Chapter 3

"Why does this take so long!" Wish complained for maybe the 5th time, in just this half hour. The central city wasn't that far away, only about two hours, but Wish whined and complained about everything. I regret letting him come. "You've never been to the city before?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "No, I have, I have an assassin friend, but we aren't under he protection and that place is a death trap. Besides, I want to find my soulmate." He said.

He isn't wrong, at least about the centre city being a death trap. It's always full of people, mostly people trying to get supplies or profiles, it's kinda like navigating a minefield. So you get in, ge what you need, get out.

"Fair enough, but what is your obsession with soulmates?" I ask him. I'm confused on why he wants to find his soulmate so much.

Wish shrugs. "I guess I don't want to spend my life hunting down somebody to kill them. I want to spend it with someone I love." He says, sighing. He looks around at the trees, it's fall and they're changing colors. I suppose it would be quite pretty if I actually knew what the colors were. "Pretty world, messed up system." He says, I nod. "Don't know how you've coped so long without being able to see the colors."

After he says this it suddenly occurs to me that I won't be able to find my target very well. If I can't even tell what they look like very well from the picture. Distinguishing blonde from hazel from dirty blonde to light brown would be an impossible task for me. Not to mention their eyes. I could easily kill the wrong person if they looked similar.

"Do we have to go to the city?" Wish asks. "It's dangerous, and probably not worth the trip. What if your hunter attacks you again?" He asks. This surprises me. Wish doesn't seem like the type to be cautious, more like someone that would be reckless, quite the opposite.

"Yes we have to go." I tell him. "We have to go get my targets profile. You should too." He shakes his head quickly, making his hood fall off and his light hair visible. "No way! If I knew who my target is, you know how I am. I'd kill them on the spot! We both know it, and I'd rather that not happen. I really just don't want to know." He tells me, his explanation doesn't make much sense to me, but I'm not some weak kid like him.

I sigh, checking my compass to make sure we're still going the right way. "What gets me is the guilt. Why should I kill one person, but not another?" I ask him. He raises one eyebrow. "You make no sense. You would kill a person for your own safety but not for your soulmate? It just seems selfish to me." Wish says. I suppose it is selfish, but that's how things works in this world. I wish they didn't, I really do, but I can't stop it.

We walk in tense silence. As much as I hate hearing Wish complaining like a child, it's better than the palpable tension that's between us. As much as I hate to start conversation I ask him a question. "So you would kill someone if they attacked your soulmate, but not you?" I ask, wondering if he's crazy, would he just let somebody kill him?

"No, if someone attacked me, or my soulmate, or my friends for that matter, I would kill them. I just wouldn't kill someone for my safety and nothing else, not if they didn't attack me." He tells me. He looks away from me embarrassed, possible blushing. "Despite the fact that I knew we weren't soulmates when I came and saved you, I didn't run away. I'd have killed your hunter to save you."

My heart warms unsettlingly at the words. He'd kill to save me, even though I wasn't his soulmate. How ridiculous. I scoff. "Yeah sure, you might kill for your soulmate, but definitely not for me. I'll believe it when I see it." I say. "Well you'd better not see it, remember you'd be dead if I hadn't come in and rescued you." He says sarcastically. "And you'd better hope it doesn't happen again. He seems pretty deadly." Wish says to me.

"Do you remember what he looks like?" I ask him. "I don't." Wish seems to think a moment before giving his answer. "Not really, he was wearing a mask. And a hood covering his hair. Had a build kinda like me, his hoodie was white and red, but that might have been blood." Wish says. "How very helpful of you." I remark. Wish pushes me. "I'm sorry, I was too busy being stabbed while saving you to remember." I roll my eyes. "Fine, I'll let you off this time."

"You better you ungrateful baby." He tells me. "Oh so now I'm the baby, not the kid that's been complaining for the last hour?" I ask him sarcastically. "I'm not a kid!" He says. "I'm only three years younger than you. And I'm a lot taller than you." He tells

me, waving his hand over his head to show how much taller. It's about six inches, and these six inches seem to mock me.

"You're acting like a child. Height has nothing to do with maturity." I tell him. "Oh and three years does? We're both adults!" I roll my eyes at him. "Yes, but I'm older, older people are more mature."

He takes a deep breath. Seemingly trying not to blow up. "Well I know someone who contradicts your claim." He says, staring at me. "Idiot. Why did I let you come with me again?" He suddenly looks more serious. "Because you can't tell the difference between red and orange." He says coldly. "How the hell do you expect to find your target when you can't pick them out in a crowd?" He asks.

I'm not sure why he suddenly turned serious, we were just joking around, but he's right. My colorblindness puts me at a serious disadvantage. He sees my face and seems to know the realization I came to. "Exactly!" He says, a smile on his face. "I'll help teach you the colors!" His face has lit up with a bright smile, I hate to admit it's kinda cute. "Also, I'm here because I'm the only one stupid enough to save you!" I nod. "Yes, you shouldn't have done that. You didn't have to." I tell him. "Yes, I did." He says, that's the second time he's told me that he did. It makes no sense.

I sit down. It's very cloudy, it might rain. Just then I hear something behind me, I pull out my sword. I slash it around and it almost strikes Wish. He laughs, "your no good at fighting Georgie." He says. About an inch away from the point of the sword, I'm tempted to stab him, but I instead put the sword away. "What the hell are you talking about! I almost stabbed the thing through your stomach!" I shout, he looks extremely calm for someone who just almost got stabbed. "No you didn't, you couldn't have even if you tried." He says stepping closer to me.

I try to punch him but he catches my hand and starts laughing. "You really can't do anything right." He laughs. I try to hit him but he just laughs even harder.

Just then it starts to rain. "Ugh, I hate the rain." He laughs at that too. "I'm Georgie, I hate the rain." He says, mimicking me. "Come on, there's some taller trees over there, we can escape the rain." I say to him, explaining my plan because I'm not sure he's smart enough to understand it himself. He starts to say something but J run off to fast.

He's much taller than me, so he catches up to me, he could probably go faster than me, if his stomach wasnt so badly wounded. Then I come to realize that he can't climb the tree in that state. "I can't climb trees right now George! And neither can you!" He shouts at me. He's right, I have blurry vision because of my head injury and his stomach was basically split open. I keep going though.

"Where are you going?" He yells. I don't stop. He doesn't follow, so I grab his hand. His hand is warm. I like holding it, it's comforting, and warm. Just for warmth. As much I want to pull away, I don't, I know I should, but the sensation is like watching a car crash, you know you should look away, but you don't. It's the same sensation I get with Wish, I know I shouldn't trust him, but I really want to.

Maybe it's the lack of comfort I've had in the last five years, maybe it's him. Whatever it is, Wish makes me feel safe. And in these times, I like feeling safe. Maybe he's lying to me though. Maybe he's my hunter and he lulled me into a false sense of security so he could slit my throat while I'm sleeping.

It's not a good way of thinking, but I want him to be dangerous, so I can have a reason to push him away. I keep pretending he is, so I don't have to face my feelings. My whole life I've wanted an ally, a friend, now one comes along and I'm trying to push him away? It's like I spent my life trying to get out of a box, and now that it's open I don't leave.

Just because I can, I'm not pushing him away rationally, but I am. My whole life I've wished for a friend, an ally, and now a cute boy appears like I've wished, and his name is Wish. Hilarious.

This is probably all one big joke. I've been away from others for so long that I'm probably hallucinating. He probably is like a ghost, and others can't see him, and I'm just going crazy. God I hate being alone.