Burning Questions

After a few minutes of continuous walking, Natalie broke the silence between the two.

"Jean, stop!"

Turning sharply to face Natalie who was behind him, Jean shuddered. Since the moment he was saved from that painful ensnaring, he had become vigilant and attentive to his surroundings. He was alert to every move and sound and that is why he reacted quickly to Natalie's call.

"Yes, mom. Is there anything?"

Jean asked with a subtle frown.

"Don't you feel tired?"

Natalie asked with a smirk.

Jean turned around and smiled wryly.

"I was thinking of the same thing, mom."

"Then what are we waiting for, let's find somewhere to rest."

Natalie said while placing one of her hands on her waist.

Jean nodded silently and started checking around for a proper resting spot.

A minute later, the two were tiredly seated on bare ground under the shades of trees, with their backs resting on the barks of trees next to each other. The ancient pavement could be seen lying a couple meters from where they were seated. Tired expressions were evident on their bleak faces. They could yawn from time to time as they spoke one or two words before turning mute for some minutes.

"Mom, I am sorry for what happened earlier"

Jean said while rubbing his eyes.

"There is no need to be sorry. It was my fault. If I could have warned you earlier, this couldn't have happened"

Natalie said in an even tone.

Suddenly, Jean straightened up and glanced at Natalie with curious eyes.

"So, you want to tell me that you were already aware that that area was dangerous?"

Jean asked with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

Natalie gave him a sideway look before looking away.

"Yeah, something like that. But I didn't expect you to move to its centre after I avoided it myself. I expected you to follow my course"

Natalie said with a long face.

Jean blinked severally and gulped.

"Of course, I was following your course when something strange happened to me."

Suddenly, Natalie's expression turned lively as she quickly straightened up and concentrated on Jean.

"Did you say something strange?"

Natalie asked with a curious face.

In response, Jean nodded silently as he gave Natalie a furtive look. He was perturbed by Natalie's reaction to some extent.

'Why is she behaving this way. Does it mean she don't know anything about what I am talking about?'

Jean pondered on the matter for a while before turning his gaze towards Natalie.

"To me it looked strange because, I don't think I have the right words to describe it."

Jean said with a distant look evident on his bleak innocent face.

Struggling to concentrate, Natalie leaned forward and urged Jean to continue.

Lingering for a moment, Jean gazed in the sky for a few moments before returning his gaze back to Natalie. He then recounted want happened to him up to the point where his hand was pierced by a strange object that was not visible to him.

When Jean was done with his explanation, Natalie grew restless for a while before calming herself.

'This was not meant to happen. I must find a way to prevent this from happening, but before that, I need to confirm something first.'

Natalie thought for a while. And from what Natalie was thinking about, it was evident that there was something that she was hiding from Jean. Reason for doing that only known to her.

Turning to Jean and lingering for a moment, Natalie asked,

"When you looked at the centre of the area, did you feel the same thing again?"

For a moment, Jean was puzzled by Natalie's question. But after realizing that Natalie was still waiting for his response, he shrugged off unnecessary thoughts and scratched the back of his head out of embarrassment.

"The moment you saved me from the ensnaring force, I only looked at your hand that was now at the spot. Maybe because your hand was resting on the spot that's why I didn't feel anything."

Jean said in a tensed tone while curiously studying his hands.

"What about after I withdrew my hand from the spot? Did you at some point look at the spot once again?"

Natalie asked in a raspy voice while staring at Jean with a questioning look.

Sparing Natalie, a quick glance, Jean turned to his side and stared in the distance.

"After that incident, I became paranoid and therefore, I avoided looking at the spot the moment you withdrew your hand from it. I was worried that the incident could repeat itself."

'Damn it! If he didn't look at the spot, how am I going to confirm it, now? Should I take him there some other time? But that would be a risk. I will have to find a way of proving this. But I think there is no way he would come to find out.'

Natalie thought with a lot of exasperation. His expression turned sour at some point, startling Jean in the process.

"It is okay if you didn't look at the spot."

"Why did you want to confirm if I looked at the spot, mom?"

Jean asked in an even tone while staring at Natalie.

Natalie waved her hand dismissively and let out a light smile.

"Oh, that! I was only concerned with your safety after what told me happened to you the last time you looked at the spot."

"Do you know what, mom?"

Jean asked in a friendly tone as Natalie nodded, prompting him to continue.

"What is strange about that spot is that; when I looked at it the first time we entered the area, nothing happened. I was even about to touch it before you intervened and said that we should leave. It was even you who gave me a go ahead to study the spot. I don't know why the last time nothing happened and strangely enough, you didn't even bother to warn me about the place."

Jean said with a complicated look plastered on his bleak face.

Natalie's expression turned distant as she gazed at Jean.

"You are right with that. The only difference between the first time and the second time we entered the area is that; unlike the first time, the second time we entered the area, I sensed the difference in the surrounding air. The breeze was cooler than before. And that was an indication that the spot was active at that moment."

"So, the spot has the ability to activate itself and deactivate itself on different occasions?"

Jean asked with a curious look.

In an instance, Natalie's gaze turned lively.

"Something like that. But I wasn't sure what could have resulted to its activation."

"For how long will it remain active, mom?"

Jean asked out of confusion.

"For a week or so. And let me warn you, don't visit the area until I approve of so."

Natalie said with a serious face. Jean on the other side, nodded in agreement. Even if he was not warned by Natalie, there was no way he was going to try that. He had seen enough to make him wary of the area.

The tour that was meant to be memorable and interesting, turned sour at the last minute. Remembering that he had enjoyed the rest of the tour only to be irked by something strange at the end of it, made Jean to curse his luck.

'How I wish we never passed through the area at all.'

As if remembering something, Jean turned to face Natalie.

"How did such a place come into existence in the first place? And how are we going to survive in such a mysteriously dangerous place?"

Jean asked to questions in succession and leaned forward to wait for the response.

Natalie suppressed a groan and gave Jean a sideway look before turning away.

"For the first question I would answer you when time is right, and for the second question… time will tell. But that doesn't mean you should be wary of the place. The place is okay and that's why I never thought of somewhere better other than this. As if we even had a choice, our financial status speaks for itself. Just follow my instructions and no harm would come your way."

Of all the answers that Natalie had provided, the first answer was what aroused Jean's curiosity.

'When time is right. What is wrong with her telling me now? And what time is right?'

A series of questions about the first answer that Natalie had provided to Jean, crossed through Jean's mind nonstop. He was not sure why his mom had to wait for the right moment to provide an answer to his burning question. This even made Jean to hold the question with a lot of weight. He enlisted it in a list of his most important questions.

As for the second answer, he didn't have problems with surviving at the place. He already had some safety measures in place.

Just avoid the area at all cost. That was one of his key measures of surviving in their new home.

***

A few minutes later, the duo emerged from the narrow gate and entered the compound. The forest tour was over.

^_____^