"We should've brought a weapon. Like a big knife or something."

"And where exactly would we have found a big knife, Chloe?" I hear Daisy's voice next to me.

We've been walking through this dark tunnel for about five minutes and I'm already starting to get impatient. I feel like this tunnel is never-ending.

"I don't know, maybe in the kitchen?" I reply.

"Well, it's too late now, we've got to get to Eleanor as quick as possible," Daisy reminds me.

"I was just saying... You never know what Adrianna's capable of. We need to protect ourselves in some way."

"Well, then I guess we'll have to improvise," Norah adds to the conversation.

And after that comment, there's a long moment of silence, our footsteps on the wet ground of this tunnel being the only sound that we hear. We continue our way through the tunnel without really talking to each other. A few minutes later, just when I'm starting to feel soreness in my legs, I begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

"We're almost there," Syria announces.

Our pace quickens for the last few meters until we all reach the exit of the tunnel. Arriving there, I see the sack Syria was talking about earlier, lying on the ground. I pick it up and I look inside. A rope, pliers, a few nails, an empty water bottle, a hammer, a handsaw and a shovel. Perfect weapons, I think to myself. Meanwhile, Norah is the first one to get out of the tunnel, followed by Daisy. Syria stands next to me, also looking at the tools inside the sack.

"We should take it with us," she tells me.

"Yup, that's what I was thinking," I say. Then, with no further thinking, I grab the sack and carefully put it over my shoulder to make it easier for me to carry it. Syria helps me out of the tunnel, to join the others.

"Ugh, it's so bright now, I was starting to get used to the darkness back there. Now my eyes hurt," Norah complains.

"Then close them," Daisy replies sarcastically.

"Ha-ha-ha. Did someone eat a clown this morning?" Norah mocks her back. In the process of turning her head to look at Daisy, she notices Syria and me joining them. She then stares at me for a long second, while squinting her eyes because of the newly exposed brightness.

"What's that on your back?" she asks.

"Our protectors," I say. "It's where Syria got those glow sticks from. And there are a lot of other useful tools inside, we never know when we could need them in here," I finish while looking around. This part of the forest looks kind of familiar.

"Oh cool, let me see," she says, stepping closer.

So I put the sack down on the ground to give her and Daisy a chance to see what we're going to bring along. While the both of them dig through these new items, I decide to take a second glance at our surroundings. And then I realize why this place seemed familiar. A few meters from the distance I could see the cabin, the one where Adrianna locked me in.

"Guys, the cabin!" I reveal. The girls turn to look to where I was pointing.

"Okay, this means Eleanor must be somewhere around here, no?" Daisy says unsurely.

"Possibly. Come on let's go search for her, we have no time to waste," Norah speaks before grabbing the sack again.

And so we begin to make our way towards the cabin, trying to look around to see if there is any trace of Eleanor. Norah begins to call for Eleanor and so do Syria and Daisy. I try to stay focused on trying to see any hint of blue and white amongst the greens and browns. The color of Eleanor's outfit. At least that's what she was wearing the last time I saw her.

When we reach the cabin, they stop calling for her. The door of the cabin is still wrecked from earlier. Just as I was about to suggest that we head inside the cabin to see if Eleanor could be anywhere, I hear the sound of leaves crunching behind us. The sudden noise makes each of us turn around. And the second my eyes fall on the silhouette, I feel my heart skip a beat. Just a few feet away from us, right next to a tree, stands Adrianna.

With her cold, ruthless orbs looking right at us, she doesn't move for a few instants. Everyone and everything stands still and quiet. It's as if the world had stopped turning for a second and everything was put on pause. Neither my mind nor my body could react for a while. Feeling myself come back to reality, my first instinct is to reach my hand to my side until I feel Syria's hand. I grab her trembling hand and try to hold her closer to me so Adrianna can't hurt her.

I take a quick glance at the girls and I see pale faces and terrified looks. When I look back in Adrianna's direction, she speaks.

"Oh look, if it isn't the Powerpuff Girls trying to save the world again!" she giggles, "well except you're four instead of three."

As I try to speak back I feel that my mouth has gone dry.

"Where is she, Adrianna?"

Adrianna laughs softly before she pauses and looks straight at me with a stinging gaze. And then she talks.

"You know... I've always wondered what our future would look like. I mean, I'm talking about our future together, as a couple. And you know what I saw?"

She doesn't give me any time to reply.

"A big house. Two children, a boy and a girl running around that house and laughing. Two wonderful children, because we raised them so well. Because you were an amazing mother, there is no doubt. I saw the four of us taking walks by the beach. Oh, yeah, because I remember you saying that you wanted to live by the beach as soon as you'd get the chance. I don't forget these things, baby. I saw happiness when I thought about our future. I really did. But then, you decided to destroy my dreams."

"Don't act like I was the one who ruined our relationship, Adrianna," I interrupt her.

"We could've made it work! I was struggling, I know that, but you could've been more patient with me! I was so, so close to finally letting you in. I was about to commit myself to you and you just fucked it up!"

"Where the fuck is Eleanor?!" Daisy grows impatient and interrupts Adrianna.

Realizing that she had become emotional, Adrianna tries to keep her composure again. She takes a deep breath and replies calmly.

"If you want me to let her go, you have to give me something in return."

"And that would be?" I ask.

There's a short pause. As if she were contemplating about what she was about to say.

"You come with me."

"There's no way, Adrianna," Syria jumps in before I get the chance to say something.

"I go with you? And where would we go?" I finally say.

"I don't know. Somewhere far away from here?" she says after another short pause.

"Chloe, what are you doing?" it's Norah's turn to interrupt our dialogue. I ignore her and continue what I have to say.

"Tell me, Adrianna, what exactly are your plans after this? You really think you can get away with all you did so far?"

Adrianna seems speechless after what I say. It looks as if she actually hadn't thought this through. She just stays in silence and watches me. Then, a few seconds later she averts her gaze and looks towards the forest, as if in thought.

I look at the girls next to me. They're equally confused and seem to be looking for a way out of this situation.

"What are we going to do?" Daisy whispers almost inaudibly.

I shrug, not knowing what to do in this moment. Adrianna becoming vulnerable in front of everyone and talking about a future with me freaked me out a little.

I'm still processing what she just said. So maybe if I had waited a few more days it would've worked out? We could've been happy together? And none of this would've happened? I don't know, it doesn't sound right. She always did this, she always told me to be a little more patient, that she was close to completely open up to me. Why would it be different now? It could be. Why did it sound so different now, then? Why did she seem more genuine a minute ago? Okay, no wait. I'm completely forgetting what she did to me. And to Syria. And I don't even know what she did to Eleanor, yet. GOD, where the fuck is my mind going, how is she able to manipulate me this way?!

"Chloe?"

I'm brought back to reality after hearing Syria call me. Our eyes meet.

"Are you okay?" her tender voice asks me. Feeling comfort in her gaze, I don't look away when I reply.

"Yeah, sorry, I just zoned out."

She gives me a reassuring smile before mouthing "it's okay". When I turn my gaze back to Adrianna, she's already looking at me. No, she's looking at Syria. She's not just looking at her but she's glaring at her. And before I can even react, she's already walking towards us.

Everything happened really fast after that. Or really slow. I don't know. I just know that I didn't see Norah trying to get the hammer out of the sack to protect us from Adrianna. I just know that I saw Adrianna and Norah fighting over the hammer. I also saw that Adrianna managed to take it from her. All this happened in a fraction of a second. And what came next seemed like an eternity.

I hear a loud crack followed by a short cry. I close my eyes as a reflex but I feel no pain. So I open them again and I look around. And I see Syria's body falling backwards to the ground. There are other sounds of voices but I can barely hear them. I feel like I'm in an invisible box and every sound from the outside is muffled. And I see her lying there. And I want to know if she is okay. But I can barely move. I want to meet her eyes but I can't. Because there's blood everywhere. There's blood coming out of her forehead and I can't move. I see Norah and Daisy approaching her. I think they're talking to her. I can't hear them but I can see their mouths moving. Why am I still not able to move? I keep looking at her. The blood doesn't stop. Why doesn't it stop?

Then, slowly I manage to move my head. Right next to me stands Adrianna, looking down at the exact same thing. I follow her gaze. Syria. Blood. I look at Adrianna again. Hammer. She's carrying the hammer in her trembling hand. I look at Syria again. Then back at Adrianna. No. No this is not happening.

"What did you do?!" I manage to say almost in a whisper.

And then again, in a fraction of a second, my body reacts by itself.

"Chloe, no!" someone screams at me.

But it's too late.