When the beast took away Zinna, she realized that her life was almost over. She just wished that she did not behave like a spoilt brat and listened to others. She should have not climbed up first trying to be heroic.
The leg which was held by the powerful big beast in its mouth started to bleed. It made a few steep piercing holes because of the sharp teeth digging deep into her skin. She gasped for air as the pain inflicted was unbearable.
The minute her body hit the ground, the broken wooden pieces scattered around the floor entered her body. The splinters tore the skin and pulled the muscles apart.
"Ouch…" Zinna cried out loud.
Her body is now covered with red marks all over. Panthera took slow steps towards her and licked the wounds on her body. Zinna held one of the broken wood as fear engulfed her. She closed her eyes and waited for death to take over.
But suddenly the breathing near her face stopped and she opened one of her eyes slightly to see if the beast was gone.
"Zinna... What happened? How did you come here? And why are you bleeding so badly?" Aaron asked and rushed near her.
"Let go of this piece of wood. You are hurting yourself." Aaron pulled away from the woodblock from her hands.
"Aarooonn…." Zinna hugged him tightly and finally let go of the breath she was holding until now.
She cried for a long time. Aaron was too afraid to hug her back as he did not know where to hold her. Her back had more wounds and reddish marks covered her white top on the back.
Once she stopped crying, he slowly removed the splinters which pierced her body one by one. Then he lifted her up and started to walk out of that room slowly. The wooden floor creaked and Zinna shivered when he heard that noise.
She was afraid to even that small sound as it could alert the beast and might return to attack them. She was not sure where that beast disappeared to when she opened her eyes, but she definitely did not want to see it once again.
"Aaron, did you see a be.…?" when Zinna started to ask, Aaron also spoke at the same time.
"Ura said she saw a beast and it took you… I did not believe that. Was there really a beast here?"
"No…" Zinna just stopped what she was going to ask, and instead shouted as she just wanted to prove Ura wrong.
Despite the fear that ran through her body after experiencing a horrible event or the pain she was feeling that moment because of her injuries, still she felt slightly happier that Aaron was carrying her in his hands. And on top of that, he gave her an opportunity to make Ura suffer and bring her down while taking the high crown away from her.
Upton, Adan, and Ura held each other and stood in one corner. The room did not have any adjacent door nor did the roof have a hole like the other room. Adan moved away to check if they could break the wall and go on to the other side.
The giant snake that just chased them made them realize the danger they were in. Ura and Upton walked near the door as the noise disappeared. Ura extended her hand to open the door. Adan came towards her and pulled her away.
"What are you doing? Do you want to be swallowed by that giant creature?" Adon shouted.
"Shh… Do not shout…" Upton said.
They all went behind once again and stood away from the door at a safe distance. Adan took a broken wooden piece and held it in his hand, while Upton searched around and saw a surgical knife. When he was about to pick it up, the door was knocked from the outside.
"Do you think it's the snake?" Ura asked while sweating all over.
Their heartbeats could be heard to each other. They all lost their hope and moved a little behind. Suddenly, Upton wanted to move forward and check but Adon stopped him.
"No. Wait… It is not safe. Let us just try to find a way out of this room."
"I don't think there is a way out of this room. We have only one way out… We need to kill the snake…" Upton said.
"Are you crazy? Did you see its original size?" Adan argued as he found Upton's suggestion stupid.
When they were unable to come to a conclusion on what they should do, Aaron's voice came through the closed door.
"Adan, Upton, Ura, are you inside?"
Ura rushed forward and opened the door. When she saw the bleeding Zinna who was on the verge of fainting, she relaxed after a long time. Thank goodness she is alive. She was feeling guilty for running away after looking at that giant beast, instead of helping her classmate.
Once they were inside Ura checked outside and locked the door.
"Why are you locking the door? Are you afraid that your imaginative beast would come and eat us all?" Aaron shouted at Ura.
"What?" Ura asked in astonishment.
"Zinna had warned me about your imaginative skills and how you always try to grab attention all the time to stay in the limelight. So don't you pretend in front of me that you are a good person. It was all because of you that Zinna is hurt so much. She had tried to search for us all this time as we were not in that room and later got hurt in that process."
"What are you saying?" Ura blinked as she could not understand what he was saying.
"Are you still going to carry on with your acting?"
"Aaron, what are you trying to say? Then even the snake which we saw just a few minutes before is also fake?" Adan asked.
"What? What snake?" Aaron wondered.
"A giant snake chased us, and we all were hiding inside this room from that snake. And that is why Ura was closing the door." Upton added.
"Is the giant snake also created by your imaginative skill? You are really too good with your acting, you even convinced these fools that there was a giant snake as well." Aaron complained.
"I said we all saw it together along with Ura. So stop blaming her." Adan shouted.
As Zinna realized that the topic was going in the wrong direction and if they confirmed now that the snake was real, then that beast also might turn into reality. Then Aaron would find out that she had lied.
'No, no, no… she must do something now… or else everything would go wrong.'
"Aaahh…" Zinna shouted.
Everyone surrounded her and looked at her with pity.
"What happened? Is it painful?" Aaron asked while trying to put her down slowly on the floor. He was afraid that a wrong move could hurt her.
Zinna just closed her eyes and acted as she fainted. Adan also felt guilty as he thought if only he went along with her, then she would have not got hurt so seriously. Suddenly his eyes moved towards her right leg and saw something unusual.
Upton looked at Ura who was still standing near the door without any expressions. He walked towards her and said,
"Do not worry, I believe you! She is lying."
She just looked at Zinna with a complicated expression. From the day they were sent here, all Zinna did was try to make her feel down in front of everyone. But what she did not expect was even after she went through such a tragedy, she still had the guts to try to pull her leg down. She just shook her head and opened the door.
"I am leaving this place. I don't want to stay here anymore." She declared and walked out.
"I am going with Ura, if you want to come then that is up to you," Upton said and followed Ura.
"I think we need to go too… It is not safe to be here. The snake which we saw was really not any ordinary one…" Adan said with hesitation.
"Ok. Then…" He looked at the fainted Zinna and lifted her up.
Adan walked in the front while Aaron followed from behind and held Zinna in his hands. Zinna half-opened her eyes and showed a creepy smile.
Ura was walking up the stairs and said to Upton,
"Don't you think, this place is too creepy and silent?"
"Yes, we need to be careful. I don't know what would pop out from where!" Upton said.
"Look over there… Is that the snake's skin?" She walked towards it and lifted it up.
"What are you doing? Just drop it on the floor. If the skin is around then it means the snake might be nearby. We need to get out of this place quickly."
They rushed their footsteps and finally saw a glass window. When they looked outside, all they could see was mountains and water.