"Don't hesitate, Elodie. Didn't you want to be the one to crush it?"
I sighed deeply, wanting to do nothing more than rid it out of our lives but also aching to keep something that'd once meant to deeply to me, something that hadn't once been as malicious as it was now. Something that'd once been our saving grace.
Kieran came over to stand next to me, his reassuring aura already convincing me to do what I needed to.
I lifted my leg and slammed it down on the ring harshly, shutting my eyes to the crunching noises that followed.
An arm wrapped around my waist, Kieran pulling me into a hug.
"Okay. We need to hurry. Cara, are you still alright to travel south and keep an eye on the ring?" Luke said.
She nodded. "Harlerson, there's a motel in great view of a river. I can watch where I plant the tracker with my bow."
Kieran smiled. "I don't think we need to worry about her missing."
I shook my head.
"And the six of us will go an hour North to Pedsal. It's practically a ghost town, find an abandoned building to camp out at."
"Alright." Arya said. "Everyone in the truck."
And after hugging goodbye to Cara, lots of telling her to stay safe, we started driving.
For once I didn't fall asleep immediately, staring out of the window with high hopes of figuring out exactly who was following us. Discovering the clues to the puzzle that hadn't previously made any sense. We planned to change that.
Still, something felt off.
Rubbing my wrist, which had weirdly started to feel itchy, I fell asleep.
***
I was anxious. Pacing the forest with panic laced into my heart. I was missing something, and it was tearing me apart.
We were two days without Cara and was already losing it a little, petrified for the safety of my friends and me.
Footsteps behind me caused me to snap my head sideways, holding out my hands in a defensive position.
It was Kieran who looked back at me, scrunching his eyebrows and sighing.
"Elodie, please come inside. You're ripping yourself to pieces."
I gulped. "Something is off, Kieran. I can feel it."
"We can all feel it but driving yourself to insanity alone is not the answer."
I considered this for a second, shuffling around on my feet.
"Give me your gun."
"What?" Kieran whispered, looking at me with concern.
"Trust me, just give it me."
With a shaky hand, he pulled out a Glock 17, a deep black colour.
Overall, it was nothing more than a gun.
He passed it to me carefully, watching as I positioned it in my hand aimed behind us at the woods, staring at my hand.
I didn't fire.
"Elodie what the hell are you doing?"
"I've never fired a gun before, correct?"
He nodded, "I think?"
"Then explain the red mark on my wrist. Exactly where I'd be holding a gun."
He furrowed his eyebrows before grabbing my hand to examine it, breathing heavily as he did so.
"I don't know."
"Neither do I. That's why I'm so confused."
I picked up the gun from the ground and stared at it, scanning over it.
"Wait." I whispered, analysing the inscription on the side. "What's this?"
Flipping over the gun, I was faced with the dark outline of a crown. Two points on the side surrounding a letter. 'K.'
I threw the gun onto the ground, turning around and feeling like I was about to throw up. Gagging on my own breath. Stepping away from Kieran and falling into a tree.
"Kieran." I breathed. "Why the hell do you have a gun from the kingdom?"
***
Arya's POV.
"Turn here." Luke whispered.
I flipped the wheel, turning onto a small road with cobble surrounding it.
"I just don't understand." Bryony sighed. "Why did they want us to go to Cara without them?"
Luke shook his head. "I don't know. Found a note on the side. Maybe they discovered something they had to keep secret."
"Left again here. Alright, pull into this drive."
We snuck out of the car, carefully wandering around the back to enter through a small metal door. Thankfully, which was open. Momentarily scanning the lake for any sign of anyone.
"This is the motel." Luke said, walking through the door and standing in the lobby. "Nobody on duty. She's in room 2A."
So, Bryony and Noah stayed downstairs to watch. Luke and I clambering up the stairs to the second floor and finding Cara's door.
Luke pushed us to the side, knocking and whispering. "Cara?"
No answer. He knocked again.
"Cara? It's us."
This time he carefully pulled down the handle, being shocked to find that the door was open.
"Cara?" I said, "Where is she?"
We rushed to the front room, seeing the clear view of the lake and searching around for clues as to where our best friend had gone.
"Wait, Arya." Lucas said.
I turned to look at him, watching in horror as he pulled out a blood-stained arrow and a bow from under a box.
He gulped. "This is Arya's bow."
I ran over, pulling open the box and searching through material that'd been burrowed into it.
Right at the bottom, pulling out a small note to which Luke snatched off me.
"November 21st was planned." He read out. "C."
"It's from Cara."
He nodded.
"Shit." I exclaimed.
"What the hell happened on November 21st? And where is Cara?"
***
"Don't come anywhere near me." I spoke.
"Elodie, I have never seen that logo before."
And with that I started running, full speed out of the forest. Narrowly missing root after root threatening to throw me down onto the ground. Sliding past trees and overgrown plants diverting my path.
Hearing strong footsteps follow me, shouting my name.
"Luke, Arya!" I screamed, running out of the forest.
Yet I felt my heart sink into my chest when I turned the corner to the building. Only to find that the truck was gone, along with all our belongings. Everything except my crossbow.
I grabbed it instinctively, holding it loaded in front of me. Aiming, ready to fire at the person I knew was about to come out of the forest.