Arkwood

Chapter 9

" It's just a scratch! Why the heck are you crying?" Jay questioned , sitting at a safe distance from Kiara on the old tree bark.

" It's just a scratch? I promised myself I wouldn't scar my face , okay?! " Kiara sobbed and returned to my embrace.

Kiara's cheeks were pink and her eyes puffy from balling her eyes for the past 10 minutes. Judging from what she's been saying for the past few minutes , she seemed not to be crying because of falling face flat on the ground but because her face got messed up.

" We have to keep going , okay? You will worry about your little scratch when you get home. " Jay stood up with no sympathy but an annoyed expression on his face.

I pulled Kiara out of my embrace and cupped her cheeks in my hands. If nobody was going to tell her , then I had to.

" Hey , don't worry , okay? I can't even see that scratch on your face unless I focus on it. If a stranger meets you , they won't even notice it. It's tiny as a seed. "

Yeah , but reality was that scratch created a whole drama on it's own. Why the heck did it have to be as big as if a tiger clawed her cheek?

" Really? " Kiara sobbed , her teary eyes meeting my gaze.

I nodded pulling her body back into my embrace.

" Thank you! " Kiara tightened her grip around my body. I'm glad she decided to listen to my opinion then focusing on how the scratch felt. 

Behind Kiara , I could see Jay's face turn purple.

He isn't going to ruin this for me , is he?

I shot him with a if-you-dare-laugh glare to avoid another breakdown from my best friend.

He seemed to understand me then nodded sharply , still with amusement scrawled all over his face.

" Well , how about we get going? We won't be back before dark if we move at this pace. "

ㅠㅠ

" So is this the house? "

" Yeah. "

" The house we passed looked so much better for a person not to be present in it."

" Really now?"

"...why does it look like one of those houses from the crime documentary shows?"

Yeah , Kiara wasn't lying at all about the house. The house was all grey with empty flower pots on its porch. The windows were covered by grey curtains which seemed like they were hiding a secret in the house. The  wooden steps towards the porch were splotched with a red colour. Man , this was definitely a perfect setting for a horror movie. I actually wish the house we were going into , was the old man's house which was definitely the opposite of this place. His house was nicely painted with red curtains completing the view. The old man looked like a happy man.

" Alright , thank you very much for taking us on a nature discovery trip. I believe our trip ends here. "

Kiara interlocked her arms with mine , turning around and I willingly followed her.

" There's no way you're backing out now!"

"...we are sane , okay? That house is definitely a death trap! How the heck did you even come back alive?" I shot Jay with a terrified look.

Yeah , it was definitely Jay's turn to facepalm.

" She's not a serial killer , okay? She's just old. She can't clean like she used to , okay?"

I gulped , knowing that we couldn't back out now. Sebastian was missing and if I back out , I'm basically failing him.

" If I don't come back alive , I'll haunt you , okay?"