Pendulum || TAENNIE FF

⚔Chapter 10: Hold onto the minute's hand

A U T H O R

They left the cave before the sun completely set down. Heather followed him with her head hanging low. Firo, on the other hand, checked on her from time to time. He wanted to try to cheer her up but he couldn't. Firo's not really good with girls. He sounded smoothly earlier but that's just his ego building up because of Heather's complaints and "rules". 

"Where exactly are we going?" Heather finally spoke after the long silence. "Are you sure you know your directions? It seems to me that we've been going around in circles."

"I come here most of the time. I know every entrance and every exit to this place." He said and walked towards a twiggy tree. "Except for this one." Heather stood beside him and looked at the brown tree before them. It doesn't have fruits nor leaves. It just had its thin branches and trunk. "One of these directions leads to a stinky swamp and the other leads to the village. The problem is they always change."

"Are you kidding me?" Heather walked towards the tree and looked up to see two signs. "Left side says 'Vigilly', and the right says 'Stuk'. I think we both know which one is the village." Firo could only furrow his brows and narrow his eyes to know what she was talking about. "It's just above my head. See?" She said and placed her hand under the signs.

"Heather, there's nothing there." Heather tilted her head and looked at the signs again. "Are you sure you're seeing them? You're not making it up?"

"Do you think I have time to make something up in my situation? Look at me! My arm's bleeding and so is my foot! Do I look like I want to go to a swamp? I say we take Vigilly." She walked on the left path and left Firo standing there.

"Did she actually read something?" He looked at the tree again but there was no sign Heather described. "That's odd." 

He followed after her and after a few minutes of walking without talking, they found themselves in front of a railway. "Am I seeing what I'm seeing?" Heather turned around and with her eyes wide. "There's a literal railway in the middle of a forest?"

"That is how we get to places." Lights appeared bigger and bigger as the white train approach them. "Just try to blend in.  As long as there's no vampire on board, you're safe." The train stopped and both of them went in.

"What vampire? You mean those blood-sucking creatures exist here?" She quietly asked while they find vacant seats. There were a lot of passengers looking around for cabins just like them. Some double the human size and some that have a size of a dwarf. It was too crowded like sardines in a sardine can but they were still accepting passengers. 

There was an empty one Firo spotted and quickly pushed Heather to that space before the others roaming around could take it. "We're lucky." He said and closed the door of the two-person cabin. "What were you asking?"

"I asked if vampires do exist here." Firo sighed and looked outside the window. "Why are we getting emotional so suddenly?"

"Was I obvious?" He asked and chuckled. "I just remembered that one vampire kid I met years ago. His life was taken by his own kind. It happened right before my eyes and I couldn't do anything for him." So that was why wasn't good with blood. "Vampires are the most powerful beings in Parailla together with petrifiers. Vampires can kill without getting in trouble and so does petrifiers. They can turn anyone into stone without getting in trouble. The only difference is, there are only two petrifiers left while vampires are countless."