lightning strikes | könig [ON HOLD]

- Chapter 10 -

They weren't alone.

The realization made Senna's heart drop to the pits of hell. Her blood froze and she didn't even dare to breathe as she listened. It's been a little over five hours since König's been asleep and Senna kept a careful watch over everything. She made sure her loaded rifle lay in close reach as the woman rested her back against the wall.

To stop herself from falling asleep mid-duty, Senna read from the poem book she kept with herself as a break from all the work. She was supposed to make sure nothing could ambush them or come even close to hurting them. She didn't plan on moving from her spot till sunrise, making sure he got a few more hours of sleep.

But as Senna's hand flew towards her rifle, fear making blood drain from her face, she knew this wasn't going to be an easy night. The woman held her breath back as she listened for any noise: she wasn't sure if it wasn't only her mind playing tricks on her. She was awake for too long and she had suffered too much in the past few days, so it could be just her delusions. Projecting the horrific ghosts of her mind into the real world.

She held her breath for so long her lungs started to hurt and she started to feel light-headed when she heard it again. There was a faint metallic sound emitting from below, and now the woman was sure it wasn't just in her head. She wasn't crazy.

I'm not crazy.

The realization that it wasn't in her head made her hand shake. Because it meant that whatever was down there making noise; it was real. And she had to face it. Which was so much scarier than admitting she lost her mind. That meant there was a real threat waiting for her. For them.

Senna darted forward and killed the light that kept her company throughout the night. Darkness fell over the room, stealing her breath and making her chest squeeze painfully. The woman pressed a hand over her mouth to stop a whimper from coming out, eyes already tearing up. The darkness and distress brought forward the memories of the night before, the night when everything went to shit. Dread pressed against her chest, her lungs incapable of getting enough air into her lungs.

In her most desperate attempt to get a grip on her sanity, Senna got on her feet, and with the agility of a cat, she approached the sleeping figure on the other side of the room. Even with the darkness and shadows wrapping around her like a cold, slimy hug, the woman made sure to avoid the creaky spots on the floorboards. Her breathing was shallow and quiet, and she almost lost her balance near the steps.

The brunette approached König's sleeping form, lying in the same spot for hours now. Rapidly blinking, she tried to make her eyes adjust to the dark as fast as possible. Senna got on her knees right next to him, and she reached a tentative hand towards him before she pulled it back. Embarrassment made her cheeks flush as she lowered herself to her heels, contemplating whether she was really doing this. This whole ordeal felt ridiculous and she was acting like she wasn't a trained soldier.

But on the other side, she was scared. She was terrified it was the remaining Shadow coming back for revenge. No matter how badly she wanted to be the person Farah would be proud of, she just couldn't. Not right now.

"König?" Senna's voice was barely a whisper, so the fact that he didn't even move wasn't that much of a surprise.

Letting out a shaky breath, Senna raised her hand again and leaned over, putting a hand on his shoulder. She just didn't expect him to react so suddenly.

With the speed of light, König's hand that was under his head just a moment before now flew towards her. It was only thanks to her reflexes that she was able to get a hold of his arm and slam it down on the ground. She had to tip her whole body weight on him to keep him down, the sheer amount of his strength making panic rise inside her. Her grip on his right arm tightened, pinning his arm above his head as her knee pushed his upper body down, eyes widened with fear.