06
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His words struck her as a word said out of anger. "I did all I did in order to escape him, why the hell would I want to be claimed by him? That creature isn't even human, I am not a slut, and I am definitely not stupid. We have come this far, do you really need to do this?"
"Why can't I? Because of you, I am now a cripple." This got to Vanilla, her gaze softened.
"Then we need to get out of here quickly and find you a doctor."
"It's useless."
"No it's not. Come on, I will help you up." Vanilla went in search of a stick and forced it into Conor's hand, then she wrapped his hand around her neck and helped him up despite his protest and grunts of pain. The first step they took, Conor stumbled but she managed to hold him still. They walked slower than Vanilla had expected, she had no idea if Conor was actually limping so slow on purpose or if his broken left leg prohibited him from walking less than nine steps a minute.
They walked for a very long time, she could hear howls of those creatures from a distance, and every time she did, a particular face would come to her mind. "This is stupid." Conor said, after they had walked for two hours. "We have been walking since forever and I see no house. I told you that damn werewolves lied to us. Look, now it has gotten dark." It was only after his words that Vanilla noticed it too. She looked around, her brows pressed together.
After leaving the clearing Darkness dropped them, they walked to a forest, this one looked just like a savannah, except, it was dark and silent, way too silent, with tall trees and strange fogs hovering around, and the faint smell of something burning filled the air. "Are you sure this is the right place?" She asked him. Since she had to use her strength to carry him, Vanilla left the task of checking the map to Conor, after he insisted on being the one to do it, since he didn't trust the werewolves.
Conor was silent for a while, his lips pressed a thin line as he looked at her with a strange look that she couldn't place her mind on. Then he responded with a gruff. 'Yes' Vanilla was left frowning, both confused and calculating on what to do next. "That bastard must have deliberately given us the wrong map." Conor stopped moving. "I can't do this anymore, I want to rest."
"What? No! No!! We cannot do that, this place is too dangerous for that." She tried helping him forward. "Let's walk for a few more miles or minutes."
"No." Connor insisted. "I am crippled, tired, and hungry, how do you expect me to go on like this?" He unwrapped his hand from her neck, then he supported himself with a tree and leaned against it. "I want to rest. You can keep going if you want, but I can't do it anymore or I will end up dead at this rate." Vanilla was already painting, while Conor could still speak like he had just gotten off the bed. She frowned, scrutinizing their surroundings. She didn't have a good feeling with Conor's action or the way he was speaking with her.
He sounded like a different person from the one she had spoken with in the cell, especially with the word he had said earlier. "I am thirsty." Her thoughts were interrupted by his demand.
"If I find you water, will you keep going?"
Conor sat down. "Hm." He grunted in response.Vanilla, seeing how exhausted she was, decided to take this chance to catch her breath. She told him she would be back, however, as she turned to leave, she noticed something strange… Conor was holding the map upside down. Her feet paused, this attracted Conor's attention, he raised a brow. "We have a long way to go, and the water won't get itself either. Be quick, I can't stand staying for one more second."
Vanilla had no strength to retort, so turned back and walked to any direction she could, while dismissing her thought. On her way to find a stream or a water source, her mind drifted to Conor's question. However, the more she thought about it, the stranger it felt. Did she really want to stay there? Captured by a monster of a man? Living a life worse than death? The thought alone sent shivers down her spine– him being a walking sex God wasn't enough reason for her to stay in that dark and Godforsaken place.
She walked for a long time, occasionally, she could hear the scratching of leaves or distant footsteps echoing behind her, yet nothing would be behind her when she glances back. It took her more than twenty minutes to find a stream, the clear water gave her so much hope that her smile could brighten the dark forest. She quickly bent down to drink some water. When she had drunk to her fill, she stood up to take Conor's own too, only to realize there was nothing she could use.
Vanilla frowned. "Shit. I should have brought him with me." She cursed, the thought of going back for Connor filled her with dread. She thought of abandoning him but then dismissed the thought. "He is the only human in this whole place, we humans should stick together." Satisfied with her conclusion, she turned back and went to get Conor.
"What took you so long?" Conor complained.
"I couldn't get you water, you will have to go with me."
"What? I have been waiting for so long and now you want me to go with you."
"Yes. I will help you up." Vanilla quickly helped him up. "Don't bother saying anything else, we still have a long way to go." Conor didn't fuss too much this time, and when they got to the stream, he drank to his fill, then Conor claimed there was a faster path if they followed the stream. From there on, the both of them set off. The stream led them to a clearing that had a more oppressive feeling than the place they had been coming from. It was only sunset, yet it looked like dawn.
Vanilla stop. "There is a forest ahead according to the map. After the forest, we will find the house that contains the portal." Vanilla couldn't pinpoint what it was but there was something strange with Conor, she found it hard to believe his word. The forest that would lead to the valley was right before them but it looked way eerie than anything she had seen, moving shadows, complete darkness, chills.
"I don't think we should pass there."
"This is the fastest route."
Vanilla still couldn't shake off the feeling so she tried a different approach. "Why don't we do this, you stay here, I will go check up the place if it's safe to enter, let me also take the map with me so that I can find a different path if possible." It was a stupid excuse but this was her way of checking if Conor even trusted her.
Conor's expression changed, Vanilla half expected him to scream at her, but what she got was a strange smile. "Why not." He handed the map to her. "I will wait right here. You are the one who should be careful, no one knows what might take you. When you go missing, I will be completely helpless." His words sounded like sarcasm, a bad joke. Vanilla still had her forehead puckered.
She helped him sit, then she set off for the forest. As she walked, she turned back to look at Conor but he wasn't even looking at her. Vanilla turned back, jaw clenched. "Good, I will just abandon him and let him die." She had walked a long way before she took the map to check it. The map looked way more complicated than she had expected, Moon Guards Pack Kingdom was too big. "What's with the weird name, pack? when they are not wolves."
She soon arrived before the forest, once again, she tried looking back to check on Conor, but when she turned back, he was gone. Vanilla's eyes widened. "Where the hell did he go in that state, just as she was about to go back for him, she saw two large creatures that looked like werewolves. Horror filled her gaze.
"Conor! No! No!!" She immediately turned on her heels and ran for the other forest, thinking she could speak to Darkness or beg him, anything to get him to free Conor. However, she didn't manage to get far, because something tripped her and she stumbled and fell to the floor. When she turned back to check what it was, Vanilla saw a human with claws, a very strange looking and terrifying human with red eyes. She couldn't scream or run. The look the creature gave her made Vanilla wish she had not hoped to escape Darkness.
It let out a loud roar, Vanilla regained her bearing, scrambled to her feet, the map now forgotten as she struggled to survive another goose chase. Vanilla ran with all her strength, as long as she got to save Conor, she would be happy. The loud thump of the creature's feet sounded like motivation in her ear, making her eager to run faster. The creature roared and ran faster too. Vanilla was grateful it ran slower than werewolves.
She ran with all her strength and she made it, she had it to the tree Conor was supposedly sitting against, however he wasn't there, a roar of agony halted Vanilla in her step, she turned back, only to see the creature writhing in pain, a few yards away from the forest she was in. Vanilla released harsh, shaky and heavy breaths, leaning against the tree trunk to regain her breath. Her heart was racing on its own. Her eyes caught sight of many more red eyes looking across to her from the other clearing.
Fear gripped her like paralysis, her wide eyes couldn't imagine what it was witnessing. As she was still reeling in surprise, a heavy object hit her in the neck. She had no time to shout in pain before she fell to the ground. But before she black out, she heard a voice saying. "I caught you, didn't I? My pet." The voice sounded too oddly familiar.
~P-Lia~