||This chapter changes POV (from first to third) so it's in italics to visually portray the change.||

Chapter's glossary

Bbali bbali: In Korean "hurry up."

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"Blanca? Blanca?!" Nora screams, running through the forest, her heart beating fast. She heard something, a scream and then nothing else. And Blanca doesn't reply, which increases her anxiety.

When she finally makes it to the place she left her best friend at, the girl isn't anywhere to be seen, so Nora starts screaming louder, calling for Blanca desperately, trying to hear her from somewhere in the forest. But no replies come and a bad feeling in her guts sinks deeper, making her hands tremble and her head spin.

Where did Blanca go?

She then hears footsteps, someone running towards her and she gets scared, but at the same time hopeful that it is Blanca the one approaching. Instead, it's Will the one who shows up, expression frantic and breathing hard.

"What happened? Where is Blanca?" Will immediately asks, approaching Nora with wide eyes, pale with dread.

"I don't know!" the girl replies, anguished. "I was just peeing and she was waiting for me, then I heard a scream and thought something scared her, but she said nothing else and now she's nowhere to be seen. I don't know where she went or what happened and she doesn't answer!"

Will's expression hardens but it reflects the same panic Nora is feeling. How can something like this even happen? And if they look around it doesn't seem like something attacked Blanca, there's no sign of evident struggle aside from the broken twigs and leaves from them moving around. What kind of animal would've taken her away? Or where could she hide, so deep in the forest, as not to answer Nora's calls?

"The drone!" Will exclaims then and Nora takes a heartbeat longer than usual to process, but when she does the girl finally understands why he's thinking about it.

Without saying a word, they rush back to the clear and grab the drone they put down for a while as they weren't moving. If Blanca is around, the thing will rise in the air and go after her, and if they follow it they'll find her, wherever she's hiding.

Hopefully, she's just hiding.

Will sends the drone in the air and after a few seconds, this starts moving. Leaving everything behind, they follow it the best they can, with hammering hearts and fear freezing their blood. Nora wants to cry but pushes all emotions at the back of her mind, because they need to find Blanca first. The emotional breakdown can wait until Blanca is back with her.

They follow the drone through the forest, running as fast as they can, their lungs burning with the strain but not slowing down for even a second, desperation stronger than anything else, making the legs keep going. One footstep after the other. Faster than they made their way to the clear, they are out of the woods and back next to the van, so Will runs to it noticing how the drone doesn't stop, this time heading in the opposite direction from where they came.

Blanca isn't hiding in the forest... someone must've taken her and they need to catch up. Fast. Later they'll find out how this happened, who took her and everything else, as for now they need to find her. But the van's ignition isn't starting, up no matter how much Will tries, and he can't waste much time trying.

"Argh! Screw this!" he screams, jumping off the van and running after the drone, as fast as before, if not even faster, taken by adrenaline rush.

Nora knows it's better to use the van, but if the engine is dead she has no way to fixing that, so she starts running too. Blanca can't be more than a few minutes ahead, and now that they are out of the woods, she grabs her mobile and starts calling the police, telling them her friend was kidnapped and they are following the drone that is tracking her location. She quickly tells them where they are now and in what direction they are heading and hangs up, because she can't keep talking and running at the same time.

She feels like she's going to throw up, her body can't keep up with the race but she is not willing to stop unless her limbs fall off. Will is far ahead, but she won't stop and will find Blanca even if she has a heart attack in the process. The police will come and help them find her. She can't be that much far ahead, the drone is still moving but too fast, faster than them.

If only they had the van...

The drone cannot be seen anymore, but both Nora and Will continue running until there's something ahead, on the bridge. A car has collided against the barrier and two women stand by it, one leaning backwards and the other pushing.

Even when Nora is probably a hundred metres from them, she can recognise one of the figures immediately.

"BLANCA!" Nora screams just as the figure being bend over ultimately falls into the river, before she can't make it, or Will.

The other person turns around at the scream but at the sight of people running towards her, she turns back and runs to the car, getting in the driver's seat and driving away.

Even if she's escaping, Nora can't stop running towards where they were standing, towards the river.

"Blanca!" Will is also screaming, making it first to the exactly spot where she fell from and searching desperately with his eyes to spot her, but the waters are fast and dark. "Fuck!" he screams, turning to where the car was, then back to the barrier.

"What do we do?" he breathes out, pulling his hair, knowing he can't reach the car and who did this, but not able to spot Blanca.

The drone is following the river stream, that's what Nora spots which means Blanca is there. She is not thinking, she doesn't care about anything else but rescuing Blanca. Nora's sole purpose to be in the Dream House is protect Blanca, she can't allow this to happen.

Time is gold, they can't waste a second.

"The police are on their way, try calling them again and tell them exactly where we are. Tell them we need an ambulance," she instructs, taking her phone and shoving it against Will's chest.

"What are you—?"

He doesn't get to finish the question, Nora throws her leg over the barrier and dives into the river, swimming down and following the drone, frantic to find Blanca. Nothing but desperation is driving her and she won't stop until she finds her best friend.

Nora gets closer to the drone and starts diving in again, looking around under the surface, calling her name every time she comes out, knowing that every second is precious and if she doesn't find her soon, she might lose her forever. The girl can't wait for the police to arrive, she can't let Blanca drown and die.

She can't!

Finally, Nora spots something in the water, something big that doesn't look like a rock or anything that should be there, so she goes for it and realises it's Blanca, so she swims harder, faster. Lungs are burning, she can barely see and her body is screaming in agony, but Nora doesn't stop. She continues kicking until she reaches the sinking body and pulls it to the surface with her, doing her best to keep them afloat.

Blanca's mouth is covered, which surely made it all worse, her face is been hit and cut, even now blood is coming out, but what's worse, she's not blinking or moving or anything.

Nora swims to the shore, dragging Blanca with her and pulling her out of the water, immediately tearing off the tape and removing the red handkerchief inside her mouth, soaked. She throws it away like a poisonous apple and starts to check on Blanca's vitals, but there's none. No breathing and she can't find the pulse, furthermore, she's completely soaked and cold to the bone.

But that doesn't stop Nora.

With her mind as cold as her body and blood right now, Nora recalls exactly what to do from her first aid classes. Nora makes sure Blanca's head is on a flat surface, air ways open and nothing else is blocking them. Her hands on Blanca's chest, over her sternum, one over the other while she kneels next to Blanca and starts counting as she makes pressure, not too hard, but not too light, just enough. She does every sequence and checks Blanca's breathing again, but there's none so she goes back and tries again and again. After a third trial, she pumps air into Blanca's lungs as well, covering her mouth and blocking her nose with her fingers, then going back to apply pressure.

Nothing will stop Nora until Blanca is breathing again.

Everything hurst and screams in the young girl, but she doesn't stop and it seems forever when, finally, Blanca starts coughing and water spills from her mouth. Nora turns Blanca's head away, helping her to get rid of the water in her lungs and sinking next to her, feeling like her soul is back in her body, feeling like she can breathe again.

"It's okay, I've got you," Nora whispers, cradling Blanca on her lap, pushing the hair away from her face, wiping away the blood. "You're safe now."

Tears are free falling from Nora's eyes as she rocks back and forward with Blanca, shaking and feeling too weak to do anything else, her heart is beating so hard and she feels like even her toes are trembling, but she's consumed with relief. Blanca is with her, she's breathing again. Even if she's not completely awake now, if she just barely mumbles, she's breathing and help is coming to them.

Nora looks up and the drone is above their heads and she is so thankful for having brought that with them, because they would've never found Blanca if it hadn't been for it.

"You'll be fine," Nora promises, leaning down, her head dipping until her lips find Blanca's forehead. "I'm sorry," she whines next, her shoulders shaking with sobs. "I'm so sorry, Blanca."

Blanca only whines so Nora throws her head back and takes deep breathes. She'll apologise later, now she needs the police and ambulance to hurry up before Blanca enters a state of hypothermia and everything gets worse. They can still lose her due to that.

"Bbali," she whispers, more tears falling, at the same time, drawing Blanca closer to her. "Bballi bbali."

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*smirks* you all were thinking Will was going to "kiss" Blanca and save her, uh? It's a true love's kiss, and friendship is also another kind of love. I wanted to twist the classic tale just a bit like that. What do you all think?

I updated as early as possible, I was all weekend busy, but I hope you didn't die waiting.

Dedication to bookworm1317 I appreciate all those comments, but don't worry, you don't need to leave that many with just numbers xD I would've updated sooner but I was too busy. Sorry.

Bel, xx

~updates every Monday and Friday~