The less people knew about what had happened, the better.
And so, just four of them were making their way over to the entrance of the Hollow forest. Theodore, Kekoa, Oliver, and Reine with Kekoa in front and Theodore walking by her side.
Oliver and Reine did not dare go against any of them if they wanted their life to be spared. Oliver did not know he was gonna get caught so easily, and couldn't understand how the hell Theodore had pinpointed so fast that he was the one responsible.
Except if Theodore could read minds or had some kind of insane power, then there could have been no other way for him to have called them out that easily.
"Kekoa," Theodore said, and she turned to look at him, "Keep them here. I'll be back shortly,"
That being said, he continued forward alone. Kekoa wondered what was going on this time, and what he might have detected before them. Her gaze drifted to the people behind her, with a warning that said they would be dead if they made any silly moves.
Meanwhile, Theodore continued forth till he got to the front of the hollow. A great wall of thorns surrounded the entire forest, and he could already hear the lullabies coming from it. The sound was enchanting and hypnotizing, but nowhere near enough to make him walk into it.
His black hair danced to the lightest of winds, and his firm gaze fell on someone who was kneeling in front of the wall. Theodore sighed, pondering on what could be happening this time. With his hand lazily inside his pockets, he moved forward and stopped right next to Alastair.
"You don't look good," Theodore commented.
Alastair was clutching his chest hard, his face washed with tremendous pain and weakness. He looked so weak that he couldn't even stand up, and had sweat rolling down his face. A snarl burst out his lips as he slammed a fist to the ground, trying to contain the pain... barely keeping himself from screaming like the mad man he had become.
Thunder struck in the sky even though there had been no signs of rain as if they were listening to his cries and moving at his command. The light from the striking cast over Alastair, and for the briefest moment, one could see something dark taking the shape of maqbath hanging from his chest, directly where he was clutching so hard in pain.
"Is it because she's in danger? I'm guessing that means she's not dead yet. She's... surviving. Alas, one good news," Theodore said to himself and stared at the wall of thorns once again.
Apart from the bulging red veins in his eyes, a look ran past his eyes quickly, "Theo...," He murmured in agony, seething from the pain.
"Endure it, Alastair. That's all you can do right now,"
Alastair needn't a soothe sayer to explain to him why this was happening. After all, he's waited for so long for this to finally happen. He didn't just know...that it would be so maddeningly and excruciatingly painful like this. This was different from all the other levels of pain he'd been through because of this.
This one was taking him even more than he thought he had...to keep himself from losing his mind.
"If she keeps surviving, then she will probably come out from the other side of the forest," Theodore added, just as another thunder shook the whole sky around them.
Alastair was breathing heavily, his eyes rolling back and forth over and over again nonstop. He trembled and ached on the ground, feeling like pulling out his chest completely. Maybe that would help with this monstrous pain.
Theodore wasn't expecting this. He thought they would arrive and find the girl's bones lying in front of the Thorn walls already, but it turns out she was still alive. Not even a miracle could have rescued her for this long.
Aaliyah was still alive.
Theodore was thinking. He usually doesn't think this hard, but ever since she arrived it's all thoughts for him.
Just then, Alastair pulled up to his feet and stood next to Theodore like the pain had suddenly disappeared Into thin air, but both men didn't look even a tiny bit baffled.
"It can't be," Alastair began, his face resembling what had been drenched in cold blood, "Not her,"
"You were not given the luxury to choose," Theodore replied.
Unlike Theodore, Alastair was far from it. He wasn't the type to listen, but this wasn't about listening anymore. This was about getting results, even though he did not quite like these results. His expectations had been bigger than this, someone... challenging that would rattle the hell out of him.
"Neither was she," Alastair groaned in answer, his steel eyes focused on the wall of thorns.
After a minute of complete silence, Theodore turned around and walked away to go back and meet the others.
When he arrived with them again, Alastair was not there... but Theodore knew Alastair was close.
The man couldn't just leave after all that had just happened. After realizing that what could potentially turn out to be his only hope was stuck inside the hollow, and could be killed any moment. No, Alastair would not go too far.
Infact, he could walk into the Hollow and save her.
Alastair could.
But he didn't have the heart to do so. Even if he had no other choice, he would never go out of his way for another.
He was just that... heartless, even if it would kill him.
That was one of the things Theodore found laughable, but he kept his usual face on.
"This is the place," Oliver swallowed, "We had them put her in. She's in there,"
Kekoa had asked again to confirm his revelation earlier about where Aaliyah had been thrown, hence the tense reply he had just given. She could only think of one thing at this point, and all hope fled her mind.
"She's dead," Kekoa said to herself.
Then, she walked up to Theodore and asked, "Is there no way we can get her out of there?"
"How about we simply watch as every scene unfolds," He remarked with a smile.
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