The source of strength to push through the snow and her fatigue was a mystery. It was almost as if she was floating. Each stride took her to her uncertain salvation. She looked up again to see the man was no longer there. The voices of her pursuers behind her were incoherent as she could only hear her brother's heart beating against her chest. Once she was out of the woods and in the clearing she paused and looked up at her destination on the hill. During all her travels she had become accustomed to the mountains so climbing would not be an issue. The only issue that could arise would be because of her broken arm and Abel in her other. If he could ride on her back, climbing could be practicable. Unfortunately, now the mob had guns so it would not be logical to let him hold onto her back. Instead, he could hold on to her front so that it would be her back that would be exposed. That would not be all bad since the incident with the wolves gave her a lot of distance from them
She continued until she finally got to the foot of the hill. "Abel, could you do something for me?"
He nodded.
She gulped, he was not talking. It was his voice that was assuring her that he would be okay. Now that she had lost that, she felt her hope dip. "Hold on to me," She said. "Like I want to give you a piggyback ride but from the front." She explained.
The boy was also in pain, the sores made any kind of movement hell but he had to be strong for her. He tried hooking his arms in her armpit but once he felt her shudder from the pain, he deterred and wrapped his arms around her neck. He did the same with his legs and wrapped them around her torso. Using her right hand she put her affected arm in between his body and hers and made an impromptu human hand sling while grunting through the agony. She breathed a prayer and took a deep breath before she started to climb, using just a hand.
She heard two gunshots from a distance and she knew they had spotted her once again. She could not look back because she had to concentrate. She could hear them pick up their pace because they would have realised what exactly she was doing. They were shouting now as she climbed midway to the top.
"Don't make me waste bullets on you." A man warned. She realised that now they were in the clearing as well.
"Get down!" Another woman commanded.
"Don't be stupid!" Someone else joined in.
Naomi could see the fire from their touches from the corner of her eyes. They were close but she kept climbing. The hunters knew how expensive bullets were and liked to conserve them so that kept her mind somewhat at peace.
"I warned you," Then to her horror, she heard him cork his gun. There was silence as he was aiming it. "Kaboom!" The gun went.
A bullet tore through her side but she sped up, biting her lip so hard she tasted copper. The pain was unbearable but not as bad as she had expected. She was so close. She pulled herself up, finally at the top.
"Bitch!" Someone yelled.
"Don't make me come up there!" It was Jeffery. But Naomi was left assured that none of them would dare climb up after her. They were all cowards, they could not even utter his name. She looked up at the castle in awe. It was massive. "The silver devil's castle." She mumbled to herself.
"Bitch,"
"Murderess!"
"Die!" That was what was getting hurled at her from the bottom of the hill but she was not listening. The gates were tall and with her condition, climbing again was not applicable. She needed to call the attention of the castle's inhabitants. She walked towards the gates and them as hard as she could or maybe as loud as she allowed herself to. She had to admit that now that she was up there, the fear had come back. She was afraid of what his reaction would be. He could Abel and her with one touch. It was the reason we were scared of him. He had the silver touch. He could turn people into silver statues. There was a rumour he had been cursed for taking advantage of a witch's daughter. Other times they said it was the witch herself that he had done the atrocious deed to.
She felt a wetness on her shoulder and instantly looked up, afraid it could be the feared man. But there was no one there, the man at the window had also disappeared. She finally noticed that Abel was weeping. It was his tears that had wet her shoulder. "What is wrong?" There were a lot of things wrong but she needed to hear his voice.
"My... leg." He answered.
The sores must be doing a number on them.
"It got shot."He dropped a bombshell.
That was why the bullet did not penetrate as deep as expected. His leg took most of the impact. She could not bring herself to even look at it. She needed help for him and stalling was not an option. The second time she banged on the gates she did so with every bit of strength. "Please, help!" She yelled. "Are you there? please, anyone." She continued.
"Is she crazy?" Somebody asked, baffled.
The murmuring among the villagers increased.
By the time she was done, she was shaking uncontrollably. The fatigue would soon shut down her body, she sat on the ground. Her eyelids started to flutter but then she heard the people below the hill let out gasps of horror.
"He saw us!" a woman screamed. "run!"
Naomi, confused, looked up to see that the same man was at the window.
She heard them disperse in fear once again. She saw the light from a lantern come from the side of the castle. The person holding the lantern was a woman in a black dress. She walked towards the gate keys jiggling as she came. "Could you please..."
The woman did not seem interested in listening, she simply used the key to unlock the gate and pushed it open. She moved to the side, giving Naomi space to enter. Naomi did not hesitate to enter. "Thank you..." She started towards the castle itself.
"Stop," The woman ordered, stopping Naomi in her tracks.
Naomi waited as the woman locked the gate. The woman finished and came in front of Naomi. "Follow," The woman said and started towards the front door.
Naomi stroked her brother's hair, "Don't cry, they will help us." She was assuring herself more than she was comforting her brother. The woman walked like there was no urgency in the situation. Which was eerie but it was not like she had any option. When they got to the door, the woman used the silver rings on the door to knock. Only two times.
Then she left without saying a word, leaving her there. For more than a minute there was no answer. Naomi was growing anxious and light-headed by the second. She turned to see that there were still people with torches downhill, close to the woods. They had not given up it seemed. Naomi was thinking of knocking again but heard footsteps approaching. She stood alert as the door opened and there stood another woman in a black dress. One look at her face and Naomi almost backed away in astonishment. She looked exactly like the first woman who had just left. The same dress, hair tied in a bun and the same face.
The woman looked as cold as the first one but unlike the other one who did not even look once at her face, this one seemed to be studying her. Naomi stood uncomfortably before fear finally let her tongue loose. "Please help my brother, he..."
Naomi heard footsteps again and this time out of the shadows, came a man. One with a strange appearance like the rumours had described. His hair was a soulless white and his skin was so pale it was almost doll-like. His eyes were unlike other parts of him, it was not colourless in the slightest instead it was vibrant crimson. His shoulders spoke of potency so did his height as he stood intimidatingly tall among the two women. He took the lantern from the woman and like the first woman, she left. "May I help you?" His voice had a lethal calmness about it. Despite the simple question, her mind rang alarms.
"Help us," She found her voice. "They will harm us."
He stared lazily at her as if he didn't notice the dried-up blood stains on her face. Her tousled hair, the cuts and the bruises and how she was panting. "And you ask me for assistance?" There was no mocking tone in his voice. It was a candid question.
"Yes, please..." And as if taking a cue from her, Abel's soft weeping intensified into a louder sobbing.
He slowly looked at the boy in her arms as if just noticing his presence. He glanced up at the mob below. Their touches created a small sea of flames. "It seems you are in between the red sea and the devil. He leaned in close enough to detect a strong metallic smell. "Would it not be wiser to swim?"
She understood what he was poking at, he was asking if she was frightened. But she had already gone too far to let fear deter her now. The gate was also locked behind her so she had already reached a point of no return. "No, I choose you." She responded without an ounce of trepidation.
He cocked a white brow. "The devil?"
"Yes, I choose the devil."