The Curse of Hidden Hollow

Kiera's Side

Kiera stood behind the pillar, waiting for the moment to come when she would be revealed. She let out a deep sigh, thinking back to the first time she had met Ash. She had watched him come into town, and at that moment, she had known that Thomas was going to make her trick him. It always went the same way, someone came to town, Kiera befriended them, brought them up to the mines, they died, and she did it all over again. After all this time, it didn't really bother her anymore, but this time, for some reason, she felt guilty about it. She thought back to the night that Thomas made the original threat. It had been a cold night at the beginning of December. Kiera and her Mother had just finished decorating their small house at the top of the main street. Kiera had looked out the window to watch the snowfall. She sighed deeply. It would be the first Christmas without Dad. He had died 7 months prior due to sickness. Kiera was lost in her thoughts when she heard the door slam open, and the wind starts to blow. The air got cold, and Kiera whipped around to see a masked figure holding a gun to her mother's head. "Mom!" Kiera exclaimed She took a step forward when the figure took off the mask. "Thomas? What are you doing!" Thomas shouted at her. "Not another step! You're going to do exactly as I say if you want to keep your mother safe!" Thomas then explained what he wanted, and said that as long as Kiera followed his orders, she could keep her mother safe. She had begrudgingly agreed. She was interrupted out of her thoughts by Thomas summoning her forward. She took a deep breath, pushing down the guilty feeling in her gut. She stepped forward and gasped. Ash looked absolutely horrible! He was smudged with dirt all over, his lower half was dusted over. One arm was bandaged, bleeding through. The other scraped and scratched. His shirt had three long slashes through, and it was completely soaked with blood. Some of the blood was even dripping down from underneath his shirt. Their eyes met, and her heart shattered. There was a look of confusion, anger, and fear, but mostly pain. She had no idea what he had been through, but she knew it was most likely the equivalent of Hell on earth. He looked completely different than he did when she first saw him. Something had completely changed about him. Whatever he'd been through completely ruined him. He was broken. Ash reacted just how she thought he would. She saw his eyes widen, and he shouted out. "No... NO!!" Kiera's heart sank even further somehow. She tried to explain herself, "I'm so sorry Ash! He threatened my mom! I had to!" She wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by Thomas slinking up behind her, putting an arm around her shoulder. She shuddered, internally throwing up. She hated this man with every fiber of her being. She was pulled back in by the sound of Ash's voice. "Get your hands off her!" She smiled slightly, Ash didn't completely hate her guts. The warming feeling was interrupted as she felt Thomas start to walk forward with her. "You're absolutely right, what was I thinking?" That was the last thing Kiera heard before she felt a rough shove from behind. She stumbled forward, a couple of steps on the edge, then there was nothing under her feet. She fell forward, gasping. She didn't scream, she was too shocked. She felt herself tumbling end over end. Oh gosh, this was the end! She closed her eyes and waited for the hard ground, but it never came. She landed on something else, cushioning her fall. She heard Ash groaning in pain, and quickly got off. "Ash? Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!"