Chapter Twelve

Franklin was on the ground coiling as though he was still falling, and it wasn’t until he heard Prentice’s laughter and feet walking over him did he realise he wasn’t falling but dying of embarrassment. Prentice continued laughing as he watched Franklin picked himself up and dusted himself off. He looked around the place and sees it to be dark and cold. Colder than where they left over the wall. He shivered for the first time, thinking for a while they won’t be able to feel warmth all that much. Prentice scanned the area for intrusion and then he captured a moment to take it all in. This was once something beautiful, ruined by the hands of a tortured soul, he said inwardly, feeling the hurt emanating from within. 

 Franklin came up behind him, and with a growl, he said, “You can act more professional than that you know, Prentice?”

“I supposed, but you said you wanted fun. Being quiet would not do.” He mocked Franklin’s words as they continued walking, looking for a place to rest for the night.

“That is childish behaviour. You talk to me about being grown up. What of you?” Franklin argued, throwing his hands up in the air like a frustrated parent.

Their feet crunched on the ground with every step they made. Franklin looked down to see a lot of dead leaves and trees, and barks that were already turning soft with wearing away. His frown deepened when he saw most trees are like that and it dawned on him that the forest was dying. Whatever was happening all around them would soon mean the end of the once beautiful forest millennials of people knew.

“This is payback for the plate thing,” he said, waving his hand as though Franklin’s words were nonsense. He had taken in Franklin’s frown as he watched the trees that were once been alive.

“After all this time, you planned to push me, didn’t you? What if something had eaten me?” Franklin said, pushing his head out so Prentice could spare him a look, or even glance at him.

“Oh please, not everything here is do or die. Okay, maybe some parts are, but please, you know for sure I wouldn’t have done it if I had sensed danger. You’re being a dramatic little boy,” Prentice continued his onslaught of Franklin’s ego. He had the audacity to chuckle even. Franklin could only scoff. 

“What are you still laughing for? I am still upset with you.” Marching in front of Prentice, Franklin blocked out his arms and was about to raise his sword.

“You can be as upset as the sun on a hot day, don’t let me get on your way.” Prentice said, shoving him out of the way as they continued walking along.

“Why are you behaving like this? It is like you’re unleashing your wild side.” Franklin noticed as he wrinkled his eyebrows and twisted his mouth sideways.

“Do you know what we are feeling now? We are feeling freedom, and that is what might get us killed. We all have a dark side, Franklin.” said Prentice as though he knew a dirty little secret, but don’t want to share it with someone.

“You’re telling me. It seemed in only a matter of seconds you might shed your coat.” Franklin replied, folding his hands to his chest waiting for Prentice to turn to look at him.

“I would not do such a thing. I have my honor and certainly you can have me beheaded for being naked in front of you. You’re but a child.” Argued the man, who almost looked red in the face from the constant blabbering, and the cold that bruised his pale cheeks already.

“I did not mean it like that, old fool. I meant I would see you in your giant wings cloaked up, warming you up right now.”

“I never feel the cold or warmth. My body temperature is always at one temperature. I thought you would know this about me by now,” Prentice said, looking genuinely confused.

“I realise after all the time of knowing you, I don’t quite know you. I respect your privacy too much to dwell into your past or demand you tell me,” said Franklin as he scrunched his nose and waved his hand as to tell him it’s no big deal.

“Should I thank you for your gratefulness? I choose what I want to tell you, boy. Nothing to it. There are things I don’t ask of you, and I am glad you respect me the same way to not ask stupid questions.” Prentice said ruefully. He stood as he watched Franklin took something out of his bag. Another coat, thought Prentice, is it really so cold he cannot take it? His breath came out foggy as he blew out. It was getting colder, it seems.

“I understand. You have a painful past. I get it. You have seen me all my life. Who’s saying you know all of me?” Franklin continued to shrug into his thicker coat. He looked like a bear dressed in so many layers of thickness. He gave a look at the tall man beside him and blew a foggy breath.

“I don’t think I know all of you. You haven’t died yet and even after you’re gone, I would be here, waiting, until finally someone hit me harder than I would and the Gods finally pity me.” Prentice said logically, but the thought of losing Prentice and his own life terrified him. He was hoping that he wasn’t showing it too much.

Franklin shrugged and gave a tight-lipped smile, then whispered, “Well, you have a long way since I am only sixteen. Mighty long way.”

Franklin threw his bag over his shoulder and jumped a few times to get all things settled with his extra coat. Shaking his head at Prentice, he blew another foggy breath, and they continued walking silently for a bit.

“Not if you wear your ass on your face like you are right now, and get yourself killed,” mumbled Prentice, as he made one last attempt to deter his mind since they can still turn back from coming here.

“My goodness, Prentice has a sassy side. Who would have thought?” teased Franklin as he watched on as Prentice continued walking and ignoring him.

Franklin was getting tired, and the bag he carried only seemed to be getting heavier as they walked. He didn’t ask what Prentice was looking for, and he knew better. Franklin also felt that what they were looking for, they had not found it yet. It had to be a place they can at least feel warmth among all the freezing points sticking out. Franklin’s neck ached, and he rubbed them after digging into three piles of clothes. It did not feel any better getting the cold. In fact, the cold only numbed it to last a few seconds, the most.

“I can’t wait for us to find shelter and get moving as fast as possible. The place is getting ridiculously low in temperature. What next, the ground freezing over?”

“Let’s settle a little way from here, where the trees have much color. Here reeks of death.” Prentice admitted, and they made their way to the lightly green colored trees and pale grass.

“How are we going to stop predators if we fall asleep?” Franklin asked as he barely moved a muscle. Too scared it might hurt in the wrong places and the look of worry on Prentice’s face would increase.

“You sleep, and I can keep watch for a while. Tiredness is a foe at the moment.” He said as much as he could muster. He looked drained and for the first time, fright coursed through Franklin, looking at the man who always seemed to have the world all figured out.

Franklin cleared his throat, and he whispered just loud enough for Prentice to listen, “I am glad I came along on this trip. I got to know more about you than any other time.”

They stared at each other silently, listening to the eerie silence of the night. Not one bug around to chirp or move around, just strictly silence. 

“Franklin, get a fire going. I am going to take a look around and see if I can find anything. Or anyone.”

“Okay, when you get back, the fire would be lit,” Franklin said with promise in his voice. 

Franklin stood by for a moment, then he looked around and gathered a few sticks and leaves he found just around the area, not wanting to venture too far to meet with someone he would rather stay very far from. All the while, Franklin had a heavy heart. He knew bringing along his book was wrong, but he just had to, thinking someone else might find it and he wouldn’t find it ever again. He needs to tell Prentice about it soon, but feared something might lead them to have an outburst, so he rather kept it to himself for now. His neck began aching again but there wasn’t anything on his back. Perhaps he strained it, or it was a bite from an insect. He continued picking up a handful of leaves more, but he groaned and shook his head to ease the pain, hoping it would go away.

The pain started from his neck, and he felt it crawl painfully slow down his spine, hot and streaking, grinding the pain into the core of his body. At this, Franklin fell to his knees not far from their little gather of bags and one blanket Prentice brought along. His nails dug into the dirt and crushed the leaves and sticks sickeningly. He cried out, panting harshly as he clutched the grass under his palms for support. He groaned more and started moaning on the ground, twisting, feeling as though his body was burning. His heels and feet were unstable, wanting to feel the cool air, just to not feel the burns. Tears rushed out of his eyes. His throat felt parched, and his body began to gyrate in a manic manner. He had no control over what he did. He started convulsing on the ground as the pain soared through his entire body. He had no control of it, but what came next paralyzed all his efforts to keep fighting it.

Through his pain-stricken body, he saw flashes of himself, a young innocent version, as he remembered himself as a boy, then a tyrant pre-teen child, always causing trouble among others he met, and the lonely boy he was always worried about. The one he looked upon now worried him the most. His outburst, anger fueled self which projected himself as a boy without eyes but blackness taking the sockets over.

Then he saw a familiar black inky, slithery shadow. It slithered towards the different versions of him: the little boy, the teenager, and the lonely boy. It swallowed them one by one as they kicked and swung their fists to avoid the leeching fiend. The inky movement all around them and enveloped them as they fought to remove it but eventually it became futile, and with all sharing the looks of sorrows, they stopped fighting. The only one that the inky blackness didn’t touch approached and grabbed him in a chokehold. He seemed infected as it was, and franklin knew all too well what this might lead to.

In his frozen state, all Franklin could do was watch the horror happened in front of him. He saw the shadow of darkness slithered up the leg of Franklin’s feet and onto the sightless Franklin. It disappeared from within the body. A host, echoed a whispery voice through Franklin's mind. He didn’t know what the thought means, but he didn’t get the time to think about it. The version of himself that stood above him gave a drowning vibe of a fiend. He was the evilest of all, and with a malicious smirk, he opened his mouth wide and swallowed Franklin whole.

With that, Franklin gasped and woke from his frozen state and above him was Prentice, who displayed a worried expression as he leaned over him and whispered a few words. Franklin’s ears were ringing painfully loud, and he groaned, unable to hear Prentice’s words. He stopped all movement and saw his eyes clearing up to see and to hear clearly now. His head was resting on the crunchy ground and he felt his feet were bare.

“Feet cold,” he tried to get out from his hoarse throat.

“Oh Franklin, you scared me,” Prentice said, with slumped shoulders and an unhappy countenance.

Franklin closed his eyes and whispered, “what happened?”

He was still laying motionless on the ground, too scared that he might get up and hear the ringing in his ears again. Or feel the intense pain he was feeling not so long ago.

“You passed out, and your heart stopped. I think your body reacted fatally to the cold. You had blue veins bulging on your face.”

Prentice turned to give him a hand at getting up, but he didn’t want to. He barely shook his head no, and he felt Prentice sat down beside him.

“I am sorry I scared you. I didn’t think it would happen.”

“I know. To think you were so close to the fire and yet your heart gave out, I thought something attacked you.”

“I had the most terrifying dream, but I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You should get some rest. We can continue tomorrow and push on until we reach Freda’s place.”

Oh yes, thought Franklin to himself. Freda, the mysterious woman he never met and someone who was supposed to be an ally. With that, Franklin laid on the floor silently, wishing he could see the stars.