Scene 3

Only a few minutes have passed. It was strange. Where Abel was from he would often hear planes or helicopters fly over him. Right now all he hears is the forest and some critters here and there. Of course he had no way of knowing exactly what critters he'd encounter, would he ever move towards the sound.
The forest had seen little travel from humans. Even a professional wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Abel had a hunch that the forest was alive and covering up the tracks of past human explorations. He looked behind him to confirm; nothing to do so.
He continued still. Staying in one place would make him an easy target. There were creatures he could encounter and live to tell the tale. Then there were those he wish to never have to face.
The progress stopped. Abel was face to face with a big problem. He stood in front of a large flower field. Immediately upon seeing it his skin started to itch like there was something crawling under it. It was pure survival instinct.
A butterfly landed on his exposed arm. A drop of blood fell from his arm onto the ground and the butterfly flew away.
Panic
Abel roared curses left and right. His heart is beating so fast it might look like he was having a heart attack. His skin itched like he never felt before. His breathing turned ragged. There were movements in his inner elbow. It needed to be removed!
The knife he had been carrying for self defense now was his medicinal tool to save his life. He bit on the leather of his backpack and placed the dagger on his bicep.
His breathing turned extreme as he was digging for the courage to cut it through. He could see the movement getting closer to his torso.
His head turned light from oxygen deprivation. His eyes started to burn from the intensity at which he stared at his soon to be sacrificed arm.
The movement became more aggressive. His left arm felt completely alien to him now.
And thus he bit the leather strap hard and screamed to muster up that courage to do that which he must.
But the knife never moved. He couldn't move it.
Or you could say he wasn't able to make the knife move.
Abel looked up to see a dark skinned man. He had dark green eyes and was just a bit shorter than Abel - who had previously been breathing so rapidly that he was out of breath to ask any question.
"You were about to make a huge mistake." The man spoke with a heavy accent. "Take a closer look."
Abel turned to the flower field. He then saw the beautiful flowers from before changed into gloomy lilies.
"Grave Markers is what they were called." It wasn't Abel who spoke of the name. "A flower whose scent creates hallucinations in one's mind. I've lost a few friends to those."
There was a sense of shame. Abel knew of the flowers, but he wasn't able to avoid them. He was so focused on his sight and hearing that he forgot smell.
The man let go of the dagger to help Abel up onto his feet. He checked him up and down and saw that Abel was drenched in sweat.
"What were you hallucinating about?"
Was he going to tell him the truth? It would expose him as someone with knowledge, but not related to Veilige Haven.
"Jade, can I come out now?"
There was a second voice. This one was feminine. Abel was able to follow it to a girl whose skin was tanned by the kiss of frequent sunlight.
"It's safe now. The pheromones are gone."
The man's declaration, who Able assumed was Jade, made the girl join with them.
"This is Junia, she's an Eve. I'm Jade, a Predator. So who and what are you?"
Abel was confused. His mother never mentioned any of these terms.
"I'm Abel... also a Predator."
Jade looked at the knife in Abel's hand. "That would explain the skill and readiness to use that knife of yours to amputate your arm."
Abel nodded and just went with the flow. "What's an Eve?" The question flew out of his mouth before he could withhold himself. This made Jade look confused at him.
There was a moment of silence. Junia was ready to answer, but Jade cut her off.
"I think you've never come in contact with one. That's understandable." He started. Then he proceeded to undo some of Junia's clothes. Able saw many scars, as well as a red band running around her neck. "Essentially she's an immortal. From the passages we've found she bears the responsibility to, quote: suffer for sin."
"Those born in the aftermath of the first wrong will bear the duty to suffer to redeem the sin."
Up until now all of his mother's stories were true. She never mentioned immortality. There's no way this girl is immortal. That would put her in the realm of magical.
It's no use to dwell on these thoughts.
"But why are you here? I don't remember you joining on our expedition."
"I'm from a different team." Abel had to bluff some. "We were looking for a way... down." Excellent job.
Jade scratched his chin. "So that team is doing an expedition here now? That could complicate things."
Hearing those words made Abel tense up so badly as to try to keep his sigh of relieve in. And there wasn't really a reason to. Jade and Junia knowing about Abel wouldn't hurt his cause. One would say that this was a natural reaction to years of feeling isolated. With the exception of David and his family of course.
"You should stick close to me. I'm on the hunting team for that creature." Jade told him like he should know which creature he was talking about.
He looked to Junia who was just following Jade through his story. Her mild and unimpressive attitude sort of reminded him of himself. She was wearing a tunic. Thanks to the efforts of Jade her collarbone was fully visible. It made something stir in his mind, something inappropriate.
"Are you two coming?" Jade asked loudly to both Abel and Junia, who were now lagging a few steps behind.