Dante sat up right next to her looking disoriented and confused. This was the part that Astrid had read about in the book. This was the part she dreaded the most. Much like Dante though, her eyes were still glassy from having to say goodbye to her dad and her best friend.

“What next?” asked Dante.

“The last and most important part of the test,” said Astrid as she got up. “The trial of trust. The cave changes the inside to show us our fears and anxieties and we have to trust each other to get through them.”

The cliff started falling off at that moment. Astrid gulped but closed her eyes and stepped back but the rock loosely fell and she slipped and fell. Dante caught her with hand barely holding onto her.

“Heights, huh?” asked Dante.

“Yes, heights…” said Astrid. “I am afraid of heights. It’s always been there since I was very young.”

“Any reason why?” asked Dante.

“No… I think that is why it is irrational, but my uncle and my aunt died in a plane crash, but I think that might be the reason,” said Astrid. She looked away and then looked him in the eyes which was comforting. “I wanted to tell you but it’s a stupid phobia and I figured it would not matter.”

The cave stopped shaking enough for her to pulled up and she furiously wiped away tears. She was still a little shaken.

“I didn’t know that your phobia of heights was that bad,” said Dante. “You don’t show it.”

“It’s a fear that manifests in life-or-death situations only now, but it was drilled out of me a long time ago,” said Astrid as she took a deep breath. “Sorry, I didn’t tell you… I am kind of embarrassed by my acrophobia.”

“Nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed of,” said Dante. “I guess it is my turn now, right?”

Astrid opened her mouth to speak as snakes appeared to be slithering on the floor. He watched her reaction, and she gave him a reassuring smile.

“It’s actually a pretty common fear, you know,” said Astrid as she gave him a reassuring look. “But I did not know about this one, I mean I suspected but I never told you that I might know.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to tell me on your own time,” said Astrid. “When did it start?”

“When did what start?”

“Your fear,” said Astrid. She raised her hands in surrender. “I won’t judge. I promise. You did not make a big deal out of mine, so I won’t judge yours.”

“A trip to the amazon when I was young,” said Dante as he watched her while keeping an eye on the snakes. “We would go on these trips. My sister, my dad and I to explore. My dad might have been a businessman, but he loved to hike. He can be forgetful, sometimes though.”

“I see where this is going,” said Astrid.

“I got lost in the forest and it took hours for him to find me,” said Dante.

“Ouch.”

“Yeah. You can imagine me fearing snakes after that.”

“How long?” asked Astrid.

“I think it was two days,” said Dante.

Since the fear was normal and mundane, the snakes slithered over the cracks. Astrid lowered the force field and stumbled a little.

“How much power are you using?”

Thunder rumbled over them, and lightning crackled over them and Astrid jumped back a little frightened. She knew this part of the test was all about sharing.

“Yes…” said Astrid, her voice shaky. “I’m scared of storms. Not specifically, thunder or lightning. Just storms in general, well specifically thunderstorms and hurricanes.”

He squeezed her hand and waited patiently to continue. He could see how glassy her eyes were and how hard she was trying not to break into tears.

“You don’t have to act around me,” said Dante. “If you need to cry, then cry.”

“It’s stupid really,” said Astrid. “But my therapist thinks and I agree, that I am scared of the thunder and lightning or at least the thunder because it sounds like gun shots to me.”

She flinched again when the thunder sounded to me.

“The crackle of the lightning now only reminds me of the whip they used on me when I was tortured a year ago,” said Astrid. “What I mean to say is that I used to be scared of storms before only because of loud noises.”

“Now, you associate it with traumatic events that relate to those noises,” said Dante. “I think I understand. Does anyone like sit with you during a storm?”

“My foster brothers used to,” said Astrid.

“Why not now?”

“I don’t need it anymore,” said Astrid. “Since I associate storms now with reading or art, I am no longer that afraid of them anymore. Only when it is storming hard, then only does it resurface.”

“I’m sorry,” said Dante. “I wish I could do something to help you through it.”

“I’m sick of keeping secrets even about the smallest things from you,” said Astrid. She settled on the wet grass and looked over at him. “I trust you, Dante. I trust you with my life and the safety of my family otherwise I would have panicked the moment you found who I was underneath the mask. It’s going to take me time to trust you with my heart, though, after everything that occurred between us.”

“I guess I can except that if it’s what you need,” said Dante. He cleared his throat. “Just tell me what I need to do to earn your trust again in a way that you can trust me with your heart.”

“I don’t know.”

The thunder disappeared and so did the illusions. It turned out that they did not have to go in further through the test because they trusted each other in that way.

There was also, however, a rather evident chasm between them in the days coming everything was simply in the terms of friendship.

“What happened?” asked Caleb.

“Life happened, Caleb,” said Astrid. “Besides, I don’t want to talk about it. We have a lot of preparation to do, anyway.”

“You know… those two ignoring how they feel won’t end well,” said Drew.