Efferent

Chapter 9

We moved together as one through the forest fluidly, once again. Clark was teaching me tricks to survive in the forest, but not the one I that I needed the most: how to walk quietly. I cringed whenever I snapped sticks, while Clark moved about the brambles as if he was floating above them.

"You step too heavily." Clark snapped after a particularly large underbrush caught at my leg, putting his hands over his ears and pausing in his step.

I huffed irritatedly, breath blowing the multiple flyaway hairs into the air. "Well, not everyone has the ability to walk like they are stepping on clouds, Clark!" I retorted, and then purposely found the largest sticks to snap.

"Alright, alright." He rolled his eyes, gazing at the sky as if he was begging for a deity to grant divine intervention or godlike patience. "Just... just follow where I step!" Clark muttered, and with that, he continued on the path. I followed after him, and surprisingly, I was quieter.

He finally stopped criticizing me on what I was doing wrong as my footsteps grew quieter with each carefully placed step, and I sighed happily. But not long after his instruction, he had another bone to pick with me again. "You are not even trying to blend into the shadows!" Clark said, whipping around.

I breathed in deeply and then out in a burst, trying not to get my temper get the best of me. "Well, you are not exactly doing that either! I am simply following where you stepped, so, technically Clark, it is your fault that I am not blending into the shadows as I should."

He scoffed. "My fault? I was not even stepping there!" He threw out his hand to gesture wildly at my feet.

"Great!" I smiled triumphantly. "That means I can walk quietly now!"

Clark groaned and rubbed his face. "I- Ardyn-" He then made a muffled sound, shaking his head. "Okay. Try to blend in the shadows as much as you can. Just stay under the other side of the trees and move fast." He sighed.

We began moving again, and I studied the forest. It was definitely different from most of the other ones I visited, which meant we were pretty far from my town. I noticed that I had momentarily stopped and that Clark was far ahead, so I raced to catch up.

"Ardyn, stop snapping the twigs!" He said frustratedly.

I blinked, stepping in line with him. "It was not me!" And it was not. A figure came out of the trees, dressed in black, and I immediately reacted. "Clark!" I whispered panicked, and he dove into the bushes, with me following right behind him.

I ran as fast as I could, racing to the top of the hill. "Ah!" Clark screamed as he fell. My breath caught, but then I released it when I saw he had grabbed onto a tree trunk. The hill was steep, and I grew tired as I advanced upwards.

"I'm-" The woman offered, but I ignored her and reached the top, giving Clark a hand. My eyes suddenly widened as I realized that we were next to a river.

"I am not ready to go back down." Clark wheezed, collapsing as he laid on the grass.

I panicked. "But we have to! She is coming after us."

"Then do something." Clark murmured. He crawled back over the ledge up and walked next to me. "We are in this together, right?" Clark questioned, raising his eyebrow towards me.

I nodded in confirmation. "Together." With a reluctant look, he grabbed my hand but I wrenched it out of his grasp. He furrowed his brow, and I shook my head. "No, you are right. You can not do that, not this time." Clark nodded slowly. "I am not willing to sacrifice your life just for this."

"Thanks." Clark muttered quietly, and I nodded slightly.

Once the person reached the top of the hill, she broke out into a smile. "I think we got off on the wrong note, but I am Katherine, I'm-" I glared at her. How dare she! She even had the nerve to speak to us, when she was going to kill us later?

My fury erupted, and soon he was on his knees again. Clark placed a warning hand on my shoulder, and I nodded weakly. "I will not hurt him. Just to subdue him slightly."

Suddenly, the sound of helicopter blades were heard, slicing the air around of in a frantic pattern. Five helicopters were fast approaching, aimed for where we stood. "Shoot." I muttered. The helicopters could easily cover any ten mile distance that Clark could teleport to.

"Shoot is right." Clark nodded grimly. "What do we do?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"I can help." Katherine, or whatever her name was, offered, still on her knees. "I- just trust me, okay?" I groaned at those words that I kept hearing.

"Why should we do that? For all I know, you are in league with those government officials as well!" I bit out. Her eyes were wide and showed panic, her face was pale, but if she was a good actor she could easily manage all of that.

"Please! I will not let us get caught." She held a hand out. "Just take it. Trust me this once." When we did not move, she grew desperate. "Please!" Clark placed his hand in Katherine's, pulling her up. Then Katherine let go, staring at me.

Then she raised her arms to the sky. A helicopter suddenly halted in the sky and flew backwards, knocking down two others as it spiraled down to the ground. My breath hitched, and I stared at Clark who was just as bewildered and amazed as I was.

Then our gazes turned to Katherine, who was staring fixedly at the helicopters. Another crashed to the earth, erupting in flames. They looked like phoenixes, crashing towards the ground in a fiery ensemble. "Stop- you will kill them!" I yelled, lunging at Katherine who leapt out of the way of my grasp.

"I have no qualms about killing them, unlike you." Katherine replied calmly, and another helicopter spiraled towards the ground, bursting into flames. I could hear their shouts, and I looked to Clark, who looked sickened as well.

"Please stop. It is enough." Clark interjected. "There is just one helicopter left, and you have no need to take it down with the rest. Besides, this is not conspicious enough. Do you really want them to videotape us and paint us as monsters us even more?" He pleaded.

Katherine's face hardened. "I do not have any qualms about that either."