“I won’t let you get
away!” Liam yelled. The three of them had entered another forest,
different from the one in the Casts.
Ciara stopped
running. She knew this sound: the bees, the hawks, the owls. She had been here
before. Ciara closed her eyes and let the memories dissolved in her mind.
If I
remember correctly, there was once a beehive located at the largest oak tree
near the edge of the forest, Ciara opened her eyes. Thin outlines of trees sketched her
vision. Ciara whisked her head. Beside the bees, I remember that there were
rabbits in here.
Ciara beamed. She
wasn’t the only Metric survivor left. Ciara had forgotten that Metric and the
Casts were close neighbors.
They were entering
the path to Thinnest River. Ciara’s heart gave a little spark. This was her
favorite spot when she was a kid. That was why the place was familiar to her.
Now that her vision
had cleared a little, Ciara could see the faint outline of the trees and the
landmark: An intersection between a large
boulder and a cave. A memory flashed inside her mind.
Then suddenly,
Liam’s footsteps vanished.
“Liam!” Chase
shouted, “Liam!”
They stopped. Ciara surveyed the area and as
she explores, she could almost feel the dirt turning into gravel underneath her
feet. This is the thin trail that leads to Metric. Ciara thought.
"What a show
off." Chase said angrily, "That jerk, he just disappeared right
through that boulder, leaving us here like idiots!”
“Chase, I think I
know where to find Liam,” Ciara muttered, “See this thin dirt path?” Ciara
pointed her finger on the ground, “If you follow this path, I’m positive that
Liam is heading down to Thinnest River. Following Thinnest River is not very
hard to do. The boulder is just a display to make people confuse, but if you go
straight ahead behind the boulder, you will see a cave that directly leads you
to the river.”
“Wow,” Chase said,
“You seemed to know everything about Metric.”
“That’s because I
always fish in Thinnest River,” Ciara clasped Chase’s hand and hauled him to
where the wind was blowing. The sketchy outline was now looming above her. That
must be the boulder, Ciara guessed.
Carefully, she touched
the stony skin of the rock. Rough, with
two slashes in front, Ciara thought, this
is definitely it. Ciara went first. She slipped through the narrow gap, and
noticed that her vision darkened. Chase followed.
“Whoa! It’s so dark
in here,” Chase exclaimed.
"Come on, we
need to hurry," Ciara held Chase’s hand. The two of them dashed forward
through the darkness.
“Aha!” Liam’s voice echoed the sunken walls.
Ciara fastened her pace as she could hear noises outside the cave.
“Argh!” a girl
cried. Liam must have caught the
intruder, Ciara guessed.
Closer…closer…
Light flooded her
vision.
“Finally! We found
you, idiot,” Chase panted as a blast of icy blew against them, “Geez, don’t
scare as like that.”
“I can take care of
myself, you know.” Liam said. Ciara let go of Chase’s hand and caught a glimpse
of a sketchy outline swaying in the air. What is that? Looks like a
catapult…no…Ciara narrowed her eyes.
A girl…struggling from something…Ciara closed her eyes and
listened. Ropes…tight ropes…and trees rustling. The girl must be hanging
upside down the tree, with a rope tied at the end of her foot.
“Who is tha—” Chase
began, and abruptly stopped, “Liam, you cheater! You stole my special binding
ropes and used it without my permission!”
“Hey, don’t get mad,
you know,” Liam said. “I thought it might be handy since you’re the one who
made it.”
“Don’t try to talk
it over, Liam. I've put all my hard work into that rope so I can add it to my
collection, not to destroy it!” Chase said angrily.
“But at least your
rope had been usefu—”
“S-Spare…me! P-Please spare me, or
else I will scream!” The girl interrupted them.
“Give me a break.
I’m not going to kill you, you know,” Liam sighed, “You’re the one who have
been eavesdropping on us, so don’t pretend that you don’t know anything.”
“I don’t know anything!” the girl
shrieked, “What do you want with me! I don’t have any money, so please take my
food instead, and spare my life!”
“Liam, don’t
threaten the poor girl,” Chase said sharply, and Ciara heard him taking a step
forward. “Please calm down. We’re not going to hurt you…”
“Liar! Liar!” The
girl thrashed.
Ciara stepped into
the daylight. “He’s right. We’re not going to hurt you.”
The girl stopped
screaming.
Why did
she stay quiet? Ciara
thought. Did I do something wrong?
“Well, thank god.”
Liam said finally, “I thought you will never shut up.”
“Y-Y-You…” The girl
gasped.
“What’s wrong?”
Chase asked.
“C-Ciara…I-Is that you!?” the girl
gasped.
Flustered, Ciara glanced up at the girl. “How do you know
my name?”
“C-Ciara! It’s me,
Eliza!”
Eliza…who
is Eliza…? Ciara
tried to recollect her memories. Since she was imprisoned for three years, she
could not recall any other names aside from her sister, or Metric. Was this
girl her acquaintance? Why did she know her?
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anyone
named Eliza.” Ciara sincerely apologized.
“Forget about her,
she’s just trying to trick you, Ciara.” Liam spat.
“Ciara! I’m your best friend from first
grade!” Eliza yelled “I’m the one who delivers the sack of bread to your mother
at Tuesdays. I’m the one who defends you from those bullies. Don’t you remember
me?”
“Eliza…I’m sorry, but I don’t remember you,”
Ciara shook her head.
“No! You can’t be
serious!” Eliza protested.
“There’s no point trying
to convince Ciara to remember you,” Liam said, “Now be a good girl and tell us
what you know, or we’ll take you hostage.”
“Ugh! Fine.” Eliza
groaned.
Liam sighed. In one
swipe, the ropes had been cut as Chase carried Eliza in his arms.
And then something happened.
“Ack!” Chase
groaned, crashing on the ground. Ciara whirled around, trying to locate Eliza
when the girl appeared behind her, and kicked Liam out of the way. Liam
hit the ground with a harsh thud.
“Ciara,
please try to remember!” Eliza desperately took her hand, “I’m a Metric
survivor, just like you! Please…I don’t want you to forget our friendship…I
don’t want you to become—”
Something snapped
inside Ciara’s mind. A freckled
girl with soft blond hair shouting at the boys. Eliza was her name. Ciara used
to make a promise to her about being strong. She used to hear Eliza being
pampered by the teachers at school because her parents were rich. After school,
Eliza used to play with Ciara. She was sure Eliza was an important person to
her. A friend.
“You’re that
Eliza…the accountant’s daughter.” Ciara finally recalled, “You defended me from
those boys at class, and then you said that if I needed any help, I’ll just
call you.”
“Yes!” Eliza hugged
her. “I can’t believe you’re still alive. I thought we were the only ones left
after Metric has been destroyed. I thought my best friend was killed with the
rest of the villagers. But here you are, alive and…” Eliza paused, “blind…”
Ciara nodded and bit
her lip. Eliza shook her shoulders. “What happened!? How did you get blind, and
who are these boys?”
From behind, she
could hear the Crude Brothers rising from the ground.
“That hurt, you
know.” Liam grumbled, “You seriously need to stop calling us boys. It’s lame.
Instead, call us handsome boys.”
Eliza chortled.
Chase
cleared his throat, “My name is Chase Crude, and this is my older brother,
Liam. Please ignore his rascal attitude.”
“Crude brothers. Never heard of you two.” Eliza quickly
dismissed the topic, and proceeded back to Ciara. “Ciara, did they hurt you?
Are they with the Rein guards—?”
Ciara shook her head. “No, they saved me…from Sore
Tower.”
“Sore Tower,” Eliza’s voice died down. “No way…”
“How did you get
blind? What happened to your eyes?” Eliza asked urgently.
Ciara lowered her head. “The Rein guards tortured me and
made me disabled.” When she said it, Eliza broke down into sobs and hugged
Ciara again.
“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…” Eliza cried very loudly. Ciara
patted a hand on her back.
“Don’t be. I’m used to being a blind.”
“Uh, girls. I’m afraid we have to move on. Night time is
coming in.” Liam broke their reunion.
Eliza let go of Ciara, “How do I know that I can trust
them? You’re not with the Epicenter, right? I heard that Metric survivors
betrayed their own people and joined the Epicenter so they can be spared...”
“Do we look like Rein guards to you, little girl!?” Liam
protested, “Seriously, why do you keep thinking that we belonged to the Rein
army anyway. We look nothing like those mindless robo—”
“Excuse my brother,” Chase said, “Unfortunately we
belonged to the anti-government called, Vixens…”
Then Eliza became quiet. Ciara asked, “What’s wrong?”
After a few seconds, Ciara was answered by Eliza’s
scream. “How could you!” Ciara blinked, and Eliza backed away, “You traitor! I
should have known from the start that you were like them. Metric traitors!” she
continued, “Why did you join them, Ciara. WHY!”
“Hey, calm down,
will you?” Liam said hastily and then Eliza gave him an ear-piercing scream.
”Ouch!” Ciara guessed that Eliza stomped his foot. Liam shouted, “Get back here
woman! I’m not done with you yet.”
But unfortunately Eliza’s footsteps disappeared and only
the leaves of the bushes were heard. She must have headed to the other path…Ciara
thought.
“Eliza!” Ciara yelled and was going to run after her a
hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her. Ciara turned around, “Liam let me go!”
“No can do, Ciara,” Liam said sharply. “I don’t want you
to get lost in the middle of the night.”
“Liam, let go of me!” Ciara snapped.
‘Listen to me. If you follow that girl, you’ll get killed
in those woods, you hear me!?” Liam shouted.
“What are you talking about!?” Ciara was yelling, anger
rising in her tone. Eliza was her best friend and Ciara knew that Eliza
wouldn’t hurt her. Ciara was a Metric survivor so why would Eliza kill her?
“Eliza would never do that…”
“You can’t trust anyone, Ciara, not even your comrades or
your fellow friends. Remember that,” Liam said his voice serious and dangerous.
“Liam, Ciara.” Chase began, but Ciara had already stomped
Liam’s foot from where Eliza hit him, and dashed toward the bushes. Behind her,
she could hear Liam cursing and moved forward, smashing into the bushes,
scratching her arms and legs.
Ciara closed her eyes and concentrated her hearing
senses. Eliza’s footsteps is still far away…Ciara calculated, just
follow the sound of the cicadas, Ciara.
Suddenly Ciara tripped and fell face-first on the ground.
Pain jolted her body. Instead of getting up, she lay on the ground, repeating
the conversation she had with Eliza a while ago.
You traitor! You’re just like them. The
Metric traitors! Eliza’s voice echoed in her mind.
Why did Eliza say that? Ciara thought. Why did she think that I betrayed her when Liam said
that we belonged to the Vixens?
She rolled on her side and stared up, though she couldn’t
see any faint outline because it was night time. The Metric survivor
betrayed us and joined the Rein army so they could be spared…
So Ciara wasn’t the only one who survived the destruction
of Metric.
z
“What are we going to do about her, Chase?”
“Let her rest for a while. Ciara has enough of problems
for one day.”
“Do you think that girl remembered me?”
“You mean Eliza? Maybe, after all, you killed her
family…right?”
“I didn’t mean it….you know…I just don’t know why I can’t
become a normal person like you guys…”
“Liam….”
“Shh! She’s waking up.”
Ciara rolled to her side, prying her eyes open. Dirt
smudged the side of her cheek and she felt someone’s hand brushing her bangs
out of her eyes. Ciara blinked back uncomfortably against the light.
Something really changed her vision. The moment she
opened her eyes, she was supposed to see only pitch black. But now, she saw
light.
What happened to me? Ciara thought. Did she sleep through the night?
Ciara rubbed her eyes and blinked again. The light was
still there and there were two blurry figures in front of her.
What is that? Looks like a face…Ciara narrowed her eyes. A boy’s face…and…
Ciara gave a loud yelped, swinging her fist until she
felt something cracked on her knuckles.
“Ouch!” Liam groaned and Ciara saw his blurry figure
crashing on the ground. “What did you do that for!?”
“I-I’m sorry,” Ciara gasped. Up close, she could see
Liam’s outline on the ground, though Ciara couldn’t see the details on his
face. She blinked back again and rubbed her eyes. How did my vision get
better? Ciara thought.
“You could have at least said something before you
punched me,” Liam grunted and Ciara saw him getting up on the ground.
How could I tell him that I saw his face in
front of my face? Ciara asked herself, I’m blind, right?
“Ciara didn’t do
it on purpose, you know,” Chase said to Liam and Ciara felt the coldness of the
Swirl touching her skin. Chase
must be giving me the Swirl, Ciara thought. “Everyone gets scared
when someone gets in front of them, right?”
“Actually, little brother. Ciara is blind so how can she
know that I’m in front of her face?” Liam said, stretching his arms and legs on
the ground. Ciara grabbed the Swirl and pulled the cover open.
“Maybe,” Chase said, “But Ciara has precise gut instincts,
remember?”
“Ah, I forgot,” Liam said, uninterested and Ciara watched
him as his outline gathered something on the ground. Metal…some knives
and…glass clattering…the toolkit, Ciara thought.
“Where is Eliza?”
Ciara looked up, testing her vision if she could see the landscape.
Unfortunately, Ciara could only see figures, not the background so she had to
rely on her senses more. I can hear birds chirping and leaves rustling. There’s
a fog surrounding us, Ciara analyzed. I’m still in the same
pathway to Thinnest River.
If Ciara could recall perfectly, she tripped last night
when she was trying to chase Eliza. What could have happened to her dear best
friend?
“We don’t know. We didn’t have the chance to follow her
because we couldn’t leave you behind,” Chase answered her question.
“So we camped here in the night and waited until you wake
up,” Liam said, “But seriously, you shouldn’t have punched me in the stomach.
I’m still recovering from my surgery you know.”
“And since you woke up, we’re planning to continue our
mission to Thinnest River,” Chase said.
Thinnest River. The
thought saddened her. During her summer vacation, she spent her time waiting
for the fish to bite. When she realized that her methods didn’t work, Ciara had
spent her days going to different markets buying fertilizers. After Leverie had
been given a scholarship and Ciara had caught the fish, her dreams were
shattered right in front of her.
“Here, eat this plum,” Liam said and Ciara felt the
Violet Plum on her hand, “Chase, keep an eye on Ciara while I’ll survey the
place first.” After that Ciara heard Liam’s noisy footsteps disappearing to her
right side. Where is he going? Ciara thought.
When Liam was really gone, Ciara placed the Violet Plum
on the ground and said, “Chase, are Vixens that terrifying?”
Chase put down the plum and said. “I don’t know...”
“A while ago…” Ciara’s voice trailed off, “I heard you
two talking about Eliza…” she felt Chase flinched beside her, and continued,
“You said that Liam killed Eliza’s parents…and if so, why hasn’t there been a
conflict of reaction between Eliza and Liam?” she continued, “If Liam knew that
he killed her parents, why isn’t he terrified just like he was when he killed
that deer? The same goes for Eliza. If she remembered that Liam killed her
parents, why isn’t she scared of Liam? Instead, Eliza just reacted when you
told her that we came from the Vixens.”
Chase sighed, “Wow…I didn’t know that you would be able
to figure this out…since you know half of Liam’s information, I guess it’s okay
to share this with you.” Chase continued, “During our first years in Sputter
Palace, Liam still has problems with his…power.” Chase said, “I think it was
our first mission to Metric. Jonas ordered us to retrieve a special rock that
lies at the west side of Metric.”
The West side of Metric is near to the woods,
where Eliza’s house is, Ciara recalled. “It was an unfortunate
disaster. When we arrived at the tallest house on the West side, we encountered
grumpy married couple.” Chase continued, “I tried to talk it out, but
unfortunately the angry couple had gathered some expensive jars and threw it at
us. As I got hit in the head, Liam got mad and…” Chase paused, “…killed them…”
“Liam was a
different person back then,” Chase said, “Try to understand him, and you'll
know the reason why he’s like that. As for now, Liam became a better person,
because of you.” Ciara blushed and Chase continued, “After that incident, we
immediately took the scroll and left the village. Unfortunately, we thought we
were safe from that, but we didn’t know that these couple had a daughter. Eliza
must have thought the Vixens killed her parents, since we were dressed in
wolf’s fur at that time. Somebody must have seen us…”
“I see…” Ciara
didn’t want to listen further to Eliza’s tragedy. Ciara understood why Liam was
different because of his strange attitude, but she didn’t know the reason why
strange things kept happening around her.
The forest grew
silent. Chase and Liam were still hiding something from her. What is Liam’s
power? She’d been with the Crude Brothers for more than two months, and yet
they’ve been keeping her in the dark. Shell must have known Liam’s secret.
Ciara thought. But what about me?
Don’t
trust anyone, especially your friends and fellow members. Liam’s voice echoed her mind.
Ciara finally
realized the truth. The Crude Brothers didn’t trust her.
z
When Liam came back,
the three of them had lunch together at the forest. Since there wasn't any lake
nearby, Ciara had no choice, but to only eat Violet Plums. After that, they
started to head down the narrow slope with Liam taking the lead, and Chase
holding Ciara’s hand to support his balance on the slope.
45
minutes to reach Thinnest River, Ciara analyzed. She could smell the sea water and felt dry
sand touching her feet. The slope is getting slippery…and the ground is
getting muddy.
Luckily, Liam and
Chase managed not to slip from the slope, and safely reached the ground by
holding each other’s hands for support. The sand is thicker…so this is
definitely Thinnest River, Ciara thought. From what Ciara could remember Thinnest
River had the most beautiful sunset and sceneries in Metric.
“Whoa!” Liam gasped,
“Are we really in the right place?”
“Yeah,” Chase said,
and released Ciara’s hand, “but I never thought that Thinnest River would look
like a beach than a river.”
It is good to be
home, Ciara thought.
Strong wind blew
across them. Ciara closed her eyes, taking everything in.
Don’t
give up. I know you can catch that fish and make us proud. Her sister’s voice still echoed in
her mind.
If that tragedy
didn’t happen, what would Ciara’s life be now? Ciara imagined her nine-year old
self showing everyone the giant golden fish in her hands. Her parents would cry
and hug her. Her sister wouldn’t have to leave her for her scholarship.
Everyone would praise her. She would be famous. The boys in her class wouldn’t
call her Seara again. She and her family wouldn’t have to face hardship
in Metric.
But unfortunately,
that didn’t happen because of the prophecy.
“It really feels
good to be home,” a tear slipped down Ciara’s eye. She turned around and sensed
the Crude Brothers surveying the area.
“Okay, I’ve got a
plan,” Liam said, and Ciara saw his figure coming toward her direction. “Ciara,
I need to ask you a few questions before we continue, will that be alright?”
Ciara carefully
nodded, unsure of Liam’s change of attitude.
“You said that you
always fish in Thinnest River. What do you do when you get back to Metric?”
Liam asked in a serious tone.
“There’s a bridge
located at the east side of the beach, not too far from here,” Ciara said,
“It’s the shortest route to reach Metric.”
“I see…” Liam
sighed, “Unfortunately, it seems like the bridge was destroyed when Metric was
exterminated. Are there any routes besides the bridge?”
Ciara shook her head
and she heard Liam cursed.
“Fine. We need to
think of an alternate route to get to Metric,” Liam said, “I know! A boat…but
where can we find one—”
“Ciara!”
Ciara whirled
around, and saw a small outline coming toward her direction. A girl…Ciara
thought. She immediately noticed the light weight footings and the whisking of
hair. It can’t be....Eliza…The figure stopped a short distance in front
of her, panting.
Ciara said, “Eliza?”
And why does Eliza sounded happy?
Ciara’s heart throbbed. She had a bad feeling about Eliza, even though Eliza
was a Metric survivor.
“I’m so glad I found
you,” Eliza said, slightly pleased, “Sorry for running off like that. I was
just…surprised, that’s all.”
You traitor! Eliza's
voice echoed in Ciara's mind.
“What do you want?”
Ciara asked, her voice in a serious tone, “And why did you follow us here.”
“Well, I came here
to bring you back home, Ciara,” Eliza said, “since the bridge was destroyed,
there was no other way, but to take the boat ride.”
Ciara raised an
eyebrow and opened her mouth, but Liam cut her, “Hold on, little girl. Why
should we trust you, when you were eavesdropping at our conversation
yesterday?”
“I told you,” Eliza
said grumpily, “I wasn’t eavesdropping on you, and I don’t know what you’re
talking about,” she turned to Ciara, “Ciara, please believe me. I’m your best
friend, right?”
Ciara bit her lip, “Where is the boat?”
Ciara sensed Eliza
beaming and felt Eliza gripping her wrist, dragging her forward, “The boat is
there, just a few meters near the bridge.”
And then another
hand was on Ciara’s right wrist, stopping her. Liam.
“Hey, hey. Don’t
take Ciara without my permission, you know,” Liam said in a serious tone, “I’m
her team leader, so don’t tell her what to do, you sneaky little girl.”
“So
you’re the one,” Eliza paused, and Ciara sensed Liam flinched, “You’re the one
who killed my parents!”
Eliza’s grip was no
longer on Ciara’s wrist, and the next thing Ciara heard was the metallic sound
of blade, and the shuffling movements of body retreating back. Ciara blurrily
saw two figures moving in front of her. Eliza is holding a sharp object…a
knife, Ciara thought, And Liam is holding his sickle. Liam must have
blocked Eliza’s attack.
“Eliza, don’t!”
Chase shouted. Ciara whisked her head and saw Chase’s blurry figure running
toward her direction. Where had he been all this time?
I should have known that Eliza was hiding something, Ciara thought. She's here not to take me home, but to kill
Liam.
“I was right,” Eliza
ignored Chase’s voice, her gaze on Liam, “You’re the Vixen that killed my
parents. You’re the one that I have been looking for all this time.” Liam
stayed quiet, and Eliza continued, “Why did you kill them?”
Then someone stood
in between Eliza and Liam. Chase, Ciara thought. She could hear Chase
panting, throwing his arms on his side.
”Eliza, Liam didn’t
do it on purpose,” Chase breathed heavily.
“How do you know I
was the one who did it?” Liam said in a harsh tone, ignoring his brother’s
pleads, “Do you have any proof?”
“Yes, I have,” Eliza
snarled, “I heard you guys talking about Metric survivors back at Snake Hill.
And last night, I heard Ciara and your brother talking about my parents.”
“Chase,” Liam
gritted his teeth. So now he was angry at his brother, “I told you do—”
“You are a monster!”
Eliza screamed at Liam, “You’re a murderer and a selfish monster! My parents
were just trying to protect themselves, but you killed them! You killed them!”
she screamed, and Ciara heard the squeezing sound of Eliza’s hard grip on her
knife, “Do you know how it feels to be alone in this world!? Do you know the
painful feeling when someone just told you that your parents were dead? Just
like that. Dead!”
“I know,” Liam
muttered, and Ciara sensed Eliza froze, “but you know nothing about pain,
unlike me, my brother and Ciara. Your parents are just dead, so what? Compared
to you, I’ve seen pain and hell myself. Your pain is just a fraction.”
“Shut up! Heartless
demon!” Eliza roared.
“Eliza, no—”
Everything happened
so fast. Eliza's blurry figure moved swiftly in an arc, and the figure in the
middle was nearly falling to the ground. Ciara’s heart sank. Chase's voice is ragged...followed by the
deep breathings and a sudden yelp. Ciara analyzed. There were only three
blurry figures in front of her. The one on the left side was Eliza, because of
the short figure, the one on the ground was Chase, and the one standing frozen
was Liam. Ciara heard the sound of wood blocks and a loud thump on the
ground. Eliza destroyed Chase’s wooden leg.
“Chase!” Ciara exclaimed.
That was when the
noise began. Ciara heard the whish and the ching of blades
singing in the air. When Ciara looked up, she saw two figures moving so swiftly
as if they were punching and kicking at the same time. What is going on?
Ciara darted
forward, but the moment she got closer to Chase, something hit her face, and
she was tossed on the ground. Pain exploded her face. Ciara carefully got up,
squeezing the swollen part on her forehead and relied on her hearing senses. There’s
a loud thump on the sand...90 degrees beside me, Ciara analyzed, it’s
Liam. And then there’s another swishing sound moving toward Chase’s
location...it has light weightings...Eliza.
“Chase, look out!”
Ciara yelled.
There was another thud
and the swish of sand. Ciara couldn’t sense what was going on, because
everything was moving so fast. Staggering up, Ciara made a run toward Chase—and
immediately stopped when she smelled fresh blood, her stomach churning in
disgust. Chase is injured, or worse,
dying.
“Chase!” Liam
roared.
No. Ciara froze.
”Too late now,”
Eliza said, chuckling. Ciara focused her energy on her hearing senses. The
blood is still fresh….Chase’s groans….and the slight sounds of plop dripping on
the ground. Chase is still alive...
Now back to Ciara's
eyes. Eliza’s figure was standing in front of a fallen figure, holding a shiny
object on her hand. A knife. Eliza stabbed Chase.
“Chase!” Liam roared.
Ciara was panicking.
She didn’t know what to do. Chase was stabbed, and Eliza was going to raise her
knife again.
I need
to think fast. Think, Ciara. Think, Ciara thought. In 3 seconds, she will stab
Chase again….Ciara analyzed. Eliza transferred the pressure on
the grip on her knife...so if she successfully stabs Chase, he will be dead on
the spot.
Without thinking,
Ciara burst into action. She slide her feet on the sand an—
In timing, Ciara
gripped the blade of the knife, stopping the tip from reaching her face. Pain
jolted from her fingers. Gritting her teeth, Ciara transferred her pressure
point on her grip, so the knife wouldn't touch her skin.
“Please Eliza. Don’t
kill Chase.” Ciara pleaded.
But Eliza didn’t
listen. In one pull, Ciara nearly screamed, when she felt the blade slicing her
fingers. The blade had come out free from her hand and Ciara dropped her knees
on the floor, clutching her bleeding right hand. Ciara clenched her teeth. It hurts...so much pain...Ciara thought.
I need a Swirl...
“This is goodbye,
Ciara.” Ciara looked up and saw Eliza’s blurry figure lifting the knife upward.
I won’t be able to make it, Ciara thought. She couldn’t concentrate
because of the deep pain on her fingers. I’m going to get killed by my
fellow villager…my best friend.
Eliza yelled. Ciara
closed her eyes and braced for the pain—
But it never came.
Instead, Ciara heard
a thud on the sand, and blood scenting across the air.
Ciara opened her
eyes. Everything had become quiet, except for someone’s deep panting. Liam. There
was a blurry figure in front of her, and it wasn’t moving. Too much
blood…can’t concentrate, Ciara said in her mind. Silence painfully struck
them. Why happened? Why was everything quiet...? What happened to Eliza? I'm
still alive, aren't I?
Ciara crawled forward
and slowly reached her hand to touch the body on the ground. Ciara’s heart
pounded louder in her chest. Adrenaline rushing through her bones. Ciara
flinched and stared at the figure in front of her.
The body belonged to
Eliza. And she was dead.
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