"This path seems to be more clear than the other one," I commented. It was true. Theo didn't have to clear many vines or leaves. It actually looked like someone had done it already. I was still a little weary from my allergic reaction from the first path we took so Sailor and Yasmin were like a little bubble around me looking out for any fire ants so that I may not be stung again.

"Is this an ant!" Sailor darted to what looked like stray dirt. This was the thirteenth time now in what only seemed like thirty minutes.

I took a deep breath to not yell at her. I'm normally a patient person, but this was really getting on my nerves. "Sailor--I don't think we have to worry about fire ants anymore. How about you and Theo switched places for the time being?"

"No! What if you~" She got really close to my face, one of her feet was on the jungle floor and the other was in the sky, her pointer finger was right in front of my nose and I was a little afraid that she would fall forward. "-got bite by another fire ant. I used my epi-pen and you don't have one." At the word 'you' she booped my nose then went backward.

"She does have a point." Yasmin nodded in agreement.

"Uhh... guys." Theo's comment brings our attention to a block in the path. A tall cliff stood in our way. It was taller than Theo. "What are we going to do?"

"We make a totem pole," Sailor shook her pointer finger.

"Sure," Yasmin answered.

Theo and I looked at each other then Yasmin. "What do you mean 'Sure'?"

Yasmin sighed. "Sailor may have crazy ideas, but that doesn't mean that some of her ideas could and would reasonably be our best bet."

"Yeah, that's right, I have amazing ideas!" Sailor danced around us pointing to herself and jumping.

"No, I said some, don't quote me incorrectly." She turned to Theo. "You should be our base. You are the tallest and most reasonable just lift us to the cliff and help us up from there." She then looked towards Sailor. "It's not going to be a totem pole, but it's the closest you will get in this situation."

"Hmph!" Sailor stuck her face in the air. "Fine. But I'll go first." Sailor ran up to Theo and jumped. The boy barely had time to catch her and I had to go over there to make sure she didn't hit the ground. "Good reflexives." She snapped her fingers at me making her hand into a finger gun.

Blush engulfed my face. "It's not that good. You almost fell."

"I think Lukas should go first. He is the lightest out of all of us. No offense." I did take a little offense to that, but I knew she didn't mean it.

"Fine..." Sailor got out of Theo's and my arms.

Theo got closer to the cliff and Sailor did the same. We did a sort of cheerleader thing. Something they do before the flyers get tossed into the air.

"Ready?" Theo asked, looking straight into my eyes. I was a little nervous, but I tried not to make it known.

"Yup." My voice broke.

"Ready or not, there you go!" Sailor pushed me up and Theo followed suit. I grabbed onto the sides of the chiff. Holding onto the grass for dear life though Theo could probably catch me with no problems if I ever fall. My legs writhed as I scribbled onto the flat , upper ground. I caught my breath as I sat up. Glad I had finally made my way up here.

I gave a thumbs up to show everyone I had made it, but it seemed that they didn;t need to know or something was behind me because they were pointing at me. Not in a mocking way, but a warning-like way. I turned around only to come face first with a fist.

My head hit the grass as I stared at Mr. Lowe. The man's eyes looked wide, but I wasn't sure if my eyesight was correct. The sky was moving a bit and I don't think anything was moving. Mr. Lowe footsteps backed off me as he backed up, heavy breathes came out of his mouth.

"Good job, sir Robin!" Hunter Hunter's voice comes through like a stab in the chest. It seems wrong; his dialect changed. "Now grab the boy."

He didn't move, his breathing remained heavy.

"What are you doing? Grab the boy. NOW!"

Slim hands picked me up. Mr. Lowe was gentle yet quick in this action. He was worried just like me. I think we all were bamboozled by this Hunter Hunter character. I wonder what Mr. Lowe is thinking.

I hear my friends calling my name. I don't dare move in fear of more pain, but I try to calm them down. "Don't worry about me." Funny right? Don't worry about me, the person who worries too much. They should add that to a joke book.

Eventually I was exchanged to Hunter Hunter. He first tied me up, my upper arms tied to my waist and my legs tied together then he carried me over his shoulder like a dead body. As my vision focused, I could see we were walking somewhere.

The temple?

No, too many trees.

Are we going back?

I guess.

We were walking about in the path they came from. It didn't look that different from the one we came from, but it was different. Animal noises could be heard more in this path. The chirping of birds and the ruffling of plants where animals were walking by. A honey badger pooped on the path. It smelled revolting and I had to silently move my hand to my nose to avoid puking.

"Stupid animals," Hunter said spiting on the ground. Mr. Lowe made a sound of disgust. "Gotta problem?"

"No. No sir."

"Good."

I heard the river come up and I was placed on a boat. "Don't move," he ordered. I couldn't even if I wanted to. Mr. Lowe sat down near me and Hunter Hunter sat next to the back where a professional made oar laid. He raised it and oar like he was a personal rower.

We crossed the river and I saw a little shack of a house. It was made out of wood and stone like a cabin. Hunter hoisted me up by my armpits and grabbed me to the bank, leaving me there. Mr. Lowe picked me up before whispering. "I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," I whispered back. The man seemed to be taken aback, but he picked me up and put me over his shoulders. It was a little more comfortable than being on one shoulder. It also made me feel less dead and more like I was someone being rescued though I don't think that was the case.

"Put this on him." Hunter threw a cloth at Mr. Lowe. The aisn man put the blind fold on me and a creaky, wooden door opened. We entered the building. Hutner grabbed me from Mr. Lowe, the adventure's roughes hands unmistakable. His boots echoed on concrete stairs as we decreased into a cold basement.

"Hutner," a woman cries. She touches Hunter's forearm grasing one of my legs.

"Not now, Orchid." Hunter pushed her to the side. She fell, hitting the corner.

She sounds familiar and I feel sorry for the woman, but I get thrown and I too hit the wall. I hit the ground with a thud.

Just like how father does it.

Wait. Father...

A gate slammed shut and locked as I ,andgaed to get the blind fold off me.

"Mom?" I stared in front of me. My mom laid on the ground, her head beeding. Her ginger hair now auburn from age. Her green eyes look just like mine. Freckles decorate her face. She used to call them angle kisses.

"Little Lu?" she called out a nickname that only my mother would call me. Tears started streaming down my eyes. Mom moved toward me, only blocked by the iron bars. She held them close. "Lukas, is that really you?" I silently nodded. "Oh, Lukas. It's been years."

My mind brings up the last time I saw my mom.

It was in our house. Father, as I had been conditioned to call him, had once again gotten drunk. I was only about seven or eight. Mom and I were in the kitchen cooking someonthing for our dinner when Fathe rbagringed into the front door. I hated him. He would hit me with his beer bottles so hard that the glass would break and the tiny shards would dig into my skin. SOmething as punishment he would make me step on them with my bare feet. He said that I was too heavy so I began eating less. That was why I was so light.

Father came into the house and noticed us. "Beer. Now!" He grumbled, sitting down in his recliner. I quickly gave him the bottle, Mom opened the top for me. He snacthed it from my hands without even saying a thank you. I reasoned that he had a hard day at work. That's what he said when I would ask him in the beginning.

I went back to Mom. She had a heart condition. She would get heart problems, but never a heart attack. She would tell me that her heart loved me so much that it couldn't take care of herself. I didn't want to bother her, so I tried to love her more than myself. I never told her about the abuse. Her heart couldn't handle it.

"Delia!"

"Hide here," Mom whispered before she scampered to his side. She looked uncomfortable. Her hand was placed over her chest as if to try and revive some pain. "Yes dear?" she managed to squeak out.

"What did you call me?" Father yelled, turning around in his chair. His bottle was empty.

"Dear..." she answered, her voice barely above a whisper yet it broke.

He stood up. "Don't you dare call me that!" It seemed that it was more than just some simple discomfort. I pecked over the counter. Her eyes were barely slitted as she helped her eyelids down. Out of her mouth were sounds similar to struggling, yet my father didn't lay a finger on her. She finally let go of her chest as her body felt limp to the carpeted floor.

My eyes widened as I raced to my mom's side. "Mom!" I shouted, not caring about my father at that moment.

I didn't know then, but she was going through a heart attack. Father somehow called an ambulance and I watched her be wheeled away into the huge truck. My whole life was being pushed away from me. The statement "Her heart's now beating!" echoed in my head. Father whispered before going into the alubence, "This is all your fault." For that day forward, I told myself I would never be selfish or be at fault, ever.

Now, I stare at my mom. I never saw her after that day. I wasn't told anything from my father.

"You're alive," I said, getting closer to the bars. She was working on unlocking the lock. "How did you end up here?"

Mom looked up at me. She wanted to say something, I know her too well, but instead she said, "How did you?"

I decided to play along, give her the benefit of the doubt. She probably is as excited to see me as I am to see her. "Well, my friends and I came here to rescue our librarian. I'm not exactly sure why she is trapped here, but that man, the man with Hunter, is the reason she's in here. Or at least that's what I've been told. My friend Sailor is a bit imaginative, and she jumps to conclusions a lot. Some of the time they make no sense at all, but we love her for it." At the end a smile forms on my face from talking about my friends.

Mom smiled as well. "I'm glad you're happy."