Chapter 636. Wake up
Mill clasped and unclasped her fingers as she looked down at Mauve standing at the foot of the stairs. Mauve turned her entire body to face her, wrapping her arms around herself and staring intensely at Mill, pleading with her eyes. Mill looked up at the sky, squinted, and then glanced back at Mauve.
"Alright, I will be right behind the door," she said. "Please don’t try to set out by yourself."
"I haven’t even thought of that," Mauve replied.
Mauve smiled at her, though the smile felt stiff as if someone had used pins and needles to hold her face in place. She watched Mill slowly turn and walk to the door, which closed behind her as soon as she walked through it.
Mauve sighed and turned around. She was outside while the sun was out, and that was the least of her concerns. She couldn’t even enjoy the scenery. Rather, she was praying the sunlight would hold on a bit longer for them to return safely. How did it turn out like this?
Mauve started pacing left and right; it was either that or her head would explode with overflowing thoughts. She didn’t know how long she paced, chewing on her nails as she waited for some miracle.
The more the sun came out, the more her heart dropped further to her stomach. The sun was relentless, shining down even more. Mauve felt her heart squeeze, and tears poured from the corners of her eyes.
There was no doubt about it. This wasn’t some stunt—something was terribly wrong. She already knew this, but the reality was just hitting her, and it was hitting hard, making it difficult to breathe.
Mauve’s eyes suddenly caught something within the trees. For a second, she thought the glint of the sun was playing tricks on her, or maybe it was her tears blurring her vision and making her see things that weren’t there. But it didn’t take long for Mauve to realize it wasn’t the sun. Someone was running forward with someone on their shoulders, moving through the trees instead of the open path, likely to avoid as much sunlight as possible. She noticed they weren’t alone; two others were running behind.