I shake my head, stepping forward once more and edging slightly to the right, eyes fixed on the monstrosity of a house. It's relatively dark and ominous... but that could just be from the pure fact it's the dead of night. The windows are extravagant and large, clearly old fashioned and giving the house a Georgian feel. 

I inch further around the wall, letting my eyes trail up and down the length of it. It's clearly reinforced; there's no way for anyone from this side to get in, yet it's on a smaller scale than the main wall up north. What is this place?

I stumble against a log, losing my balance and almost falling head first into the electrified fence before I manage to regain my composure and stand back upright. My heart is in my throat at the near death experience, this entire night turning into a complete nightmare. What if I never get back to Zac and the others? Lost in the South with the Slayers and whatever fucked up shit is in front of me.

Paying more attention to where I place my feet, I proceed with caution, stopping every five steps to look through the bars to the world beyond. Each time, I begin to see more of the house, the moon illuminating it differently from the varying angles. It's definitely an old Georgian mansion, one that avoided the war and subsequent destruction by Slayers, passing the test of time and living to see this messed up, obliterated society.

I can't tear myself away, even though I know that I should be running head first back into the forest to avoid the Slayers and apparent Enforcers. Curiosity over what's going on here has taken over, ruling out all common sense and urging me on.

Looking back at the mud on the floor, I move forward once more before stopping and turning my body back towards the house. Peering through the fence, I let my eyes trail over the dark window on the bottom floor before scanning to the one above. 

I freeze at the sight that greets me, my mouth dropping open in shock. A strange nausea bubbles inside me and I'm unsure whether it's from fear or panic. I'm completely lost for words, unsure how to even process what I'm seeing, let alone force my feet to move again.

They're one of the last people I would expect to see down here, confusion swirling around my brain. Regaining awareness of myself, I hesitantly put my foot forward, walking ever so slightly nearer to the bars to get a closer look. Maybe my eyes are just playing tricks on me?

The sight doesn't change, the person doesn't morph into anyone else, and unless they have a secret fucking twin, nothing is adding up right now.

What possible explanation can there be? This house is surrounded by a wall around three of its four sides before the wall stretches into the distance, not allowing me to walk the entire way around. Either it's a ridiculously huge back garden, or it connects straight to the North.

Which, now, apparently makes sense. I watch the person in the window shake their brunette hair over their shoulders before laughing at someone behind them.

What the fuck is there to laugh about? There's nothing funny about this place, no sense in laughing when you're residing in a huge mansion overseeing the broken South.

Because apparently having control of the freaking North isn't enough.

Gia smirks at something the other person says before she takes something from them. A cocktail glass enters my field of vision. I scoff, shaking my head before I step back to hide in the shadows.

What the hell is she doing here? Does this house really connect to the North? Is Gia involved with the South? Does she have more influence than we thought?

My head is swirling with so many unanswered questions that I almost fall over, instead settling for dropping to my knees as I continue to watch her through the windows. Gia laughs, chatting to the unknown person behind her, clearly a man judging by his dark shadow. 

She lifts the glass of alcohol to her lips, taking a sip before suddenly turning to look at the world outside. I freeze in place, terrified she'll be able to see the whites of my eyes as I crouch in the treeline just beyond her wall.

Her eyes keep moving, straight past me before she turns back inside. Stepping away from the window, I notice that she's in a blue, glittery, strappy dress, my mouth dropping open at the sight. What I wouldn't give for a dress like that these days. I can only imagine how much attention Zac would give me, and how confident it would make me feel.

Worn out black jeans, various black tops and loose hoodies hardly do much for a girl's figure.

Maybe she's celebrating. After all, it's early February and could very well be Valentines Day for all I know. Anna was the only one who would take note of the dates. Without her, we're lost.

Suddenly the curtains are drawn shut, leaving me completely blind. The windows are now dark, with no silhouettes for me to watch. I let out a flurry of air that I've been holding in before I fall forward, hands on the ground as I try to process what I've just seen.

Gia. In the South.

I have to warn Zac.

Struggling back onto my feet, I take one last look at the house before staring over the roof at the moon, begging myself to remember Kieran's lessons on how to work out direction throughout the night. Biting my lip, I make a bold decision, stepping around the house and heading straight into the trees.

Breaking into a run, I go all out, knowing that if I've gone the wrong way, I'll break down and cry no matter what. It's best to go hard and just see where I end up. The further I am from this place - the better.

I lose count of how many times I fall over, numerous scratches decorating my body as I go. I'm ridiculously out of breath, not letting myself stop for longer than ten seconds at a time. I'm exhausted, my limbs shaky and unable to continue, yet I never falter, knowing there's no time to waste.

Who knows what Gia's plans might be for the South? What if this is brand new and she hasn't been in that house for years? It could be a current plan that she's concocting. Or maybe she's been here for years and the South is far more corrupt than we know...

The trees all look the same, completely bare and naked in the winter chill. I can see the breath in front of my face as glittering sparkles of ice begin to set on every part of nature overnight.

The ground crunches beneath my feet with every stride, destroying the peaceful silence and alerting everything in my radius that I'm here. I can only pray that I've lost the Slayers way back near Gia's mansion. With any luck, they'll stumble into the fence and get electrocuted. That's probably wishful thinking though.

I can't feel the pain in my face or body anymore, not even in my legs. I'm completely numb, hardly noticing the rocks as they dig into the soles of my feet.

Looking up through the trees, I notice that I've gone slightly off track. I groan before twisting slightly to the left and jogging back that way, begging myself to keep going and not give up just yet.

What if I never find Zac? With every passing minute I lose more hope. My heart is racing... not just from exertion but also panic. He'll be worried sick, though he'll probably try to deny it. Denial is both of our middle names. We lived it so long, desperate to keep hold of our supposed dignity, in the end throwing it all away and giving into our feelings for one another.

But that doesn't mean we don't try to dim it down every now and again. After all, where the hell has feelings ever got anyone in a world like this?

Pain. Pure, unlimited, unexpected pain.

Kayla lost Jace. Everyone lost Bridget. Lyla and I lost Rayden. Jordan lost Claudia. All of us, Anna especially, lost Kieran. Myles lost Jen.

Who's turn is it next?

It's a cruel damn world we're living in, one that no human deserves to be part of. I long for the days before society was completely obliterated, every damn day.

Although maybe then I wouldn't have met Zac...

"Emilia!" I hear a voice call out. I stop dead in my tracks at the familiar sound. My eyes well up with tears of relief, instantly launching myself back into a sprint.

"Zac!" I reply, screaming through the uneven trees.

"Em?"

"I'm here!" I reply, zig zagging faster than before. Suddenly, I emerge into a clearing, eyes falling onto an exhausted, messy looking Zac. "Zac!"

"Oh my fucking god," he exclaims, launching himself towards me. "Emilia. What the fuck happened?"

"Zac!"

"Who did this?" he yells, his hands gently moving down my painful face. I flinch away from his touch and he curses, moving his arms around my waist and pulling me against him.

"Just some Slayers." I play it down, not wanting to detract from what I've found out. "I killed most of them."

"Em!" Bridget suddenly bursts into the clearing, her eyes wide. "Are you okay?"

"Of course she's not," Jordan retorts as he joins her. "Look at her face."

"I'll get some water," Poppy babbles before turning to leave.

"Wait!" I exclaim, shoving Zac's hands away from me so that I can step back. "I saw Gia."

"What?" Zac mutters, his brows furrowing as the rest of them freeze.

"There's a house," I tell them. "I found it after I escaped the Slayers. It's absolutely huge."

"Gia?" Poppy repeats, her voice hollow.

"I saw her through the window." I nod. Zac stumbles back, shaking his head.

"That doesn't make sense."

"Why would she be..."

"I don't understand."

"Don't you get it?" I exclaim, grabbing back hold of Zac and ignoring the rest of them. "There's something we don't know. So much we're clearly missing."

"But..." He trails off.

"Your older sister is in the South," I exclaim.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I'm sorry this one has taken so long! I have been in some crazy editing stress with my to-be-published novel and sadly had to put this to the side for a little bit.

Emilia's safe!

What do we think of Gia?