"Nera, didn't you bring any more batteries?"
"It was probably a bad idea for the both of us to use flashlights. I'll go see if Winter can find me some."
"Be careful." Dud said softly. "With the way he's been acting, Delta might try to hurt you."
"Yeah, I'm aware. I'll try my best, Dud. You go find the others; stay beside them and don't run off no matter what."
"That's easy enough."
She could only rely on his luck as he disappeared into the opposite direction. Clouds of smoke flooded her vision, and the wind hummed a siren's song. A song that sounded more like a cry for help, growing louder with every tree she passed.
The dry leaves under her feet seemed out of sync when they crackled, almost like there was something else behind her. "Nera!" It whispered.
She turned her head for only a split second before getting clotheslined by a tree branch. "Nera..." Something stood above her, staring down at her miserable state. "You were always so useless. You forgot so much, and now everyone is stuck here with you. How does that make you feel?"
She ignored the question, holding her throat and dashing away. "You can't run from it, Nera! Thinks won't change until you let them!" The orphanage was in her view, almost clear from the creature who wouldn't stop tormenting her.
She reached the door, tugging on the handle with all her strength. "Winter, open up!" she shouted. Her voice was hoarse, unable to be heard by her friend, who was now running from a maniac on the inside.
─━━━━━━⊱✿⊰━━━━━━─
"Winter!" Delta shouted violently. "Come out already!"
Winter was hiding behind the kitchen counter, her hand covering the screams she wanted to let out. "We both know how this is going to end. I have a gun, and the only thing you can do is swing something. By then, the gun would already go off, and you would be dead!"
Except she knew he had a limited amount of bullets. If he was to fire them off, she could possibly get a fatal strike with the knife. "There is nothing I hate more, Winter, than playing this ridiculous cat and mouse game!"
"Psst." Winter turned her attention towards the basement door. Her fear only became harder to contain as she spotted Eri once again. "Follow me, Winter. Follow me into the darkness."
As stupid as it sounded, she ended up trusting her. With Delta nearby, she needed a way to distract him. He reached the kitchen counter, and acting as the perfect distraction, a rodent scurried away before his very eyes.
Within an instant, Winter leaped over the counter. Her movement was too slow as he grabbed her by the throat. "That must've been faster in your head." he chuckled. She swung the blade at his wrist, loosening his grip.
"Damn it, Winter!" She propelled herself through the darkness, every step down the stair was another chance at death. She nearly slipped at the top, but managed to latch tightly against the rail.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Delta shouted at himself. He regained his composure and followed after. "The basement, you chose the basement! Luckily, I was planning on dragging you down here anyway!"
Her name was a chokehold, tightening his throat as he stood rooted on the staircase. This feeling, still growing like a cancer inside of him, was the same thing he felt ever since first saw her at the orphanage.
Love, now transforming into something more toxic, much more desperate and obsessive. The basement engulfed them both in its murky silence, the only light a sliver from the staircase above, slicing the gloom into fractured halves.
Winter's heart pounded like a drumbeat against the stillness, her gaze paralyzed by the silhouette facing her direction intensely. "You know, things could have been more peaceful if you just... got out of my head!"
He reached the bottom step, his psychotic grin growing even wider. "Now, I have a plan to get rid of it, and I'll make sure you suffer every second of it! Do you understand? Me, and you, are going to suffer together as a whole, forever!"
Standing beside Winter, Eri knocked over a box, revealing her location. "E-Eri, what are you doing?"
"Helping things move a little faster. Whether you live or die isn't something I can control, that's all up to you. Survive, fight back and survive. That's the only advice I can give you."
"Winter! I've found you! Where is your distraction this time?"
She was silent, showing no sign of resistance and simply accepting her death. "Aren't you afraid of me now?"
"No." Her answer was as blunt as it could be. "I can't understand why you would do something like this. I knew you were troubled, but I couldn't imagine you were stupid enough to let it get to your head."
"Shut up!" a scream from the top of his lungs. "I'm just tired of waiting, tired of watching things go around in circles. Never, not once in those thousands of deaths, did you ever give me a chance!"
He had the revolver pointed to her head. "I'll ask you one more time... do you love me?"
"No."
She grabbed his cut wrist, the pain only grew stronger until his grip weakened once again. The gun bounced against the floor, and as a last resort, Winter secured it. She let her guard down, giving Delta enough time to reach her.
His hands tightened around her throat, but she did exactly what Eri wanted her to, firing the revolver straight into his chest. Delta fell back, rolling on the ground in agonizing pain. As his body grew cold, the foreign emotion vanished away, leaving him to realize the even colder reality.
His voice became passive, as Nera appeared from beyond the basement door. "I seen it..." Delta spoke, tasting nothing but metal. "I've memorized every rejection, every single time I've died. N-Nera needs to remember as well. It's the only way... It's the only..."
"Delta! Delta, stay with us!"
Winter's words couldn't reach him. They searched for all the other children in the woods, relieved that none of them ended up dead. Winter explained the whole story, even including Delta's horrifying encounter with Death.
They lost even more sleep that night, fearing that they too... will need to stare into the face of death.
ns 172.70.127.73da2
and then Add to home screen.