Game Over

Kiaras p.o.v


My stomach tingled, felt like it was being tied into a knot inside of me as I sat there in the dark. It was midnight, so why wasn’t I asleep? Snow crystallized the earth’s surface around us, and I wasn’t allowed near the fire. Anya and Mark of course had side by side sleeping bags with the fire near, a sword and a gun next to them. I had myself and nothing with me, and Percy seems to freakishly disappear at night to who knows where so I was alone in my horror. I couldn’t sleep after losing Tori anyway, but I could do without the cold. A light touch of chilled frost still crept like a light snow just before Christmas would, and normally I would appreciate it but I was shivering, numbed inside, so cold that I’d gone past being numb and onto searing pain of which someone would get after a good dose of frost bite.

I tried to focus my heat, I cupped myself into a tight ball and stuffed my face in the middle and breathed hot air into the crater. I literally began freezing to death, survival techniques. Think of warm things, this way blood will pulse warm blood quicker through your limbs, make sure to not let a lot of heat escape, cover your forehead and feet for those are the places where heat escapes the most.

I was cupped into my little survival position when the bushes shook. Naturally, a spike of fear withered through me, and I looked. Fresh snow had peppered the surrounding forest’s bushes and other flora; all accept the two bushes that seemed to have been disturbed, where the snow looked like it had been brutally shaken up. A branch crunched a few more steps in and my heart started pounding. I remembered that if it was someone out there, me being at our headquarters prevented anything bad to happen. So I focused the fear into pumping warm blood through quicker.

The shine of medal caught my eye, and even though I knew nothing could get in, my instincts told me to be wary of it anyway. I looked, fear coursing my veins quicker than I could keep up with. Then out came the culprit. My heart froze all together, it was Tori. She wasn’t looking at me; she was looking dead on at Anya. Looking at her with a face I’ve never seen on any normal person, it was a face of betrayal, a face that a man born retarded would make before breaking into a house and putting murder on their good name. I held my breath, not that I had a choice when the oxygen hitched in my throat and closed the air passages. My eyes became wide when I saw her set a non steady foot into boundary lines.

She hadn’t been taken off our team yet… I didn’t dare move, didn’t dare make a sound, didn’t dare breath and give myself up. Tori merely strode towards Anya, her face looking like she’d been possessed, been poisoned and turned confused or rabid. I held myself close, tightly, and my foot slipped and slid on the ground. It dug under the snow just deep enough to make footsteps visible and scraped the pebbles. Tori stopped cold and slowly looked at me. Her eyes huge, her face struck with fear. I quickly set my eyes around me, no weapons. I was completely alone with Tori looking like she’d seen a ghost staring at me.

I started to panic, it really started to hit me, she was holding a machete for pete sake looking at me with that look. I stopped dead and looked at her in the eyes as well. They were red; it was obvious she’d been crying for a long time, hours perhaps. I waited for her to make her first moves but nothing seemed to click, time literally froze with our stares. She held the stare, she held it well. It burnt holes through me, I felt my stomach flipping, my instincts kicking in again, telling me to run away and run like I’ve never run before, flee the scene and don’t look back or die.

She just continued to look at me… the moment wasn’t even human. The only move she made in those minutes that felt like hours of starring was strengthen her grip on her tool. My heart had time to slow, and I felt myself stated. Then in a blink of an eye, she charged like a rhino protecting her territory. She made no scream, no warning, she didn’t even flinch before she ran at me with the face of someone who craved glory and power. She was utterly possessed. She took only two giant steps forward me before she was half way there, her machete already extended to swing. I was so cold, so stunned, so confused; I hadn’t had enough time to get a grip on what was happening that I hadn’t even moved out of the way yet.

Then my instincts did it for me. Without meaning too, I shrieked at the highest pitch I could utter. I screamed bloody murder, and screamed “ANYA!” She was up in seconds, wide awake and looking at this monstrous animal that was in truth, my best friend Tori. Anya took seconds to grab the sword next to her, but Tori didn’t hesitate. She came within distance and froze. I stared at the machete; I waited for her next move. I waited for her to fling that sword right through me and end me, but she didn’t.

Instead she turned, and by this time Anya was on her feet, holding the sword up, Mark was just looking up from his sleeping bag half into it. I wasn’t looking at Anya, or Mark or anything really, but I was dead focused on Tori. This maniac that stood before me, who held my life in her hands, all she had to do was throw the sword into me and Anya wouldn’t have nearly enough time to react, but once again she stood still. Frozen, immobile. Starring directly at Anya. We all stood frozen in fact, we were all frozen in fear. It took a few minutes with no movement, and my brain literally shut off. I dropped back on the ground and looked at the sky, all fear, all emotion leaving me. I expected my sudden movements to have Tori cut me up, but I remained, looking at the stars.

“Leave…. Now…” I heard Anya mutter with so much hate, it even hurt me. In a flash, Tori were gone. She took her machete with her, into the night, back into the bushes, back into her own world all her own. We all waited silently, we all held our breathe, but it was certain, she wasn’t coming back tonight. She had had enough, she wasn’t taking chances. We all knew Tori and that that would be her last move for tonight, but we didn’t dare let our guard down.
We stayed still, waiting, waiting for a sudden ambush but we were sunk. Anya sighed, but didn’t relax her muscles or take her eyes off that spot in the bushes that we were ALL looking at. “Kiara… I think… you better come over here tonight.” I nodded slowly, numb to anything, I felt like just a person who could obey orders and nothing else, I had completely lost feeling. I felt the warmth of the fire in layers; hit my bare arms which felt amazing in the snow, I had wanted nothing more than that. We all continued to wait, and that night we slept in shifts, swords and guns in our hands, waiting for an arrow to plummet through the pushes at random and strike the unlucky ones in the group. Yes, she had gotten us good, we were terrified.
I had expected a voice to come in my head. I didn’t even flinch or feel scared when it happened, from this point I was done with surprises. The voice was clearly Percy’s.
“That was interesting to watch.”

My stomach grinded against itself as I quickly learned he’d been watching the hole time and not helping, and even being amused by the worst night of my life.
“Get the fuck out of my head and stay that way.” I thought to myself, almost laughing in my horror.

After a while I actually was scared he left so in desperation I thought “Why didn’t you come and help?”

I was relieved when he answered, “She wasn’t planning on a kill. She was testing you. She was testing your reflexes and how you would respond to an ambush.” I laughed bitterly to myself, “So now she’s not even Tori. So now she’s testing us before she really comes in and kills us. You can tell her bring it on, I’m sick of running and hiding. Tell her next time she comes in, I’m going to fucking slice her to ribbons.”

Silence went through, and I wasn’t sure if I was happy for it or disappointed. Then he responded “I’m here to help you. I’ll keep her from any attacks that I can, but be in mind I’m here to help and aid, not be your protector or guardian. Think out your strategy Kiara, time is ticking.”

My stomach flipped, “When is she going to attack next?” I asked. “That’s not my business to tell. Be prepared though, she has tricks up her sleeve, and not a kind heart. She’s delusional with rage.”

I rolled my eyes, “I can tell.” I sighed to myself, “You need a friend Kiara. Anya doesn’t trust you anymore, she doesn’t trust you at all at this point, but she cares enough to help you. To her your just extra weight that she doesn’t want to see dead but doesn’t want around either. You did wrong this time Kiara.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I grumbled to myself psychotically. “Can’t you give me any useful information?” I thought. “If you’d proceeded with the plan, Anya would have killed you both and would have broken down so badly that she’d exposed herself and been killed by team blue. If I hadn’t told you to stop and if you hadn’t done it just in the nick of time… I think that was some useful news to tell you.” I sighed, looking back at it. I don’t see how it was my fault, or how I got myself into this mess. But I did and as long as I’m on the ride I better make it a good one.

At this point, I had no idea which path I was taking, but with luck, I hoped I was going forward. I leaned back and closed my eyes, “Percy? Tell me everything you can about what’s going on in Tori’s mind…”