I walk home from school, my head hanging a little as if I’m memorizing the design of my shoes. As I walk up to my house I can already hear my mom yelling. I flinch as I walk up to our porch, a little hesitant to enter. I twist the door handle slowly, entering my house as quietly as I can as if to stay in the shadows. My mom still hears me though, her attention snaps to me and she sets down her phone with a SLAM!
“Olivia give me your essay.” I hate it when she calls me Olivia, I prefer Liv. Although you can’t hear it in her voice, you can see it written all over her face. She’s mad. I reluctantly unzip my bag and hand her the paper, my hands shaking. She rips it out of my hand, and I jump back startled. “What is this garbage?!” She screams, throwing it away.
“I… Mom please, it’s only a B.” My mom was a successful author and has always pressured me to get 100% on every test. Today I stayed up late reading, instead of editing the essay I wrote for school, causing a down point in my grade.
“Well, a B is unacceptable as long as you live under my roof!” My mother yells as I take another step back. I can feel anger rising in my chest as a few tears stream down my cheeks.
“I can’t take this anymore Mom!” I yell back in retaliation. My mom looks startled and flinches at the sudden loud noise. “I..HATE YOU!” I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth, but it's too late. My mom's jaw hangs practically on the floor, and I quickly get out of there before I say another thing I could regret.
I slam the door behind me and decide to take a walk down our street. I’m looking down again, my hot tears falling to the pavement. I’m about to turn back when something catches my eye. It's a long dirt path, leading to what looks like a bridge. A forest surrounds it with a blanket of darkness, and I can hear the faint sounds of a river running. A wave of curiosity washes over me. It couldn’t hurt to take a quick detour…plus I don't think I’m ready to face my mom again. Before I know it I can feel my feet walking along the path. A bridge comes into view, overlooking a river that I have never seen before. The bridge looks old, the wood panels squeaking under every step. I look around at the forest. The leaves are glowing a dark green, and there are fireflies everywhere. It almost feels…unreal.
After a couple of minutes of admiring the forest surrounding me, I decided to turn back. I turn to leave but then see something. My stomach drops to my feet and my face turns pale. Half of the bridge was gone, and so was the dirt path. I back up and reach the other side of the bridge, only to immediately regret it because that caused the bridge to disappear altogether. I get an uneasy feeling. I grab my pocket knife, which I carry whenever I walk alone, and hold it in front of me. I continue to walk forward when suddenly I hear a sound from the bush beside me. Before I can react someone pounces on me. My knife cuts her arm and she yelps in pain. Quickly retaliating by cutting my cheek, practically taking the whole thing off! I scream and drop my knife, gripping my cheek, and then I black out.
I wake up in a cave, my eyesight is blurred but slowly coming back to normal. My head is thobbing like the worst headache I have ever experienced. My eyes come into focus and now I have another problem besides my throbbing head. It feels as if half of my cheek is numb, but I can still feel every bit of the pain at the same time. I look around, confused for a split second then all of the memories come flooding back in. I quickly sit up and feel my cheek, which has a large bandage wrapped around it. I look up and see the girl who attacked me. I immediately jump back and scream.
“Calm down. I just thought you were another hunter-person-thing.” She says, not looking up. Her voice is content I can see a hint of worry and sadness on her face
“What?” I say, studying her face for any expression. “Where am I?”
She looks up at me, sadness in her eyes. “He trapped you here.” My mind is racing with questions, but before I can ask any of them she continues to explain. “It…happened to me too, about 3 months ago. I don’t know how, but I was walking and saw this mysterious forest, and once I entered, I couldn’t leave. There is a ghost who…trapped us here. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I’ve been hunting for food and that’s why I tried to hurt you back there.” That’s a fun way to say that you tried to murder me. I think to myself.
My mind calms down a little and I can tell that she is not a threat. She then explained how she bandaged me and that I could take off the cloth covering my injury now. I look at my phone camera, carefully unwrapping the bandage. A small gasp escapes my throat when I see a huge scar on my cheek, almost taking it up entirely. I look at the mysterious girl in horror, noticing her scar along her eye as well. She looks down.
“I…don’t know how to get out of here, and I normally wouldn’t do this but, will you…will you help me escape?” She looks guilty and my face softens a little. She is going through the same thing that I am, and whether I like it or not, everything will work better if I have someone else's help and guidance with me.
I cup both of her hands in mine and say,¨I'm in.¨
We decided to pair up by getting on our feet first, she told me her name was Tyka, and I told her mine was Liv. After we decided to pair up, we started to hang out and talk about our lives back before we got trapped here. I kinda view Tyka as my best friend, she is the only person I can relate to, or won't make fun of me, like my first true friend ever. Tyka and I decided our best option was to move away further from the bridge because everything seemed to be disappearing behind it. As the world behind us slowly fades away, me and Tyka pack some supplies for the long journey ahead. Tyka has a ton of armory and food, while I pack cloth and some string in case of emergencies. Tyka claims she has been here for three months, but I don't know how she has been keeping track of time. I don't know how long I have been here, each day is going by like a blur. I feel so grateful that I met Tyka, I don't know if I would be alive without her. I finish packing my things and look over at Tyka to see if she needs help. When I look over I catch her eye.
¨Ready to go?¨ She asks me, pulling one strap of her bag over her shoulder. When she was stuck here she was smart enough to bring a backpack, unlike me who had to make one from scratch.
¨Yeah. Where do you think we should go first?¨ I ask. I feel a little guilty like I am using her for my own benefit, but I don't know what else to do. She is clearly more experienced in this field, and I still have a lot to learn. It still hurts to speak a little, every time I move my jaw I am reminded of the ugly scar I have there.
Tyka scrunches her nose. I have learned that's what she does when she is thinking, it´s a little cute if I’m being honest. ¨Why don't we just go the opposite direction of the fading bridge, and figure it out from there?¨
For a second I´m just staring at her. My mouth opened in a state of shock. I know that there is no use in arguing, but we are going further from where we came. I try to think of an alternative but start to think about it. What better plan do we have anyway? ¨Sure, we will head that way.¨ I say, standing up and resting my backpack on my shoulders. I turn to leave the cave, but am quickly stopped by a hand blocking my way,
¨Careful, we are on a cliff, it's gonna be a bit steep.¨ Tyka says, removing her hand from the way and starting to make her way down. She is right though, it's extremely steep, I don't know how she has managed to climb down all this time. I slowly make my way down, putting one foot in front of the other, careful not to make the wrong step. I make it down much later than Tyka, but she doesn't seem to mind much.
Once I reach the bottom we start making our way through some empty plains. We decided to call them “The Plains of Hope” since they are our last hope of getting out of here. We journey over a couple of them, and I am practically dying from the heat. In fact…it is kinda weird how I am not dehydrated right now. I have not drunk any water for at least a week. I look down at my hands and notice something strange, they're almost…glowing. I look back up but before I can a forceful hand shoves my head down.
I look up in surprise and see Tyka huddling down with me. She has this serious expression on her face and her eyes scan the area.
¨Shhhh. We made it to a town of some sort, and there were guards posted everywhere.¨ My head shoots up at the news, trying to break free of Tyka´s grasp to see for myself.
¨Tyka, the village probably has some information on how to get home!¨ I whisper to her, still trying to see for myself.
Tyka groans. ¨Probably, but how are we supposed to get in? The guards clearly don't want us there.¨ Now it's my turn to groan, Tyka is right, the only way we could go in is by facing the guards ourselves. I suddenly feel the grip on the top of my head loosen, and look over at Tyka who is already standing up.
¨Tyka! What are you doing?!¨ I ask, panic clear in my voice. She grabs her arrow, pointing it at the center guard.
¨I am gonna count to 3. On 3, run towards the door as fast as you can.¨ My face is paralyzed, I open my mouth to protest but nothing comes out. I slowly rise to my feet as Tyka starts counting down. This was the first time I got a good view of the village, and it was not like I expected. Unlike the modern houses in my neighborhood, these look like they were built thousands of years ago. The buildings are made of wood, smoke coming out of the chimneys from fires. It truly is a scene I never thought I would see. The guards are more like knights, and most people are dressed in what looks like rags. There is no castle in the village, which makes me wonder if this is a part of a kingdom or not.
¨1…2…3!¨ Tyka shouts, uch. A panicked gasp escapes my lips, my face going a bit pale as I debate on helping them or not. There is blood dripping down from the uniform, as he lays there stuttering. After glancing at Tyka, who is already running, I look away and focus on running past the guard as quickly as I can. Some guards run up to check on the fallen soldier, while others start chasing me and Tyka. Tyka is pretty far ahead of me, as I try to keep track of her constant cutting corners, or turning to go somewhere else. Eventually, I lose sight of her and start running until a hand grabs my arm and pulls me into a building. It is Tyka, and she quickly locks the door behind her panting, as I lean against the wall to calm down.
Eventually, my breathing slows to a normal pace, as I hear the guards footsteps fade away. I look over at Tyka, hoping to catch her eye. She is already looking at me, but once I glance over she quickly turns her head away, her cheeks turning a rosy pink. Before I can say anything I notice where we are. A library! This is perfect to find out why we are here. I tell Tyka and she seems to be excited too.
¨Are you excited to see your family again?¨ I ask, standing up from my spot and looking at a couple of books.
¨More than anything.¨ Tyka responds, barely over a whisper. ¨But let's not get our hopes up quite yet.¨ Tyka says, getting onto her feet.
We move around the library, for what seems like days but in reality only for a couple of hours. The fantasy section seems to be luring me into its grasp. Fantasy has always been my favorite genre, and I used to read it a ton at home. As I stand up to make my way over to the classics section, I hear a small gasp from Tyka, who has been reading history books for the past 4 hours. I have been jumping through all of the Non-Fiction sections, except for there.
¨Liv, look at this.¨ Tyka says. Curiosity pings through me as I walk over and sit next to her. ¨It says that in enchant history there lived a man here. His name was Rory, and after being accused of being a witch, he completely embraced the title and went out to hunt humans. One day he went out of the Village and never returned.¨ My face goes pale as this new information sinks in
¨Y-You don´t think that…¨ I say, reality setting in. Of course, he was out to get us! Why else would he trap us here? I start thinking back, although Tyka is so strong and talented, and everything about her is perfect…Wait what am I thinking?
¨Liv…I think Rory is out to kill us.¨ Tyka says, her voice cracking. I can tell she is holding back tears, and I immediately lean in and hug her. My cheeks flush a little red when I realize it, I just acted before thinking! I jump back a little, my heart pounding in my chest. Why is this happening now of all times?
We eventually decided to leave the library, or should I say, sneak out of the library. We decided to take the book that Tyka was reading, a map, and a fantasy book of my choosing. I stuff the new supplies into my backpack, making sure not to fold or crease the map. We unlock the library door, praying that no one is outside. There are no windows in the library but we don’t hear any voices, so eventually we agree that it is ok to open the door. I open the library door, squeezing my eyes shut while doing so.
¨Liv watch out!¨ I hear Tyka scream, but once I open my eyes it´s too late. There are guards posted outside of the building, surrounding the entire place, and one of them just slashed a sword through my arm. Blood is trickling down my arm at an alarming rate as I blink in surprise and panic. They go in for another blow but before the sword hits Tyka stands between us, the sword going through her stomach in one big slash.
I scream in surprise as the guard releases their sword, leaving Tyka covering her stomach and falling to the ground. I horrified look crossed her face as I immediately kneeled to help her. My arm is throbbing with every movement.
The guards all back up into clean lines, and what seems to be the main guard hovers in front of us. ¨That was a warning blow, if I see you trespassers ever again you better pray that your execution won't be too bloody.¨ I look up to them with hurt and panic in my eyes, rage is coursing through my body but I know that right now is not the time to argue. I painfully grab Tyka and pull her over my back. Her face is pale and she has passed out, or maybe just is dead. I run out of the village with her, leaving a trail of blood behind us. Once we were far enough away I set Tyka down to my left side, and let the floodgates open.
Tears and sobs are pouring down my face. I grab Tyka’s wrist and check for a pulse but can’t find any. She must have lost too much blood. I fall asleep on the grass, eyes puffy and red from crying. I hold so much hate in my heart, for the Guards, for the ghost who might have trapped us here. I also feel mad at myself, for not protecting Tyka. I have no idea what I am gonna do next, but I know one thing for sure. I am getting out of here.
Comments (1)
See all