Veiled Horizons

Chapter Twenty-Two: Sia

"See that? That's your target. Now aim and throw like I taught you" Sia's father, William, said, pointing to a tree

He left a mark on it earlier. A cut, horizontally, just above the height of Sia, at that time

He gave her a knife, making sure she gripped it firmly then observed her, as she glanced at the knife and the tree ahead of her.

Sia, only twelve years old, had more than enough training from her father for using a knife wisely. This time, her father took her to a small forest behind their house to practice throwing a knife.

"I'm not sure, I can do it" Sia said, her eyes shifting from the knife in her hands, to the tree, a few meters ahead of her.

Her father shrugged, inhaling sharply, "Worries ain't getting you nowhere, girl. Do it" He demanded, the big man clenched his fist, making Sia feel motivated.

Sia tried once. Holding the sharp end of the knife between her fingers, aiming at the tree, she threw it and stood with her eyes closed, worried. But her eyes opened quickly as she heard the sound of the knife hitting the ground. She turned to face her dad, disappointment in her eyes but she saw her dad smile.

She realised as her dad explained that, even though the knife fell down, it's sharp end touched the mark before it fell. She looked at her dad with her eyebrows raised, and a sweaty smile. Her dad looked cheerful.

"Yeah, I knew you had it in ya" William complimented her. He said in his deep accent, which reminded Sia about his North-Syvia background.

Before moving to Seaville, the Southern-most state of Syvia, William lived in the northern part. His strong build and rough accent were a common trait of the 'Northerners'. Sia's mom died giving birth to her, but as her dad had told her, her mother was from Seaville.

William patted Sia on her shoulder. But his smile was broken by a cough. He held his chest, struggling, settling to the chair beside him. Sia's dad was suffering from a chronic disease. He always told Sia, that the only thing that kept him going was her.

"Come here, Sia" her father called, and she stood closer to him. "It doesn't matter if that knife didn't go as you wanted, it was your first try. One day, you'll perfect it. I just hope I'll still be there with you, on that day." William had a smile, when he spoke.

But Sia's heart ached everytime he mentioned the future. The future without him. Her dad still had a few years left, as the doctors told him. That was when she was five years younger. Now that might not be the case, her dad may have only few months left.

Sia is regretting every moment she is wasting on the island, when she could've been with her dad.

Sia is sitting atop the waterfall-Mountain. She's on a group of rocks which are aligned like a bench to sit on. Her legs held down freely, to the direction of the waterfall. The fog is huge and thick, which made her disappear, from distant view.

But as her mind was drifting away to her memories, she felt something on her right shoulder. She flinched and turned to check. It was a hand. Her eyes followed the fingers, which were attached to a veiny forearm, to a shoulder and her gaze caught the figure of a face.

She narrowed her eyes to get a clear view, through the mist. It was Zane. Her mind was in relief and joy but her body was still and she kept a rigid face. She sat still as Zane settled beside her on the aligned rocks, adjusting himself for comfort. Which made a smile on Sia's face but it quickly faded as Zane looked into her eyes.

Sia's mind wandered to the moment before with Zane, when she cut several zombies before him. Evidently, it made Zane a bit afraid of her. Even Sia regretted doing it. She hid her hunter behaviour from Zane all this time, until that day. She hid it because she knew exactly something like this would happen. And the last thing she wanted was for her boyfriend to be afraid of her. Zane and Sia didn't spoke to each other since that incident.