Escape Before Dawn

CHAPTER 5: Stell's Courage

•Stell and Mary•

STELL'S POV:

The task of removing the ring from the Queen of the Mermaids was given to Mary and me. At the moment, they are residing in the closest lagoon.

I feel frightened. Sincerely, I have no idea how to protect Mary. I'm doing my best to maintain a composed and certain demeanor. I hold the holy water-soaked knife in my dominant hand as Mary carries the shotgun.

When we heard rustling amongst the trees, we were in the middle of a pitch-black forest. We both came to a complete stop.

I almost whimpered, "Shh." She silenced me by placing her finger on my lips.

The rustling stopped, but I still sensed someone is lurking, observing us. Mary drew nearer to me and spoke in a whisper.

I stared her in the eyes and nodded, "Stell, don't panic. Just grip your knife tightly because I know we have company."

When we heard the rustle again, we kept walking.

This time, a creepy giggle can be heard. Holy crap, man! Anxiety strikes me! I hate this! It took all my effort to stop me from taking off and abandoning Mary behind.

She put her hand on my shoulder to keep me grounded and said, "Calm down, Stell. I'm with you."

"Okay, I'll attempt to take a few deep breaths in and out to calm myself down." I assured her.

"Good. Just keep doing that." She urged as she gave me a gentle pat.

We were almost out of the forest when a little girl suddenly appeared in front of me wearing all white. A vengeful spirit.

She buried her ghostly hand in my chest without warning. I can feel her squeezing my heart inside my body. She's laughing in my face as she does it, while I am losing my life as time goes by.

"You see Stell? You're so terrified. You'll die in here with your friends whom you call your brothers.
We'll be playmates forever! Yay!" The girl said mockingly.

"N-no! It will never happen!" She just cackled louder. Her eyes are all black, which makes it scarier.

All of a sudden, a loud gunshot echoed throughout the forest. At last, I inhaled deeply. I kneeled on this dirty trail as I tried to catch my breath.

"Are you okay? Huh?" Mary checked if I'd been hit by the gunshot.

"I am fine. I am just trying to catch my breath," I assured her.

"I'm sorry. The girl prevented me from coming close to you. She instilled an invisible wall between us. That's why I took so long to fire the gun. Fortunately, I came prepared with this." She showed me a sigil she used to break the barrier.

I smiled at her as my way of saying thank you. Mary smiled back at me, but her smile faded instantly. I noticed she looked pale.

"Mary? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am." She's not.

That's when I noticed blood dripping from the right side of her torso. My reflexes were fast enough to catch her before she fell to the ground.

"How did this happen?!" I asked her.

"Blood must be used to write the ritual. I stabbed myself in a fit of desperation as I was running out of time." she said.

I apply pressure to the cut in an effort to halt the bleeding.

"Mary, you're bleeding so much!" In my panic, I stated this, but Mary muttered something to me before she passed out.

"Stell, please bring me to the nearest body of water." I immediately scooped her up in my arms and run out of the forest to the beach's location.

----To Be Continued----