"What exactly do you want from me?"
He did not shy away from speaking out. "Tell me what exactly are you here for?"
"In case you are suffering from short-term memory loss, I have been selected to assist Icarus for the research project."
"You see I believe in coincidences. I ain't that much wary of everything."
Crescent raised a brow, his actions spoke otherwise.
He continued anyway, despite noticing what she meant. "But only in one or two. When it comes to the third coincidence, I straightaway lunge forward to grasp the exact nerve."
Unexpected, even to her, she let a chuckle out. "Go ahead, grasp the exact nerve." Her gaze got a sharp twinkle, "But do enlighten me, what are you so afraid of?"
"Afraid?" He pointed at himself. "Me?" It had been a long time since somebody used that word within a single sentence.
"You think I'm here for a purpose. What do you have that could let me gain that purpose? What is at stake?"
It made him...he would not like to admit, speechless. Rolling his lips inwards, he nodded in silent approval.
He had expected her to be scared, scared out of her wits and then begging him to spare her life before finally confessing everything to him.
But..she was smart.
"Does it even matter? If I were to throw you right here and right now, it wouldn't matter anymore." He stated, tilting his neck, waiting for her respond to this.
Crescent did not break eye contact; she looked straight into them and let the words out. "You can do that."
The man squinted his eyes.
She continued, "Let me meet Icarus first though."
A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. "Why do you want to meet him?" Now he was more interested.
"He is a historian. Perhaps I know something that could be of huge importance to him."
"Is that so?"
"Let me meet him first. After that, you could kill me right here if you want." Crescent poured every ounce of her self-control while hanging still over the water.
She knew she was playing with fire. But again, wasn't this the case since the moment she stepped on this land?
In the blink of an eye, she was pulled up on her feet. Promptly she got away from the edge of the stream.
She wouldn't admit but she was scared that it was going to get over for her right here.
"Two weeks, you got two weeks before he is to come."
Crescent nodded. "I know."
One thing was for sure, in these two weeks or even after that, there was no way Crescent would stay anywhere close to him.
"I can wait till then."Crescent shook off the little dust her arms got. "But can you?" She asked him, challenging.
"Oh, don't you worry. I have gotten new thing to be waiting for."
As they moved towards the car, Crescent realised the need to form a back up plan.
At this point, she was completely dependant upon Icarus. He could not be trusted even. If his men were like this, he couldn't be any different.
-
"You are back?" Misty peeked through her phone and instantly sat up. She looked as if she had been impatiently waiting for her to be back.
Crescent was tired. "How are you feeling now?" Mist looked much better than she did in the morning.
Crescent walked over and checked her forehead for the fever. "It seems better." She muttered to herself as she placed the other palm on her own forehead to compare the temperature.
"I am absolutely fine. How was your day?"
"It was just fine." Crescent put over the bag on her desk and removed the sandals. "I got selected as the assistant researcher in the project."
"Congratulations! I had figured it out since you did not come back by the time you usually do."
"Thank you." However, at that moment all that went through her mind was the flash of the moment she was hanging over the surface of water.
"Anyways, have you eaten? Do you want me to cook noodles for you?" Misty offered as she could already see how tired Crescent looked. She was the sick one but at this point, it looked as if Crescent was the patient.
"Please do." Crescent had never eaten instant noodles before. Even at the Walter house, she was given nutritious meals for the recovery.
Hence a few days back when Misty cooked it, she was delighted with the taste. She loved it.
Crescent freshened up and when she returned, noodles were already served in two big bowls. "Here. They are ready! Come fast!" Misty called her over.
"What did you today?" Crescent casually asked after a few minutes.
The soup that Misty was about to drink stopped midway. A pause of two seconds, and she said, "Well, that-." She put back the spoon in the bowl and straightened.
Her eyes suddenly glowed with a new found determination. "I did some research."
"Uh?" Crescent looked confused.
"Just a second." Misty got up and fetched her laptop from the bed. Her fingers roamed on the screen before she came to sit where she sat earlier. "What happened yesterday didn't leave my mind even for a second."
The way her tone moulded, it was almost as if Misty was giving her an introduction before getting to the real deal. "I am pretty sure what I saw was real. And something in me tells that it was nothing sort of paranormal event."
Misty was serious. It was the most serious Crescent had seen her all this time. "Hence I did a lot of research."
"On what?" One of her brows arched up.
"About the accidents that have occured here."
Crescent blinked. "About that-" She did not know about before but about yesterday, she was pretty much sure that what she had assumed was correct.
"Listen to me first." Misty interrupted as she showed her the screen of her laptop. She opened the first out of many sites she had been visiting all day.
"In all the past years, since the first recorded death in the forest, no body was recovered. Ever."