Her Soul

17. lost

The stones rolled over as she ran. Dried leaves and twigs crumbled under her feet. She had no sense of direction. She had let go of Riaan's hand somewhere on the run. He was shouting for her to stop. The two figures must still be following her but she did not stop to turn and check. She kept running. She had to keep running if she wished to see another morning.

Her legs felt week, she was breathing hard. Her hands and arms had cut from the barks she had scratched on. She knew she could not keep running. Her energy was fast draining. She could not see what laid ahead of her since moonlight was totally filtered by the canopy.

"Stop!" She could hear Riaan's voice from behind. He had been shouting for a while. Aviana did not stop, not for a second. Riaan would not understand the seriousness of the situation.

Then abruptly his yelling stopped. Before she could figure out what had happened she crashed into something. No, someone. She was tackled to the ground. She fell on her back. Aviana tried to pull away from the persons's grip but they were much stronger than her. She kicked the air and screamed on top of her lungs. Her hands were pinned on her sides by another hand. She could tell by the touch that it was a male.

"I said stop!" He yelled in her face.

Aviana let out a relieved breath. She recognized the voice- it was Riaan. They needed to run but he was still on top of her. "We need to run! They will find us. Go!"

She tried to get up but he pushed her down holding her hands tightly. "No one is following us!" He shouted over his ragged breathing.

Aviana's heart was beating fast. It felt like it could leap out. No one came to catch her. Her breaths came out shallow. They must have escaped. They had lost the two figures. She slowly let her body relax.

After Riaan was sure she was not going to run, he slowly released his grip. "Do not run," he warned.

He let go of her and sat with a thump.
"What the hell just happened Aviana?"

Aviana managed to sit up. Her back hurt from the fall. "They lost us."

Riaan was leaning against a tree, sweating. "Who?" He was still breathing hard.

Aviana's mind was trying to adjust to all that went down. She was still wondering how they found her. "That two...they wanted to kill me."

Riaan looked at her both surprised and annoyed. "There was no one after you."

"No, you don't know. They were chasing us."

"There was no one after us. The only one running like a mad person was you." Aviana understood Riaan. This all must feel surreal to him. But if they had not run, they would have died.

"Aviana!" He shook her. He had come near her. "Are you listening?" His eyes looked deeply into her eyes. There was no blue in them, it was all black in the dark. "Those two ran after us because you screamed. Do you hear me? They came to see if you were alright."

Aviana thought Riaan was blabbering nonsense. Nothing could change her mind. She had seen them. They have come for her. The thing from her past, that she thought was over, was now hitting her again.

"They were burying a corpse." Her voice trembled as she said it. She had seen it- the sack. They had killed another poor soul. If she had not run, she would have been the next.

Riaan let out a frustrated sigh. "No, they were planting plantations," he disclosed to her.

"I saw it...the corpse." She was shaking all over. Why can't he understand?

"Hey look at me." His breathing had become even and he appeared calm.

"No one is after us. They were just planting some plants. They are not some scary serial killers. Got it?" Aviana decided to drop it for now. There was no point in arguing with him. They had to get to the car and head home.

"Come on let's get out of here." He pulled her to her feet. "Use your phone torch."

"I left my phone in the car." Aviana knew 'wood burgers' had the worst reception so she had not taken her phone.

"Fabulous!"

She felt wobbly from the running. She kept her mind awake to sense for any movements. Those two could return any time. As Riaan did not believe her, it was her duty to save them both.

They both stood there turning to see which side they had come from. It all looked the same to Aviana. Trees and only trees. She could make out nothing clearly in the dark. Riaan himself was just a silhouette. "Let's go this way." He pulled her along.

"Wait." She stopped him. "I think it's this side."

Riaan looked at the direction she was pointing. "No. That's not the side."

"I am sure this is the side, " Aviana argued. She had seen two trees bent at a weird angle. And those two were in the direction she was pointing.

"Look! I remember passing that logs." He again pointed to his direction.

Aviana was very sure he had the wrong direction. "No, you are wrong. This is the right direction," she put in more stubbornly. Aviana was no expert when it came to the forest but she knew she was right.

He looked at her shaking his head. "Fine! You go that way, I will go this way. Let's see who makes it out." He let go of her and started sauntering in his direction.

"Wait!" Going separate ways was not the best idea. Did he expect Aviana to go off alone? There was no way she was doing that. She was gonna stick with him till they got out, whether he liked it or not.

He stood there waiting. "You coming or not?"

She decided to try one last time. "You have the wrong direction."

"I am not listening to anything you say. You brought us here." He pointed his index finger right in front of her nose. "I, am getting us out."

She shoved his finger down. She had no other alternative. She had to go by his plan. "Fine, but don't say I did not warn you."

"Oh, you will be thanking me." He started walking. Aviana followed him behind cursing his stubbornness.

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