Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
꒾ CHAPTER 7 ꒾
A WOMAN'S HEART BEATS DANGEROUSLY FAST, for she is scared for her life, and her friends'. Her lips slightly chapped from the dryness of the atmosphere. She attempts to calm her shaking hands from the cold. Her bones are in agonizing pain from the number of fights she has fought in the last twenty-four hours.
Ju stares straight ahead, head tilted down in the slightest. She meets only one pair of mysterious eyes as she waits for the helicopter to land on the helipad, begging to be set free. The most horrific part was that it was Wenwu who kept his dark eyes on Ju's the entire time. Both never dared to end the never ending brawl between their pupils.
The man's son and daughter watch this encounter, trying to mask their surprise that their father is somehow interested in the former's friend. Not that she wasn't interesting of course. The other woman in the helicopter is positioned beside Ju, awkwardly looking to the ground. Nobody dared make a move to voice something. No one needs to, they all know where they will be taken.
At last, the sensation of slowly descending from the air fills their bodies as the helicopter takes its place on the helipad. No one says a word as they all stand up moving toward the door. The guards were removed a number of minutes ago, requested by Shang's father. He seemed to almost want to make them...comfortable.
As the adults all stepped down onto the platform, they were greeted with hundreds-no-maybe thousands of soldiers and guards awaiting orders from their master. They most likely didn't even care what they did, as long as they pleased their boss.
It was sick.
Wenwu stepped in front of the rest of them, facing his army. He seemed almost proud of himself as all of the men guided their full attention toward him. The man took a deep and content breath as he announced something to them.
"My son has returned," he proclaimed, "We may all be together again!"
The chants and cheers of the men echoed off of the snowy mountains surrounding them. Ju took Shang's hand in her own and gently began tracing shapes on his knuckles. She could sense his anxiety and uneasiness. Said man looked towards her, but her gaze was focused ahead. And for the first time in awhile, he genuinely smiled.
•••
Ju groaned into her hands while she sat down onto an old sofa. Xialing and Katy looked at her in amusement. Shang had been separated from them, and she had no idea where he was. The whole place was a damn maze. Xialing chose that moment to speak.
"You good?" She asked.
Ju slowly split her fingers apart and peeked through them, looking at the two other women in the room. It looked like it hadn't been touched in at least a decade, seeing the condition of most of the objects in the small space. A thick coat of dust covered each of them.
