33.

The forest is dead silent. A noise wails at the back of my mind, quietly at first, until it transitions into a crescendo of crashing waves. There's a knife at my throat, a body restricting me against the tree, but I couldn't even move if I tried. I'm in shock, my body paralysed as Malik's eyes meet mine.

"I'm sorry."

It's the fifth time he's said it since he restrained me and pressed the knife against my throat. I haven't been able to say anything back, my mouth won't work.

Over his shoulder, someone calls for me, their voice a little more than a whisper, but I catch it. Eric—he's come to look for me. Malik doesn't seem alarmed, his eyes still on mine as the call gets closer until it's right behind Malik.

"What're you two doing?" Eric sounds furious. There's a small gasp—Cassia—and another pair of footprints behind them. They're all here, staring at us. I can't see them, they're obscured by Malik's broad frame, but I know what it must look like to them—Malik pressing me against the tree, my entire body blocked from his view.

Eric's foot thump against the ground as he storms over, but before he can reach us, Malik spins us both around, pinning me to his front with one arm, the other still holding the dagger at my neck. Eric pauses, only two feet away. Behind him, both Elias and Cassia freeze, eyes darting to the knife. It presses into my skin as my breath quickens.

Before I can even blink Elias is a flash of movement, a light moving towards us at speeds I can't comprehend.

"Don't." Malik's voice is firm, confident. "Come any closer and I'll slit her throat."

Elias pauses merely inches away, breath heavy. "You don't want to hurt her."

"Don't I?" Malik's voice is cold, just like the blade at my throat. "Are you really going to take that chance?"

Elias looks at me, merely feet away, his eyes desperate. I'm afraid to speak, like any movement in my throat will risk a cut. After a few moments, Elias raises a hand in surrender, taking a small step back. Eric's kneeled low, eyebrows furrowed. Behind him, Cassia has lowered into a defensive stance, a knife in her hand aimed at Malik.

"You don't want to do that," Malik says.

"One flick of my wrist and I can slice your finger off," she says.

"Milena will be dead before the knife reaches me." He looks at Elias. "You know I'm fast enough."

"Put the knife down, Cassia," Elias says without turning around.

She purses her lips, narrowing her eyes, but lowers the dagger. Elias steps forward, slow and calculated, his eyes wide. "What are you doing, Malik?"

"I can't let you go through with this." His breath ruffles the hair on the top of my head. "I tried to stop you but... but you wouldn't listen to me."

"Just let Milena go," he says. "We can talk about this, reconsider our plan if that's what you want."

Malik laughs, but it's humourless. "Do you really think I'm that stupid?"

Elias exchanges a glance with Cassia, a silent message passed between them. "Then what do you want?" Eric asks.

"You'll see." He starts to walk backwards, pulling me with him. I stumble over roots, not being able to watch my feet, and the blade presses closer to my skin. "Follow me or she dies."

Malik keeps walking backwards through the forest and all three of them follow us. Dark thoughts threaten to invade my head, Malik's betrayal unleashing emotions I'd repressed. I keep my eyes on Elias'; they're an amber reminder that we've survived so much. I can survive this too.

Eventually, we reach the edge of the forest bordering the castle. Malik keeps walking, right into the clearing, dragging me with him. The others hesitate at the treeline, watching. I'm still facing backwards, so I can't see Cynthia, but hollowers start to appear in my line of sight as we walk past. They watch us silently, forming a path, as if they were expecting us. Finally, Malik stops moving, still gripping me to his body. I take a shaky breath, trying to hide the quivering of my hands by gripping them in my shirt.

Cynthia appears in my peripheral vision, stepping sideways to greet me, a stoic expression on her face.

"Hello, Milena." She studies me before looking at Malik. "Where are the others?"

"The wisper will be joining us soon," he says, and then raises his voice slightly. "If he wants Milena to live."

A few moments later Elias emerges from the treeline. Behind us, there's a clear gasp from the chained up villages, low murmurs. The hollowers clear a pathway for him until they're merely a few feet away. The horizon radiates a deep navy blue, the sun close to rising over the jagged mountains. Soon, they won't even have their wolves to protect them. I try to search for Eric and Cassia in the forest, but they're nowhere to be seen.

"Drop your weapons," Cynthia orders. "Now."

Elias drops the dagger in his hand, eyes still on me. Cynthia steps towards him, calculated, unafraid. He could light her on fire in less than a second, and the clenched fists, the fire in his eyes—he wants to. But he doesn't.

Cynthia narrows her eyes, looking at Malik behind me. "Where are the other two creatures?"

"They weren't part of our deal," Malik says. "You have the wisper and Milena, just as you wanted."

His words burn and my knees threaten to buckle but I keep myself upright. We trusted him, he helped us. But all along, it was all a ruse. He had a deal with Cynthia, but what could he possibly get from her? Anger pulses through my veins, fiery hot. But when Elias' eyes meet mine, there's a warning in them: Don't move. If Elias is afraid of what Malik could do to me, I should be too.

"Chain his hands," Cynthia orders.

Two hollowers emerge from behind me and approach Elias with thick, silver chains. He doesn't fight them as they secure his hands in front of him, his jaw tightening as the silver comes in contact with his skin. The other hollower places a thick brace around his neck. Jagged nails point inwards, piercing his skin when he tugs against the chains attached. When the hollowers turn, my voice returns.

"Anastasia?" Her hair twists in thick coils, wide blue eyes meeting mine. She quickly looks away, pretending as though she doesn't recognise me, and grabs the chain holding Elias.

"Take him to the cells," Cynthia orders. When they try to guide him away, he doesn't budge. Cynthia tilts her head. "I had great plans for Milena, it'd be a shame if you forced us to kill her now."

"Let her go," Elias says. "Let them all go. I'll go with you. You can have my blood."

"Elias, no," I call. Malik tightens his grip around my chest, knocking the breath from me.

Cynthia just laughs. Her voice echoes in the clearing, the only sound aside from the occasional groan from the villagers chained up behind us. "Now why would I do that when I have the two of you right here?"

"You don't need any of them," Elias urges. "You don't need her."

"Take him away."

Again, he doesn't budge. Three more hollowers approach him, each grabbing the end of a chain attached to the brace at his neck. They pull. Elias grits his teeth together as the nails pierce his neck, digging into the skin and drawing blood, but he doesn't move.

"Don't be foolish, wisper."

He shoves against Anastasia, so forceful she flies in the air and lands a few feet away. "Let them go."

Cynthia nods, and someone approaches him from behind, a syringe in their hand.

I shout. "Elias, look out!"

But it's too late, the man plunges the needle into Elias' neck and his knees buckle. He drowsily falls to the ground, eliciting cries of horror from those behind us. I can't stop myself struggling against Malik, forgetting the knife at my neck, but his grip is unrelenting. Tears prickle at my eyes as I watch the hollowers dag Elias' slumped body across the earth, towards the castle. Cynthia wouldn't kill him, but there are things worse than death. And after she's done with me, she sure as hell won't be letting him go.

"Get them out of here!" Cynthia shouts, and the hollowers standing around us move over to the line of villagers, ordering them back inside the castle, leaving me, Malik, Cynthia, and two other hollowers in the clearing. I search the forest desperately for Cassia and Eric. They're our only hope—but realistically, what can they do? We couldn't do anything when there were five of us, and now there's only two.

My entire body shakes with rage as Cynthia approaches me, looking me dead in the eye. With Elias and the villagers gone, Malik takes the knife away from my throat, restraining me with just his hands instead. I couldn't break free from his grip even if I wanted to.

"Let all those people go," I plead. "They've done nothing wrong. You just want me; you don't have to hurt them."

She ignores me, reaching out to run a sharp fingernail along my jawline. "Do you know what we did on those hunts, Milena? To your precious creatures?" I glare at her. "How we drained them of life, slowly, forcing them to relive their darkest memories?"A shudder crawls down my spine as a sadistic smile crosses her lips. "What would your darkest memories and fears be, I wonder."

I spit in her face, hatred thrumming through my veins. She wipes at her eyes, turning to snarl at me. "I'm going to enjoy this. You're going to die for what you did."

I'm done trying to defend my actions, trying to show her how sorry I am for what I did to Darius, of trying to make her see the human inside of me. She will never believe it. Instead, I meet her cool gaze with an icy one of my own. "You're no better than I am."

She slaps me, hard. My cheek burns as I glare at her, a steely taste in my mouth from where my teeth pierced my cheek. "Give her to me, Malik."

He hesitates, still gripping my arms. "You're going to do it now?"

"I've waited long enough." She grabs me from him, nails digging into my flesh as her face gets dangerously close to my neck.

"Cynthia, no," Malik says.

I can see him now, standing across from me. Looking at his face, the betrayal sets in, a cool blade in between my shoulders. How could he do this to us? To me? He doesn't look at me, blue eyes on Cynthia.

"This isn't what we agreed upon."

"Does it matter?" she snarls. "Either way, Milena dies."

"Not here, not now," Malik says. "What happened to having an audience, to setting an example? He must see it if you truly want to break him."

I stare at Malik, unable to mask the horror in my expression. "Who are you?" I ask, voice small. The man in front of me, his words, I do not recognise.

"Malik knows the meaning of loss, of suffering," Cynthia answers for him. "He wants you to suffer for what you did to his brother, just as I."

"Your brother?" I demand. Malik refuses to look at me, as if I'm not there.

Cynthia starts to drag me away but I fight against her, flailing my limbs till she's scowling. I don't look away from Malik, who stares after us, eyes still anywhere but me. "Malik," I call as she drags me away, "I haven't done anything to you. I-I don't understand."

Finally, he meets my eye. "You will."

Cynthia whacks the back of my head and everything goes black.

~

my friend made me these character face claims and I think they're pretty similar to what's in my head aside from eye color and a few minor things. what do you think? How do you imagine the characters?

DISCUSSION:

1. What do you think Cynthia wanted to do to Milena?

2. What do you think Milena did to Malik's brother?

3. What do you think might happen next?