Exact Opposites
He gave it a gentle comfortingsqueeze.
When Anthony stopped, I assumed that we already reached the door. My mind started to race.
What if behind it was just another trap waiting for us? What if that was where Carley and Zed
were resting while they thought of something to do with us? What if...
Anthony let go of my hand and suddenly I felt scared. I gathered up all the courage I have left.
We’re almost there...freedom.
He pressed his ear against the door and listened intently. I watched his expression carefully. I
sighed in relief when his hand reached for the knob. He started turning the knob and his eyes
suddenly widened.
My heart skipped a beat at the sight of his expression.
“What?” I whispered.
“It’s---“
I gulped nervously.
“Open,” his wide eyes were saying that he was too shocked to take it in.
I sighed in relief. I gave his arm a spank.
“Ow!”
“You scared me!”
He smirked then put his finger on his lips. “Shh.”
Slowly, he turned the knob. Now it was getting a whole lot harder. What if danger was waiting
for us outside?
He was about to push open the door when I seized his arm.
“What?”
“I don’t know if it’s a good idea to---“
“We’l be okay.”
“Sure?”
He nodded. “Positive.”
Before I knew it, Anthony stuck his head behind the door. I closed my eyes to straighten myself
and I remembered to watch out for anyone behind us. We were still lucky that no one caught us
that we got this far.
Anthony’s hand suddenly found mine and he nudged me forward. Reluctantly, I peeped too. My
jaw almost dropped when I saw what was behind the door. It was a garden. And a few meters
away was a forest. Though normally, I wouldn’t be happy at the sight of a forest since I’ve never
been a fan of them. But now, I was so happy to see this one. This meant that we could escape
this place without our captors seeing us. If only we could sprint toward the woods, we would be
inches closer to freedom.
Without asking me what to do, Anthony was suddenly pulling me along him as he ran toward the
woods. I wanted to hit him so hard for taking me aback like that. He could at least ask or give
me a sign when to start running, didn’t he?
I was half-expecting Carley’s voice to surface somewhere as we were running, but luck was on
our side this time. Our captors were out of sight. Maybe they were eating or something. I
chuckled. Eat, while they had prisoners to look out for? That was amusing.
We were now panting as we rested at the middle of the woods. If I would go back to where we
had been from this point, I believe that I would get lost. I have never grown skills in directions.
Especially in a forest like this.
We were breathing so hard that we barely spoke for a few minutes. Then out of the blue,
Anthony started laughing.
Exasperated, I glared at him. “What’s so funny?”
“I forgot to tell you to run,” he was stil in his laughing fit.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Since when did you start bul ying others?”
He was chuckling, the fit starting to fade. “Just now. It’s fun to tease you.”
I could not believe what I was hearing. “You’re getting weird lately.”
“Not real y,” he shrugged. “Guess this part of me exists all this time. It’s just that, I don’t let use it that often. I have to put up an image.”
Put up an image? Was he serious? So his whole nice guy front was just a facade?
“I was kidding!” he started laughing again.
“You are so weird,” I turned my back on him.
I could still hear his laugh. He was weird. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline rush. I found
a spot under a nearby tree and sat on a root that protruded from the ground.
I scanned the surroundings. There was no sign of a trail on the ground, which meant that the
place wasn’t exactly used that often. What I didn’t like about forests was the big possibility of
seeing...
“Drei! Don’t move!”
I froze to the spot. Tell me how obedient I am.
“There’s a... a... snake behind you.”
My eyes widened at his words.
“WHERE?”
“Don’t move!”
I did not notice that I started whimpering. If there was one thing that I hate so much (aside from
the syndicate who killed my Dad) it was reptiles, especially snakes.
“Just wait.”
I heard something hard hitting the ground behind me. After a few more pounding, I heard
Anthony sigh.
“Done.”
I composed myself and turned around. There on the ground was the dreaded creature, dead. I
jumped away from the dead snake. Even in its lifeless form, it freaked me out. I couldn’t control
my tears.
I was staring at the ground and I had my back on Anthony. The leaves on the ground gave a
faint crunch at his footfalls.
“It’s okay,” he tapped my shoulder.
I nodded, suddenly feeling stupid for breaking down like this.
“I’m okay,” I lied.
“With a tear-stricken face, you tell me you’re okay?”
I chuckled. “It’s hard to believe, but I real y am.”
“Hmm.”
“Sorry for being such a cry-baby. I just hate them.”
“No problem.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I think we better get going.”
Wiping my eyes, I nodded.
With his hand on my shoulder, he led me deeper into the woods.
~
It was starting to get dark and the birds over head were starting to do sounds of all sort. The
ambiance reminded me of those horror movies where the killer starts to hunt its prey down once
the sun has set.
“Are you hungry?”
I shook my head.
“Sure?”
“Positive.”
He smiled at the familiar exchange. “But I am. Let’s see. A few more steps and we have a
shelter for the night.”
Not exactly getting what he meant, I asked, “Where?”
He gestured toward his left and I followed with my eyes. Because my eyes had a hard time
adjusting to the darkness, I missed the spot where he was referring to. Behind two or three trees
was a small shack. It looked old and unmaintained, based on the weeds surrounding it. But still,
it was a place for the night.
“I bet there’s a fireplace inside. Let’s gather up wood before we head in.”
Feeling elated at the