YouTubia

Chapter 5

Thinking quickly, I grab all three horses’ reins and begin to make a break for the group. The steeds’ strides lengthened into a nervous trot and it forced me to go faster to keep up with them. When we got close enough to where the group was, I tied the horses to a nearby tree.

Taking Ohm’s knife from my belt, I unsheath it and enter the clearing. Dlive, Krism, and Minx were against a tree, all their weapons lying at their feet. They looked as if they were tied to it, but there wasn’t any rope tied around them. It’s almost as if something invisible held them there.

My head snaps to the right as I hear a grunt. I see Ohm pressed against another tree and a man holding him there. The man was deathly pale and he had short brown hair. He wore blue shorts, no shirt, and he had a green bandanna that was tied around his head, covering his eyes. He was so skinny that I could see his ribs and his spine jut out of his body. I’d be lying if I said terror didn’t seep into my bones at the sight of the pale man.

Holding the knife tightly, I edge nearer to the stranger. I soon got close enough to hear what they were saying.

“How lovely it is to see you again, Ohm. I missed you all these years. Did you miss me?” the man’s voice chilled me to the bone.

“No! Get off me, Nanners!” Ohm struggled against the stranger, but then stood still as a knife was placed against his neck.

“Too bad… You could’ve been a great Neck Twister. Such a shame that you had to go and betray your own friends,” the man called Nanners raised the knife to stab Ohm.

No! I throw my knife, aiming at the man’s head. With lightning fast reflexes, the man whipped his hand behind him to catch the blade that was a few inches away from his head. Nanners’ head suddenly turned 180 degrees, almost like an owl, and faced me. My green eyes widened into the size of saucers. I had to force myself not to puke at the horrid sight. Okaaaay! That’s creepy!

Nanners’ lips curved into a twisted smile, revealing yellow, pointed teeth. I suppressed a shiver and stood tall, trying my best to seem brave.  

“What do we have here? A young assassin? Ohm, you didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend,” he turns his body so his head was placed normally on his neck.

“Leave her alone!” Ohm launched forward, but was slammed back against the tree by an invisible force.

Nanners ignored the masked assassin and walked up to me, every single move he made suggested death and suffering. It took all I had to not bolt out of the clearing. The blindfolded man circled around me, twisting both knives he held in his hands.

“You came so close to hitting me with the knife, closer than anyone else has before. Very interesting,” he came to a stop in front of me.   

“I’ve had some practice,” I lied. I’ve never actually thrown a blade before.

“Sure,” I knew he called my bluff.       

“What are you doing with them?” I ask, my gaze switching from him to the Shadows.

“Nothing. Just having a nice reunion with some old friends.”

“Does your ‘reunion’ involve almost stabbing one of your ‘friends’?”

“Yes. Don’t all reunions have that?” he asks innocently.

“Why are you really doing this?” I interrogate.     

“...You really are a curious one, aren’t you?” he walks closer.

He holds the knife up and points it in my direction.