River of Blood

Chapter Sixteen

Sarafine still felt like hell when she woke up the next day. Her tangles of red curls bombard her face as she sits up, and she nearly chokes of them. Moving them out of her face, she thinks back to the night before, wondering where it all went wrong.

Zelda seems about ready to pounce on the Fae girl, but Sarafine holds tightly to her arm to keep her steady. Sarafine whispers, "She's on our side. Do not kill her. We need her, Zelda." Continuously to try and keep the other girl grounded.

"Why doesn't she have any faith?" Zelda whispers back, her eyes on the ground.

"Maybe it was all driven out of her by some traumatic experience in the past." Sarafine glances towards her. "You know, Evangeline doesn't have that much faith in things like this either. She wanted to run. Do you think she would try to save us if roles were reversed?"

Zelda ponders the question, her gaze seemingly lost. "Evangeline would do it. She probably wouldn't have before, but I have faith she would now."

"What makes you so sure?"

"We've changed her. She didn't seem keen on staying here, but we convinced her to. And that got her captured and likely..." She trails off, her gaze lingering on the trees as they walk past them back towards the lake.

"You can't blame yourself for them getting caught." Sarafine whispers, rubbing her hand against Zelda's back soothingly. "None of us should be blaming ourselves. We should be blaming the hunters."

A puff expels from Zelda's lips as she glances at Sarafine. "How do you stay so...I don't know the word for it...level-headed?"

Sarafine doesn't answer, knowing that whatever line she would give would be complete and utter bull. Sarafine is definitely not level-headed. She's driven by pure and unaltered fear mainly. "I don't think any of us can stay level-headed, Zelda. Not even me."

They fall into a comfortable silence as they trudge through the woods. Lightning strikes overhead, causing Aquila to jump nearly a foot off the ground. She takes off in a dead sprint, Sarafine sighing at her departure. Of course the mermaid doesn't want to get caught in the rain. If she does she will have her tail back.

Annalise stops suddenly, causing Sarafine to bump right into her. "Hey, why did you stop!?" Sarafine asks.

Annalise doesn't answer, her eyes scanning the trees. "We're being followed." She murmurs, causing a chill to spiral down Sarafine's spine. Sarafine looks around, but doesn't sense that anything is out of place. Annalise's tense body keeps Sarafine from saying anything else though, considering. Her eyes go wide as they focus on something black coming out of the night. It moves fast, the glint of silver apparent on its weapon.

The bullet wizzes through the air, catching everyone off guard. "Scatter!" Annalise yells, taking off.

Zelda grabs onto Sarafine's stiff arm and begins to drag her away. Lynn takes off in a third direction.

When Sarafine regains feeling in her legs, she shoots off. Zelda races by her side, and it sounds like the pounding of something big following them. When screams arise from somewhere deep in the woods, the hollow feeling in her chest deepens to pure fright. She grips Zelda's hands tighter, trying not to slip and fall as they try to get farther away.

Zelda lets out a cry as something clips her shoulder. Sarafine keeps the girl moving, even as the stench of blood reaches her. "We can't stop moving!" Sarafine yells, almost slipping on the wet grass.