Do you love me?

Chapter 36

Narrator's POV

*Before the call from Julie*

After days of traveling with the help of Willie, they finally made it to Elorerin. This place is just like how they described it: dirty, poor, and looking at the castle made everyone shivered, including Willie.

Willie: Here we are. Home sweet home.

Flynn: Wow. I knew Elorerin was bad, but I never thought it would be this bad.

Willie: It wasn't always like this. This place was actually a lot better before Caleb took over.

That's when Willie begins telling them about his past.

12 years ago, Elorerin was a beautiful place to live in. The grass was greener, you could smell the bread from the bakeries, and you could hear the children laughing outside whenever they played a game.

During this time, Willie's parents were still alive. They would cuddle up with their 6 year old boy and would chase him down whenever they played tag.

Life was great for Willie.

Until it wasn't.

When Caleb took over, he asked every available man to be a part of his great army. Willie's father was one of them. He had no choice but to join the army and leave his family behind to help support his nation.

But one day, a fellow soldier came by in the bakery Willie's mother owns, and he told her that his father had died during comeback. After that, his mother was never the same. She started getting depressed and never had the energy to do anything anymore. She could've put on a brave face for her son, but that hard even for her. But, one day, she decided to be happy for once and went on a walk with Willie. It was the first time he saw her smile in a year.

He thought he was getting his mom back.

Suddenly, they felt the ground shaking. His mother grabbed hold of him and looked at her surroundings to see what's going on. That's when she saw a flood coming after the town.

She ran with her little boy in her arms and screamed for everyone to take cover. The water was so close to her that she decided on the one thing she could do. She threw Willie into her neighbors arms. And all he remembered that day was the terror, but love in her eyes to see that Willie was safe.

That's when the flood consumed her. She died of drowning. She died protecting her son from bodily harm.

After that day, Willie was on his own. Stealing food from food stands and sleeping in nothing but rags. It was a hard life for him until Caleb took him in.

At first, it was nice. He ate great food, had good clothes, and had a big field to play in. He even had fun training to fight with Caleb. Caleb was a great father figure to him.

Until he decided to go to war with Valdronia.

Caleb would order extra training for Willie, pushing him until he falls to his knees due to exhaustion. Every single time when he proves himself to Caleb, when he beats his sparing partners, Caleb would make him redo them over and over and over again.

But he went too far when Luke almost got killed. It happened in just a moment, but he saw Caleb gave Onyx a signal to shoot him. Growing up, Willie always thought that he was a nice guy. But now, he was nothing but a monster and a murder. Although he adopted Willie, he will never be his father.

Not now, not ever.

Reggie: Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Luke: Yeah, no kid should have to go through that.

Willie: Thanks, that means a lot.

Alex: Why didn't you tell me about your parents?

Willie gave Alex a somber look. Deep down, he didn't know if he'll understand. But during this whole journey, Alex was the one person he could be himself. Like they could connect with anything. With each other.

But what Willie didn't know was that Alex felt the same, too.

Willie: I didn't know if you could relate. And-

Luke: Hang on, guys.

Everyone stood there very quietly. They all understood that whenever Luke tried to call Julie, he wanted absolute silence. He wanted to be able to hear her clearly.

When he got a signal, he started talking.

Luke: Julie? Are you there?

He could hear a lot of ruckus in the background, and just when he was about to ask what's going on. He heard Julie talk in a distressing tone.

Julie: Luke, it's a trap!

His eyes widened at the words, and he was terrified to hear more ruckus in the background. Unbeknownst to him and the group, something was watching. Or someone.

Luke: Julie? Julie! Are you there?

He heard more noises, and Luke was getting anxious every second.

What is going on?

That's when he heard a voice he never thought he would hear ever again.

Caleb: Juliana is not in the talking mood right now. Let's just say she's a little tied up at the moment.

Hearing his voice again made Luke's spine shiver. While Julie was gone, he had nightmares of Caleb killing Julie, and Luke just sat there and watched. He couldn't do anything, and that made him feel so weak. But Luke shook it off and started being in a protective mode.

Luke: If you touch her Caleb, I will -

Caleb: You will what? By the time you'll get here, you'll all be dead, and Juliana will be my wife. You better say your goodbyes, but I'll make sure you'll never see Juliana again.

Luke: Wait, Caleb, let me just talk to Julie! Julie?! JULIE!

That's when the bracelet lost contact. Caleb must've destroyed it before Julie could ever answer.

Flynn: What just happened?

Reggie: What did Julie mean by "trap"?

Mitch: Willie, could you think of anything of what Julie could mean?

Willie: I don't know. Unless-

Alex: Unless what?

Suddenly, Willie just looked scared. He looked at Luke, and they shared a widened look.

Luke: He knew we were coming.

After saying that, a group of bandits surrounded the group with sharp swords, bows, and arrows. Worst of all, Onyx was there.

He had a grinned on his face but was shocked when he saw Luke.

Onyx: Little Patterson, long time no see. I thought I killed you back at Devontae.

Mitch: You better shut your mouth if you know what's good for you.

Onyx: Come on, Mitchell. It was just a little shot.

Mitch: A little? MY SON ALMOST DIED BECAUSE OF YOU! AND TRUST ME, YOU'LL REGRET IT!

Onyx: How are you going to do that, huh?

That's when Mitch pulled out his sword and pointed it at Onyx. All Onyx could do was smirk and pull out his own sword.

Onyx: Attack!

That's when everything broke loose. Not knowing that this is the day, things will change for everyone.

To be continued...

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Hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates. College life is still stressing me out. Can't wait for Spring Break. Anyway, I would like to thank Spopas7 again for helping me with this chapter. I have another idea for the next chapter. But I can't make promises for when it will be released. But I do hope you guys like this chapter.

Make sure to comment and vote.

Byeeeeeeeeeeeee 😁