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2023-01-15 07:13:23“The only way we can make the villagers trust us is to convince them that we can protect them,” I say
Thelma is at one end, she had tossed her phone after it tripped off and Rose is looking out the window, for some reason, she seems to have accepted her fate and is now trying to be useful to us for a changeI haven’t spoken to Olivia since our little fallout and she seems to prefer it because she would rather stare at her nails than glance at me even for a second. Tony is not with us, he had left to get more coal from the tunnel“You are right” Thelma snaps her words at me and smiles dryly. “We need to assure them that we can protect them”“And the only way for us to do that is to be on standby for an attack with our deodorant sprays and a lighter. Tony used it to save me” that was clever by the way and I must have forgotten to give him the accolade“I don’t use sprays,” Olivia says still avoiding my eyes so she looks at Rose instead and I almost laugh“Good thing, I use two different sprays” Rose says with excitement. I did miss her cheerful pleasant voice.This must be fate because I don’t know why we ended up with Rose of all the persons that could have signed up for this game.But then, given the stupidity of the situation, we should all have something in common - That is a topic for another day“We should also search the hotel, there have to be leftover belongings from the other people that had been here. We could find things that would help” Olivia says“fine, Thelma, you and Rose search left, I and Olivia and will go right”“Are you … sure?” Rose could not hide her concern “I mean, we only have a few hours till sundown and we don’t want you two bickering” and she had grown confident in just a few days“we will be just fine” I shoot Olivia a glance and she still hasn’t looked at me “let's go” I say and leave without waiting for her to reactI hurry to the other side of the hotel and the stamping sound from the rigid sole of her sandal approaching me gives me a breath of relief – I am pretty sure this day will end wellQuietly, we both storm into each room and search through the room for supplies and most importantly deodorant spraysThis place has put me through a lot, from carrying charcoal around like a lunatic to searching for deodorant sprays from visitors without even knowing what is it that might have happened to them.Most of the rooms were untouched and a few had occupants – mostly the teenagers from earlier and some villagers. We made a point of gathering them and making them help search along with a few motivational wordsOut of what seemed like fifteen rooms, we only found one deodorant spray and the good news is that it had just been barely used we found six of the teenagers and two middle ages villagers.The teenagers reunited with the ones that were still in our custody. The only odd thing here is that we never talked directly to each other during the long search togetherWhen we return to Rose’s room, Tony is already sitting there and a pile of coal in front of him. He did go greedy with thoseWith a heavy breath I crash on the unmade bed and Olivia crashes in with me surprising Tony. Even though we hadn’t talked to each other, I still felt a sense of relief and for some reason more comfortable being around her.Rose and Thelma stroll into the room “the crowd in my room just increased all the more” Thelma blurts“we found some more people and made them realize that staying together is a power move” I respond, breathing out each word“We need to stay together, I say we all stay in the reception, it is wide enough” Olivia suggests“she has a point. We should set up the place, arrange the coal and get ready for tonight” Tony saysWe all plunge into action, heading fast to the reception. We arrange the unused fireplace with sand and something that looked like parchment paper we had gotten from one of the huts.After many minutes of trial and error, we succeeded in arranging the fireplace so the excess smoke leaves out the chimneyThelma and Rose coordinated the people in the hotel and they all brought the beds in the rooms down to the reception, arranging them strategically so we can move around the area. In about an hour, we were done with the arrangementAfter a long shower, I join everyone at the reception. We all agreed to wear black for the occasion – as I would prefer to call it.I had on my black baggy joggers and an oversized t-shirt which is Tony’s by the way – I had borrowed it since most of my tops were too casual for battle. with my purple and black sneakers.I am very well ready for the damn shadows ... Or I thought I was until I saw the othersTony is on a leather jacket that covered one of his breathtaking flimsy tops and black trouser and shoes I cannot see clearly.Olivia is in a black knee-length transparent top over black leggings that lap her thick thighs and black crops on her feet.Thelma is in a skinny thick cotton overall and her hair is in a high ponytail, her black ankle boots complementing her whole look.Rose’s mini glittering black gown on knee-length boots and old school police cap that she wore on one side over her silky hair gave her the badass look and she pulls the full stop on it with her bright red lipstick that matched the red waist bag she woreAnd I am wishing I hadn’t judged my clothes too much. But then why are the boots with heels? – ugh, girls. I roll my eyes and walk up to them“who is going to watch them while we leave?” I ask, interrupting Rose who obviously was going to raise that talk about my clothes“I asked Mira” Thelma says and I notice the gum she is chewing and the others are chewing it too except Tony. He hands me a gum with a sigh“Who is Mira?” I force the gum into my front pocket“one of those teenagers, she is pretty brave and I felt she can handle it” Thelma adds, snapping her gum right after“dude –” my lids break open at Thelma“she volunteered to do it and besides, with the lights and burning coal, the shadows wouldn’t even get near” Rose defends her “we will be busy hunting their ass anyway” she adds as she hands me a deodorant spray and a lighter. “we only have two, you will hold one and I would the other one”Ok, why is Rose the one to hold everything and how did everyone agree to this, did I somehow spend too long in the shower? I swallow my many questions and head out first.
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Beneath the whispers Chapter 26
The dark night is immediately upon us. It might sound stupid but we left the hotel without coal, the grand reason was that we didn’t want the shadows to notice us before we attacked. The gust can be strong enough to rip us off our balance or slam us somewhere. But the problem was if they traveled in darkness, wouldn’t it be beneficial to them that we are in darkness? The sudden wild breeze answers my question and I panic “Don’t you think we are playing right into their hands by walking in darkness?” I ask “Who had the stupid idea and how the hell did we agree to it?” Tony yells out the very words I kept swallowing. Rose clears her throat and I breathe aloud. Why are we letting Rose play us into our own death? “Let us get fire, that hut is the closest” Thelma suggests, she had already moved towards the hut without waiting for our response “I only said we shouldn’t move with it because I noticed that the shadows travel with darkness and if we carry light around, they would avoid us”
Beneath the whispers Chapter 27
After all the blurry incidents of last night, I am not surprised I slept in my attire, what I am surprised about was where I had slept. The light from the morning sun pierces through my lids and I squeeze my face to control the uncomfortable inflow of bright light. I put my hands over my eyes and open them, Tony’s arms are crossed over my chest and I can feel his moving chest from under my head I sit up and look around, we are not in the hotel! I tap tony on his shoulder and he yawns himself awake “where are we?” I asked, jittery by the situation I just woke up to. He hums in response and yawns again, running his hand through his hair, and then his eyes clear, he squats up and looks around “We were looking for your lighter,” he says searching through his pocket, then he slips it out “we found it, at least that one was not a dream” he jokes I am still looking at him, lost for words, he clicks his tongue and continues “we were too tired but I didn’t know we would end up asleep in th
Beneath the whispers Chapter 28
“Bella, I need to show you something… both of you” Willow gestures at Tony “that’s the only way you guys will trust what I am saying” “he has a point, since we don’t believe him, he might as well prove himself right” I say The villagers have settled in the reception, so we went back upstairs this time to my room so we can have a private time to discuss if we should trust Willow or not “you said you saw him kill that woman Bella” Tony says – shit.. I did say that indirectly since I was too panicked to explain better when we met again and that has led to this misunderstanding Truth is, I did felt he killed her earlier but after meeting him in the hut and thinking about it, he wasn’t with anything that he could have given her. She just convulsed out of the blue and that is why I wanted him on my side. But I hadn’t updated Tony yet “yes I did, but I didn’t really see him give her something that day. I was just confused because she looked healthy right before” I say almost stammering
Beneath the whispers Chapter 29
We signed up for a game and we are going to play just that. we are in a town that is infested by demons and the story is linked with the creepy mansion on the outskirt. We need to uncover whatever it is that happened to the family that owned the mansion and lay the twins spirit to rest so we can leave and go home Except that we intend to let our kidnappers think that while we truly look for a way out of here A lot of things are involved in our leaving, one was the buried charms that sealed us in the village, another was the shadows that took people based on facts we don’t know yet. And the most important is what separates us from the outside world where we all came from The organizers of the game will not let us get to civilization or we will create questions that would be directed at them The puzzle though is that, there has to be a reason we were each selected for this game There has to be a reason we were targets because in order to stay hidden they had to somehow keep our bei
Beneath the whispers Chapter 30
Its way past midday and in a few hours we should already be heading back to the hotel given that we didn’t think to hold our weapons with us in case of anything – that is a point to consider for next time Against our better judgment and courtesy of our dear Willow, we are hiding behind a tree and tall grasses watching the dead body and waiting for strollers He may have asked us to leave him if we weren’t going to wait. To be honest, I did try to leave but I cannot just leave him here not with all he knows I may have not considered the fact that he might be working on the other side and is leading us into a trap maybe – but I have a pact with not listening to my doubts Tony grunts beside me adjusting his kneeling position for a more leveled ground. He would have left if I didn’t turn back. The things I make him do I hold his shoulder and squeeze wishing I could tell him something comforting but apparently Willow still has the guts to give us a vow of silence Tony squeeze my hand a
Beneath the whispers Chapter 31
I watch as Tony and willow fill the girls in on our recent development. Apparently we are a part of some grand plan that involves clients and we have no clue what it is we are needed for “We need to get out of here… and fast” Rose panics again – it was kind of expected since she was the most affected by all this. Good thing I have calmed myself down so they only have to deal with Rose For some reason, Thelma is not so much surprised and Olivia is quiet as usual leaving our dear Rose to play the drama queen We had arrived at the hut not so many minutes ago and while the boys tell the story I munch on the snack that Thelma brought ignoring her piercing side eye Rose eventually managed to hold herself together after that sentence, she just sits on the mat and fold her legs with her palms below her jaw and not saying anything further “In essence we need a plan and not the kind that involves fighting shadows or preventing their attack but a plan that involved literally finding our way
Beneath the whispers Chapter 32
It was a very long walk from the hut to the hotel more so given the shrill silence of the atmosphere and the fact that no one among us was willing to break it Instead, we look at the sun at intervals hoping it doesn’t suddenly disappear even though we had distributed the weapons between ourselves and Tony had the lighter along with Thelma – since the group had decided that they were more likely to not lose it and I do agree, I just wish it didn’t affect my pride so much but why wouldn’t it? Olivia suggested it The Villagers were waiting eagerly for our return, so much so that we received a clapping ovation along with cheers as if we returned from some kind of battle Even finding out that we are potentially being sold wasn’t much of a breakthrough since we all knew that we were in danger somehow, we just didn’t want to accept it, so we came up with instances that would justify our beliefs But one thing crept deep within my mind while I watched the villagers cheer for us. A question
Beneath the whispers Chapter 33
The thought of Olivia attempting to end her life didn’t sit well with me Yes I have been a bitch to her, I betrayed her and we stopped being friends because of it but how was it that I didn’t see that she was going through so much I mean, I am a very caring person and I had her best interest at heart – before Jeffery came in and complicated things I used to take her to parties so she wouldn’t live our high school days without a single experience. I would visit her regularly so we would do assignments together, I even helped her when she wanted to participate in a math competition, I hated maths but I still practiced the calculations with her We used to go on walks most evening because she loved nature. We would buy street food and eat on our way ignoring the judgemental look from passersby. And yet when she talked, she did so like she had been alone all her life – that kind of hurt though But then I have been a bitch when it comes to stealing her man. Even though he approached me
Latest Chapter
- Beneath the whispers
Epilogue
Its morning in France, the duplex vacation house on the hill reflects the sun away from the lawn The huge sized swimming pool at the back yard is blue with sit outs in pairs of twos lined up in one side of the pool and a huge fence on the other. I come out from the bathroom in a white robe and my wet brown curly hair falls on both sides of my shoulders.I get to the dressing table and with my finger collect a little potion from the cream can and apply on my legs. The flat screen television behind me has a blonde American woman on it“the increased rate of suicide within the country had pushed the government to consider closing the Sheetan bridge since it is considered the place with the highest record of suicide attempt over the past year. In comparison, other countries has reported growing rates of suicide attempts also and social media has been proven to be one of the major cause of suicide so the union government has decided to draw the lines on things permitted online”I appl
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 57
“that day, Rose had ran out of the bar when I was out. I looked for her throughout the bar and surrounding parks and when I didn’t see her, I went to her house… the door was open so I rushed in and found some men taking her, I saw the face of one of them because he didn’t have it covered When they saw me, I ran away and they chased and chased me until they caught me… A blow to the head and blank blank” Tony narrates and we nod. We were able to find some edible snacks on the shipI don’t know how long it had been but I do know that we didn’t have to wait with anxiety, instead we decided to use that time to bond since we would have to go our separate ways when we get back to civilization It is really sad though but I have learnt not to use the uncertainty of the future to stain an opportunity for good memories.Talking about our families and how much they will be happy to finally reunite with us, that is…when we have torn down this organization The boys on the other hand had no
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 56
The interior of the ship is a definition of luxury, from the wood brown furniture to the white beddings and curtains Inside the boat are four long couches arranged around a round center table. A curtain opposite where we entered from covering a king sized bed with white beddings and a brown wood frame structureThe inside smells of strawberry and mint and the cupboard has shelves with spare towels, toothbrushes and robes Beside the bed area is a bathroom, with an oval bathtub and a waterproof curtain. If anything, this cruise boat is the highlight of my stay in this island. Would you look at that? I don’t know Harem but this?The pain in my head suddenly disappears as I look through the boat, even the tension of waiting for them to leave had completely disappeared. I need a cold bath and to sleep on an actual bed and I didn't need get back to civilization to experience all these. I love my lifeI sink into one of the couches rubbing myself against the smooth fabric and beaming
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 55
“we need to move” Harper announces. The sun is kissing the hills now, its red light dimming by the minute making the forest darker and the shade from the trees aids this A day ago we would be wary of the shadows but with them gone we only have to worry about the group of men aiming for kill shots at us Sincerely, this is a lot scarier than the shadows. At least we had a fighting chance against the shadows and now? Even Willow has lost his weapon – imagine that He walks over me and takes out some white handkerchief from his pocket and gives Tony “tie something on that”I really should look at the mirror at this rate because the way everyone is looking at my head feels like my brains are out and Tony is already talking like he is scared for me. I smile weakly at Harper and he smiles back before hurrying to the othersTony folds the hanky and places it on my head, his rips out his inner shirt and wraps it over the hanky on my head, hitching it behind my head He fastens it tight
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 54
A flash of blurry lights hit my eyes and dims down again, the throbbing pain in my head slowly increases and a banging sound erupts in my head, I raise my hand to hold my head but my arm hurts too so I let it lay still. The light comes back clearer and leaves again“How many more are still alive?” I heard Harper sayI struggle to open my eyes but my whole body aches and I grunt lightly, a hand scoops me up into some huge body, the scent is familiar so I sniff harder and it is mixed with smoke and blood – blood! I shoot my eyes open but it only slowly breaks apart and I am looking at Tony, there is blood on his head and his arm has a deep cut that is bleeding. I gasp and try to get up but he holds me down“stop, you are hurt” he says“where?” I manage to say, my whole body aches so I cannot pinpoint where exactly is hurtingHe looks at my head and smacks his lips reluctant to answer my question “just stay still, we are trying to get the survivors out before they figure out how t
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 53
We had rode and rode through the sandy road as the afternoon sun heated up the bus, sweating and anticipating the sight of the beach even though we didn't know where it was. We don’t even know if we are going the right way – at least we are going at allThis journey reminds me of the journey that got me here and how I wondered if the experience was worth the long journey and yet even in returning I couldn’t wait for the journey to end“guys” I call their attention “isn’t the length of this journey familiar?” they all laugh Olivia smacks her lips “well, I for one... I was excited but that excitement turned to fury when the cab man wouldn’t talk to me” Olivia saysThelma claps “the snubbing cab man, I thought I was the only one”“he did talk to me eventually, I didn’t keep quiet” I boast. Beaming at myself“wow, I don’t even know what his voice sounds like” Olivia complains and we laugh“he also asks me what if the ghosts haunting the village was real” I say“wow, he did. You d
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 52
I step back, and stood transfixed staring as she stumbled and fell to the floor, my mouth drop open and my lids break apart“Thelma!”The girl wipes her broken bottom lip with a finger and look at me, her red strands that she had hidden away in a hair tie falls loose on her shoulder“I am sorry Bell” she almost stammer in breaking voice“don’t call me that!” I fume at herShe breaks down in tears and falls again on her butt, crying her eyes out “I shouldn’t, you just destroyed my only ticket for a better life!” She yells back at me“we were going to escape, we were going to finally be free and you, what did you do?”“I made a deal that would have helped me live normally. The way I could”“so we should all be damned so you live well, we were going to give each other that, that is why we connected”“you don’t get it do you? All you faced was a cheating boyfriend and you got yourself drunk. I freaking drove off a bridge. How did you think I would want to return to that same worl
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 51
We had intentionally not used the tunnel to get to the mansion given that it already was an obvious route and we plan on sneaking up on the shadows, if that is even possible We also needed to set as much on fire as possible and the tunnel will be our major route of escape but the moist weather in the forest area was going to be a problem so we switched to plan BWe head fast towards the mansion, the sun had just barely risen and the morning still had the flare of last night’s chill breeze. the mansion slowly comes into view We excitedly hurry towards it but stop when we notice that the door was closed. We raise our weapon and point it towards the doorWith slow calculated footsteps we stroll closer and closer to the door, when we get to the door, I gently push it and it strides open. Cool air hits my face and I freeze, aiming my spray can inside. I snap the lighter and slowly enter into the building“Rose, you will wait out here, find the back door” I say and Rose nods and leav
- Beneath the whispers
Chapter 50
AnthonyWe had arrived at the border not long after we left the hotel, the bus is not there as we saw it earlier. So we decided to wait. In the process of waiting we had slept through the night at the border and it is the morning nowI grunt “what should we do now?” the sun is barely risen but the light of day is upon the island“check out the brick house” Willow suggests and I nod along with himWe slowly make it for the brick house, one step at a time until we are leaning at the wall of the house. We walk slowly along the wall till we got to the rusty front door that was already slightly open“when will they arrive?” a huge man with chest tattoos and a tiny nicker says in a grumpy cracking voice“I think in fifteen minutes time. They are an hour behind us” says the younger one looking at his wristwatch, he is better dressed and has glasses on “oh, the package?” he asks looking from the chest tattooed man to another similar sized man“it's ready” the similar one answered“wha
