❇ 𝔗𝔦𝔩𝔩 ℑ𝔱 𝔈𝔫𝔡𝔰 ❇

Chapter 8 - Mallory

Mallory POV:

Nothing registered in my brain until I heard the door slam. Only then did I realise what happened. It was like my mind had fully now recovered from the events and had brought me into the after shock. Like I was in a trance and the door slam had taken me out of it.

I cursed myself for flinching. I knew she didn't mean to shout but it was an impulse habit drilled into me by my parents.

My heart told me to go after her but for some reason it was like my feet were glued to the floor. All the trauma from my childhood was spilling out from years of me pushing it away. I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks and dripping down from my jaw.

I hated this. I hated not being able to have control over my own body. My heart and brain in one place but my body in another.

Artemis. I could tell she regretted shouting at me the moment she did it. Her movements fully stilled and she looked like she couldn't comprehend what she had done.

She had only taken her gas mask which I was relieved for or she wouldn't have lasted long at all. I still had to go after her because her weapons were lying discarded on the floor which meant she had no protection whatsoever. Her bow, arrows and guns were all spilling out of an olive green backpack and I curiously reached closer to it. Wait. That was an invasion of privacy. But even as I continued to try and stop myself, my hands reached for it.

Oh well. There was still a lot of stuff inside the backpack other than the weapons and I tipped it out, careful not to break anything.

There were a ton of newspaper scraps organised with date and it looked like a makeshift diary. And then under all of them was a book that looked eerily close to a sketchbook. It had Artemis's initials on them written with a cursive gold coloured font.

I opened the first page and there was a sketch of her family. It was dated far back, when Artemis would've been aged 14 and she had labeled each of her family members. It was really good, much better than anything I could draw and I kept flipping through the pages. There was an assortment of different drawings and sketches. Scenery, people, food and items all littered the creamy pages. It was like she had been experimenting with different styles over the years.

When I turned the next page, my movements came to a stop. It was a picture of me. I could tell it was and my name was written in the same gold font as before. But what shocked me the most was that it had been drawn after we had become 'enemies'.

She had drawn me smiling and I was sketched in pencil unlike her other drawings. I felt myself smile at the thought that she had missed me when we stopped talking. I had felt like I was the only one who missed our friendship when it was gone.

A deafening gunshot sounded throughout the air and I flinched. It didn't sound too close but it wasn't that far away if I could hear it. It must've been for Artemis.

No. I had to go now. All the stuff slipped out of my hands and I sprang up, desperate to not waste any time as possible. I had been so caught up in the past that I had forgotten about the present. Grabbing my satchel, I slipped my gas mask over my mouth and rushed out the door.

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I hadn't managed to find Artemis yet and with each step I took, the worry increased. What if she hated me now? What if she had been bitten? What if she was dead? What if I never see her again?

I couldn't bear the thought of the last 2 situations so I cleared my mind, keeping an eye on my surroundings. I was walking through the same clearing I had been a few days ago when I had been attacked and fainted. Artemis had found me then and I was trying to find her now.

My left hand was clutching my satchel tightly and the piece of the Prophecy was in my other hand. My eyes kept darting back to it, to see if there was even any subtle change in it's slight glow. I knew Artemis kept it in her pocket so if there was any good way to find her, this was it. Century dried leaves crunched under my feet and cold droplets of rain splashed my face. I could feel a thunderstorm starting but I wasn't going to give up now.

With every passing minute, my heart beat faster, the anticipation was killing me. A rustle sounded in the trees and I whipped round, armed with Artemis's bow and arrows. Silence.

Then all of a sudden I was tackled to the ground and rolled into a nearby bush. What the hell? "Get off me!" I tried to push the 'person' off me but their hand was on my eyes, obscuring my vision.

I finally managed to pull them off me and stood up, getting a gun out of my belt. My eyes blinked back into focus and I gasped at who laid there. It was Artemis and my heart soared in relief but she was bleeding. And it was bad.

Her dark hair was matted with blood and there was a knife stabbed into her stomach. I dropped the gun and crouched next to her whilst she was groaning in pain. Her eyes were closed and her hands were on her head. I felt behind it and my hand came away with her blood. Oh shoot. She was stabbed and had a head injury. What the hell had actually happened?

She wasn't unconscious but she was barely there. "Can you stand up?" I asked hoping for an answer or this was more serious than I thought. She nodded her head and made a move to stand.

"Wait," I managed to choke out and she opened her dazed eyes, looking at me. I had to pull the knife out before it did any more damage. I knew she would lose a lot of blood but I had a large bandage which I could wrap around the wound.

My hands were shaking as I reached towards the dagger and I pulled it out quickly before pressing a bandage onto it.

How had she ended up like this?