Young Writers Society

When it was over.

She glanced at him irritably before she glanced away. She knew what he was doing; calling her bluff. And she didn't appreciate this little game of his. She'd said what she said and she wasn't going to be backpedaling on it. "Looking up at the stars." Ky looked up to give herself an excuse not to make eye contact with him. "... looks like I'll be missing out on that one tonight."

Okay, that one was on Gabriel. It was a good answer and an honestly relatable one—Gabriel loved seeing the stars while camping with Quinn, and was going to miss them tonight if those storm clouds didn't decide to disperse.

Gabriel mulled over his options. Ky probably knew he was trying to call her bluff, and was clearly dedicated to keeping it going. Subtlety wasn't going to help. If he really wanted to find out why she was acting so off, he would have to ask her something different-

"...Is...Is everything okay?" Quinn suddenly asked, taking the words right out of Gabriel's mouth. "I like looking at the stars, too, but your bag looks heavy. What's actually in there?"

Maybe Quinn's genuine, soft honest questions would get Ky to tell the truth.

Ky blushed more, still refusing to look at any of them. She tightened her arm around her bag, protective and insecure at the same time. She couldn’t be mean to Quinn. Either of the guys could obviously snap her in half, but somehow they seemed easier to sass than a gentle girl asking innocent questions. She wasn’t telling them she was carrying around an anthology of mycology books. But. Well… they clearly weren’t going to drop it.

“I’m not prepared,” she admitted reluctantly, voice very, very quiet. She still was refusing to look at any of them. “But it’s fine. I don’t need much to get by.”

"That still brings up the question of what's in your bag," Gabriel pointed out. "That thing looks heavy."

He paused, thought for a moment, and then decided to cut off whatever protest Ky was going to give.

"And before you say that my eyes are playing tricks on me," he said, "I'm not stupid. I know what I'm seeing right now, and Q's seeing it, too."

Quinn awkwardly nodded in agreement. She wasn't one for conflict when she could avoid it, but she was just as concerned as Gabriel was right now. She was down for tag-teaming with him if it meant making sure Ky was okay.

She was blushing profusely at this point, mind running a million miles per hour as she tried to think up a believable lie. Then she decided to tell a partial truth that she could hopefully spin in her favor. “Books… I wanted to be able to identify what I was seeing. And I didn’t think the weather forecast called for rain. I might have made other choices then—“ as if. “But I didn’t. And it’s fine.”

Something still seemed off to Gabriel, but Ky's answer did explain why her bag seemed so filled. Books made sense.

"...Do you want to put some of the books in my bag?" Quinn asked. She eyed Ky's backpack. "I can carry a lot in it—it's bigger than it looks, and just feels as heavy as a normal backpack."

"It's okay, thank you," Ky said quietly, embarrassed. "It's good for me to learn my lesson." And oh was she. Aleth didn't like apologies, so she'd resist the urge for that. But she sure as heck was going to behave better in the future. Guaranteed. Limit Aleth's schadenfreude.

"But you've already learned your lesson," Gabriel argued. He could understand the guilt and embarrassment, but there was no reason to make things more difficult than they had to be. "You've had to carry those books so far. Let us take at least some of them. It'll be better for all of us if we run into something dangerous—we don't want you falling behind."

“It’s not your responsibility to bear the burden of my poor choices,” she argued, shaking her head. Was this a test? This felt like a test. “I can keep up… and if I can’t, I deserve to be left behind. I’m supposed to be doing this alone anyway. That’s the point.”

Pratik had been watching this quietly, but he couldn’t handle it anymore. There was clearly something very wrong here. He couldn’t put his finger on it exactly. But apart from a few unfortunate instances of food poisoning, his gut had never led him astray yet. His voice was gentle when he asked, “What is the point?”

She blushed even more. “Nothing.”

“Is someone making you do this, Ky?”

“No.” She tried to look sour, and succeeded somewhat, but she mostly just looked afraid.

Quinn took in a sharp breath of air. Ky couldn't have come from the same circumstances that Quinn had come from, but it scared her to think that Ky was doing things against her will right now. Quinn knew what it was like to be controlled like that. She knew what it was like to feel like there was no other way, and that she just had to accept her fate.

"Your face says otherwise," Gabriel replied. His tone was quiet. Dangerous. It was clear he was upset, and even more clear that he was angry, but Quinn wasn't all that sure Ky would be able to tell who he was angry towards.

"Gabriel," she quietly said, tugging on his leather jacket's sleeve.

Gabriel paused and looked over at her. He had a serious, somewhat unreadable expression on his face. When he saw how Quinn was looking at him, the look softened ever so slightly.

Ky was fine-tuned to pick up on the slightest hint of irritation, and even more so anger. She knew that look. That was the look that always happened right before someone got hurt. She didn’t want to get hurt.

Quinn’s pleading made her that much more certain.

She seemed like a woman trying to control the volatile temper of a man fond of violence.

Ky wasn’t taking any chances… any more chances. She may be a lot of things, but she wasn’t stupid. And she knew better than to push her luck too far. Aleth had taught her that much.

She sprang to her feet and slung her backpack over one shoulder in the same motion, stumbling backward a step as it pulled her off balance from the weight. Then she took another backward. Then another.

“Ky.” Pratik’s voice was gentle and he tried to be mindful of how quickly he stood up. People like him and Gabriel needed to be cognizant of the space they occupied; the threat — perceived or otherwise — that they posed to people. And, most of all, needed to make themselves appear harmless.

Unfortunately, Ky was edgy enough that literally anything would be able to set her off. So that was enough to make her flinch backward a step, then turn on her heel and rapidly retreat down the path just short of a run.

Stupid, stupid, stupid. She took a shaky breath, terrified. Aleth was going to skin her alive for being foolish enough to let them see. She hoped they wouldn’t follow. It was better this way.

Gabriel got up to follow Ky.

Quinn rushed to her feet, too, but for a different reason.

"Wait," she said. Gabriel stopped, one foot already ahead of him and the other being raised to take another step. "I should go. You and Pratik should stay here."

Quinn knew Ky was more comfortable around her than she was around Gabriel or Pratik. Even more so, she knew how terrifying Gabriel could be. It wasn't that he was mad at Ky. He was mad at whoever had brought her out here, but Ky had no way of knowing that. She didn't know how to read Gabriel like Quinn did, and didn't know what complex being lurked underneath Gabriel's human form. She didn't know that Gabriel had been told his entire life that it was his job to deal with the world's injustices, and how he could never stop himself from wanting to do something when it was staring him right in the face.

"I can talk to her, Q," Gabriel insisted, itching to follow.

Quinn shook her head.

"You're scaring her," Quinn quietly said. Gabriel deflated at that. Before he could argue or even agree with her observation, Quinn was rushing after Ky down the path.

Gabriel stood silently at the site, all too aware of how right Quinn was.

"Ky, wait," Quinn begged, her tone desperate. "Don't go."

Quinn was right. It was painful to have to wait, but Pratik was grateful that she offered. It was better this way. When a girl could help another girl, it was best to let them work things out themselves. Men didn't need to insert themselves into every situation. He'd only frighten Ky if he went after her. And that wouldn't improve anything whatsoever. Now once he figured out who had forced her here, that'd be another matter entirely. He was going to talk to them for sure. He'd send an entire flock of angry geese after them. Let them square up to a goose, then fight him. They wouldn't enjoy either experience. He'd guarantee it.


Ky didn't wait and kept her brisk pace down the path. But she also didn't speed up any further, like she would have if either of the guys would have followed instead. "It's okay; I don't mind. Thank you. Bye."

Quinn quickened her pace and finally reached Ky's side. Ky was still rushing, but Quinn was doing her best to not fall behind. Traveling with Gabriel for so long had made her all too used to running after people who should have been faster than her.

"But I mind," Quinn said, and she felt so selfish for admitting that. "The woods are dangerous and we have the supplies you need. I like talking to you, too. I...I don't want you to get hurt because you're all alone."

She stopped talking for a moment, but kept walking. She knew exactly what Ky had to be thinking about Gabriel right now. It was the same thing Quinn had once thought about him, back when they barely knew each other and they were only sticking together out of necessity. She couldn't speak for Pratik, but Gabriel was an open book to her now.

"...Gabriel's not mad at you," Quinn finally promised. "He's angry because someone made you come out here when you didn't want to. I...I know what you have to be thinking right now. I used to think that all the time, too."

She still did, sometimes, when she least expected it.

She reached a hand out to grab onto Ky's arm to offer some comfort and to keep her from running away, but faltered when she realized the sudden contact might not be appreciated.