A loud bang tore through the cold, frigid air. Layana scampered closer to the shadows, quickly stashing the lock of red hair and paperclip into her pocket.

Holding her breath, she watched a shadow walk out from the front doors of the building. She was hiding near the walls, just by the dark alley she had left her friends in that night they escaped.

A click. A stream of light came from something the guard was holding. No, not a guard. Two guards. Three guards. Ten bulky shadows opened each of the lights they were holding, pointing it everywhere.

'They know I'm here,' Layana thought. 'They know I'm here,' hysteria laced the voice inside her head. Her dry throat constricted as she held her breath, praying that she would not be seen. Her hands, bloodied and clammy and chilled as she clutched the sides of her shirt. She need some way to evade them, but before she could even sneak a peek at the situation--

Blinding white light exposed her hiding spot. She stared, bug-eyed. Like a deer caught in the headlights. For a sliver of a moment, there was silence.

"I caught her!" The guard shouted. The troop behind him started hurtling over Layana without a warning. Without thinking, her legs moved on their own. Layana sped through the dark, cramped space, it was something she was grateful for as the guards were forced to go in one by one. Dirt kicked up her clothes. Heart thumping. Heavy breathing.

She didn't think this through. What was she thinking? Running into the evil's base with not enough resources and no plan? She's an idiot!

A scream of pain stopped her in her tracks. No, not one scream of pain. Two. Three. Until ten screams of pain resonated through the night.

Layana swiveled to the guards direction, what she saw made her heart stop.

Ten, strong bulky guards, sent rolling in the ground as ten arrows protruded their leg. Layana could see from her position, the sticky red substance pooling in the dark ground, making it a shade or two darker. She looked up the wall.

There she was. 

Nyla. Her wild array of curly black hair swayed in the wind, her black clothes and rich, brown skin blended with the night. A black cloth covered half of her face, leaving only her familiar silver eyes seen.

Layana gaped at her, dumbfounded. What is she doing here? But then again, Nyla would be the one asking her that.

A small yelp came out of her mouth as a face popped in front of her. Andriette. Her eyes were filled with a furious gaze that struck through her. Andriette wordlessly wrapped her arms around her waist and they were slowly hoisted up the wall.

Their feet raised from the ground as more guards started chasing after them in the small alleyway. The closest guard held out his arms, reaching for their hanging feet. Andriette kicked him in the face.

Layana looked up in a daze to see Nyla pulling them up as they stepped on the creases in the wall to help in getting out.

Finally, after lots of climbing up and off the wall, the two girls collapsed on the ground. The next things were a blur to Layana, déja vú filled her mind as Nyla shouted at them to run.

And then they were running. Running back to their clearing. Away from evil and back into their own headquarters. Ragged breaths. Palpitating hearts. Feet staggering on fallen tree trunks and prickly bushes. They ran off into the forest, adrenaline coursing through their veins.

Andriette's hand clasped around Layana's wrist tightly, nearly dragging her through the bushes and sharp rocks while Nyla led the way.

Suddenly, Layana was thrown to the ground; rocks scratched her elbows, drawing blood.

"What did you think you were doing?" Andriette's voice boomed through the midnight air as she loomed over Layana on the ground.

"Sally! She's--" Layana tried defending herself but Andriette intercepted her words.

"Not coming back! You need to accept that," her eyebrows creased over her eyes, flaming in anger. Layana couldn't understand why Andriette's acting like this. "The only thing we'lll be going to is out of here!"

"No! I-I saw her! She gave me this," scampering to stand up, she patted her pocket in search of Sally's message.

"Gave you what?" Andriette sneered.

"Wait, wait, wait it's supposed to be here. I placed it here," hysteria coating her voice, Layana emptied her pockets. There was nothing.

"Show it to me then," Andriette challenged. "You can't even find it!."

"No, no! I saw it! The--the...paperclip and the lock of hair! It was here, it was just here..."

"You could have died! Running back into that place!" She said, swiftly approaching Layana. Andriette picked her up from the ground, catching Layana by the collar. "Listen here, I'm not trying to crush your hopes. I'm trying to make you understand, there's no point in trying to go back." Her glassy eyes hardened with anger, but her voice was shaking, teeth chattering as she said, "we all know we can't risk losing more. If you got caught there, do you think it will be fine? What about us who lost everything? Have you thought about us at all?"

Andriette inhaled, then dropped Layana back on the floor. She looked away, "which is why we absolutely cannot go back. To Sally or to Cathy. They're gone, we have to preserve ourselves now."

Desperate tears glazed over Layana's eyes. She's not used to this. Shaking, she straightened, eyes dropping to the ground.

"No but she is! I saw her! I'm certain it's her!" Layana said, eyes brimming with tears before whispering in a low desperate voice. "You...you don't understand.."

"Oh yes I do! The enemy was telling you Sally's still alive, giving you some fake message to lure you into their mouths," her eyes softened for a moment.

Layana remembered her words and said, "I understand you, Andriette. But I'm one hundred percent sure that she's alive and that she gave me a message. Her message."

The softness in Andriette's eyes vanished, "have you consulted with the Lord?"

Layana hesitated for a while before whispering, "no..." Her voice shrinked tiny as a pea.

"You're a fool..." her words cut deeper than a sword as she casted one last look at Layana before striding away.

Layana's hands shook, tears slid down her cheek. Why did this happen to her?

"It's all too much, I'm not used to this. This is all too much.." her broken whisper laid softly among the dark canvas of the night. The leaves quivered around her shaking body as she slid down the shadow of a tree.

Nyla was nowhere to be found. She's alone. She's not used to this feeling. This is too overwhelming.

She curled tighter, the clouds parted and moonlight shone upon her.

She longed to go back in time. If she hadn't broken free from their cell, would she be feeling this broken? Lonely?...guilty?

"It's not my fault..." She whispered into the moon. "Right? It's not my fault, not my fault... " Her voice trailed off silently, replaced by fake chuckles. Chuckling in hopes to make her feel like it's all going to be okay.

She wished she was back in Cathy's loving arms. Where she felt comfortable. Where she felt loved. Where she had no reason to feel guilty.

Her tears overcame her body as she kept wishing. Wishing for the past to come back. Maybe if she wished harder, she'd find herself back in her four-cornered home.

Now, the world is big. Fights overwhelmed her. There's no Sally to comfort her. No grandmother to take her into her arms. Even the Lord seemed to have left her.

So she laid there, moonlight creeping over, guilt overwhelming her and reluctance keeping her mouth silent.

'It's not my fault, it's not my fault,' it repeated a million times, but her heart seemed to contradict her thoughts.

'It's not my fault, right?'

It's not my fault.

This time, those four words were spoken firmly. No additional question at the end. No reluctance. It's not her fault. Anyone with their right mind wouldn't take his hand. Anyone would have run back to the hands of evil for the person they love.

She only did the 'right' thing, right? Right...