by Nicol, Andy
I froze on the spot. I wasn’t going to cry, not for him — not about this. But I felt like I was, so I used my best defence and shoved him. He stood relatively still, not bothering to stop me.
“Say something rational, Soul! Anything other than that!” I could hear my voice crack, against my will. “Why won’t you trust me? I know what I’m doing!”
He grunted and scowled, shaking his head. “Do anything for the K9 … The bird would die for the dog but the dog doesn’t care! The dog … K9 doesn’t … K9 never loved me … can’t even say so … n-not going to waste my time. O-owed you my life … Not going to waste my time anymore.”
I watched him turn his back to me and wait for Jekyll and Hyde, weapon tight in his grasp.
“The crow flies west. And then…” — he choked up and looked down, whispering bitterly — “and then … K-K9 won’t have to deal with the crow anymore. S-sweep me away so you’re not responsible…”
I stopped breathing for a moment. Did he just … dump me? Did I just lose Soul? I could feel my throat close, and my vision blurred as tears spilled down my cheeks. Of all the ways I could possibly have lost him and it would end like this?
I stood, cold and heartbroken. I partially nodded and carelessly tugged at my swords. I was not ready to fight. I was too distracted — but Jekyll and Hyde were still running towards us. When they were a just a couple of yards away, they looked at each other. Hyde finally broke the silence after a tense few seconds. “I’ll take the bitch, you take the bird.”
Soul tugged his jacket farther down his shoulders and cursed at the man who scarred him. Guilt was nagging at me and I was still light headed, but I couldn’t let Soul go, especially if I might never see him again.
“Soul!”
“K9, go!”
“Soul, please…”
He clashed with Jekyll, sliding each weapon against the other, daring their opponent to make a mistake. Hyde lumbered over and raised his own weapon behind him. He brought it down against my swords, creating sparks and pinning me to the cold ground.
“Asshole…” I snarled at him.
He grinned menacingly and leaned over me, taking another swing. I barely had enough strength to push him away, letting out a small yelp. More of a cry for help really. I prayed Soul would turn around as quickly as possibly because Jekyll had produced a gun and tossed it to Hyde. I kicked at him as I continued to use all my strength to push the man off of me, not doing well since he was winning with only one hand.
“You know, this is a shiny little toy, but I like doing things the old-fashioned way,” Hyde muttered, his lips curling back as he tucked the pistol away. “It’s more fun.”
“Soul!” My shout didn’t seem to register, but he gave Jekyll a good shove and the man collided with his brother. I jumped up and alternated between kicking Hyde and stomping Jekyll, until Soul grabbed my arm to turn me around.
“Bleeding.”
My arm stung where he was holding it but I kicked Hyde once more, then ripped my arm free from Soul. “Don’t touch me.”
It would seem we were too busy glaring bitterly at each other to notice that one of the men had gotten up. Hyde lunged at me and ripped my sword from my hand. We both smashed our fists into his head, making him drop the sword, then Soul jumped to the left and picked it up, begrudgingly tossing it back to me and then grunting as he cast one last glance and then ran off.
Things were fine yesterday … even this morning. Why does the world turn into hell whenever we need it the least? How can we fall so far, so fast? And once again, Why us?
Soul bolted through the trees, ignoring the remorse that was blatantly written across my face. I was ready to make amends. I didn’t mean for this to happen…
I was so focused on Soul that I was forgetting the battle at hand. Jekyll scrambled and stirred up dust and leaves as he followed my Crow. At least Hyde had the common decency to let me wallow in self-loathing for a minute before he attacked. He was carrying his spiked mace and that razor wire, neither of which put me at ease. He lunged forward and I stumbled back, storming right through the treeline.
I knew we were close to the main entrance, but I wasn’t sure I even wanted to find it.
After running and wheezing for a while, I tripped and twisted my ankle. Groaning and whining, I pulled myself up by a branch, resting quickly as blood trickled from my arms and face.
“So, Hyde,” I started, thinking I could hear his footsteps, “how does it feel to have lost to a girl after being the biggest thing in Lilithia all those years ago?”
Silence. I couldn’t hear anything anymore so I looked back, but no one was there. I stood on one leg in the cold, but as far as I could see, Hyde hadn’t followed me.
“Goddammit!”
I let go and fell forward. After pulling myself up off my knees, I started to look for tracks, or anything. Panic was hitting me hard. If they both caught up to Soul, he’d be dead. I couldn’t let that … I couldn’t see that happen!
“N-no … no, no, no!” I stumbled and clawed my way forward, hoping for any sign of any of them.
Suddenly, the voice of my brother was coming from all around me, booming out through the speakers in the little drone cams. I had forgotten about them.
“Jekyll and Hyde have made a request that we tell ‘Vixen’ this: ‘You were close, but gambling with death means you’re going to lose your Soul.’ Ben, I’m so sorry…”
I started to fall apart at Johnny’s words. I bit my lip as hard as I could and pulled my hair back, smudging almost-dry blood across my forehead. My breathing quickened and I fell to my knees, covering my mouth. My voice ripped through my throat in a long, harsh cry that felt like it was shredding my vocal chords. I couldn’t lose Soul — he didn’t know! I never got to tell him … I-I wanted him back! I needed him back! I leapt up and ran back to the entrance. If they gave Johnny that message, then they should still be close.
It might be a trap but I’d give my life to save his. To stop this.
Thirty-One
“Come out, come out, wherever you are…”
By this point my entire body was numb and my leg was killing me, but I had found the gate. I rested my head back against a tree and, drawing my sword, limped forward. My face was numb, and my lips were so cold I couldn’t even speak properly. I should have trusted him, should have told him how I felt. I should never, ever have left any room for doubt.
“You wanted me, you got me!” I shouted into the air futilely. “Come out and fight fair!”
There was nothing. Sighing, I continued walking to the west and towards the setting sun. It cast a golden glow through the frozen trees.
“Jekyll! Hyde!”
I called to them over and over again until I noticed that all of the spectators behind the barricade were gathered a little farther down, staring and yelling about something. And then I noticed the large screen they were watching. I ran to the gates. All I could see was Jekyll dragging Soul by his jacket. He was unconscious and slashed right down his chest, which worried me, considering the amount of blood staining the ground below him. I didn’t know where they were; all those damn trees looked the same to me.
A few people turned to me, the heat from my face melting the frost while I glared at the screen.
“Benji!” I heard a familiar voice from inside the crowd. “Benji!” Suddenly Louis Crane stepped forward, pushing spectators out of the way to get to the gate. “He’s hurt badly. You have to try to bandage him up until I’m let in!”
“Louis,” I muttered as I watched the screen, “which way did they go?”
He glanced around, knowing that he shouldn’t get involved. I turned my body towards him and snatched his dirty green shirt from across the barricade. His buggy eyes went even wider.
“Ichabod!” I hollered in his face.
He shook his head and pursed his lips. “Y-you know it’s against the rules!”
“The rules aren’t in play anymore! I need to find him. You saw what happened!
If I lose him, then he at least needs to go out knowing that he’s loved. You, of all people, should know what loneliness does to your sanity.”
I was holding him close by the collar of his jacket, looking him straight in the eyes and breathing hard. I would never be able to truly show them the real rage behind my eyes.
Louis started to stutter and nervously glance around until he finally broke. Though aggravated, he held his hand up and pointed. “They went north.”
I nodded and patted his chest as I started to step away. He simply scowled and shook his head. Past him, I could see Johnny up on a stage of sorts, calling out various actions, grimacing and cringing every few seconds. He seemed to be taking the stress badly. Chrissy stepped up and grabbed his hand to comfort him, and he seemed to relax a bit. I nodded to myself again and caught Dan’s eye. He slowly started to turn to me as I took a few steps back, only to stop.
“Benji, look out!” Dan called.
I was about to duck or turn around or something — but two hands on my arm prevented that from happening, slamming my shoulders back onto the cold ground instead. Even through all the choking and wheezing, I knew who it was.
“T-took you long enough to find me.”
My words were met with the dark chuckle of a madman, a chuckle that could only belong to Hyde. I sat up, only to be kicked between the shoulder blades. My lip started to sting as I fell back down and lay still, spitting and drooling in all my bloody and dignified glory. Discreetly, I slid the knife from my boot and got ready to slash. Hyde rolled me onto my back and I sat still, looking up at him and waiting for the best moment, which happened to come as he prepared to snap my ribs with his boot. I grabbed his leg and tore into it with the knife, ripping open the flesh of his calf.
I admit, it didn’t exactly save my life, but it did buy me time.
As the large man fell back, I reached across the ground for the sword I dropped when he first threw me down. The light frost was melting under my stomach. I felt for the hilt and wrapped it tightly in my hand, then brought it over one shoulder and across my back, blocking Hyde’s weapon and bending the blade.
I lay face down and protected myself with the bit of strength I had left for a moment. Then he rolled me over and ripped the sword from my hand, grabbing it by the silver blade with his ungloved, bloody hand. He only made his existing wounds worse. I still, however, lost the weapon. He tossed the thing to the side like a toy, and it clattered against the bars of the barricade. I tensed my muscles as he relentlessly started to kick at me. I cried out and bit my lower lip as I felt a stabbing pain in my side.
“How does it feel to die alone and unloved?” Hyde hissed as he flicked his hand at me. I shook my head and started to choke, blood running from my nose to my throat. You know when you feel like you’re about to throw up but you can’t, so your mouth just starts to shake and water? That’s what I was feeling. Hyde pulled me off the ground by my upper arm and chuckled as I gagged.
“You … tell … me!” I stuck my small dagger into his shoulder once again and he dropped me. I cried out — landing on a broken rib tends to do that, I guess. I pushed myself to my feet with a grunt and stumbled a few feet before landing on my knees. I got yanked back again by my hair.
“Before I rip your insides out through your mouth, I have something to show you.”
I took another shot to the head, and blood blinded me as Hyde pulled me up again. He glanced over my face and sneered, mimicking my voice, “Say something, Soul, anything!”
He let out the most raucous and sinister laughter I had ever heard, and that included Louis’s. I grunted and swung my fist at his nose, missing narrowly. He continued his laughter as he dragged me through the trees and into the dark forest.
I wasn’t sure how long he made me follow him, but I was starting to lose consciousness — maybe from the cold, maybe from the blood loss. He started to get tired of dragging me behind him and chuckled. When I heard that devil’s laugh, I knew something was up, and it probably wasn’t going to be good for me.
And then he tossed me to the ground again. I landed in a deep pond that wasn’t quite frozen over yet. I rubbed my face, washing the blood away from my eyes, but I scrambled to get out as fast as I could. I tried to climb out multiple times as my fingers lost feeling and my muscles seized up, but Hyde simply laughed and dunked me under again. Do you know what happens when you inhale ice cold water? The water itself burns your lungs.
I silently pleaded and begged Hyde to let me up, and he did, after a few agonizing moments. He hauled me out of the water, letting me rest in the dirt before pulling his wire from his belt and grinning like the savage he is. I scrambled to my feet, gasping for breath and slipping all over the place. I crossed my arms around my body and shivered. But Hyde continued to smirk.
“Please, just let me see Soul… You can do whatever you want to me after that.” I stepped forward and clutched his jacket in my hands as I begged. I begged. Benji Keanin had never begged for anything in her life and yet here I was, practically on my hands and knees begging to see some wild-eyed, messy-haired … guy.
I started to feel angry and bitter. I betrayed his trust… If I hadn’t let myself be ruled by cowardice… And for what? Everything had backfired so badly, and I didn’t even know why anymore. I didn’t even know what’s going on. I should have had a plan.
“Please just let me see him…”
Another dark chuckle, and then he tilted his head with a grin. “Where do you think we’re going, Vixen?”
My confusion must have been written on my face. Hyde shook his head, amused, and started to shove me along a worn path and into a clearing.
Thirty-Two
My heart sank. There was razor wire strung up in the trees of the clearing, but what caught my attention was Soul. One of his legs was wrapped tightly in the wire, and he was hanging about eight feet off the ground, upside down. His coat had been torn in many places, and his shirt was practically nonexistent. A long gash across his chest was dripping blood from his collarbone to his hair, and pooling on the ground below him.
He was out cold, but I had no idea how long he’d been like that. It could already be too late.
I had one sword left. I quickly ripped it out of its sheath and pointed at Hyde, his brother at his side now. I didn’t get a single hit in. They circled me, and then one took the sword from my hand while the other shoved me down. Choking up, I sat on the ground between them and glared daggers.
“The last thing you two did was argue. How does it feel to watch him die, knowing that he no longer loves you?” Jekyll asked.
I wouldn’t meet his eyes. I just sort of stared over my shoulder at my Crow.
“I’m going to hurt you,” I whispered.
My eyes shifted back to Hyde, with my weapon in his hand. Looking at the ground, I gritted my teeth. I used the last of my strength to launch myself towards Hyde. I elbowed him in the nose and repeatedly kicked his stomach until his brother wrapped his large hands around my neck. I fell to the ground, where they both proceeded to swing fists and razor wire.
Each slash opened a new wound. My body started to go cold, colder than the ice, water, and weather had already made me — the kind of cold your hand would get after it fell asleep, numb. I blinked to clear my vision as I lay on my stomach, waiting for my death. My entire right arm was soaked in blood and throbbing like there was no tomorrow, which there probably wouldn’t be…
I lay still and the twins backed off, Hyde stepping behind me and lifting my head by my hair for the second time today. Grinning, Jekyll took a small knife engraved with birds and golden inlays, then walked closer to Soul.
“Don’t you d-dare touch him,” I hissed. Blood filled my eyes for the most part, and I couldn’t move my leg in the slightest. I was helpless and I hated it. My mouth wouldn’t move properly — it was too cold and too numb — but I managed to scowl at him.
“Look at this realistically, K9!” Jekyll shouted at me. “You are done! Your boyfriend is do
ne! You are both going to die here, and you can’t stop it!”
Hyde tugged my hair again and chuckled giddily. I felt sick to my stomach.
“M-maybe that’s true, but there’s always going to be someone around who wants you gone. Even if we die here … you won’t make it back to Lilithia…”
I spat blood in his direction, and he slapped me hard across the face. I hit the ground again with a grunt.
Hyde’s yellowed teeth showed under a curled lip. “Get it through your thick head. You’re going to see him die, and then you are going out too. Your friends can’t save you, and your loving brother is useless.”
He started to walk backwards, past Soul. He fiddled with the wire that held my Crow up. Choking up, I grabbed my hair and slowly started to sob. Each breath burned my throat, and all feeling in my fingertips was gone. Tears mixed with blood — so much blood, and not just mine. I rested on my knees and let myself fall forward onto my elbows. My heart was beating so fast I thought it would burst out of my chest.
“Soul…” — I shook my head as I cried into the frozen blades of grass — “Soul, I’m sorry! You were right. I was a mistake.”
I heard Hyde lightly chuckle as he rested up against the tree, playing with his knife.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t love you…” I dragged my fingers down my cheeks as I looked back up at his still silhouette. He was swaying back and forth slightly, his lips parted. I glanced at a smirking Jekyll, then at his brother, who was mindlessly grinning and twirling the knife behind me. Sighing sadly, I glanced back up at my … former friend.
I silently pleaded for a way out of this, some sort of plan. Anything at this point would be nice, but I didn’t have the energy or brain power to think of anything. I felt like I was going to pass out again…
I pushed my hair back with my left hand — the only part of my body that didn’t feel like it was going to fall off — and continued to watch Soul. And then he moved. Groaning as I leaned forward, he slowly lifted his finger to his lips and grinned menacingly, eyes still closed.
