DESTINED ✧ F. ODAIR

[ 34 ]

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CHAPTER 34
❝ BLOOD RAIN ❞

CONTRARY TO my expectations, everyone slept through the night peacefully— aside from the occasional screams and commotion that echoed through the forest from a distance. From the way it sounded, a lot of the action seemed to be far away from us, which pushes me to believe that there was no reason for me to be alarmed yet. However, as the hour passes, the ground rumbling beneath our feet becomes louder and the surprised chirps of the birds get closer.

Hot rain trickles down from the sky, tickling my cheek as it drops on my face and slowly falls down. Worried, I stand up to look around for any danger but my eyes are met with nothing. I grip the blade of the weapon attached to my waist as I take a step forward. This time, the drops of rain begin to fall slightly faster. One drop. Two drops. Three. Until it begins to settle into a light drizzle. I looked up at the sky to see if it'll last very long but I'm soon confused by the lack of rain clouds. I reach out my palm in front of me to figure out if I'm hallucinating or not and a scarlet red drenches my skin.

Surprise courses through my body before a scream makes its way out of my throat. Startled, Johanna jolts awake with her axe in hand, her eyes wide. Beetee and Wiress shuffle a bit before they groggily brush the wetness off their eyes, not noticing what was happening. I let out a cry and swipe at my skin as flashes of my nightmares begin to haunt me and the warm liquid starts to seep into my hair. "What is this." The blood slips into my mouth, the iron taste was bitter on my tongue when I spoke. The rain didn't wait for us and it only fell harder the longer we took.

Johanna was the first to come back to reality. Several emotions crossed her face all at once: confusion, shock, stress, anger. I don't remember the last time I saw her so distressed. I didn't have to hear her voice to feel the roaring fury in her scream. Her lips formed the words 'run' as she reached over to pull Beetee and Wiress up by their arms. I stumbled against the uneven jungle floor and took off in a sprint behind them.

The blood began to coat my face and the warm liquid pressed against my cold cheeks. The thick wet substance stuck against my hair and made it hard to see.

In the midst of the chaos, I felt something hit my ankles and I fell forward. Dirt and leaves scraped against my face and adrenaline pumped in my veins. I subconsciously let out a scream and yelled for Johanna, but only a strangled sound left my throat as blood choked me.

I felt arms pull at mine, tugging me against the floor in rough sharp tugs. My throat constricted and the taste of the iron only made me more nauseous.

I shut my eyes tightly to avoid the stinging that burned my sight when I attempted to see what was in front of me.

Soon, the feeling of the rain dissipated and I heaved for air. Hands pushed against my chest and I could hear the muffled sounds of someone crying beside me. Slowly, the blood that got stuck in my throat made its way back up before I threw right back out in a violent cough.

I blinked away the blurriness of my vision, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to see, and locked eyes with Wiress who sat at my feet. Beetee glanced at me from under his glasses with slight concern. He turned to observe the rain from the entrance of the cave we'd apparently taken shelter under. The hands that were pushing against my chest moved away and I tilted my head up to look at Johanna's wet brown eyes. The tears threatening to spill were stubborn against the corners of her eyes and she turned her head to avoid eye contact.

"It was disgusting, Seph. Where did they get all that blood for this stupid prank?" She grits her teeth, punching her fist against the dirt, "Did they think it was funny?"

I could only stay quiet at her rant. The pain that spread in my throat slowly felt torturous and stopped me from the millions of questions that I had about the event that just transpired. Although it wasn't entirely surprising that the game makers were capable of this atrocity, it was more so that it felt like we had more to lose.

Johanna, although she wouldn't admit it, was slowly going insane in this arena. Now that she has something to work for, the anxiety of potentially dying before reaching our goal is eating at her mind one minute at a time.

And the storm of blood that took us by storm and almost drowned us in our sleep didn't help.

I pushed myself off the ground, ignoring the sticky feeling under my fingertips and the grime that stuck to my clothes. I took a few steps closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Johanna."

Whether we died or not, as long as she's alive then it's okay. I ran my eyes over her face when she turned to look at me, "Remember what we're here for." To be sacrificed for the rebellion. Johanna locked eyes with me and a lingering guilt remained in her irises. She frowned before sighing. She nodded and turned over, laying on the ground to go back to sleep.

Beetee and Wiress sat in the shadows in their own corner, avoiding eye contact with me and invested in their own activities with the copper wire. The crackling of the harsh blood rain outside was the only sound that met my ears and washed away against the silence that blanketed us.

And I was left yet again, insecure and very conscious of the unsettling guilt that everyone has towards me with no knowledge of why.