Through the Dark

I was back standing on my porch; I letted out a sigh as I stared out at the waterfall that was in my view. I dipped my head and darted my eyes to the left side, seeing the pot of food I made sitting there on the small, wooden table.
It has been two hours since my last encounter with Bella and an hour after that, I have been waiting for her. So I've been waiting for her for a good hour. I thought she would've come by now, but there were no signs of her.
Once in a while, the trees to my right would rustle; my heart would skip a beat, thinking it would be Bella, but all that would come out was a deer or a squirrel. Then to my dismay, I would continue on waiting.
But I wasn't planning on calling it a day and forget about it; I loved her and I would stand on this porch for the whole day if it meant to spend time with her. I didn't like waiting, but just thinking about what I would get out of it made me stay here longer.
I then heard the trees beginning to rustle again, this time more intense than the other times. I turned to my right, seeing as Tuukka, Pekka, and Mitty came out from them.
I felt my heart drop as the thought of why they were coming floated into my mind. Oh no...
Mitty waved to me as they rounded my porch, stopping at the bottom of the stair steps of the porch.
I gazed at them, thinking of what to say. Luckily, I wasn't the first on to speak.
Tuukka placed a foot on the first step, leaning forward so that his arms can rest on his thigh. "Ready, Corey?"
"Uhhhmmm..." With clenched teeth, I turned my head to the right, then to the left like as if the right words to say would come at me by doing that. I turned back to him. "I..." My voice faded as I saw Tuukka's smirk turn into a line.
"What's up?" Pekka asked me with a shrug.
"I can't go," I said quickly, straightening up.
The leader furrowed his eyebrows. "You can't go? What's stopping you from going?"
"Ugh, it's just that..." I exhaled loudly. "I'm waiting for someone, okay?"
"Is this someone more important than saving our friends, ourselves, and eventually the whole world?" he shot at me.
Pekka made a confused look. "This also includes the world?"
Tuukka smoothly put a hand out at him, telling him to quiet down.
That there lost the time for me to answer, so I just stood there with my eyes on them, hoping that Tuukka would understand and let me go.
But instead, he kept at it.
"Is it?" he asked, placing his hand back on his thigh.
Dang it. "Can I be excused from this one?" I shoved my hands into my pockets.
Tuukka gaped at me with raised eyebrows. "You're asking to be excused?" He then quickly made a frown. "No, I'm not gonna let you do that. We're a team, and we stick together no matter what. You're with us and you stick with us."
I then felt a small flame of disgust spark in me. "When did I say that I was part of your team?"
"You never said. You stuck around...and became part of our team through your actions." He leaned back, straightening up. "Now, come on, we got a job to do."
"Didn't you hear me, I'm not going." I pulled out my hands and crossed my arms. "I got things to do, I'm sorry."
"You said you were gonna go last night, no, not last night, this morning, you said you were gonna go--"
"Well, that was in the middle of the night! I was half asleep! I could've said 'yes' to anything!" I rolled my eyes once. "You guys can go, I'm staying!"
"You don't care if we get controlled by Kari‽" Pekka blurted out.
"Well, just be careful!" I snapped. "Just don't go near him..."
"Haha, easy to say, he's everywhere!" he snapped back.
"Corey," Mitty stepped in calmly, "who are waiting for?"
I darted my eyes to the ground. "Why do you need to know?" I muttered.
"Well, maybe you can postpone the visit? I don't think they'll mind. If they do, then they're not worth waiting for."
"It's too late, I can't tell her... I don't know where she is."
"Ohhh..." I heard Tuukka say, "...it's for a girl, eh?"
I lifted my head off with an irritated look. "Back off!" I snapped.
The leader raised his hands in the air like as if he got caught by the police. "Corey, look, I have a wife back home...and I'll love to be back at home with her, but I got things to do, such as this mission. So why do I do this instead of ignoring it and staying behind--?"
"Because Kari's after you!" I interrupted harshly. "I'm just with you guys to be your own personal shield! I have no part in this!"
"No," Tuukka answered sternly. He then pointed behind his shoulder with his thumb. "I could just head back home right now, away from Kari, where he'll never find me. But I'm not doing that. Why? Because I put others first. I'm not the only one who's getting affected by Kari, Pekka is as well." He pointed to the blond man. "He still hasn't given him what he promised he'd give him."
Pekka took in a deep breath and looked down.
Tuukka placed his hands in his pockets. "Corey, personal matter always comes after team matter, no matter what situation. Are you gonna make the right choice?"
I breathed in deeply, trying to calm myself. "I'm sorry, Tuukka, but I'm busy."
"Sorry doesn't cut if our mission fails," he told me gravely.
"So just postpone it!" I exclaimed.
"I'm not gonna postpone it! You postpone your visit!"
"I'm not going to, I already told her that I was gonna be here!"
"Well, if she understands why you ditched her, she's a keeper--"
"I am not gonna leave just for some mission that could get us killed!"
"Some mission? This mission here can bring us one step closer to saving the world!"
"You know what? I don't care! I don't care about any of this!"
"How could you not care about any of this!"
"Just get out!"
"No, you're coming with us now."
"You can't tell me what to do! NOW GET OUT!" I slammed my hand hard on the top post of the railing of the stairs; my hand grew tense as claws began growing out of my fingertips as the top of my hand began to develop black fur.
My eyes widened at my hand; I then pressed my tongue against my teeth, feeling that my fangs were there. I felt my heart beat growing loudly. Oh shoot. I then rushed out of my porch and into my house, shutting the door loudly behind me.

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