Cursed Blessings: Tales of Twisted Fates

Caught

Walking into a small wooden structure, Dawa was amazed to find the room—about 4m x 4m, furnished with a small table with some papers, a bag tossed in one corner, windows on two sides, and a few water bottles neatly placed by the wall.

He picked up a bottle, twisted off its lid, and asked, "Ayan, is this drinking water?"

"Yes," Ayan replied, watching as Dawa eagerly gulped down the whole bottle of water as if he found an oasis in the desert.

Gulp, gulp

Taking a deep breath after finishing it, Dawa spoke, "Why did you even make this treehouse so far from the village? It took me almost two hours just to get here and I didn't think to bring water. Why do you always do these weird things?"

Ayan replied in a somewhat embarrassed tone "I never really expected a visitor someday in my treehouse. I needed a good signal to use the internet, which was only available in these higher areas. This hill was the closest for me. So, I created a treehouse to spend my time here."

Dawa spoke in a jealous tone, "You even have those smartphones."

"Tell me, why did you come here?" Ayan asked, dodging the topic. "And why are you so tired just from these two hours of walking?"

Dawa explained in an excited tone, "This morning, the foreigners unexpectedly invited us to play several outdoor games with them. I was already tired before I came here. But, I wanted to meet you quickly so I came straight away."

Looking at Ayan's questioning face, he continued in a serious tone, "Because I found out that they already realized that the bridge was tampered with and the accident was planned."

"What!" Ayan was completely shocked upon hearing this. "How did they figure it out?"

Dawa shrugged nonchalantly, "I don't know how they found out. But, they know that I am one of the culprits which means they know at least two of us are involved."

Ayan hurriedly spoke, "Wait. How did this link to me?"

Dawa interjected, "You were such a smart boy. Can't you figure out that everyone in the village knows about your abilities? They'll easily find out about you when they ask the villagers."

Ayan calmed down and asked, "So, what do we do now?"

Dawa stared into his eyes and slowly spoke, "One way or the other they'll find out about you, so you better go to that blonde lady, apologize, and tell her that it was your doing—just the two of us are involved and no one else is involved. That way, we can prevent our friends from getting punished."

"But, I...." Just as Ayan spoke, Dawa cut him off, "Can't you do this much for our friends?"

Ayan sighed and agreed. "Fine. I'll go and take all the blame if that's what you guys want."

"Tomorrow morning, they'll be doing the rock climbing thing, so you can sneak in and meet with that lady separately," Dawa explained and generously declared. "Blame me as the mastermind if you want. I don't care."

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The adventurers were standing around a tall hill, listening intently as the leader expounded on the rock climbing procedure. These hills were lined with several ropes and ascenders, securely clipped to bolts embedded in the rocks. The first group, including Sonia, had already started climbing using these arrangements.

Sonia carefully gripped a big rock protruding into the hill, slowly lifting her head to survey the area above it. Suddenly, she noticed a man dressed in black hiding in a small alcove frantically waving and gesturing at her to stay silent.