Chapter 192 - Muddy Pit And Mark

"Did you find it?" Simon asked as he tried to look down the slope where Mark had just disappeared to retrieve Leo's phone that the latter somehow succeeded in throwing away.

"I can't see it yet!" Mark shouted back in reply. His voice sounded even farther than before as he was probably walking lower down the slope in his search.

"Is it even possible to find that phone? Who knows how far down it has landed? We are just wasting time and risking his safety." Crist murmured as he glared at Leo who immediately moved to hide behind Rylan.

Emily sighed as she returned her attention towards the direction where Mark had disappeared. The only good thing about the situation was that the slope wasn't steep, otherwise, it would have been really dangerous for Mark to go down in without any safety equipment.

"Let's call him back. Leo can always buy a new phone. This is seriously too dangerous." She said as she kept searching for any trace of Mark.

"She's right. Let's not waste any more time here." Daniel approved her idea immediately and turned to look at Domenic who also nodded his head in response.

As soon as she saw Nick agreeing with them, she turned in the direction where Mark had gone and shouted, "Mark, let's not search for the phone anymore. Come back!" 

They all waited patiently for a few seconds but got no response from him.

"Is he ignoring me? Why don't you try calling him?" She asked Simon who nodded his head and then shouted the same words as her, telling Mark to return. But once again there was no reply. 

"What's wrong?" Leo asked as he looked down the cliff to see his brother.

"Does something happened to him? He would have replied otherwise." Daniel also looked a little bit disturbed by the current situation.

"I'll go and check." Kaiden suddenly spoke as he moved forward towards the edge of the cliff but then suddenly stopped.

Emily followed the direction in which he was staring and found Mark appearing from behind large bushes. He was covered in mud from head to toe. 

"What the heck?" Rylan muttered as he stared at the mud-covered Mark whom Simon and Crist were pulling up.

As soon as he was back to safety, Mark threw the lost phone at Leo who immediately grabbed it. The phone was also covered in mud and the awful look on Leo's face as he stared at his phone was too comical.

"What happened to you?" Domenic asked as he passed a water bottle to Mark so that he could at least wash his face and hands.

Mark was silent as he hurriedly washed his face and hands before using Daniel's sweater to wipe away the water. "I slipped and landed in a muddy pit." He finally answered the question with a shiver as if recalling the experience was too terrifying.

"As long as you are safe. Let's head back now. I think this much adventure is enough today." Kaiden suggested and almost everyone agreed.

Since they had nearly completed the entire track, Emily was not too disappointed about returning to the campsite.

--

After everyone had taken a quick shower, they had a late lunch in the sunny afternoon. They all joked about certain things and even though Mark, Crist, and even Simon did not speak with Emily, the atmosphere stayed light and happy.

Emily somehow succeeded in making her brothers agree to play some random word games and then they even played a few board games.

By the time she finally allowed them to take a rest, it was already past six o'clock in the evening. The sun was already at the horizon, creating a beautiful and mesmerizing view.

"I'm going to prepare for the barbecue. Anyone and everyone are welcome to help me." Daniel told them with a quick wink before he walked away to collect the ingredients from the vans. 

Domenic, Simon, and Crist moved to help Daniel while Mark disappeared inside his tent to finally take a small break. 

Rylan and Leo moved to decorate the area with lights and Kaiden was the only one left by her side at the end. 

"Angel, when was the last time you used your powers after leaving the Nightfall Academy?" He asked as soon as everyone moved away.

Emily was confused by his question but she still replied, "Shadow doesn't allow me to use my powers unless it's an emergency and he's not by my side. I haven't used any of my powers since I left the academy but I used teleportation on the day when I came back to the city."

She watched as his shoulders relaxed a little. His beautiful cerulean eyes were filled with an unreadable expression but she could tell that he was worried about something - something that was related to her.

"Is something wrong?" She asked when he did not speak for a few moments, making her worry.

A sigh escaped Kaiden's mouth as he noticed the worried look on her face. He could not stop in time as his hands reached out to grab her smaller hands as he replied, "It's just an intuition but I don't want to take any risk. Let's not worry about it. Both Shadow and I are here. I'm sure we will be able to handle even if something happened. Just make sure to not use your powers, especially here in the middle of the wilderness." 

Emily nodded her head and squeezed his hand to ease him down a little bit. As much as her heart warmed after knowing that he was worried about her, she also felt bad for making him worry about her when he was supposed to enjoy his free time.

Shadow worrying about her all the time was already hard enough for her to take in. She did not want anyone else to start doing the same. 

"Stop pestering my sister. Come here and help us!" Leo's loud shout immediately made Emily pull away her hand from Kaiden's grasp as she tried to control her giggle while watching him trying his best not to glare at her brother.