Avery's POV
"Is he worth saving?" The words ran over and over in my mind. "A-Are we supposed to get this or?" Zoe spluttered. "I don't know." I whispered. "They look really recent."
I allowed my brain to re-scan every single detail of each letter. "Is he worth saving? Is he worth saving? Is he worth saving?" I muttered to myself a few times, trying to understand. "Is he..." My words caught themselves in my throat as I took a sharp breath in. "Oh no, no-no-no-no-no." I frantically ran my hands through my hair and dropped the photo, then ran towards the phone. "What?!" Zoe exclaimed. "Avery tell me what!" She grabbed my shoulders and held the phone, not letting me use it. "We need to call the cops Zoe." I breathed, my shoulders shaking from her hands. "Why?"
"Look at them photos, Zoe. Then read the text. Link them." I ordered. She did as she was told, yet still a confused look was plastered across her face. "I'm not following."
"Think. Think really hard. Is he worth saving? That's what they asked me. They asked me if he is worth saving." Zoe nodded slowly, her brain clocking away to try to understand.
"They are giving me a choice," I breathed. "I can let him die, or save him."
-
Unknown's POV
Well done, Avery. Smart girl. But, the clock is ticking.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
I can't help but wonder, if she'll save him or leave him to die. Personally, I would leave him. Unfortunately, this little test is somewhat out of my control, and I have no control on what she decides to do. His life remains in her tiny, pale, fragile hands and only she can be held responsible for her actions.
She saves him, he will be forever a burden to her, and I can imagine he will not let this go gently.
She leaves him, the guilt would swallow her alive, part by part, until she could barely live herself no more.
This whole test terrifies me, yet I still can't figure out which part scares me the most. If she leaves Danny to be killed, she would have been responsible for not saving him, making her a murderer. But, she wouldn't have only killed one person. She would have killed two. The other being herself.
If she saves Danny, that means she feels even the tiniest slither of affection for him. Love, I'm presuming. They say that 'you will always feel for your first true love'. Well, you can't if they are dead, can you Avery?
-
Avery's POV
"We have to find him." I panicked. "We need to find him." Rushing to pick up the photos, I grabbed a few and evaluated them. "They are somewhere dark, hidden. I-I can't tell where. Maybe in an underpass. Or a tunnel." I told Zoe, squinting my eyes to focus more. "The walls look like brick, but they've been covered with what I think is grey paint." Zoe's eyes were closed, and I could tell she was thinking hard. "Come on Zo..." I muttered. A frown appeared on her face. "I'm really not sure. It's really vague."
"The photos are too small and not detailed enough to see anything else." I choked up. I knew the chances of us finding him were really small, but that didn't stop me from trying, right?
"Oh my god. I remember doing this when I was younger." Zoe rushed. "My mum used to always tell me the same thing, whenever it came to finding things. It annoyed me so much because she was always right." Zoe grabbed my arm lightly and pulled me back a little. "Sometimes, you just have to take a step back, and look at the bigger picture. Don't look into so much detail, and you'll realize everything happens for a reason."
We looked at the photos we lined up in what we thought was the order. "Oh my god." In each corner of the photos was a letter, printed in such a strange colour and way that only standing this far back made it visible. "Punch the numbers into Google Maps." I ordered, snatching the photos and shoving them into my bag.
-
The sound of our boots splashing against the small, dirty puddles filled the entire tunnel. "Does it look like the photos?" Zoe asked me in a hushed tone. "Mhmm." I couldn't speak properly. My throat was stiff and tight. My mouth dry as a bone. Goosebumps trailed my skin as I heard a faint laughter coming from deeper inside the tunnel. "Did you he-"
"Yes." I interrupted.
We kept going for what felt like at least half a mile, not stopping or slowing our pace. As we turned a corner, a small, red flashing light caught the corner of my eye. Stopping immediately, I examined the area. My eyes had just about adjusted to the darkness of this tunnel, but not completely. There was a figure, tied to a chair, blood puddles surrounding the area. Without even realizing, my legs ran towards the figure. "Danny?" I called out. Hoping with every single inch of myself that it was him. "Danny?!" As I stood in front of the figure, I saw a very pale, drained Danny. Relief washed over me as I pulled the rope out of his mouth. "Come on, we have to go." I loosened the knots around his ankles and wrists. "No, Ave. We can't." His voice was empty, emotionless. "W-Why not?"
"Ave, I'm so sorry. I never should have come back here. I just needed to-"
"Danny, I'm begging you, leave the soppy apology for later. We need to leave." I grabbed his arm and slid it over my shoulder, Zoe doing the exact same. "Ave?" Danny whispered.
"Yes?"
"I love you."
-
authors note:
hey everyone! how are you all?
avery is way too nice to let someone die i think so yaaa
how do you feel about danny surviving? what do you think is going to happen next?
tysm to everyone who reads this and i think later on in the book im going to do a character answer, so would anyone actually like ask questions?
ILY ALL AND ILL SEE YOU TOMORROW BC IM UPDATING THEN ;)
