A Dance With Death

|| Chapter 38 - Believe ||

                        

"Althea! Griffith! Been looking all over for you guys!" someone says out loud, causing the three of us to jump in surprise. Also, we have managed to get the attention of everyone in here – everyone being thirteen other reapers. We find Ektor approaching us, a wide smile on his face, though he does seem a bit concerned. Pretence. This is going to be fun.

He stands in front of us and stares at us in a questioning manner. "What? Don't want to ask who they are and what they're doing here?" He grins. "Well, for starters like Zayn, they're reapers. Since we're not getting anywhere, I though that I'd bring some help."

I glance over Ektor and look at the reapers. Some of them still have their curious eyes us while others continue with what they were doing. My eyes then travel back to Ektor, who's supposed to be on our side. All this time, even though he didn't seem like it, he was one of the good guys. Now I know that he's just like Caius; he kills the innocent. My insides are screaming out, wanting to avenge Ava. I'm almost tempted to hit him again and keep on punching, demanding answers. I want to say something, to yell out and let go of my frustration. But I remind myself that I have to think this through. Anger will only worsen the case.

Neither of us say anything. I can sense the tension in Griffith and Althea, their bodies stern and fixated. I can feel Althea's anger, her stiffness making me worried. I'm afraid that she might take actions that she'll later regret. It's good that she has found herself. But I'm not entirely sure whether I could trust this other part of her.

Ektor, on feeling the strangeness of our silence, shrugs. "What? No 'hey Ektor, great idea' or 'way to go Ektor'? I'm waiting for some reaction here, so we can head towards creating a plan to defeat Caius. Save the world. Remember any of that?"

That's when Althea snaps. "Save the world?" she huffs. "You?" That's when I realise that it's too late; she's going to do something terrible.

Ektor is taken aback by Althea's tone. Before he can say anything, Althea throws a punch across his face, causing him to yell in pain. I gasp with shock. So much for keeping it calm. The entire hall falls silent, all eyes on us. I gape at Althea, still unsure of her newfound rage. I understand her anger. I know it's hard to look at him the same way we used to before. But we agreed to handle this in a better manner. Althea's anger has started clouding her judgement.

Griffith places his hand on Althea's shoulder but she removes it, still glaring at Ektor. Ektor recovers from the blow and stands up straight rubbing his jaw. He seems quite dazed. "Twice in twenty-four hours," he muses. "What have I done now?"

"What have you done?" Althea spits. Then, she grabs Ektor by the collar of his shirt. She swiftly drags him and pushes him against the wall beside us. With every moment, she surprises me even more with her rage. Griffith and I step back. We don't want to come between them.

"Woah," Ektor breathes, cringing at the impact. He stares at Althea, surprised at her strength.

"Quit the act!" Althea yells. "We know everything."

Ektor frowns, not understanding what Althea said. "What act? What thing?"

"Oh, so that's how you're gonna play it, huh?" Althea says, amused at Ektor's ability to play the victim. "Let's start with how you're a big ass liar."

"What are you talking about?!" Ektor's eyes are frantic. It is almost as if he's afraid of Althea.

Althea pushes him further into the wall. "Caius taught you that, didn't he? Acting all good and innocent. Though we'd never find out, did you? That's you'd keep feeding Caius with information and we'd never know. Oh, and the fact that you killed Ava?"