I didn't know how to split this chapter into 3 so this is much longer than my average chapter and this chapter will be the advent chapter for the 15th, 16th and the 17th.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Harri blinked in confusion. “Take a deep breath, Rayne, and
then explain what happened. How did he find out about me?”

“There’s no time for that. He’s approaching quickly. You need to leave.”

“No, let him come here. He killed Aira already, I’m not going to leave until the soil outside this cave absorbs his blood.”

“Don’t be like this, Harri. He isn’t what you think he is. He’s a beast, a monster. He’ll kill you without hesitation.”

“I once fought and killed two wolves simultaneously. I think I can handle this Hyunjin prick.”

Grabbing the others' wrist and dragging her out of the cave, Rayne shook her head, “killing two wolves is nothing compared to him. Besides, you aren’t exactly in the best shape, if you know what you mean.”

“No, I don’t know what you mean,” Harri pulled her arm out of the girl’s grip and crossed her arms in annoyance. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what you meant by that?”

Upon exiting the cave, Harri found herself in a ravine with a shallow river running through it. Tall cliffs stood on either side of her, slanting slightly towards each other as though to keep it a secret and trees and shrubs growing at the top of them, hiding it more. A few rays of sunlight peeked through the gaps in the leaves which provided the river with an ethereal shimmer and painted the rocks that had fallen off the cliffs gold. Clearly, it had taken years to build and each detail had been carefully created and artistically implemented.

Harri needed more time to indulge in it’s excellence, time Rayne simply refused to give her.

With a groan, the younger girl spat out, “you want to know exactly what I mean, huh? Just take a look at yourself! Two days ago you collapsed in a desert and barely had any energy to stand up. Your body is practically eating itself away, I can see the outline of each one of your ribs and you’re pale purple! I had to check your pulse before waking you up a few minutes ago because you resemble a corpse more than an actual living creature, Harri! Even in your best state, you would never be able to kill Hyunjin. How could you possibly believe you could defeat him like this?”

She shrugged, “you underestimate me. I could kill him in my sleep. Just wait and you’ll see.”

“No way! I’m not going to hang around you and wait for your inevitable defeat! I’d rather die myself than watch you exhale your last breath! Now let’s go already. He should be here anytime now.”

“I can kill him-“

“Stop lying to yourself!” Rayne screamed, the sound bouncing off the cliffs as it echoed across the ravine. “I was there when you killed those wolves, Harri. I was there when you saved Mia from them too. Whenever you risked your life for the rest of us, I was there. There’s no one on earth that believes in or respects you more that me. I know what you are capable of, Harri, I know how strong you are. So trust in me when I tell you, there is literally nothing you can do and will ever be able to do to kill Hyunjin. They won’t let you.”

“They?” Harri furrowed her eyebrows, shaking her head lightly. “You mean the creators? They aren’t meant to interfere with us. They shouldn’t be interfering with us.”

“But they are and they are on his side. Do you really think he was talking to himself the other day? Of course not! He was talking to the creators, he was making a deal with them. A deal to kill Mel.”

“Talking to the creators?” Harri mumbled. “But Jokers don’t talk to the creators… The Aces do.”

“Not anymore,” a voice came from behind them. They didn’t need to turn back to know who it was. Hyunjin leaned against one of the cliffs, one hand in the pocket of his jumpsuit while the other gripped the handle of his machete. “Nice to see you again, Harriet. It’s a shame it will be the last time.”

“Stop calling me that,” she gritted her teeth.

“What? Harriet? You don’t like when I call you Harriet Beckham? That’s a shame. I bet it took your mother a long time to think of that name and now you don’t even want to be called by it? Think of your poor mother, Harriet, think of how sad that would make her feel.”

“I said stop calling me that!” She spun around, glaring at him.

The cocky expression on his face proved that her reaction was exactly what he wanted and his smirk only widened when Rayne reluctantly turned to face him too. His black leather jumpsuit barely clung onto his body like it was meant to, tattered and loosened with age. A shallow, open cut decorated his cheek, a new addition to the collection of scars. His small, piercing eyes lacked the empathy he pretended to have and, although most of his hair was tied back into a bun, a few stray strands fringed his face.

“It’s not nice to stare, darling,” he chuckled darkly. “Now’s usually the time I warn people like you not to fall in love with me but I guess that’s a bit redundant now considering you won’t live long enough to fall for me.”

“Argh,” Harri rolled her eyes. “Get over yourself. If a fight’s what you want then get on with it already.”

“A fight?” He roared with laughter. “Killing you will be like stepping on an ant, I wouldn’t consider it a fight.”

“Hyunjin, she came in peace,” Rayne interfered, eyes focused on the river so she didn’t have to meet his gaze. “Just let her go. I’m the one who disobeyed your orders, kill me.”

“I shared that memory with you, Rayne, I thought you would understand my side of the story. Harriet over here was involved in a catastrophe far greater than a simple mind like yours could ever imagine so you see, I can’t just let her go. If any of us ever stand a chance of escaping this place, I have to balance out the events that occurred that day. Killing her isn’t an option, it’s an obligation. And as for you, it was always my intention to kill you. Of course, I hadn’t planned for it to be so soon but better sooner than later, I guess.”

“Involved in a catastrophe?” Harri raised an eyebrow. “I don’t recall being involved in anything like that.”

“Of course you wouldn’t. Your memory was erased. Only reliving a similar event will remind you of what happened and it’s my job to make sure you never remember.”

With that, he darted towards her, raising his machete up and swinging it in her direction. The end of the blade ghosted over her arm as she dodged the blow, almost falling into the river as she did so. Grabbing the closest object she could find, she chucked a pebble at him which only earned an amused chuckle from him.

Readjusting his grip on the machete, he tilted his head then swung the weapon again. Using a log as a shield, Harri only barely managed to block the advances he made by letting the wood absorb the strike as well as blunt the machete. It was evident by the snarl stitched to his face that Hyunjin was growing frustrated and Harri was quickly losing energy and strength. Even though it appeared as though at the moment the girl had the upper hand, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to know she would end up losing. Hyunjin grew irritated at the fact it was taking him longer to kill her than he expected, even though they had only been at it for a minute.

Rayne watched them for a bit, focusing on the boy’s restrained attacks before deeming his actions odd. Was he purposely giving her a chance to fight back? Why was he so careful with her? Did he not want to kill her after all? Shaking the thought out of her mind, she scanned her surroundings quickly before racing towards the cave to retrieve the machete she had stored in there.

“Harri! Catch!” She yelled, throwing the weapon at her. It was a miracle Harri reacted in time otherwise it would have cut her. In fact, Rayne would argue that she seemed a bit too prepared to catch it, as though it was a skill she had learnt and frequently put into practice despite knowing for a fact Harri has never held a machete, at least, she had never seen it.

Harri’s movements were much like Hyunjin’s, swift and precise… experienced, even. The sound of the collision of metal against metal echoed, blended with grunts and splashing water as they fought in the river. The sun seemed to dim at that moment as if it was cowering behind the clouds, unable to watch what was to happen next. It was obvious where the fight was going.

Rayne grimaced when Harri lost her footing, falling into the water and losing grip of her machete. Time seemed to slow down as the Joker stood over her, shadow cast over her being as a devilish smile made its appearance on his face. She glared up at him, nostrils flared in hatred despite the blatant fear in her eyes. There were no attempts to get hold of the machete again or fight for her life, she knew and he knew she was already as good as gone.

“I wish this could have ended differently. I quite liked you back then, of course, you were a small naive child back then. So easy to step all over,” he smirked, crouching down to her level. “I quite liked having a minion to do all my dirty work.”

She spat in his face before growling, “I hate you.”

“Did you really just… spit in my face?” He closed his eyes, still coming to terms with what she just did and when he eventually opened his eyes again, all Harri could see was red. With his fiery gaze focused on her, she felt as though two holes would be scorched into her skin and, even if she regretted what she did, she maintained her composure.

Standing up again and taking a few steps back, he swung the machete at her. It happened too quickly for Harri to process it all at once. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the strike but rather than a cold, sharp blade to her neck, she heard a scream. Opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was a red liquid flowing into the river, contaminating it. Hesitantly, she traced the blood back to an arm… the remains of an arm.

It appeared Hyunjin was just as shocked as her to see Rayne kneeling in the river between the two of them, staring in shock at her arm… or rather, at the absence of her hand. He had sliced it off.

“Run Harri!” She managed to scream through her sobbing, ignoring the agony she was in to blurt out the two words. Harri could barely function, her eyes were wide in shock and she found herself scrambling back in the water as she tried to process what happened and Rayne’s words.

“Run, you fool!”

And instantly, Harri stood up and darted. Rational thoughts were nonexistent at this point as she sprinted through the ravine. She didn’t know where she was going or how long she would be able to sprint for, all she knew was that Rayne had just sacrificed her life for her and she needed to get as far away from Hyunjin as she could.

Rayne’s screams could still be heard hundreds of metres away, haunting Harri with each step she took. Her continuous sobs made it evident to Harriet that Hyunjin had decided not to follow her and instead torture the younger girl which only made her heart sink even more. Guilty could not even begin to describe how she felt at that very moment as she listened to Rayne cry for her life, fighting for survival.

Her head began to spin and her steps became unsteady but she fought against it, keeping her eyes set on the bridge that emerged as she approached the end of the ravine. Finally, mere metres away from the bridge, she fell to her knees and rocks in the river pierced her knees and shins but that was the least of her worries as she covered her mouth with both her hands, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly nauseous.

That was when she noticed the blood on her hands. Rayne’s blood. It had splashed onto her when Hyunjin had cut off Rayne’s hand and even though she knew she played no part in what had happened, she couldn’t help but feel like she had killed the younger girl. And that was enough to make her burst into tears. Ever since her mind was erased, Harri had never cried and tried not to be overwhelmed by her emotions but right now, that didn’t matter. She was a sobbing, broken mess with cut knees, a frail body and blood-stained hands.

The memory of Rayne didn’t just tug at her heartstrings, it was practically ripping them out. She longed to scream and yell and cry and just completely break down. She wanted to give up and die right then and there when she recalled the way the younger girl’s face was distorted in agony and terror and horror. Rayne’s eyes had trembled as she stared down at her hand-less arm, flesh and bones visible as it bled out. The horror once she realised she couldn’t go back. The horror of being face-to-face with death.

“Harri...?”

It was a memory from a time before all this, before her memory was erased but she recognised the voice immediately, her sobbing instantly coming to a halt as she processed it.

The voice higher pitched than she was used to and Harri could practically hear the girl trembling.

“What…” thirteen-years-old Mel whispered, tone mirroring the fear in Rayne’s eyes when she realised what she had done. “Harri… What have you done? What did they make you do?”