A chill ran down Arilla's spine, she had always been able to reason things out with herself, but it didn't change the fear that filled her. It was as familiar as the fear she felt when she saw the bus speeding toward her car, the squeals of the tires. Blinking the memories away, she focused on the people below, trying to get a read on their inclinations to harm her.
'They're armed!' her eyes shifted quickly as she took notice of the daggers hanging from the redhead's army jacket and the gun dangling in the hands of the white-haired guy, who smiled at her, one eye open. Looking at the bulky man in the front, she couldn't see any weapons, but she was sure that with one hit he could easily smash her head.
Gulping down small breaths of air, she staggered backward slightly, watching as the huge man took a few steps back and leaped. He landed directly on the banister, the place creaked under his weight, startling Arilla.
She dropped her makeshift cane, falling to the ground as she scrambled backward. He lifted his hands in a gesture of surrender and crouched down. "I'm Jeremy." He tried to sound gentle, but his voice only came out as authoritative.
She blinked and slid further back, ignoring the scratches on her skin, as she watched him carefully. The redhead's ill intent was evident, and the white haired guy seemed disinterested in the whole situation.
Alarmingly, she could not see through the man in front of her, he appeared to be the leader of the group. His whole body exuded a ferocity, yet his eyes seemed calm and collected.
Noting his slightly glowing eyes and his remarkable strength, she was sure that this place was definitely not the world she remembered. Narrowing her eyes, she watched him as he searched his pockets, 'It seems his body has been enhanced beyond any human capabilities.'
Her eyes took in every detail of him in those short moments, his lack of visible weapons apart from a single dagger, his cropped black hair, his twitching ears like that of a puppy, and his attention that was split between her and what he was doing.
"Jeremy! What's taking so long?" a shout came from the redhead. In the split second when Jeremy's attention shifted, Arilla quickly grabbed the sharp wooden pike that had been stabbing into her thigh and shoved it into the band of her ragged pants. She quickly covered it with her oversized not-so-white shirt.
While she was arming herself, Jeremy leveled a glare at the redhead causing a snort of laughter to rise from their companion. Turning back, he pulled out a straw shaped sachet filled with an off white powder. He held it out toward Arilla who stared at it stiffly, internally raising a brow.
Noticing her cautiousness, Jeremy leaned backward, to create distance. "It's calcium… The same thing you find in milk." His brows furrowed as he tried to figure out the beat way to describe calcium to her.
'I'm not an illiterate!' she mentally screamed, it was a new thing for her to be treated so cautiously and it made her feel extremely degraded. Reaching out, she quickly snatched the calcium for him, sniffing the packet to make sure it was really not a drug.
'He might have drugged the packet!' her mind screamed at her a moment too late, however nothing happened to her causing her tense muscles to relax ever so slightly. She hid the calcium in her clothes, trying to appear like a squirrel hoarding her food. Jeremy seemed to have taken her acting as such, and a glimmer of humor appeared in his eyes.
His hand remained outstretched in an open invitation to her. He said nothing, waiting for her to respond. She glanced down at the others who seemed to be growing impatient, with their feet tapping and the gun in the other man's hand spinning faster than before.
Forcing down her trepidation, she cautiously placed her hand in Jeremy's before they changed their mind and decided to kill her. She tried to think about Aiden and his singing to prevent her body from shaking, she couldn't afford to show her fear to these people, they seemed ready to eat it up like hunters after their prey.
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Arilla's heart was still beating fast from the shock of jumping down a tall building. It didn't matter whether Jeremy had carried her or not, it was a new experience for her, an exhilarating one.
However, her exhilaration was short lived as she was now within reach of the two quirky strangers. Jeremy quickly introduced them, the redhead was called Zara, and the white-haired one was called Lael.
Apparently, Lael was the son of a priest, 'What priest will have a son? And a murderous one at that?' of all the shocks she had experience, this had come as a culture shock to her.
Looking around at the devastation around her, Arilla could sense the fear and angst the citizens had experienced. The ground was cracked in multiple places, dust and ashes had covered every inch of the ground, there were rubbles all around. There was a hint of smoke and gas fumes in the air, a testament to how this much destruction was created. Some houses that still stood were tittering over, ready to fall apart, one of those was the house she was in.
Taking in the state of the building, she realized that it they hadn't come, it would only take only a breath for it to tip over and collapse over her head.
"They were screaming…Many of them were burned to death, scary isn't it?" Zara beamed, watching her reaction closely. Biting the inside of her cheek, Arilla lowered her gaze, 'Creep! Who talks to a kid like that?'. Zara looked away disappointed, she was looking for something interesting, and Arilla refused to give it to her.
However, unaware to her, her actions had caught the attention of Lael instead. He had grown up in the temple and was skilled in reading people. No matter how inexperienced he was in other things, it wasn't easy to lie to him.
A slow grin made its way across his face, contemplating for a moment, he pulled out a pocket pistol. Stepping between Zara and Arilla, he stood with a hand lazily in his pocket. Holding the gun out to her by the nozzle, Arilla's brows furrowed in confusion, making him laugh slightly.
"As long as you hold it, the monsters won't get you." He gaze was directed directly into her eyes, she hesitated for a moment before taking it. Her hands rubbed over the cool metallic surface of the weapon, while her head was lowered, her gaze remained on the others. Lael lightly patted her head, as though to congratulate her on a good decision.
The others watched their exchange silently, Jeremy seemed like he wanted to object, however a second glance at Lael's eyes sparkling with interest, he knew he wouldn't win this argument.
They continued walking, but Arilla couldn't take her attention off Lael, 'What is he thinking?' Based on what she could see, Lael was very unmotivated, but very perceptive. Surprisingly, Zara seemed to look down on him, evident in her gaze of contempt when he handed her the gun.
As she looked between Lael and Jeremy, understanding dawned on her, 'They cut her out of the loop…I nearly missed it!' She felt lucky that Jeremy's emotions were easy to read where it concerned Lael, or she would never have realized who the real leader here was.
Zara's presence in the group was merely to throw people off. The thought brought both admiration and fear toward Lael in her heart, he was truly scheming.