Chapter 8 #2
My spine straightened, eyes sharpening. I wasn’t sure if I should give them a glimpse of my thought process.
I drank one sip just in case it wasn’t a choice to forgo the wine; I wanted to make sure I left no way for them to eliminate me.
If it was against the rules to drink so little, I also gave them the chance to tell me to drink more. But they didn’t.
“No reason,” I replied, deciding not to share. They most likely figured it out already, but saying it out loud was different. It was a confirmation.
They exchanged glances before moving their attention back to me. Dionysus was wearing the biggest smile. “Very well, mortal. You shall now go on.”
They now saw me either as a toy to play with or a challenge. I wasn’t sure which option I preferred.
The wet ground pulled at my boots, making a sucking sound with each step that carried me closer to the first trial.
The footsteps sounded loud in the quiet and mud splashed onto my leggings like a messy painting.
Slowing my pace, I looked at the trees that surrounded me, at the path winding through them, pressed flat by footsteps where grass fought to break through.
A sharp, shuddering breath escaped my lips. I was going to walk out of it. I was going to return to my mother, and no entity, no god, could stop me.
My right leg took the first step inside as if passing through a portal, and the rest of my body followed.
A wave of fear washed over me as the earth vibrated, the cries of animals piercing the unsettling chirping of birds in a horrifying symphony.
I wiggled my toes in my shoes, desperately trying to hear my own movements, but I was met with the consuming sounds of the forest.
All of a sudden I became hyperaware of the movement around me. I could hear the leaves dropping on the ground; a crisp, brittle sound, the rhythmic thud of thousands of steps in the distance, and chilling whispers, barely audible but taunting me. A sense of danger lurking around every corner.
Was this what was happening to the other contestants as well?
The others.
Where were the others?
At the brutal thought of that, every noise stopped. The ground stabilized, the birds stopped crying, and the animals were nowhere to be found. I sat tight, waiting for a sign that someone was here.
Did they all pass already? Was I alone in the woods?
“Run,” a voice said.
So I did. I ran until my legs were sore. I ran, my vision blurring until I couldn’t tell if it was from crying or simply from the physical effort. My breath came in ragged gasps as I ran, and soon my clothes were plastered to me with sweat.
And then the world tilted. The ground, once solid, swayed beneath me, a deceptive comfort.
I hissed in pain when one branch tore at the skin of my leg as I passed by, then a low growl, perhaps my own, rumbled as I fought to stay upright.
The scent of damp earth filled my nostrils, mingled with the metallic tang of blood. My blood.
My lungs burned, demanding air I couldn’t seem to draw deep enough.
The ground, a traitorous friend, attempted to cradle me, pulling me down into its dark embrace.
But I wouldn’t yield. Not yet. A primal scream clawed its way up my throat, a silent promise of defiance.
The world spun, a dizzying carousel of shadows and pain, and I knew with a certainty that chilled me to the bone that whatever came next wouldn’t be gentle.
I had to run. I had to get out of this cursed forest.
So I pushed harder and harder, disregarding the throbbing pain of the wound and the aching of my legs.
How long had it been since the trial started?
Minutes? Hours? I couldn’t decide. I had lost track of time.
The thought hit me hard in my chest, and panic seized me.
My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat threatening to shatter the cage it was trapped in.
Air hitched in my throat, making each breath a shallow, desperate gasp.
A cold sweat slicked my palms and forehead, and my muscles tensed, ready to flee from a danger I couldn’t name.
I held no vital information, nothing that mattered in this moment. I couldn’t say how much longer until the finish line. I didn’t know if I was halfway through or had two more minutes. I was completely disarmed.
My knees met the ground with a loud thud as my legs gave out, desperate for a few moments of rest. I would rest and continue after. Eyelids closed and—
“Get out. Get out. Get out. Get out,” a faint woman’s voice mumbled.
I knew it meant for me to get up, but I was so tired. I wanted to lie down, to close my eyes. Just a second. Then I was going to get up.
“Get out!” The shout was so loud the ground trembled under me.
I no longer mistook the voice for my imagination. I knew in fact that there was a real person next to me.
I forced my eyes to peel open, and I pushed on the mud to get myself up, but what was underneath me was nothing similar to the forest floor.
The voice bloomed closer. “Get out. Get out. Get out.”
When I thrust myself up with lazy eyes, I realized the thing underneath me was . . . human.
My heart pounded in my chest, an icy dread gripping me as I stared at her body, her blonde hair disappearing into the dark, leafy undergrowth.
Her clothes were ripped over her torso, slight scratches covering her entire abdomen and the small spot above her clavicles.
She was caked in mud, her eyes swiveling, and the same words kept repeating like a broken record.
“Get out. Get out. Get out.”
“Georgie,” I said, getting down on my knees. “Georgie, can you hear me?” I asked, slapping her left cheek. But she was unresponsive. It was like she didn’t even know I was here. “Georgie, please wake up. I’m going to get you out of here.”
A long, drawn-out scream pierced the air from my right—the most terrifying sound I’d ever heard.
It clawed its way into my ears; a raw, primal sound that seemed to vibrate in my very bones.
The scream was a twisting, agonizing sound; a desperate plea that was abruptly cut short, leaving an echoing silence in its wake.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and a creeping terror coiled in my stomach. I froze, my breath catching in my throat, my eyes darting around the shadowed alleyway, searching for the source of the nightmare.
I stared down at Georgie. “I’ll be back. Hang on.”
My knees protested with a sharp crack as I straightened, hobbling away from Georgie toward the origin of the terrible scream. Within a stone’s throw lay a sprawled body that belonged to a girl whose name I never got the chance to know. I ran the last few steps, and with a thud, I landed beside her.
Blood trickled from her eyes and ears, the wetness of her tears mingling with the metallic tang on her face.
My eyes flew back to Georgie. I didn’t know what to do or how to save both of them.
As a gesture of comfort, I placed my hand on the girl’s shoulder, acutely conscious that this superficial contact was powerless to ease the immense distress she was enduring.
She looked up at me with fading strength, her lips moving as though she were about to speak.
My breath hitched as I waited for her words, my heart pounding in my chest.
The girl’s mouth opened, a crimson tide erupting, staining the ground beneath her head as it lolled back, eyes locked open.
A choked, wet gurgle emerged; a desperate cough fighting the flow.
I knelt and the cool, slick blood was a shocking sensation on my hands as I cradled her head against my leg, hoping to ease her ragged breaths.
I caressed her dark short hair, Georgie’s words in the background melting with my trembling words.
“Shh,” I breathed out. “I’m here.”
Death was at her door and with each labored breath, I could only watch as it prepared to escort her soul to the other side.
I took the girl’s hand, placing it on my thigh while I continued to caress her hair. “What’s your name?” My voice broke through the air, accompanied by a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
She deserved to be remembered.
Crimson rivulets coursed down her face, splattering on the ground as her body convulsed. Her eyelids danced as she struggled to form words, a faint rasp escaping her lips.
“A . . . ri.”
“Ari?” I asked, my vision blurring. “Is that short for Arianna?”
The veins on her neck pulsed, thickening. “Y-y-es. Ari-a-a-nn-a.”
Arianna stopped moving, her gaze fixed on something far away. Her breath hitched for the last time, and the color drained from her face, leaving behind a pallid mask of stillness. A single dry leaf, dislodged by a sudden gust of wind, danced in front of her, momentarily obscuring Arianna’s face.
She was dead. She died.
For her, the world had disappeared, leaving only the echo of silence.
For a moment, the place became quiet. It was as if every animal and the forest itself was giving Arianna a moment for her death. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath, waiting.
Arianna. The name was too normal, too human compared to the corpse now lying in front of me, not a single sign of life showing through.
Her name was proof that this girl—who died so awfully and spent her last moments with a stranger—once laughed and cried with happiness; had a birthday, a family, had a life.
My throat tightened, though no tears came—yet—but my chest ached in agony under the weight of it. I didn’t even know Arianna an hour ago, and now, I’d carry her name with me forever.
Arianna. The first death I have ever witnessed. The first person I held through dying.
I couldn’t make myself look away. Her lips remained parted as if she had more to say. Perhaps a story that made her laugh in the darkest moments or a final wish.
I brushed away a dark curl from her forehead, her hollow, bright eyes watching me as I did, then my fingers pressed her eyelids down, condemning her to an endless sleep.