and the others fell in place just behind him as they stared in horror at the impostor who suddenly turned to them. They all looked like Naomi now, covered in mud and brusies from falling and scratching against tree stumps and overgrown roots while jumping down hills.
If Jephthah hadn’t told Talia the entire ordeal, she would have fainted right there an then on seeing the impostor. The clothes, the mud she had gotten plastered on her clothes when she was in a fight with Dora, it had literally been imitated by her so well that no one would even have figured out it was an impostor.
“Naomi get away from her!! She’s dangerous!” Brittany yelled, worry laced in her voice.
“Is she crazy? What does she think she’s doing!!” John yelled in panic when Naomi did otherwise and advanced towards the impostor.
“Who are you?” Naomi calmly asked, chest heaving from the run.
The impostor smirked and before their very eyes, her eyes began swirling with shades of different color while her entire face began remodifying into another shape. It was utterly disgusting and had the others scrunch up their face.
Soon, a girl with bright red hair and dark gold eyes stood in the place of the fake Talia and faced them all with incrediously beautiful features.
Naomi stepped back when they locked eyes, not able to escape the sense of familiarity she felt so suddenly.
“It’s been a while Fiona.” The girl said with a smug smile, her gaze still latched on hers.
Everyone fell silent on hearing her words. They were uttered coldly yet familiarly as if she knew Naomi.
Daniel stepped forward, his gaze fully on Naomi.
“Do you know her p>
Noami shook her head, speechless and helpless on seeing the accusing look in his eyes.
“I’ve never met her in my life”. She was stuttering, not sure if she was telling the entire truth. Some part of her felt like she had met her while another thought it was all a lie. Her name was Naomi right from when she started living in the Packhouse as a child.
The red haired girl suddenly stepped back and fell off the cliff, causing everyone’s heart to flip up to their mouths.