Chapter 2

As she walked to the others, Ash was kneeling in front of his wife carefully cleaning a small scratch on her forehead. She would be lying if she said she was not envious of that love and care. Problem was that she only wanted it from one person, Jin. She turned her head and saw him walking towards them with Amy next to him. At this point it was starting to be clear to her that she could no longer tolerate seeing the two of them after seeing them for the past two days at the hotel. The feeling of frustration in her heart was quite painful, so painful she didn't know for how long she was going to hold on.

Her eyes landed on the middle aged pilot leaning on the tree an studied him suspiciously and then she scoffed seeing how suspicious he was. She skilfully threw one of her daggers and it pierced the tree he was leaning on at the top of his head and he screamed in fear. Jin and Amy rushed to the scene and Tinashe was throwing another dagger at the man and this time almost everyone gasped fearfully. The dagger landed next to the first one.

The man looked at her as if he was looking at a monster. "What are you doing?" his voice shook and his eyes were widened.

Tinashe only smirked coldly and made way to him. She had only taken two steps when Jin suddenly pushed her to the ground mercilessly and glared at her as if she was a monster. "What are you doing?" he demanded but seeing her pained expression he looked away resisting the urge to help her up.

Tinashe's lips trembled into a sad smile, "Could you stop being biased against me? I'm not that bad you know." she picked herself from the ground dusted what had become her favourite dress after it was chosen by Jin when his family asked him to go shopping with her. It was a long brown chiffon dress that she had made fun of when her friend chose it because it was not age appropriate. Now it was the most beautiful dress to her because it was Jin who had bought it for her.

The young woman knelt next to the pilot pulling the two daggers off the tree and placed her hand gently on his shoulder. A sweet smile lifted her lips and the man seemed stunned and he swallowed. Tinashe didn't even notice that when Jin pushed her, the dress tore on her chest and now part of her bra was showing. She nodded, "Tell me, old man, Why did you do it?" her voice was soft but to the man it was also scary.

Jin studied her and still didn't understand what was happening with her. All he could see was that she seemed to be bullying the old man. He hated how Tinashe seemed to be putting all the blame of the plane crash on the old man when she was also a pilot. He took a few steps forward, "Tinashe, will you stop being violent?" his voice held a warning.

Tinashe didn't stop or even move. She even placed her dagger on the middle aged man's throat and smiled. Seeing everything the man felt frustrated. This was exactly the reason he disliked that woman. She didn't know how to be reasonable and pretended to be gentle and understanding.

Tinashe was staring at the man as if she wanted to dig holes in his flesh with her eyes. The man avoided eye contact guiltily and he stammered, "Wh-what are you talking about?"

She narrowed her eyes without moving her eyes from him. "Mind you, if I were to push the dagger into your flesh and turn it around, do you think I might be able to pick the lock and open up your mind so that it'll be easier for you to know what I mean?"

The man's eyes widened in fear. Ash and Jin looked at each other in surprise. Jin had just taken a step forward to stop Tinashe when he heard the man ask, "B-but how did you know that I did something to the plane?"

Tinashe smirked in amusement seeing the terror and confusion in his eyes, "I was your co-pilot, plus I've been playing with these toys ever since I was a baby." She pulled her dagger back, roughly pulled the fake beard and the mask of an old man revealing a young handsome face. He looked half Chinese and half white.

When they saw his real face, the others gasped in surprise, "How do you like the makeover, Gavriel?" asked Tinashe sarcastically.

The now young man looked away as if he could not handle the spot he was put in and his eyes reddened. "Have you ever lost everything?" he let out a self derisive laughter and blinked away the tears shining in his eyes, "Do you understand the phrase 'Wrong turn' at all?" he asked then chuckled seeing a trace of fear in Tinashe's eyes.

"Stop messing around. My dagger doesn't know any jokes." She rolled her eyes and dropped to sit next to him. "Spill it, if it's not sob story enough then you can imagine what I'll do to you."

The man looked at her contemplatively then said, "My girlfriend cheated on me with my closest cousin." He said, "I met her on a trip he had organised and I wasn't even invited but I kind of forcefully tagged along. I met her and we started dating. It's been a few months but a week ago I found her in bed with my cousin." His eyes turned bloodshot. "She always refused to sleep with me but it was so easy for her to be with my cousin. I just didn't want to live anymore."

"So you decided to perish with all of us even though we are so eager to live?" she sighed not knowing how to comfort him or at least not make him feel worse, "The world is so bright. No one is worthy leaving this beautiful world for, you know."

"You have never given your all to a person that's why you say that. I had given everything to her, my heart, my soul. She was my everything but just one morning it was all taken away from me." He shook his head, "I'm not so strong. I'm a coward, ok? Do you know how it feels to not trust your own heart?" he closed his eyes adding, "Some journeys just aren't for you. I wasn't even meant to be on that trip that I met her. I wish I never met her then I wouldn't be going through so much."

Tinashe felt like she could relate. Even she wasn't supposed to be part of this journey and here she was now she was in a plane crush, that was the first strike and then she almost could not get out of that plane. If there was a third strike then would she be inspired to just stop being stubborn? Her heart skipped. She felt like she had been seen through. Her eyes stopped at the eighteen karat blue diamond ring on her finger. It was the only sparkly thing she liked because it had been given to her by the only person she liked.

He had said to her, "This is the Han family's heirloom. It's precious and you're the only one who will ever get it but that's the only thing you'll ever get from me."

He had kept his word. It was the only thing she had ever gotten from him, never his love nor care. He had received a precious translucent white diamond in return and he had turned it into an earring and kept it on his ear. It was not a show of his love or respect for her but as a promise that he had to keep to her parents because the only thing he had for her was disgust.

Even knowing all that she still could not let him go even though she knew Gavriel was right. She turned to look at the man she had kept in her heart and he had his arm around Amy who was shaking in fear. Tears shone in her eyes but she looked away biting her lower lip hard and blinked away the tears threatening in her eyes. She just wanted to hold on to him so that maybe one day she would also get such love and care from him.

A hopeful smile lifted her lips as she got up, picked her daggers and walked away from the group. Gavriel was sitting there with his eyes closed. No one even asked where she was going nor even cared. Ash was leaning on the tree with Kylie in his arms.

It was almost evening and in another two hours they would have already been at the lodge. Jin turned his eyes at Amy and he took off his suit jacket then covered the woman's shoulders. That was the sight Tinashe saw when she returned and her heart tightened. Since she was already used to seeing his gentleness and care for Amy, she knew how to deal with it but now was different. She had faced death today and it was very difficult to tolerate but she still smiled as always.

The herbs she had in her hand almost fell but she got a grip on herself. "Gav?" she called and everyone turned to look at her. She had a bright smile plastered on her face as if all that was happening had nothing to do with her. She ran a few steps and soon she was kneeling in front of Gavriel. With his hands in his pockets, Jin watched Tinashe preparing the herbs and put it on the wound on the other man's neck. He had a complicated expression that no one could tell whether it was the disgust Tinashe was used to.

*

Jin and Ash gathered wood and made fire. After Tinashe was done applying the herbs she opened a bottle of water and offered it to Gavriel. The man took it and drank up. Nana dropped to sit next to him and looked at a distance. Her long brown dress covered her legs and the long sleeves were torn but still covered her arms. She pulled her bag she had saved from the blast and opened it. She had packed a pair of jean shorts and a tank top. There was also a baseball cap but nothing too fancy. Every thing else was just a few bottles of soda and water plus her favourite tinned fish, only three tins.

Ash pulled his wife up and led her to the fire, "Keep warm otherwise you might catch a cold."

Kylie smiled, "We would have been in a pool at the resort by now. How I was looking forward to this trip, gosh!" she chuckled, "What bad luck."

When she finished speaking Jin's eyes rested on Tinashe and she acted as if she was not seeing his accusing look. "I guess next time we need people who are emotionally stable to fly the plane." No one knew if he was talking about Tinashe or just Gavriel.

"So what should we eat? I'm so hungry and it's already dark to look for fruits." Said Amy, "I wish we would have thought of saving some food before the plane exploded."

Tinashe threw two tins their way and the four looked at her. "Two people can share a tin." She said then opened the tin she intended to share with Jin and walked to him and offers him the first pick. The man just looked at her then picked one tin and opened it then offered Amy showing his intention of not sharing with her.

Tinashe's face heated with embarrassment and she covered it with a nonchalant look before returning to Gavriel's side. "Have some."

Gavriel chuckled, "You are so stupid. How can you intend to share with someone else's boyfriend? Did you think he would leave his girlfriend to share with me?"

Tinashe felt even more embarrassed. She had become the third wheel when she was supposed to be the wife. "Shut up. Just eat quietly." She picked a big piece and threw it into her mouth without bothering with the bones, "Mm, tinned fish is still the best food ever." She chewed it happily.

"You should remove the bones first otherwise it will hurt your stomach."

Kylie smiled, "It's true, Tinashe, believe me. The other time I was admitted into the hospital for swallowing a fish bone."

"Really? That only proves that my stomach is reliable to my appetite. When I smell fish I just can't stop myself from eating." As she spoke she picked another big piece and Gavriel slapped her hand lightly and the fish broke and was about to fall when he bit it from her hand. "What are you doing? That was my piece."

"You're taking all the big pieces." He complained

"So what? I like big pieces."

Gavriel flashed a fake smile, "Me too." Seeing her annoyed expression he laughed, "This is the price you pay for making me want to live."

Tinashe just rolled her eyes and picked another piece. "I'm such a good person to be lecturing you and here you are trying to collect on non-existent debts."

"You should never be too nice." Ash teased. "People will take advantage of you."

"I don't understand why nice people always have bad fashion sense." Gavriel smirked, "That dress was on fashion week but not age appropriate. You look like a grandma in it. When I first saw your face up close I was shocked that you look this young and this beautiful."

Kylie couldn't help laughing, "Didn't you say it was a gift from someone?"

"Gift? That person hates you to death." Said Gavriel.

Tinashe felt like thorns and needles were being pierced into her flesh and she didn't even have much to say in her defence. Jin just smirked seeing her looking his way from time to time.

She smiled, "Yea, wait till that hatred turns into love, Gavriel." She said finishing the last two pieces in the tin. "I'll take your last piece as your saviour."

The man scoffed but let her have it, "My saviour? What did you save me from? As far as I remember I pulled myself out of that plane."

The young woman shrugged carelessly saying, "I saved you from myself. Look, I could have killed you in anger for trying to kill me and those two beautiful couples but then I held myself back."

"Are you an only child?" Gavriel asked curiously and Tinashe nodded, "It shows. If you didn't have such bad fashion sense I could adopt you as my sister but how can I? You are too laughable." He scoffed looking at her from top to bottom.

"Plus her bra is showing, you seem a little too distracted by it." Said Jin in a sour tone even he didn't recognise. "It would be incest if you ended up doing anything with her." He sighed, "Seducing each other in front of so many people. Your bra isn't even that pretty."

Tinashe lowered her head and saw that her bra had been revealed for a long time and no one bothered to tell her. She hurriedly covered her chest and laid down. "I'm going to sleep." She closed her eyes but in the dark her face twitched trying to stop herself from crying. It had always been like this with these people. All five people never told her that she was embarrassing herself with a dress that was torn as if waiting to humiliate her.

Why was she even holding on to the hope that was never there. She could be happier if she just stopped expecting anything from anyone but how could she just stop loving him?

*****

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