Chapter 1526 - The Test Of Courage (1)

After the sunset, the test of courage began…

They confirmed the teams, and Sarah and Aiden are pleased that almost everyone registered to participate.

The mansion staff has the evening off so that they don't need to sit in the dark and wait for the game to end. 

There is a total of ten tokens to collect, each is different so there is no way that one can go and collect ten items from one location.

Tejan and Rosa teamed up for this event. The two of them are on the dock and Rosa is illuminating the edges of the dock with a flashlight.

"It should be here…", Tejan mumbled while scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah…", Rosa agreed. "The map is clearly pointing at the dock…" Rosa looked up at the sky and then she lowered her gaze and added: "…or under it."

Tejan paused. The dock is more than a foot above water level, there is a chance that tokens are under it. "Good thinking! Give me the flashlight…"

Tejan laid on his belly with his head over the edge of the dock and peeked under it. Rosa handed him the flashlight and second later, Tejan exclaimed: "There!"

He scooted further, until his chest was over the edge of the dock. He didn't dare go further, because he will lose balance.

He grunted. "I still can't reach…"

The container with the tokens is further than expected.

Rosa exhaled. "Did they expect us to swim?"

Tejan sat on the dock. He can't believe that they came up with a task where swimming is necessary! He would like to avoid getting wet, if possible. It's evening, and it's too cold for swimming.

Tejan saw that Rosa is looking his way, so he started thinking at loud: "This is a test of how crafty we are in accomplishing our goals. The mission is to collect the tokens, and there are no requirements on how to get them. I'm lacking only a few inches to reach… But if I go further down, I will lose my balance…" Tejan got an idea: "The teams are in twos for a reason. Teamwork! Let's try together. You hold my legs for balance."

He got on his belly and scooted until his waist was at the edge of the dock. He held onto the edge with his hands and then he felt Rosa pressing onto his ankles.

"You can sit on my legs; it will be better..."

Rosa sat on his calves and felt a tug when Tejan bent his body under the dock. She swiftly placed her palms over the back of his thighs and pressed down.

Tejan was happy that he reached and got the token. He flicked the token on the dock and paused. "What are you doing?"

Rosa froze. Tejan's thighs are hard and she started feeling him out without thinking much. He does not look very muscular, but now that she got to touch his muscles (over his sweatpants), she got carried away. She didn't go high, it was only legs. Why is he making a big deal out of it?

"Uhm… sorry. I can tell that you are exercising…", she said awkwardly.

Tejan laughed to hide his discomfort. Well, he is happy that she thinks he is buff, but this is the first time that a girl is touching him, so he is not sure how to react.

"That's fine. If you want to touch more, feel free to…", he blurted out and facepalmed internally. What on Earth is he saying? Did he give a green light to Rosa to feel him out? In his seventeen years of existence, he never said anything so embarrassing.

Rosa stared at Tejan, unsure how to respond. It's not that she is not curious, and she would like to touch him, but there is no way that she will admit to it. Or do it. She reminded herself not to do anything so outrageous again. The only good thing in this whole situation is that it's dark and he can't see that her face is on fire.

Tejan scrambled back on his feet, kept the token in the backpack, and cleared his throat. "Let's move on… where is the next destination?"

Rosa fumbled with the map and the flashlight. She stared at the map, unable to focus. Ah, her head is buzzing!

"Uhm… the guest house. Maybe…"

Tejan was relieved to see that Rosa is flustered, probably more than he is. That made him regain his composure. "Maybe? I thought you are good at map reading…"

Rosa saw Tejan come closer to her and she folded the map so that he can't see it.

"The guest house.", she said with more confidence.

Tejan smiled and she could see his white teeth when he asked: "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I found the dock, so you should trust me on this one.", Rosa said while walking away.

"Oh, I trust you…", Tejan said and walked two steps behind her. Somehow, this feeling of making Rosa flustered... he likes it.

…

Imani and Jamari are making their way through the bushes which are on the side of the property which is bordering the park.

Jamari gripped Imani's hand and froze when he heard some panting and rustling sounds.

"What?", Imani asked with a whisper. Based on his behavior, she concluded that he sensed danger.

"Shh… listen…"

Imani perked up her ears and squeezed his hand twice, indicating that she heard it.

Jamari smiled. Imani is holding his hand. Too bad that he can't enjoy this moment fully because there might be something dangerous ahead of them. What if it's a trap? He needs to stay vigilant.

"Why did you do that?", Jamari asked in half-panic when Imani turned off the flashlight.

"It might be a wild animal having a meal. We should not interrupt.", Imani explained.

"What if it's something else?"

"What else can it be?", Imani responded with a question.

Jamari thought that Imani makes sense. It's probably a wild animal. A big park is nearby, and even though it does not have big animals like bears, or deers, that could be a raccoon. In any case, there is no need to disturb the animal.

"We can go in a different direction.", Jamari suggested.

Imani refused. "The tokens are that way. We should not deviate from the map. Let's move slowly…"

Jamari exhaled and followed after Imani. A second later, he remembered that he is the man. How can he allow a girl he likes to go first and potentially get hurt? He tugged Imani to slow down. "Let me go ahead."

Imani smiled. "Are you protecting me?"

"Always.", Jamari said confidently.

Imani and Jamari carefully made their way (Jamari first) between two bushes, and the sounds were increasing.

Jamari froze in the spot. It's dark, but he can see that something is on the ground, only a few steps away from them. Based on the rustling, it's big! Is that a bear? There should not be bears around. They are in the middle of Dallas!

Imani was surprised that Jamari stopped suddenly, and she bumped into him. And then she spotted a big moving thing on the ground as well!

Without thinking, Imani turned on the flashlight and pointed it toward the ground.

"Ahh!", Jamari exclaimed when two zombies looked their way. Their skin is gray, and it has some open wounds, and their hair is messy, and it's horrific!

Imani's eyes were open in shock for a second before she burst into giggles. "Aren't you two supposed to scare us?"

Oni fidgeted awkwardly. Oni and Michael are dressed up as zombies with makeup and wigs and shabby clothes. Their task is to scare kids who come their way, but for a long time no one came, and it was just the two of them in the dark, and they started making out.

"We scared one of you.", Michael said flatly while pointing at Jamari who was patting his chest dramatically.

Imani laughed and nudged Jamari who was sulking.

"With this, one day you can tell your grandchildren that you were on a mission in the forest and you saw zombies making out.", Imani said jokingly.

Jamari gave Imani a side glance.

"Let's go and find tokens.", he said grumpily.

He knows that she is trying to cheer him up, but he just embarrassed himself. Instead of protecting Imani, he ended up screaming like a scaredy-cat. How unmanly. Maybe he is not old enough for dating after all...

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