Oreus

Wrong Answers

Translations at the end of the chapter

Everything was silent once the lights went out.

All Eden could hear was her breathing. It gnawed at her insides, chewing on her nerves. Her eyes darted everywhere outside the window. The only thing she saw was sheer shadows of the night.

That was the problem with the land they lived on. Because it was surrounded by woods, once the sun set it was virtually impossible to see. Even with their heightened senses, nothing could help them at times with the amount of darkness around them.

The seemingly black trees swayed in the wind, the howling filling her ears. She despised it, the fact that it was the only sound she could hear. She needed to know what was happening.

It felt like her request had gone down rather than up.

The sudden ominous thumps outside made her jump. There was nothing to be seen, only heard, but the sounds were not at all pleasant. Something was dragging along with the thumps and it was getting closer. As she strained her ears she could tell whatever was being dragged didn't seem like it wanted to comply, if the obvious thrashing wasn't enough evidence.

Then, all noises abruptly stopped.

The thumps, dragging, thrashing, even the sounds of nature ceased and everything came to a standstill.

She stayed silent, her breathing increasing as a feeling of dread came over her. She leaned forward with her hands on the window and waited for something to happen.

Just as she thought that was it, someone spoke from behind her.

"We meet again, Eden."

Her eyes shut and she hung her head in shame. She knew who it was the second he said her name. She knew he would follow her home and no one believed her.. If only that woman hadn't told her to return, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

"No greeting? I suppose that's fine, it won't make a difference soon anyway." She heard his voice to the left.

"Have you figured out who I am? If you haven't, then I must say..." He whispered in her ear, "You aren't as smart as I thought you were."

She jerked away, only to hear him chuckle.

"Do I scare you? There's no reason to be afraid of me, Eden..." A loud scream came from outside the window and she snapped open her eyes. He was on the other side with a bloody Hayden, holding her by her hair.

And yet, even as he stood outside, she still heard his voice as though he were right behind her.

"Yet."

The mystery of what was being dragged came to light as she began thrashing again, trying to pry the man's hands off of her. She yelled and pleaded for him to let go, desperately kicking her legs in an effort to get away.

Tears streaked Hayden's face, her eyes landing on Eden, "Help me!"

As much as Eden wanted to, she couldn't. There were too many things happening at once and it was almost impossible to keep up. Absolute terror coursed through her while questions ran wild in her head.

Why was this man after her? How could she hear him when he wasn't actually there? Why was he targeting the people she knew instead of hurting her?

The distinctive voice of Olivia rang out in a loud scream, a scream that held so much pain. The man had a cruel smile on his face as his mouth moved, saying something. His voice once again was right behind her, only this time it only sent a wave of anger through her instead of fear.

"Join us, Eden."

She didn't hesitate this time, a fierce glare on her face as she swung open her door and ran out. Olivia was in front of the house, on her knees, tied up.

She rushed to her, dropping down and tugging on the thick rope "Olivia! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen I swear. I don't know why he's after me, I haven't done anything-"

Loud clapping interrupted her and the man's face appearing behind Olivia as he grinned.

"So she finally speaks! If only what you were saying was true." He tsked and shook his head, "You're the sole reason this is happening."

She ignored him and focused on trying to get her friend out of her binds. "I've done nothing to deserve this, and neither did you, or Hayden. I won't let him hurt you anymore, not if I can help it."

Olivia shook her head, tears running down her face, "I know you, Eden. I would never blame you for something like this. Don't worry, I'm not as hurt as I look. Most of the blood isn't mine."

She had already seen the blood and hoped it was true, but despite what she said there were still multiple wounds and cuts on her. Her lip was mangled and her nose obviously broken. Her entire body was caked with blood, dried and cracked. She recoiled as Eden touched her arms, and hissed in pain.

"Oops," the man chuckled from behind her. "Maybe I was a bit too rough. She resisted quite a bit after her friends and I had a little... talk."

Eden paled at his words. "Who?"

Olivia whimpered and shook her head, her eyes shut tight.

"What did he do? Who did he talk to?" she tried to ask gently, but her own panic was shining through as she thought about his words more. "Olivia, whose blood is on you?"

Her blonde hair shielded her face as a sob wracked through her body. She violently shook in fear, curling in on herself and pressing her chest to her thighs. "He killed children Eden," she whispered through her hiccups. "Children! Two of them! He didn't even hesitate! Then he killed their parents! I don't even know how he did it but he brought Dylan and Dallas, Addison too!"

It seemed like her list went on and on, each one hitting Eden in her chest and adding a new crack to her heart. By the end she could barely breathe, all the deaths sinking in. Why? Why was he doing this? What harm could they have possibly done to get hurt and not her? But once she turned around to look at him, all she could do was stare.

The smile he had on his face, it was too happy. Something about it was unnerving, to the point where it was alarming.

"Have you figured out who I am yet, Eden?" He clenched Hayden's head and squeezed, a shriek tearing from her throat. "If you can guess correctly, she lives."

The color drained from Hayden's face, her watery eyes got large and she watched Eden in terror.

Eden shook her head rapidly, "No, I can't! Let her go, I don't know you!"

He sighed, "Wrong answer."

Hayden suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream that made the girls' blood run cold. But they couldn't respond or even try to help before her head was slammed to the ground, a sickening crack as it did.

Pure silence was the only thing that could be heard. Eden took a hesitant step forward.

He scoffed, "Don't bother, she's dead."

Olivia didn't hold back, "Why are you doing this?" she cried.

He only smiled at her, "If Eden can guess who I am, maybe I'll tell you."

"What if I'm wrong? What will you do then?" Eden shook with fear, already taken aback by his cruel game.

He ignored her, "I'll give you a hint. The story in the museum, who all were in it?"

Her eyes widened, there were too many choices. She tried calling out to the voice, but like earlier, there was no answer. Anger bubbled up inside of her at the madness of it all. Why was this happening to her and why didn't the person from before help? That's what she said she was there for, so why was it that when Eden needed her the most she wouldn't respond to any of her cries?

He put a finger to his lips at her silence, a dangerous smirk forming on them as he did so. "Don't ask your friend either. She will be of no help," he said gesturing towards Olivia. Frowning she looked, but her eyes were glazed as she stared off into space.

Her hands curled into fists. "Si la has lastimado de alguna manera, te mataré."

"Oh dear," he sniggered. "How violent of you to say."

"What did you do?"

He chuckled as he shook his head, "Do not worry she is fine. Just... silenced."

"I swear if you've hurt her-"

"Answer my question, Eden." He stopped smiling. "Who am I?"

He never told her what he would do if she got it wrong, but she knew what would happen. She didn't want anyone else hurt because of her own stupidity.

She didn't waste any more time, and took a chance, "You're Lycaon." It made sense with the way he acted. Killing innocents, terrorizing people, finding it all to be some game. It all seemed like something he'd do.

"It would be King Lycaon to you." He shook his head at the disrespect. "Sadly, I am not him."

"Then you have to be Zeus, that's the only other person who was important," she said, sure of herself.

He sneered, "If I was, then I wouldn't need to come after you the way I am now. They aren't the only people included in the story."

She thought of all the people who were mentioned. He didn't seem like Zeus, he wouldn't care about whether Lycaon was given the proper title. Nyctimus is dead, so it wouldn't be him either. The only other reasonable answer was- realization dawned on her.

"You're a son," she murmured.

He grinned and bowed, "Linos, son of Lycaon at your service. Really, I thought you would have realized it sooner."

"No...That's not possible... The age of the Greeks was over a thousand years ago. You shouldn't be alive!"

His eyes twinkled with amusement, "There's the smartness I was looking for." He sighed and began walking towards her, "I would explain now, but you currently have a debt to pay. You guessed wrong twice, not to mention in a row as well. If someone will have to be taken from you twice, how about we make that double time? Four seems reasonable enough." He stopped in front of her and smirked.

She glared up at him, standing her ground. She tried to seem brave, but her entire body was trembling. How could she possibly stop him? What could she do?

Linos shook his head, a mocking frown as he tutted. "Someone is going to have to pay the price."

"You're not hurting anyone you insane bastard," Eden retorted. Her mind swarmed with possibilities and ideas, all for trying to stop the maniac in front of her.

A sudden glare came on his face, his hand jutting out to grip her neck. "I don't think you understand the position you're in. Your rudeness has gone on far enough."

Eden gasped for air, clawing at his arm. The oxygen going to her brain was cut off completely as he squeezed harder, her vision starting to cave in while her feet flailed above the ground.

"What do you think happened to all the other people who disrespected me? Would you like to see an example?"

He knew she wouldn't respond, she couldn't even if she tried. Her body was slowly going limp, right on the verge of death, but he wasn't going to let her go that easily.

It didn't take long, only about five seconds for him to get all the images in her head. And once he dropped her it took ten more for her to fill her lungs again and start screaming.

It was the most disgusting, if not terrifying thing she had ever seen. Her eyes were unfocused and filled with tears, screaming at the space in front of her with her hands clutched to the sides of her head. The vivid images of blood and death were the only thing she could see, and the worst part was that it was from Linos' point of view.

She knew that his hand didn't look anything like hers. The skin tone, the height of his eyes, nothing was right.

Even though she knew, it didn't stop her from thinking it was her that had done the terrible deeds.

It was her hands that snapped the children's necks, her foot that crushed Dylan and Dallas' heads. It was all her that brutally murdered those innocent people.

She didn't think she'd be able to come back from it. If the voice hadn't coaxed her to see clearly, she might have died thinking she truly did kill all those people.

"It's alright, Eden, it wasn't you. Remember where you are and what's happening or you'll never be able to save the people you love."

With more words of encouragement, she was finally able to snap out of it. She went quiet, hiccuping and swallowing down the memories to calm herself down.

"Aw, what a pity. I thought that would break you," Linos pouted.

"You disgust me," Eden sniveled.

Silently, he turned to Olivia.

She froze in horror, "No."

He took a step towards her, "I suppose she will be enough payment along with three others."

"No please don't!" She reached out to try and grab him but his strike came out of nowhere, hitting her in the stomach and sending her flying.

Her back slammed into a tree yards away and she fell to the ground. Her head spun, her vision getting blurry, but she wouldn't let him take Olivia. She coughed violently as her breath left her, blood slid down her back and soaked into her clothes. Even with the pain, Eden stood up with a defiant stance.

She wasn't going down without a fight.

By the time she managed to get on her feet, he was already in front of Olivia.

Olivia woke up from her trance the moment Linus touched her. She screamed for Eden while she tried to fight him off, but she didn't respond. She knew that even if she could speak it'd be nothing but a hoarse whisper with the amount of pain she felt.

He grabbed Olivia's leg and started dragging her as she crept near.

As soon as she kicked again Eden ran towards him. She wasn't the best fighter, but she had to stop him somehow. The only idea she had was to pray she had enough strength to dropkick him while he thought she was down.

She sprinted and jumped, angling her body to his back. She was inches away from making contact, almost there. A feather-light touch was all she managed before he grabbed one of her legs and threw her once again.

She was slung to the ground, only instead of a solid landing, she kept going.

Her body tumbled, hitting the ground over and over. Each roll added another cut, bruise, scrap, and overall pain.

When she finally stopped traveling she had ended up going farther than the first time.

She slowly stood, biting her lip to keep from crying out. Weakness wasn't something she wanted to show, even if her legs did wobble from the strain. Olivia watched, still struggling as she took a step forward, but crumpled to the ground. She stood again, blood dripping from an unknown wound on her head into her mouth. She spit it out and once again walked forward. One by one she lost control of her limbs, falling to the ground once more.

The hope Olivia had in her eyes died when she realized Eden wouldn't be able to make it.

All Eden could hear were her screams, but she couldn't control her body. As much as she tried it just wouldn't work anymore. She felt paralyzed. She reached her hand out towards their retreating figure, her last pathetic attempt at trying to protect her best friend. But as her vision got blurry and her head hit the dirt, They both knew it was too late.

She couldn't save her.

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Si la has lastimado de alguna manera, te mataré - If you've hurt her in any way, I'll kill you

"And the cost of his actions? Your life."