Chapter Three: A Fatal Fall

The sun disappeared from California sky, where Amelia was camping with Mark

And in the refreshing woods, as night fell, the two sat around the campfire, far from the rest of the groups, for some privacy.

"are you happy?"

Mark said as he offered her a hot drink, she took it from him, and smiled happily

"So much, I didn't expect the place to be so cool, it was a really good idea."

He smiled at her, lovingly caressing her hair

"I'm happy to hear this, enjoy the time as much as you want, my dear."

He said, as he approached her to kiss her cheeks, he noticed the redness of her cheek, laughed at her appearance, and moved to his tent

"I'm going to sleep now, it's getting late."

She followed him with her eyes until he entered his tent and turned off the lights. She went back again to look at the fire, and she was distracted by it.

She found herself in an altar, the places of neat pillars, and the crumbling foundations of walls becoming clear, her eyes froze and her heart throbbed, as she thought of the place around her.

A stranger among the thrown stones and the demolished temple souvenirs was standing in front of a destroyed statue lying on the ground

kneeling beside him saying

"Where are you, my love , who possessed my heart? Where are you, who stole my mind from me, and made me a mockery among the people of my clan?"

She knew that he was crying from his sobs between his deep words, she felt at that moment that her emotions flowing inside her, her heartbeat was increasing like the waves of the rising sea, she groaned bitterly and cried painfully, and suddenly everything disappeared, for her to open her eyes and tears covered her eyes...

The vision was blurry, so she could not identify the person who was kneeling on her chest. She blinked several times, so that the vision in front of her became clear. It was a masked man she had never seen before.

She tried to scream, but he put his hand over her mouth. She looked around. She was still at the fire, far from the camp. Nevertheless, she tried to call for help.

" Don't try, no one will hear you. "

She moved madly, trying to reach for something to save herself

"Calm down, I won't hurt you, there's no way I can do this, I've waited ten years to meet you, the man with you, he's trying to kill you, don't trust him."

She blinked several times, looking at the masked man above her with shocked eyes

"I know you won't believe me, but it's the real thing. Please be careful. I'm going away now. But don't scream."

She nodded while he slowly backed away, before he stood up while watching him quietly, then adjusted his clothes and left, she remained lying in her place, looking at him in horror

"Oh my God, what happened?"

she whispered before standing up, looking at where the stranger had gone from

"good morning Baby "

Mark said, placing a kiss on her cheeks, to make her scream in horror, Mark looked at her in astonishment

"Honey, what's wrong with you? Are you okay?"

She kept looking at him, thinking about what the stranger had said to her

"Uh..I..I'm fine, I just slept here without feeling, and I think I'm tired."

She said, slicking her hair back, not knowing why she didn't tell Mark about the mystery man. He smiled and approached her, kissing her forehead.

"Oh, I see. The important thing is that I want you to get ready . We will go to explore the mountains after breakfast."

She looked at him, smiling nervously, which made him suspect her, so he approached her and held her hand

"baby are you okey?"

She smiled calmly after controlling herself

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine baby, it's just that I slept here, I'll be ready right now."

she said, kissing his cheek, moving to her tent, under Mark's stalking gaze.

Away from them, that masked person stood, watching her , before he sensed someone standing behind him

"Are you sure of what you doing Tulkas ?"

His eyes remained fixed on Amelia, who had come out of her tent, to prepare herself

"Yes I am sure, I will protect her, because she is the last person I have left."

The other looked at him worriedly, before letting out a deep breath, as he whispered

"Okay, it's okay, just be careful, you know what would happen if they find out that we're here "

His friend finished speaking, and then evaporated into thin air, leaving behind a red dust. Tulkas looked at Amelia, and one thing occupied his mind, how would he carry her with him?

In the meantime, Amelia was preparing her things for the discovery of the mountains, and while she was thinking of the man's words, she took a small knife and put it under her clothes as a precaution.

She thought about what the masked man had said about Mark, but quickly pushed those thoughts away from her, as there was no doubt that he was crazy, or perhaps a sorcerer was trying to manipulate her mind.

Picking up her bag, she approached Mark, who was standing with three of the men, who were carrying hunting rifles

"Why they carry weapons?!"

She asked in astonishment, and Mark opened his hand and hugged her

"For your safety, my love."

He said as he brushed her hair back away from her face

" Ah okay then "

"Good, let's go, I'm sure you'll enjoy this trip more than anything else."

Mark said, as he imprinted a kiss close to her lips, which made her blush, everyone laughed at her, and they began their journey into the forest

Amelia kept following Mark, who helped her walk the rugged paths of the forest, behind the three men

At last, nearing sunset, they reached a high mountain, overlooking a precarious cliff

"Look at this, sweetheart."

Mark said, taking her hand and making her stand on the slope, with him behind her

Amelia looked at the beauty in front of her in amazement

"This is really amazing, my dear."

She said, closing her eyes, looking at the setting sun, while he smiled wryly

"Yeah, it's amazing. It's good that it will be the last sight you'll see before you die."

The smile on her face disappeared, and she turned to look at him in astonishment, perhaps she had heard something else

"What?"

She whispered muddledly, while he laughed vigorously

"As you heard, my dear, did you expect that I would love such a bore as you, all I did was for your family's fortune?"

She shook her head in denial, and her tears came down, it is impossible for Mark to do this, he loved her and she was too, their wedding was in three weeks

“Do you think you will survive, even if you kill me, you will never get my family’s wealth, Joanna will not allow you.”

He laughed again, and moved closer to her face

"My love, you are really naive. Joanna is my partner and wife after your tragic death."

She kept looking at him in shock, so the masked man was not lying, he was right in what he said

"Why, why did you do that?"

He laughed hard, before placing his hand on her cheek, to turn her face away from him in disgust

"Money, honey, money makes you do anything for it."

She looked at him with hatred, and at the moment he was about to push her, she had pulled the small knife from her back pocket and cut his face, to escape under the gunshots of the hunters.

"catch her"

Mark cried, clutching his bleeding face

"You'll pay for it, you bitch."

Amilia ran for her life, but the men who were following her had already reached her. The moment one of them was about to reach out and grab her, the masked man appeared and hit him to fall from the mountain.

"I warned you about him, but you don't listen to me, you never change."

Amelia kept looking at him in astonishment, while he removed the mask from his face, to find herself standing in front of the most handsome person in this universe.

"You still have bad taste in men."

She looked at him in astonishment, as she had never met this man before, he approached her, but a treacherous bullet fired and hit her shoulder, forcing her to fall back, before she slipped from the foot of the mountain and fell

"Amelia nooooo"

The strange man shouted, extending his hand to save her, but he could not reach her

Am I going to die, will it end like this? Am I not going to punish Mark and Joanna for their betrayal, am I going to die like this?

She closed her eyes, screaming inside

*I can never die like this... I don't want to die like this*

At that moment, a powerful light appeared from her chest and surrounded her to make her disappear…

*One chance.. I want one chance. I have to live... I can't let them tell me this is how I have to live.*

Her tears that rose with the wind made her realize that life was not as easy as she expected, but she did not understand this story until she bid farewell to life.