MasukIt was a long journey from Shadow Ridge forest to wherever it was we were going, so much time passed that I fell asleep and woke up twice before I was eventually told we had arrived at our destination.Peeping out the window, the first thing I noticed was the huge mansion at the end of a highway and the greenery that surrounded it.Not greenery as in spooky forest like Shadow Ridge, or any forest in fact. It was more of a blend of courtyards and gardens, hedges of flowers serving as their partitions.Even beyond the courtyard and gardens, it was an open field with a few trees scattered across the place. My vision stopped at the spot where the land dipped into a cliff, descending to the met ocean surface.Looking back towards the highway, there were a lot of small houses along the road, like apartment complexes, but with trees around them. From the chopper, I noticed a couple of small dots playing around on the road.Children, they were children.Squinting my eyes more, I could faintly
A sudden realisation hit me as I stood there at a loss for words. Charlie had come here to save his sister from danger. Danger she wouldn't be in if I had only made her stay back with Bryan.My eyes fell to the ground, too disappointed in myself to hold his gaze for any longer. Even as his footsteps quickened towards me, I kept my head low, ready to offer an apology."I'm so-"My eyes widened as I felt his arms wrap around me, pulling me into a tight hug. From the feel of his touch to the intoxicating scent coming off him, there was nothing that could have made me doubt the authenticity of the moment.The gun in my hand fell with a muffled thud, my hands coming up around his waist and back. I could feel the thumping of his heart against my chest, the warmth of his breath on my neck, and a few strands of his hair even tickled my nose."Charlie." I whispered, tears streaming down my face.Then someone cleared their throat behind him, and I raised my head with a frown to see who wouldn't
The sound of someone coming down the stairs snapped me back to reality. I stepped aside from the doorway, my back pressed against the wall.My grip on the dagger tightened, my hand raised and ready to strike. Whoever was coming down here was coming in a hurry, and I wasn't eager to find out why.The moment the person stepped through the doorway, I swung into the doorway, only for my blade to slice through the air.Something did land with a thud in front of me, making me jump back in a panic. My eyes quickly came into focus on the object, well, more accurately, the person.He had taken a bullet to the head that sent him stumbling down the staircase, causing his neck to twist be you its limit.I swallowed hard as I took slow steps towards him, muttering encouraging words to myself in an attempt to calm my racing heart.Closer inspection confirmed that he was indeed dead and would most likely, not come back to life. One could never be too careful when it came to the unknown.My eyes drif
I couldn't tell how much time had passed since I began quietly working on the hasp.But in that time, I had relieved myself three times, and the guards had been switched twice. The last switch included a young lady with a chatty attitude.She kept trying to make small talk with the other guards, but eventually turned to me when she realised they were not interested in talking to her."So, how did you and Kaila Preston get together?" She asked."Aren't you a little too chatty for a guard in this line of work?" I rolled my eyes at her.Her fellow guards looked between us with wide eyes, stifling laughs as they turned back to watch the hallways."That's a little sexist, don't you think?" She frowned.I jumped off my bed, taking slow steps towards her until I reached the chain's limit, leaning slightly forward."It had nothing to do with your sex. I know someone who could kick all three of your asses be herself." I scoffed, testing the strain of the chains on the hasp.Almost there, I jus
By the sound of the approaching footsteps, I knew we were caught. They had all our escape routes blocked, cornering us to the lake.It was too cold for either of us to swim through without coming down with something before we reached the other side. And that was if these guys weren't faster swimmers or didn't decide to shoot us dead in the water."Kaila, I'm-""Don't say it." She croaked. "Nothing you could have said or done would have stopped me from coming in here."I felt her hold my empty hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze even though her hand was trembling. She was putting on a brave face so I wouldn't feel too bad for letting her come with me."Thank you." I mumbled. "For always having my back."Something shot out of the fog, tying Kaila and me to eachother by our shoulders, then another went for our legs. The sudden change of posture almost had us falling on Kaila's face, but I threw my weight to the side at the last minute.A calm, eerie applause echoed through the f
"Kaila, listen to me. Whatever you are seeing isn't real. Tezcatlipoca is trying to trick you, don't fall for it." I whispered desperately.It had been three minutes since I had passed my trial and Kaila still hadn't woken up. The only thing that kept me hopeful was the warmth pulsating from her bracelet.I assumed that like mine, the warmer it got, the closer she was to remembering the truth and defeating the illusion.Another problem I was having a hard time solving was the whereabouts of the drone Bryan was supposed to be monitoring us with. It was nowhere to be found when I woke up, and the earbuds weren't working.Hopefully, Bryan hadn't made the dumb decision of coming in after us. He wouldn't stand a chance without a bracelet from the shaman who specifically said Kaila and I were the ones to come in here.But, even if he found Falcon. Would he be able to convince her that he wasn't an enemy?Before my thoughts could trail any further, Kaila gasped for breath, her hands frantica
It was some point in the early hours of the morning. I opened my eyes slowly to the sound of someone sneaking up to us.It was too dark to see the face at the time, but from the frame, I knew it was a lady. She walked so calmly towards us, her hand reaching for something by her waist.My brain spra
"I can't believe you agreed to having me stay over at your place rather than staying over at ours." I scoffed as Theron laid the blankets on the living room floor."You are just being stubborn for no reason. She's lived alone for years before you showed up, what makes you think she can't survive on
I wish Jacob had mentioned how much that drink cost before sending me off to the store. Between it and the lavender I bought, I almost didn't have enough for a taxi to the hospital "Hopefully he's awake." I muttered to myself as I walked the hallway to his Ward.The nurse at the reception greeted
Suddenly, I couldn't feel the cold autumn wind any longer; my hands hung frozen around him. He seemed really worked up all of a sudden making me wonder what happened. I couldn't tell if I should hug him back or push him away, though; a larger part of me wanted the former.Slowly, he peeked up at m







