《Ari》 Chapter 1 Life wasn''t always like this, it was peaceful and free going. People can go out day or night without fear of getting killed, robbed, kidnapped or turned into something they don''t have control over. But everything changed when a huge rock from the sky fell on the capital or should I say the former capital. The impact spread wide, wiping everything in sight to the very atom. It altered the very nature of the geography it is situated, intoxicating everything with or without life. The slightest contact with them will contaminate and condemn you, crushing your will and extending its tendrils into you altering your mind. It''ll make you an extension of whatever is in that rock. Chaos spread fast, economies collapsed, millions died, it was a dark age for us nearly driving us to extinction. We tried to bond together and fought back. It failed massively and cost a lot of lives. Everyone fled and hid counting their days, paranoid, going back to their primitive roots, the survival of the fittest. The weak dare not walk alone and even the strong bond together in fear of what the others might do so they keep each other closer, they act like comrades but they wait for the perfect opportunity to pounce on each other and being closer makes it easy for each of them to keep tabs on one another. The failure of the last commission led to everyone going each way and form independent communities. ¡° Ouch.¡± I felt a sharp pain on my head, it felt like metal. I turned my head to the direction of the source, a tall dark skin girl on her hand is a metal bar. ¡° Why did you¡ª ouch.¡± Another smack that wasn''t painful as the first but it still hurts. ¡° We have been waiting for you for the past ten minutes, and what are you doing? Daydreaming again let me guess. Ari became a fearsome leader who does nothing but eat and sleep., Or Ari¡ª¡± ¡° Oh shut up Nie. I wasn''t daydreaming this time, I don''t even daydream.¡± She tried to argue back. But I shut her up by putting a finger on her lips, And use the other finger to point at the cabinets quarters below us. ¡° Shaun''s back.¡± Her eyes widened when those words hit her ears. ¡° Then what are you doing here? We have to hurry and tell the others before they proceed without us.¡± She''s panicking, emotions mixed with fear and anxiety, She''s very easy to read, to me at least. ¡° Shh calm down.¡± I placed my hands on her shoulders then squeezed it. ¡°Something''s wrong, He came in with bandages and he''s the only one that came back.¡± Ten men went for parole with Shaun leading them but he''s the only one that came back. ¡° Just know, he won''t be bothering us anytime soon, so chill out. And even if I ran to the others to stop them it won''t change anything. Shaun''s a down to detail man, just by looking at the field he''ll know something amiss. All we can just pray for is him being quarantined and that takes four months which will be enough to cover up our tracks.¡± I removed my hands from her shoulders which are now plump down. Why is she acting so sad? She should be praising me now. ¡° Hey stop acting so sad, it''s annoying, and you ought to be praising me for how I figured everything out.¡± Nie eyes focused on me, her dark iris piercing my skin making them itch. ¡°You''re very stupid if you think Shaun isn''t coming down to the field.¡± Nie sprint down, having no other way to stop her. I followed her. She was walking fast, I envy her for those long legs most of the time I feel she''s just showing off when she does that. We dug deep into Petar, one of the most prominent communities since the fall-off, you could say we''re one of the big four communities brimming with power, resources. We always have a say when it comes to decision making. But lately we''ve been left behind ¡ª maybe something is¡­. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡° You could have just said something, Ari, even that little time would have helped us.¡± Nie is angry. I don''t know why, Shaun will be too busy to think about the field. Everyone has been busy preparing for a siege and possibly displacement, the infection is spreading fast to our direction bring with it the baggage it carries. ¡° Nie, you overreact too much that''s why I didn''t want to tell you. Shaun is not going to kill us when he find out, killing a bunch of kids over shrooms is crazy. Like what''s the worst he could possibly do¡ª¡± Nie stopped in her tracks and turned swiftly to my direction, our height difference clear as day. She was staring down at me, her face really close. I could feel the heat in her heavy breathing. ¡° You don''t know him as I do!¡± ¡° Yes I don''t, but stop acting like you''re the only one in trouble if he finds out.¡± Why do you always try to carry everyone''s baggage. ¡° I know what he will do and it''s ¡ª the worst thing you possibly think of.¡± you keep on saying that. How deep does their relationship go? I raised my head to look at her, heads above me which I wasn''t doing before. ¡°You can go and save your head, I don''t care! Arguing with me ain''t changing shit. You''re just wasting time you don''t have.¡± I turned my back on her without waiting for her reaction. The whole place seems quiet like we were the only people present. I didn''t hear her footsteps, she was just standing there waiting for me to turn back to her direction but I just kept on going the other way. I felt this pull towards her direction but I ignored it. Sigh it''s going to be a pain in the ass to patch up things with her. The scenery above Petar slowing changing, light spitting out darkness. The heat getting swallowed up by cold air from the east, I couldn''t focus. I just kept on wasting money eating and getting wrecked. I use food as a source of distraction but my thoughts kept on drifting back to Nie. ¡° What did you do this time?¡± The main chief at the pub noticed me, oh man he''s going to rough my hair. He always does that, I closed my eyes and brace myself in anticipation. Nothing happened. I opened my eyes and saw him sitting across the table, a passive expression on his face. I realized he was waiting for my answer. ¡° what did I do ¡ª to who?¡± He doesn''t joke around when it comes to Nie, I don''t know whether it''s love or admiration but he seems so committed to the course. ¡° You know who, I saw her going down to the field, I''ve never seen her made such a face like that before so what did you do?¡± ¡° How does that imply that I did something? And she was just angry, nothing else.¡± ¡° She wasn''t angry¡± ¡° Then what¡ª¡± ¡° Just go see her.¡± I went down the direction of the field, my mind seemed clear I wasn''t thinking of anything. SORRY I SHOULD HAVE LISTEN TO YOU. I kept on practicing my apology to her in my head. I wonder what face she would make or will she walk away from me. But I didn''t want to dwell on the outcome, I just wanted to apologize. The field came to view, the shrooms weren''t even Shaun''s, he just laid claim over it and used us to maintain and distribute it through Nie. We did get a few cuts from the profits, but lately nothing has been coming our way. He doesn''t talk to us. He never did, I don''t know the type of person he is, but Nie''s interpretation of him is just¡­¡­ I won''t take her interpretation seriously because she tends to exaggerate things.He went on parole and did come back for five months, which was weird because the maximum stay on a parole is a week before you run out of resources, so we assumed he was died and took over his business for him, well that didn''t go well. The crops were dying, I guess Shaun did something to them in case we try to do something greedy. I stopped on my tracks with Shaun a few feets away from me with his back facing me, so massive I felt so small and intimidated by it. Something caught my eyes. It vibrates and stains the ground crimson, there''s no mistaking that it''s blood. Everyone was sitting on the floor. They were shocked like they just saw something they shouldn''t have. Jacab, Saimth, Tera, Remi and Tesse all wear fierce expressions of shock. But where''s Nie?. Chapter 2 It''s windy, the alarms are ringing, chaos everywhere, things we couldn''t comprehend spiraling out the ground and above. The field is not even qualified to bear that name anymore because it''s a skeleton of its previous self, the ground gave way to an ominous force from below sending everything tumbling. The wind carried screams from the deepest part of Petar, terror and agony. Shaun and others are no where to be found, I don''t even know what happened everything went blank after I saw that blood. Nie I can''t find her, what did Shaun do to her? Is that why she was so afraid of him? Why didn''t she tell me, she obviously told me but I was too stupid to listen. I need to find her, she is right here somewhere with this debris, the air was thick and hard to take in. I was alone, just surrounded by screams and terror. I dug my fingers deep inside the muddy debris trying to dig, she''s somewhere here I just have to look harder. It was hard. I haven''t experienced labor of this level, it made me panting hard. I don''t care what if she''s finding it hard to breathe down there. ¡° What are you doing?¡± A voice, it was soft and ringed in my ears, I turned to look at the source. It was Tesse she was covered in mud, her expression was different from earlier, it was plain like she was oblivious to her surroundings. I rushed to her direction. ¡° Oh my god, Tesse you''re okay!.¡± I hugged her, she was so light, too light. Her eyes were vacant. ¡° What are you doing?¡± She repeated, her voice was slow, she wasn''t breathing, her chest felt hollow. She broke out of the hug, eyes placed on me but the sight elsewhere. ¡° Where are the others?¡± Her neck looked wobbly, I have never seen a neck twist that way before, it kept on falling with her chin hitting her chest, necks are not supposed to move that way. That can only be possible without bones. ¡°Argggghhhhhhh!¡± Tesse screamed, her voice hoarse. I went closer to trying to calm her down. ¡°Tesse please stop, you''re scaring me, we have to look for the others.¡± She stopped instantly, like a car which lost power. Her jaw resting on her chest, it''s not possible for a neck to bend that way, I creeped closer to her, trying to touch her neck bracing myself for whatever may come next. It felt mushy, I can''t feel the bones there were none, just filled with fluids. This is not Tesse, whatever this is, it''s not human, but wearing her skin. I tried backing away from it slowly since it''s in off-mode, but I was breathing heavily, it was so loud, you could hear it five feets away. What if it turns me to whatever Tesse is? Did that happen to the rest ? To Nie? ¡°Brrrggggghh'''' A weird sound started buzzing from her lips. I tried to bolt away but the thing that used to be Tesse grabbed me, and drew me closer to its face. ¡° I said what are youuuuuuuu doingggggg?!¡± I looked away from it, but it grabbed my jaw forcing me closer to it, wrinkled and worn out face, the skin trying hard to stick to the bones. With every movement a small piece of the skin peels from the face. ¡°Look at me!¡± Its voice came with power crushing any sense of agency I had. I stared at it, grotesque features, its eyes were empty and dark, dark smoke came out of it. Staring at those void eye sockets drew me in. Felt like I was falling into an empty space. I waited patiently for it to give me orders, my body itching to hear its voice. I was breathing heavily taking every thing it emits. ¡°What are you doing?¡± That same question again, I answered it honestly. ¡°I thought she was here, so I looked for her within the debris.¡± Our bodies were closer now merging together, my body felt jelly, no bones just fluids. Was I supposed to be fighting back? The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡° For who? ¡± It answered back, my vision blurred, my eyelids getting heavy. I couldn''t breathe, but the thought of this being the end never came to me. I don''t why. Maybe it''s because I couldn''t fight back or¡­¡­. ¡° Ni¡­ Nie.¡± I used the last energy I could muster to reply, I waited for it to consume me, that''s the only thing on my mind. The only thing it wanted me to think, but something''s still ringing in the back of my mind. I couldn''t remember it. Suddenly I felt a heavy weight leave my body, my back on the floor, the sky my view. The thing that used to be Tesse standing in front of me with its hand stretched to the edge of the field, I looked at its face, I saw Tesse for real this time. Her face was back to normal, eyes filled with tears, I followed the hand with my eyes and saw trails of blood. ¡° Find ¡ªher.¡± That was the last thing she said to me before she dissolved into water. Tesse was gone just like that. Did she fight back or¡­¡­ I tried move to find Nie, but another familiar person was right in front of me. Jacab was standing next to me, stopping me in my tracks. He seems ravaged, clothes shattered, his clothes painted red from the blood coming out of his stomach. ¡° Where are you going? ¡± He looks normal, which made me feel at ease because I don''t want to experience whatever that was earlier. ¡° Nie, she''s right there. Tesse told me before she¡ª¡± I couldn''t complete the sentence because I don''t know how to explain it. ¡°We have to go,it''s not safe. You''ll die if go there Ari.¡± He took my hand, dragging me to the opposite direction. His hand was warm or I could say hot. ¡°I have to look for her, she might be alive." His expression broke into anger, Jacab is a reserved person,I''ve never seen him angry before. ¡°We are running out of time, you don''t know what Shaun did to Nie!, And whatever caused this chaos landed in front of us. You don''t know how it felt like, given Nie circumstances she won''t have survived that, So let''s save ourselves by getting out of here. That''s probably what Nie would want for us.¡± He started walking with his back turned to me, I''ve never seen what the brain looked like, never been told of the color. I thought it was solid. Apart from the big opened hole at the back of his head, there was something leaking out of it, pinkish in color with a little mix of red. Within five seconds it went empty. The inside of the skull I didn''t know how hollow it was with the brain gone. But there was Jacab walking away from me with an empty skull. I didn''t try to stop him, he wanted to get out of here, being left here is something your body will be reluctant to even if your soul left it. I head to opposite direction towards Nie, I''m coming for you. Please just be safe. The carnage has already covered the whole of Petar. I don''t know how I''ll be able to leave here. But I just want to find her. A loud sound hit my ears reverberating with my skull and it made me lose my balance. I tried to look for the source, but it was right in front of me. An armored truck without the roof, people staring down at me I couldn''t see their faces because my scenery was spinning. One of them jumped down from the truck to me and carried me inside the vehicle through the back. I screamed ¡°Wait!, I need to look for her, Nie! She''s right there.¡± One of them came forward to me. He looked familiar, but I couldn''t remember his name because my brain is processing a lot right now. ¡°Give up on her she''s probably dead.¡± I protested. ¡° But Tesse told me she''s alive and Jacab said¡ª¡± The person steady my head making me look at him clearly this time. ¡°What are you talking about? You have been talking to yourself this all time. We were watching you.¡° Huh? Chapter 3 Distanced voices muttering around me, my vision blurry. ¡° Yeah might be a concussion¡± A voice said, the other voice agreed with it, I can''t couldn''t keep my balance because of how fast we were moving. Leaving everything behind, Petar, Nie and¡­.. ¡° How are you sure it''s not infected?¡± A voice further from the rest said, drawing the attention of everyone. I can''t see him because of my blurry sight. The closest person to me replied to them. ¡° If the infection was here even if it was the slightest we might have seen the manifestation of it right now.¡± The rest muttered complaints but didn''t protest, while giving some distance between me and them. I wanted to fight back and stop them so I could go look for Nie. But I couldn''t move my body. Maybe I did have a concussion. I didn''t pay attention to my body the whole time, without knowing what state I was in I fell asleep. I don''t know how many hours I was out, but it''s already evening. I was sleeping in a bag next to the vehicle. My head hurts, everyone was gathered around a big tree. Me waking up caught their attention, I tried to move closer to them and someone screeched, gesturing me back. They were giving me this hostile look. What did I do? I sat there for hours before the person who seemed to be the head of the gang came to view. He was someone I knew, someone that Nie knew very well¡­. ¡° Oh Ari, you''re awake.¡± He was smiling only to bring some ease to me because of the hostility everyone brought. ¡°Emia¡­¡± I moved closer to him, but he brought his hand to halt me. ¡° You might want to stay there for now.¡± ¡° What''s wrong?¡± He smiled, a tired one. ¡°Just turn around and see for yourself.¡± I did as he instructed, my reflection on the window. My veins stretching from my eyes to my cheekbones were green, it was so vibrant. My iris had a tilt of green too, I don''t understand what''s happening, returning my attention to Emia. ¡° Looks like you got infected Ari.¡± He looks sad, Emia had been a good friend and companion to our group help us when we got caught when distributing shrooms. And provided us with Intel, with free routes and consumers he didn''t even take a cut from the profits. Maybe it was because he knew Shaun that''s why he was helping us. But he seems closer to Nie another of her relationship I don''t get. ¡° Emia If I was actually infected I won''t be having this conversation with you right now.¡± He smiled again sadly. I don''t know if he hates this or he''s trying to make me feel that way, either way he wasn''t happy. ¡° I know, but it seems like yours is spreading slowly, that''s the conclusion we''ve drawn out.¡± I don''t feel strange, just a slight headache other than that I feel ok. ¡° What if you''re wrong.¡± I said moving closer to him, one of them snapped. ¡° Hey!, You dumb bitch stay back, do you think we were just gathering around this tree because it was fun? Do you know how dangerous it is?. We could''ve killed you when you fell asleep just thank you stars because of him.¡± They were angry, and paranoid. It''s dangerous here, staying here is like suicide. ¡° What he said is sadly right Ari,¡± Emia said in a sympathetic voice. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. ¡° So what are you going to do?, Kill me now?¡± ¡° That was the plan if it wasn''t for Emia.¡± A voice from the back said. The rest muttered in agreement. ¡° So what are you going to do now? Emia¡± I said while looking him in the eyes, trying so hard to conceal my emotions. But I can''t tell how my face looks right now. ¡° Christ sake Ari, what were you doing in that field?¡± He said as his facial expression broke into a sympathetic one while running his hand through his hair. ¡° I went to look for Nie, she was in the field with someone you know, Shaun, he might have done something to her. I still need to look for her.¡± I don''t know what may come after this but¡ª ¡°Nie might be dead, but Ari¡ª we don''t have time so I''ll just cut the chase, by the law you''re supposed to be dead right now. But I''m letting you go.¡± He said while taking his gaze away from me. Oh that''s how it is. ¡° What do you mean let me go?¡± I said with my stare burning into his skin which made him uncomfortable. ¡° Ari ¡ª¡± Those words stuck in his throat, he forced them in. ¡°Why is it so hard for you to say it? You don''t want to kill me right?, but leaving me right literally means I''m fucking dead!¡± One of the men behind him stepped and cockedhis gun facing me. ¡° If you don''t want to do it, I''ll help you do it. Just look the other way.¡± Emia grabbed the man''s collar. ¡° What are you doing?¡± The man freed himself for Emia''s grip, venom in his eyes and his tongue wet with curses. ¡° We don''t have time for your lovers quarrel, people are dying every minute. And this place will become a dead zone before sunset.¡± He went back to the truck and the others followed him. ¡°If you are so indecisive towards this, we are going to leave you behind.¡± Emia, who seems to be antagonizing something, was unbothered with the buzzing sounds the truck made, which at any moment is about to zoom out of here. I grabbed his hand swiftly which snapped him back to his senses. ¡° Go, I''ll find Nie myself.¡± He nod, and head back without saying anything. I don''t know if he genuinely cared about me or it was just for Nie. The sound of the monster engine slowly fades leaving a trail of displaced dust and black smoke. The sky above Petar turned greenish blue, it''s already a dead zone and soon this place will slowly change. I have to move, I''m cold, no sense of direction. I have never left Petar before, everything here feels alien to me. I guess I''ll just head towards the place that doesn''t have green gas. Nie might be dead, something my very being rejects. My eyes ache, whatever is taking shelter there is digging its roots deep inside me I can feel it, everything. The green tendrils and roots deep inside Petar, the gas in the air, it''s like they''re a part of me and I''m a part of them. The sky was beautiful with its sun slowly sinking into it, then I realized it''s already sunset. What have I been doing all this time?. The ground rumbled, things with heavy weight behind their feet, I could feel them in my bones and they could sense me. It was useless to run, I await my undoing in a court filled with ominous objects which were empty shell of the logic set by humans. The judge staring at me with his head ten feet above the ground. Chapter 4 The grotesque creature whose head was ten feet above the ground stared at me, no eyes, mouth, and ears. Greenish granite skin, I could feel the hostility from it. Everything, the soil on its hard skin, the gas it emits. Microorganisms feeding on its skin, and I''m sure it could feel the same about me too. It moved forward towards me, each step it took made the ground vibrate. The pressure was too much for me and I stumbled and fell, its massive foot went above me and it continued walking to the unblemished part of the forest, every step it took changed the very nature of the surroundings. I don''t know why it left me, maybe because I''m somehow similar to them. Whatever it is, I''m grateful it left me. The bushes rattled, and things I couldn''t comprehend came out. They looked like wolves or maybe dogs but they were massive and deformed. One of them pounced on me, its paws pressing my body with its overwhelming strength, my eyes were about to bulge out, I could taste blood in my mouth. It was foolish of me to think I could deceive them. The only thing I could feel from the beast on top me was death, it''s like an extension of the chaos that ravage this place. It felt surprisingly calm to accept death, than to find out the truth of what happened to her¡­ Nei her hair, brown eyes, her smell, the gap between her fore teeth, her smile. I remembered everything instantly, oh my life is flashing before my eyes. It felt like I could see her above me with an enormous bright light behind her, the light swallowing her flooding my vision. I woke up sweating, my entire body aches, and my throat is sore. I tried to get hold of my surroundings, it was dark with little lights poking out of walls which looks like dry branches and leaves. I was covered with a large leaf which emits a foul smell, trying to free myself from it. I got distracted by a silhouette which appeared in front of me. The silhouette was deformed, human-like in structure but it''s limbs are extended with one bigger than the other. I tried to scream but no sound came out of my throat. Only pain and the taste of blood, the silhouette came to my field of vision, its body stony filled with cracks. But it looks human, green veins spread across its body. It''s like me ¡­ I tried to peek into its mind but it was empty not a single thought. ¡° Don''t try that with me girl ¡± it spoke with a voice that sounded very human. ¡° Yes I''m just like you, and yes too I''m human or I was¡­¡± It read my mind, I tried opening my mouth to talk. ¡° Hey no talking, your windpipe was crushed it''s going to take some time before you heal.¡± ? My name is Ade? He spoke directly to me through his mind. ¡° I don''t know how you''re going to survive halfcast like you always die a week after they are made.¡± He walked back passed the original position he was standing and got swallowed by the dark. ¡° You either die from injury sustained trying to navigate this place or your body gives up on you because they can''t adapted to changes made to them.¡± He came back to view with a bowl in his hand, bringing the bowl close to my mouth . The smell was strong like alcohol l pull back from it the smell was too strong. He grabbed my cheeks with his hands which were hard and granite forcing my mouth to open pouring the content of the bowl inside. It was sour and bitter, I tried to throw it away but he dragged my head backwards with a swift force it felt like the bones in my neck snapped. The liquid hit my stomach with a burning sensation which I could only react to by coughing. ¡° It will help you with healing since you halfcast heal slowly.¡± He sat next to me and drank the remaining of the liquid like it was water or something enjoyable. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡° The world is changing, it''s going to swallow everything up.¡± His eyes were sharp gold, I finally got hold of his facial structure, vibrate dark skin unbothered by the granite on his forearms. ¡° We are outcast, tossed out by the communities because we were touched by it.¡± His voice was deep and intimidating, he gave me a weird look. Ah he read my mind again. ¡° We stayed in the contaminated zone, at least that was the only place we won''t be shot on sight. but things were getting unstable there, so we fled here. ¡°We tried to warn the communities but they didn''t listen, at least the other three got the memo except for you guys,Petars are always stubborn." He stood and was about to leave, his back was massive it reminds me of Shaun, ah Shaun what did you do to her? ¡° You better sleep and save your strength. We''ll be moving from here in three days. Try to heal up because nobody will carry you and you''ll be left behind if you can''t keep up.". He left the room or shade. I can''t call it a room. Even though the drink left a bad taste in my mouth it was surprisingly good for the pain that ravaged my body. I felt sleepy but sleep was the last thing on my mind right now, I need to find her every minute I spend here. Increase the chances of me never seeing her again. I tried to stand up but there was no strength in my limbs. My eyelids was heavy and it was a pain trying to keep them open Nei Nei Nei ¡­¡­ I opened my eyes, my surroundings was different, I was at the field in Petar how am I here? Was that all a dream? I felt something heavy leaving my stomach. It was windy, her long hair was all over the place, the wind brought that familiar smell to me, the smell always filled my nostrils when she''s close by. Nei was right in front of me, I ran towards her. ¡°Nei!" With each step I take towards her. She gets further away from me. ¡° Nei, please wait!" She turned to my direction, her eyes covered by the dark bangs that extends off her forehead. ¡°Why should I wait?" She responded to me, ah she finally spoke. I miss that voice. ¡° Why are you trying to ignore your surroundings Ari?¡± I tried to focus on her, rejecting the carnage surrounding us. ¡° I don''t want to lose you.¡± ¡­again¡­. My voice was shaking with emotions. I don''t know if I was crying or smiling but my cheeks were wet. ¡° Then why did you walk the other way? I woke up with a scream and landed on my back felt like I was tossed off somewhere by someone. I saw Ade in front of me he was covered in brownish ragged clothes, the same one I saw when those wolf like beast pounced on me ¡°Oh you have finally woken up Chapter 5 I woke up or you could say I was tossed out of my dream by someone, the sun bright beams prevented me from getting hold of my surroundings which is definitely different from Petar. I brought unwanted attention to myself because everybody was staring at me, Ade came to my direction, he looked more human than when I saw him in the shade. I guess the dark highlighted his inhuman nature. ¡°Oh look who have finally decided to joined us, I thought you were going sleep the whole journey.¡± Hearing that had me a little embarrassed, my cheeks were hot. I looked at him, and he shook his head. ¡°Well since you are back and all healed, you can walk yourself this time.¡± That was his parting words with me as he head back to the frontline leading the group. ¡°And oh, you better thank her, she¡¯s the one that carried you for three days straight.¡± There was a girl next to me, she¡¯s most likely the one because every other person gave me a good visible distance . She looked normal, nothing noticeable about her no green veins spouting out of the skins, the only eye grabbing thing about her was perfectly tanned skin. She hardly stays indoors I guess. ¡° Umm thanks.¡± I have to repay my debt somehow, I hope that time comes soon. ¡°You don¡¯t have to repay anything I was just helping a sick person.¡± Holy shit I forgot about the mind reading thing, realizing that made my cheeks burn red to my ears. ¡°you have to work on that mind of yours, your thoughts are just flying everywhere.¡± She said it without even looking at me, while others have been glaring back at my direction. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to control it.¡± Since this power thing just happened in the last eighty hours. ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll teach you how to control it, only if you decide to give up on that pay back stuff.¡± Okay we have a deal. I bet she heard that too because a smirk spread across her lips. She looked a little bit older than me, her appearance seems roughened by experiences. I wonder how she became like this. I shut down my thoughts because it felt like an open radio to them. The scenery around me is so different from greenish pastures in Petar, everything here is devoid of life, dried up and stony. We continued further for five hours without rest, none of them looked worn out but my legs were killing me. They don¡¯t seem bothered by anything because of their inhuman nature but I¡¯m very human, I felt like screaming at the top of my lungs inside my mind so that their ears might bleed. But that¡¯ll be greedy of me, they helped me even though they didn¡¯t need to, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m one of them and most of them seems irritated by me, asking them to stop will be selfish of me I guess. But my legs hurts so fucking bad I¡¯m can¡¯t even feel them and the sun is making me feel dizzy. . A voice spoke straight into my mind and it was familiar, if I continue with this I¡¯m going to be in a lifelong debt. I¡¯m really not in the mood to argue or ponder what her motives are, I just need to escape this pain right now. Her back was soft for a person with a noticeable amount of muscles. It was tender and warm. It reminds me of¡­.. I wonder if she¡¯s ok, did she leave Petar? The blood was hers, none of them were injured when I went there. How deep are the wounds? The blood was much, did she get help? Will anyone even bother to help her with the chaos, they¡¯ll all try to save themselves. This was all my fault if I had been there things would have been different, I¡¯m a terrible person, Nei isn¡¯t the only one that got caught in the blast my friends were¡­. Our friends. But I can only think about her, I have to go back and look for her. She¡¯s strong and won¡¯t fall to a silly green gas like me. She must be out there waiting for me, I just need to regain some strength to move my legs then I¡¯ll go back. The grip around my legs got tightened and felt like my bones were about to get crushed. < I didn¡¯t carry you all the way from Petar for you to go back there> Her voice was stiff and lacked the soft tone of earlier. ¡°You know it¡¯s rude to peek inside someone''s thoughts¡± I didn¡¯t have anything to say and don¡¯t want to argue and I¡¯m scared of being dropped and forced to walk on my own. I have to change the conversation quickly, the piggyback ride was relaxing and it gave me a clear mind to think. I drew closer to her, my nose touching her neck, the smell of sweat mixed with a scented ointment I couldn¡¯t put a name on caressed my nose. My mouth close to her ear whispered ¡°You smell good.¡± I don''t know if it was a ploy to change the conversation or she just smelled really good. Maybe I just love the way she smelled but her facial expression did not change it was still the same. It¡¯s just like she didn¡¯t hear what I said to her or she knew I was trying to change the topic. I couldn¡¯t reply to her, I didn''t know what to say. < You owe me quite a lot and I¡¯m going to see that you get that debt paid as soon as possible.> But weren¡¯t you the one that said you don¡¯t care about that stuff? I didn¡¯t reply. It could escalate to something more troublesome if I did. The sun beam strikes my skin furiously, the clothes I¡¯m wearing gave more ways for the sun rays to hit me which was different from the clothes I had earlier. It got covered in blood I guess, it left them no choice than to change it. My vision got blurred and eyelids became heavy. I woke up with my back on the ground, the sky was clear and vibrant, no single clouds were there to obstruct its vibrant color. But my view was obstructed by the carton color hair tanned girl above me who has my left leg in her hands. How long has she been there? Was she watching me sleep all this time? And I definitely didn¡¯t wake up because my leg was in her hands which was weird. Her dark sapphire colored eyes stared at me briskly as she placed her hands on my knee and ankle, I tried to talk but my throat felt stiff. She did something to it. Brute force was applied to both sides of my joint followed by a crushing sound, my leg was bent to a place that it shouldn¡¯t bend to. I tried to scream but nothing came out of my throat. I could only produce tears which wet my entire cheeks. She stared at me with a blank expression, my face was twisted with pain. A smile spreads across her face like she¡¯s enjoying the pain I¡¯m experiencing. It became clear to me that I have fallen into her trap and may never get out. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 Pain varies, physically and mentally. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m feeling right now, maybe both but it¡¯s so extreme I could say it¡¯s ecstasy. My leg can¡¯t even classify as one anymore, vibrant red liquid gushing out of it. I wanted to scream but no sound came out. And the cause of my dismay is smirking above me. Am I just a plaything for her? ¡°Now you¡¯ll come to understand-¡° She was saying something but I don¡¯t know what because my ears were ringing. Her mouth stopped moving and she let go of my leg which hit the ground in its dismembered state, my brain couldn¡¯t handle the amount of electric signals my leg was sending it leading to me blacking out. Everywhere was dark, I couldn¡¯t breathe, my body felt stiff like a huge pressure was placed on it. Through all the dismay and anguish I could hear a morphed sound of someone crying above me, the sound was getting closer. I could see sprinkles of light penetrating the dark place where my stiff body resides. The light came flooding in which made me realize where I was. But that wasn¡¯t my problem, I really don¡¯t care because in those sparks of lights blinding me she was there¡­. Rein was there,her eyes filled with tears which seemed a little red. ¡°Ari, I finally found you.¡± She was crying uncontrollably, I haven''t seen this side of her nor do I want to see it. She felt like a different person. I lay on her chest unable to move, her body littered with dirt a lot of it. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ari, oh my god why did this have to happen.¡± She was crying really loud. This was a side of her. She kept locked in the dark. Why ain¡¯t I reacting to it? I just feel nothing , emptiness. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ari, I shouldn¡¯t have left you back then.¡± I wanted to reply to her but I couldn¡¯t speak. The only thing that worked was my eyes. I can''t even move my eyelids. Rein brought her cheek close to mine and she locked our bodies in an embrace. The smell emitting out of her I couldn¡¯t even smell it. What am I? Dead? My ears stopped working and my eyes were taking longer processing the ray of light bashing into it. She broke out of the hug, the expression on her face was something between happy and sad at the same time. Her lips moved, it was getting slowly dark around me. Those words even though I couldn¡¯t hear them but I know what they mean. Why did she say ? What does she mean by it? Her hands came to my eyes and closed them . Everything started going cold and distant, oh I¡¯m dead, was I daydreaming all this time? Rein is alive, it¡¯s better this way she¡¯ll do more good for the world than me. It¡¯s better this way If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Yeah. That voice I know, hearing it strikes fear inside me. I opened my eyes and saw the woman that broke my leg. What does she want from me¡­ You broke my legs for that ? I stared down, my left leg was still in a disfigured shape sucked with blood. I couldn''t even feel the leg, I guess that is a good thing. She stepped on the leg. I don''t know what she¡¯s expecting but that leg is long gone. It forced me to smirk, haha a little right back at you. ¡° You know I can read your mind right?¡± And why should I care? Uhhh that dream ¡­. Our place was switched, why did she wake me up? ¡°Because I don¡¯t want you to die¡± But you crippled me permanently! ¡°Oh someone¡¯s angry¡± < Why are you so mad? Is it because you won¡¯t be able to see your precious Rein again?> You- A stinging pain spread across my cheeks, felt like whatever was residing in my eyes was digging its tendrils deeper inside me. ¡°That¡¯s very stupid of you because if you let it take over, Rein would cease to exist in your memories. She¡¯ll be permanently gone.¡± I have never felt this vulnerable in my entire life¡­. Tears were streaming down my face. ¡°Yes that¡¯s it ¡° she said sitting on my lap while creeping closer to me. I don¡¯t want to see her face. I shut my eyes while trying to move away from her but she caught me by the chin, tilting my head up. My eyes instantly opened, she was too close to me and those eyes of her burning into my iris, I couldn¡¯t stop looking at them. ¡°Yes I want to see more of you give me yourself to me¡± I felt something break inside me, don¡¯t know what it was but the foundation of my sense of self was shattered. Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah¡­.