21

                                    

                                          
Since we were already late, we packed up our breakfast and put it into a basket before going outside. This time we wanted to walk a little further to choose not an obvious place to stay in and while Aiden is looking at each one of them, I am eating a slice of bread with cheese and thinking about my best friend.
I want to think that there have never been any signs. But the more I recall every moment, every time spent with him, there were many signs. 
I was just blind. 
I have always loved Adam; I still love him. He was my first friend, my first escape from home and we did everything together even before we started hanging out with Sara. 
I just did not think he could see me otherwise than his best friend and now I'm both sad and angry because things will always get awkward between us from now on. 
Not only because of his feelings but also because of how he found out about Aiden and I. Sadly there is no going back after all this mess.
"Pearl?"
I look at Aiden and realize that I had not been listening to him the whole time.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
He frowns and I think he wants to argue, but he doesn't follow up with.
"I was saying we've already been walking for half an hour."
"Oh," I say.
Oh? What is wrong with me? I just hope that he doesn't think that what happened earlier had deeply affected me or us. 
"Maybe we should enter there," I eventually tell him pointing at the green place at his left.
It's a small fortress and it gives creepy vibes and I guess that's why I chose it. That makes him smile. 
We both head toward the door, and before getting too close to it, we remind ourselves not to spend too much time there.  
Just like the previous time, the door opens itself and we're thrown in a dark, obscure, small room but since I think I know better, I do not panic and at the next minute my instinct gives me right. 
The room shifts itself and we're suddenly in a forest. Unlike the previous forest we've been in, I don't see any rivers or birds or horses. And it's not daylight; the sun hardly keeps its yellow color and is about to set. 
The only thing that is here are trees. Trees and only trees and I almost yell when I realize the height of the latter. 
"How is that —" I start but am too confused to make a full sentence.
"I had no idea that this could exist," finally says Aiden.
The trees might be as tall as me and the entire village combined. 
The tops of the trees, themselves, are out of sight. That mere information can give you an idea of the actual situation.
"Do you see that?" asks suddenly Aiden.
I look at his direction and immediately notice a bright light coming from the center of the forest. 
"Let's take a look," I suggest, and we do that. 
The air is cold, and I wish I had a jacket to cover my bared arms. At least the choice of wearing a pair of boots revealed to be wise, the land is a stir of oily dirt and sand. 
Where are we? Once we've walked enough to be close to the trees, I stop when I notice the oddest of things. Aiden seems to notice it and he stops walking.
"What is it?"
I blink twice and make sure that I'm not hallucinating and eventually tell him, pointing at the trunk of one tree: