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1313 Words
Viola rubbed her chest as if she could relax her thumping heart, taking deep breaths. Once she calmed down, she picked up her scrunchie, which had slipped down her ponytail.
“Are you freaking crazy?” she said with gritted teeth. “You scared me to death.” She shot Allen a hostile glare.
“Why are you such a scaredy-cat?” Allen crossed his arms and leaned on the concrete pillar.
“Why do you have to be such a . . . ?”
Jerk
“Such a . . . ?” He arched a brow, looking down at her.
“Never mind,” she said, shrugging it off, and scanned her surroundings.
“It’s gone.”
She looked at him with knitted brows. “What?”
“The wolf.” He stood straight and looked over her shoulder. “I know where it is.” He grabbed her hand, his large palm clasped around her wrist completely.
Her lips parted. The way he held her this time was different from how he had grabbed her hand a few times. He pulled her along with him and she scrutinized him from behind.
“It’s in the woods,” he said.
She stopped. “Wait, we are not allowed to leave.”
Allen looked at her. “Why not?”
“Because we were in detention.”
“Oh yeah,” he responded as if he just remembered it was only the two of them in the building. He released her hand and took a moment to think. “But the teacher will never find out. I always just leave during detention.” He shrugged.
Being in detention was just a piece of cake for him but not for her.
Viola studied him, speechless.
Was that something to be proud of? she thought.
He rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand again, leading her to the woods. They crossed the lonely road behind the garden.
“Wait, wait!” Viola pulled her arm away from his grip, and he stopped. “I don’t want to see it.”
“Then why did you search for it?”
“I just saw it when I was going to the washroom.”
“Then why did you come all the way downstairs to look for it?”
“I . . .” She looked around the trees. “I just . . .”
“You just?” He stepped forward, and his lips twitched when he saw the nervous expression on her face. “You just what?” He raised his brows.
She finally looked at him to explain she was just curious, but they ended up playing the staring game. After a few minutes—which felt like ages to Viola—she looked away, unable to stare any longer at those dark orbs.
She stepped back and, with her scrunchie, pulled her hair into a ponytail. She turned in the opposite direction, her back to him.
“You—”
“Hush.” She put her finger on her lips. “Do you smell it?”
“Smell what?”
“Blood!”
“Blood?” he repeated, unaware of his voice coming out loud. He hopped forward. “Are you a dog or something?” He laughed at his own joke.
She ignored his comment and walked without hesitation. Even though she was afraid and cowardly, she needed to be brave, as that was the place where she belonged—the place of claws, blood, curses, and death. She felt the air around her thicken as she got closer to the mysterious direction. Her lips twitched when she heard his distant footsteps; he was following her. Then her smile vanished, her eyes widened in horror, and her body froze at the sight before her: a dead body lying on the ground in an awkward position. The skin was barely visible as blood covered it.
Viola stared at it, still shocked. She recognized that almost unidentifiable face. It was the woman living opposite her house, her neighbour. She had had a chat with her a few days earlier and found her nice. They had also exchanged numbers to stay in touch so that they could help each other if there was anything urgent.
Viola found it difficult to breathe. The beating of her heart echoed in her ears, and all she could hear was its thumping and the fading distant footsteps as the memories she had always tried to forget came flooding back.
Her mind was racked with terror as the picture of the bodies that were killed mercilessly by all creatures appeared in her head—the dark figures wandering around her room, the cries of the cursed beings, and everything else that played like a background to the specific loud voice of her mother.
“You’re not my child.”
“You’re from the devil.”
“Why did God punish me with you?”
“You are a burden.”
“You are one of them, the evil!”
Her palms were sweaty, and her hands began to tremble. She tried to focus on her breathing and relax to chase away these thoughts, but every time she caught a glimpse of the crimson-red liquid, she could not avert her eyes from it. She wanted to move and look away, but it was like her body was not in her control. She stood rooted to the ground. Sweat glistened on her forehead, and her stomach turned icy, her lips quivering.
Her ragged breaths made her struggle for air. She let out loud noises, trying to breathe, as she felt tightness in her chest. She stepped back with her wobbly legs, managed to take a few steps, and turned. Allen rushed to her, and right on cue, her legs gave up. Her head collided with his chest, and his large arms wrapped around her as her body slowly slid down.
He gently walked to the large tree nearby, holding her. Viola supported herself with his hands and the trunk behind her. She clasped her trembling hands and slid down to sit. She shook her head, and the edge of her vision began to darken.
“Hey, hey!” Allen squatted down in front of her and held her shoulders to keep her steady. “Here, here.” He shook her. “Calm down. Listen to me,” he said, panicked. “Viola.”
She looked at him at the mention of her name; it came out low and soft. She lifted her heavy eyelids and looked at him.
“Breathe in, like this,” he instructed with his eyes closed.
She did as told, taking deep breaths and blowing them out.
Allen’s face lit up with a relaxed smile. “Again, do it.”
She obeyed, and the suffocating tightness in her chest eased off, her vision got clearer, and the voices in her head disappeared.
“Thanks,” she said in a low, weak voice.
She stayed motionless while he was holding her, their eyes on each other. She didn’t want to look away this time. Instead, her heart insisted on studying his features.
“No problem.” He rubbed the back of his neck, and his eyes roamed around everywhere, not looking at her. He stood and shifted his gaze. “It’s another dead body,” he said dryly.
Finding people dead in the woods was common, as they had been warned not to go there at night. People believed that the hungry cursed beings lingered there at night.
“You feel better?” he asked and looked away in an instant.
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Let’s get back to school.”
She smiled as she watched him turn, his back facing her. She dusted her hands and managed to get on her feet.
- Writer
