TW // fire

( ARIA'S POV )

     "REARRANGE THE LETTERS."

The group had all eyes on me now. I glided my pen from a letter to another, decoding the jumbled words together. The scenery was highly evocative— as if my body remained in the present, but my soul lingered into the distant past.

     A strange feeling it was, to teach them the ways of unraveling mysteries and codes. Now that I think of it, why had my father taught me decipher work at the ripe age of seven?

     He told me that swimming classes or piano lessons didn't matter, when we both shared a special hobby together. I vividly remember spending the next few months after his disappearance nagging and convincing my mom to sign me up into the aforementioned classes.

     An act of rebellion, if you will.

     After not many attempts, we've managed to decode the message. Considering the dashes in-between, it spelled GOLDEN-OXYGEN-BLADE-BUTTERFLY-HOME.

     So far, I couldn't manage to find any similarities between the words. They must be understood individually.

     "Is that a place? Look it up!" Giovani asked, continuously tapping on Miren's shoulder.

     Miren's eyes grew larger, flicking his finger away. "Are you kidding? Our phones are a deadbeat in this vexingly beautiful forest!"

     "Maybe it's a nursing home?" Nayari asked.

     Mateo gives her an unimpressed look, then scoffs. "Yeah, for psychopaths."

     "Or sickly, retired detectives."

     Peter's response made me think, strangely enough.

     Maybe they're objects, I thought. If that's the case, then golden must be pertaining to the plaque. Haven looked over at me, like she'd just figured it out. Pushing through our compact crowd, she took a pen of her own, crossing out the word.

     What could oxygen mean? Everyone else gave us a look. It was up to us. I felt my skin tickle, a warm uneasy feeling hugging my cheeks. This has to be something big.

     Mysteries don't come and go, they follow you.

     "Any ideas?" I asked them. The gears in our heads turned and twisted, visibly written in all our expressions. I felt like a robot. The sort still in beta— unable to process commands properly.

     I drew an arrow pointing downwards, listing things or places linked to oxygen. That was easier said than done. I isolated the choices that were too common. Answers are always beyond what meets the eye, take science for example.

     Could you prove photosynthesis after one look at a green leaf? Unless you had a magnifying eye and an overly complex brain: sure.

     "Whatever that is, it's probably not what you think," Giovani commented, his sarcasm trying to throw us off-course.

     Oxygen... or the lack thereof.

     Now I'm truly convinced he's a prophet.

     I crossed off our previous guesses, and wrote places in nature where the air was limited. Bodies of water? The river. Concealed places? A cave.

I drew stars beside my enlightened guesses. Turning around, I noticed the group dispersing— the exhaustion taking over their systems. Haven stayed, though.

"Gio, did you see any loose rocks or openings in the river?" I asked, biting my inner cheek.

Giovani shrugged, laying down against the tree trunk. He hovered his arms over his eyes, giving the impression that he wanted nothing but to sleep. I stretched my lips into a straight line. "Haven?"

"It was too dark to see. No one would notice if someone were to do anything, like right now," she winked.

Haven was clearly sidetracked, a tickle in my head undecided if her statement should make me amused or piqued. I stared into her alluring chocolate-colored eyes, before promptly turning away, fast pacing myself towards Issac.

A fierce look of judgement is what it may seem, but underneath all the eyebrow raising and the folded lips, he was entertained.

"Tell me, Harlows, are you caught up in the mystery for the thrill or for the romance?" Issac asked, resting his fist on his jaw— the signature look of any gossiping teenager.

I bit my inner cheek, shoving his head forcefully to the side. "Romance my ass." Miren examined me up and down, amusingly reading my thoughts and emotions. It seemed nearly impossible to keep secrets from this group.

"What are we doing tomorrow?" Nayari asked out of the blue.

"Survive," Peter chimed in.

"Something dangerous," Giovani insisted. "Like that." He was pointing at the plaque.

"I assume going home is out of the question?" Miren asked, drawing stars with a gold marker around the vamps of her shoes.

     Giovani folded his arms in front of his chest, the corner of his lips tucked upward to form a smirk.

     "From the wise words of Mrs. Kennedy, silence means yes," Mateo concluded. Quiet laughs and concealed giggles silenced the creatures of the night. That phrase was made up by one of our dumb teachers, who creates rules without any logical explanations provided— along with only boys can wear red and one wrong answer is subtracted from your points in getting into heaven. She's sent a few kids into the principal's office just weeks ago, and is now coined as the laughingstock of the faculty.

"Aria," Giovani stood up with an enthusiastic smile, extending his hand out to point to my direction. "Where're we headed tomorrow?"

"We can try the river."

"The river! Ah yes," he repeated. Could I really believe him when he said he only rolled weed?

Mateo raised an eyebrow at him. "Why don't we sleep on it, yeah? You're enthusiasm's off the charts, man."

     Everyone was more than happy to comply.

     I EXAMINED THE juniper-shaded leaves hovering over me, swaying to the gentle song of the forest. Silent hums turned into a melody, the shadows wrapping it's arms around me— concealing me from the light.

     My eyes fluttered open, but not a drop of sunlight in sight. I yawned in exhaustion, before noticing a shift in movement beside me.

     Issac turned his head to face me. He blew a soft gust of wind, accompanied by a low whistle. Slowly, he adjusted my head to lean onto the tree bark instead of his shoulder.

     Merely a second later, I dozed off once again.

     "WHAT'S KEEPING YOU up, Peter Pan?"

Was I dreaming? Why is it pitch black?

     "I swear to God, Issac, if you say that nickname one more time—"

     "No one's gonna hear us, they're all asleep. Why? Looking for a Darling to take to Neverland?"

     Why could I hear them?

"You wish it was you," Peter spat.

THE 7AM SUN greeted me with a warm welcome, illuminating my cheeks and forehead. Beside me, Issac was unaltered, slumbering as peaceful as a baby.

Miren was up and running— gathering leftovers from the middle of the clearing and stuffing it into her sling bag. Nayari carried jugs of water, sharing a contented smile with the former. I remember when my mother and tía looked at each other the same way. When they were friends.

     "Oh, mornin' Aria," Miren greeted. Nayari hurried to hand me food tucked away in a leaf. I gently placed it in my hands, unveiling today's naturally-found breakfast.

     I gasped at the sight.

     "Mushrooms! Where'd you guys get this?"

     Nayari smiled sweetly. "I found some over at the far side of the river. Miren started a fire while I was gone," she told me.

     My eyes glided from the mushrooms to the poorly-made fire in a tin can for biscuits. Hovering over it was a piece of cloth, held up by a few sticks. Miren and Nayari wore proud grins, like the ones you get when winning a medal at your school olympics.

     I brought the leaf containing mushrooms closer to Issac's face, letting him inhale the scent. I watched as his nose took a whiff. He's awake, alright.

     "I know you're awake, Scott."

     Nayari giggled from a distance. Miren shook her head, continuing about with her routine. I adjusted my seating, moving my head in front of his. I know this trick all too well— he's thinks he can catch me off-guard.

     Proving myself right, Issac's eyes snapped open, moving his hand from his chest in a flash. Before he could get even a piece, I took the leaf away, tossing one into my mouth in success.

     "I hate you," he muttered, scratching his eyes. "You are a menace."

Miren gathered a new bunch she was cooking by the fire, wrapping them carefully before handing to Issac. "Here you go, you poor boy."

I'd laugh, but a flash of ember overrode my thoughts. The leaves shuddered involuntarily, crying for help. The spirits of anger roared as they reached higher, getting ahold of the bark. I stared, and stared, and stared, unable to utter a word.

Follow my eyes. Miren.

Nayari did. She tumbled back in fear. Miren and Issac screamed, waking the others from their quiet slumber. Yesterday, I thought my dad leaving me was the worst thing I could wake up to.

Now, it might be death.

The leaves were in flames. How could that be? The tin can was at least a foot away from any nearby tree. Yet, it trailed, seeping through the bark.

Haven screamed the loudest. She was frozen in fear, like I was. I took two jugs of water simultaneously, throwing its remains onto the blazing flames.

Issac and Giovani took mine and Miren's jackets, striking the ignited trees.

"Stop fanning the fire, you idiots!" Nayari shouted.

We all stood frozen in place, with Haven still not moving a step away from her previous position. The fire was inching closer to her.

"Haven, move!" Mateo screamed. The flames trailed from leaf to leaf, running closer to Haven. She didn't move— she was paralyzed.

Without a second to waste, Mateo wrapped his arms around hers, pulling her away from the scene.

"Too bad miracles don't exist, right? Because a drop of rain would be really useful right now!" Giovani panicked, stepping in front of me.

And to think, it was only the morning after.

CHAPTER SUMMARY!
as the group examine the garden wall plaque, they find the words: golden oxygen blade butterfly home. golden was the plaque, so they decide to find the meaning of oxygen in the morning— which turned disastrous, due to a misplaced fire being too close to the trees.

AMELIE SPEAKS !
so my train of thought here is: if they're trapped inside a force field, then what happens inside stays inside, right? external forces wouldn't be able to affect them, right... because if so, I HAVE A PLAN (an obvious one, at that LOL)

this one's only 1.6k words, shorter than both the first and second chap, but in my defense school is kicking my ass <3 i also didn't proofread this one ALSKAKSJAIDJS if u see a typo, no u don't :)

ANYWHO what do we think??