Chrystal was internally beating herself up for leaving Oliver alone in the harbor; it was the dumbest thing she had done in the last four days. She had been looking for him, firmly believing that the boy didn't board the ship knowing it wouldn't take him to his destination.
Where could he be? Dinashia was a big city, Oliver could be in any corner, she thought maybe he had gone north. She paid attention to him when he talked about how to get to The Gold Star, and if her assumptions were correct, she could meet him before reaching the shortcut in the forest.
Would it be too much to ask if the universe sent her a sign of where the boy might be? It had been four days since Chrystal had left her house to look for Oliver, and desperation was eating her away. She searched in poor places, where there weren't many people, but they were dangerous places, and her motorcycle was the most precious and expensive thing she owned. With it, they could get somewhere faster.
Parks
The next morning Oliver woke up with the sunshine appreciating the sunrise once again. They got a room in a small motel on the outskirts of Dinashia and decided to stop by to buy warm clothes for Oliver. The cold started to get more intense and getting sick would only slow them down more. The green-eyed boy was fascinated by all the different clothes in that store, he had never had the opportunity to try on or buy clothes for himself, so it was all new and exciting. Chrystal Daly was very patient with him when it came to choosing what he liked and needed; in the end, he chose some dark green thermal pants and a T-shirt, as well as a jacket with a brown hat, gloves, socks, and the best of all: shoes, nice and comfortable brown boots.“What do you think? Do they fit, or are they too tight?”Oliver wasn't smiling much, but this was the first time Chrystal had seen the freckled man with a huge smile for his boots; it was like seeing a kid in a candy store.
They had finally found civilization, it took them two more days to find it, and when they arrived, Annette thought the forest was better. The village they arrived at was surrounded by hundreds of guards disguised as civilians waiting for them. How had they gotten there before them? She should not panic yet, they had not found them, and that was a slight advantage; she had to think of a way to pass unnoticed; they couldn't afford the luxury of returning to the forest without knowing the route to The Gold Star. "That asshole doesn't waste his time," mumbled Jack next to her, thinking about his next move. "What now? I don't want to go back." "Shhh, shhh, easy, they won't catch us...." Jack looked around. If they were lucky, they might have reached a place big enough so that the annoying guards couldn't cover the whole area. They needed to lay low and pretend to be a normal person like everyone else, but how? In the distance, he could see a couple of young men pointing a gun at two w
The path to The Gold Star consisted of crossing the city of Dinashia, turning off through the Lundertood forest, which is the current border to the town of Neshala; once in Neshala, they had to find the secret door that led to the Golden Sea to cross it and thus reach the mystical Gold Star finally.Everything seemed natural to Chrystal until the part about finding the secret door. In the books, the door was created by the pair of lovers never to be found and could only be found by those with a pure heart. There was no location, and the internet sites did not have much information.The more they advanced towards the prosperous city of Neshala, the more she wondered how they would find the secret door if it existed, how they would manage to reach the other side of the sea with their friends, and if it wasn't the case... what should she tell Oliver?She thought about bringing Oliver down from his fantasy world and telling him what was going on, bringing him back to the real world so tha
"Oliver?"The redhead was worried about the boy who covered his eyes with one arm; he cried silently. Chrystal just wanted to cheer him up and made the boy call; maybe she shouldn't have mentioned his mother."I'm sorry; I didn't mean to hurt you."Oliver clenched his teeth tightly, holding back sobs and trying vainly to stop crying. He promised himself not to; he had been making it for years, but... the pain was as great as when his mother left. It hurt, even though she was now looking down on him. He had never told what happened that night; he could never tell anyone how terrible he felt for being the one who brought misfortune to his mother. No matter how hard he tried to remember his sweet and tender mother, he was only tormented by images of Collette's cold and terrifying lifeless body that night.>>Oli…ver<<The boy opened his eyes, letting out a small sigh when he felt Chrystal Daly's body over him, wrapping him i
>> "Stop it, Elliot! Stop it! Leave him alone; he's not to blame for anything!" Collette Gun's piercing screams shattered Oliver's ears as he was severely beaten. "I should have done this from the damn day I found out! I'm sick of keeping this thing! Sick of your indifference! I told you I wanted all your love!" Each scream was followed by a blow harder than the last. "Stop it, please! Elliot, I beg you, stop!" Heavy tears came out of Collette's emerald eyes; she never imagined that person would punish her beloved son. As if it were a spell, the black-haired man stopped for a few seconds, turning his eyes away from the child and directing them towards his beloved wife. It was the darkest and most twisted look Collette had ever seen. "I killed that bastard because he stole all your love and attention from me. I gave you everything, Collette; I allowed this scum to stay al
"I'm so sorry," she apologized sincerely. Oliver turned his gaze to the redhead, tilting his head a little without understanding. "You haven't done anything wrong." "Your mother was an amazing person; she could never hate you. I'm sure she never blamed you for anything," she tried to smile at him, "it wasn't you who pulled the trigger or stood in the way of the bullet; it wasn't your fault that your mother died that night." His emerald eyes opened again in shock and then watered again, Chrystal didn't want him to cry again, but she knew Oliver needed it. If no one else could understand that it wasn't his fault, she did, she saw the complicated situation, and she had to make him know that he was carrying something that wasn't in his hands. "It wasn't your fault Oliver, your mother knew the consequences of her actions, and she made her decision just like that man. You don't deserve any punishment." She couldn't help but hug him again, repeating
The following day they continued their way to the city of Neshala in silence. Oliver played with a branch, throwing it at the pet that accompanied them. Chrystal also participated in the game sometimes. She enjoyed watching how Oliver was having fun in a space full of nature; he seemed to be calmer in this environment than in the city. She agreed with him, as most of her childhood was spent in the woods with her parents, learning to hunt and survive in that environment. It was fun, and now she was grateful for all those days. They stopped at a river to try to catch some fish that were around. "All right, this should work for piercing the body; watch how I do it so you can try it later." The redhead gave instructions, sharpening a large branch, putting her feet in the river, and waiting for the right moment to catch the fish. "You must stay focused, the water pressure is not very strong, and you must be steady so you don't fall in. Watch how fast the f
The heavy breathing of both teenagers could be heard echoing in the immense forest; they had been running for hours, and fatigue was present. They weren't used to running for hours for their lives. Their hearts were beating faster and faster, but it wasn't from the movement; it was from terror, from the panic that one of Mason Jones' guards would catch them. What were they supposed to do? Where could they hide? Going into the woods was a bad idea, and Jack kept thinking how foolish it was to make that decision. He really would have listened to her if they tried to hide among the great streets of that unknown city, they would have had a chance to escape, but he didn't. The area was crawling with General Jones' people; one false step and they would be caught before they noticed. They knew nothing of that world; everything was quite noisy and irritating. Yes, it was beautiful, but Jack found it a little hard to enjoy his freedom, mainly because Elliot Craig's men were o