The Riddle Of The Future

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I opened my eyes slowly. The first thing that came into my head was Will. What happened? Did my knife heal him? I looked around and saw Will sitting up. He’d made a small fire and was warming his hands against them. It had suddenly gotten really cold, but maybe that was because it was getting dark. I hadn’t realised how long I was passed out for.

“Will?” I asked. I walked up to him and he looked very weary. “What happened?” He didn’t look at me but just stared into the fire as he started to talk.

“I don’t know exactly. All I remember is seeing the brightness of daylight then… nothing,” he explained gravely. I decided to tell him everything that happened. When I’d finished he looked enraged.

“How dare he use my body like that? I am not some communication device!” he burst out angrily. He stood up and started pacing. I realised I’d still got my knife in my hand. It was still warm but it wasn’t glowing. I studied it carefully, with new respect. It had magic powers. I’d never believed in anything like that but now, anything was possible I thought.

“My knife has powers,” I stated. Will stopped pacing and came and sat next to me.

“You saved my life,” he said softly. I looked at him. He was staring at me like I was something special. As I looked into his eyes I felt something click in my head. He leaned in slowly and I closed my eyes. I was ready for this, I wanted to kiss him! After all we’d been through together; I’d never felt closer to anybody in my life. Apart from Lucy of course. I leaned in as well and our lips met. It was like fireworks! I could literally see the sparks coming out of us. We broke apart and I just stared at him breathlessly. He was looking at me with new wander and I was certainly looking at him. He looked away embarrassed and I took his hand. We sat there for a while in silence. It wasn’t uncomfortable because we didn’t have to say anything to fill in the silence. There’ve always been questions that I’ve wanted to ask him, I’ve just been too scared to bring them up. Well, now’s the best time, I thought gathering up my courage.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you some questions,” I started off quietly. He looked at me, curiosity burning in his eyes. He raised his eyebrows slightly. I loved how he did that.

“Remember when we first met?” I asked

“How could I forget?” he answered chuckling quietly.

“Well, you said to me you had overheard us talking about The King of Blood. We never actually talked about that, I just fell asleep,” I said without looking at him. “What was the real reason why you came with us?” It was Will’s turn to look away. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get an answer.  After a long silence I was about ready to give up until he spoke.

“I’d made a certain deal with The King,” he said. “But now that he’s dead, the deal is off,”

“What was the deal, Will?” I asked urgently. Dread was sinking in my stomach. I had a feeling this was bad.

“I’ve said too much already,” he said hastily. He turned away from me and lied down on the grass. He wouldn’t speak to me again, so I gave up and lied down on the other side of the fire. I kept replaying our kiss in my head. It was perfect, everything I’d ever imagined it would be. But then my thoughts turned dark and I started thinking about Will’s deal and especially Lucy. Eventually I slipped into a deep troubled sleep.

 *

I’m running. Running from what I don’t know. I look over my shoulder as if someone is after me. It’s dark. I’m running through water. I can’t move! I’m stuck! He’s going to catch me. Run! I hear footsteps. NO! I’m not going to die! Not today! I close my eyes. The footsteps are getting closer. The sound of cloth trailing across water reaches my ears. My heart starts to speed up. A hand touches my shoulder and I turn around.  I look into those fiery eyes and suddenly there is pain. PAIN IS EVERYWHERE! I lash out at my attacker. His hand slips of my shoulder and I’m running again. I hear laughter. It seems to echo everywhere. Suddenly he’s in front of me and I run straight into an invisible force field. He raises his hand and I see a red beam come out of it. It hits me hard and then I’m on the floor groaning, pain is still everywhere. He leans over me and I gasp. It’s Will!

I screamed as loud as I possibly could. I bolt up panting. This nightmare had been different to all the other ones. I actually saw my attackers face and it was Will!

“Alex! Alex calm down,” Will was beside me looking concerned.

“No! No get away from me!” I screamed in his face struggling to get away from him. He was going to hurt me!

“Alex! What’s wrong?”

“Stay away!” I screamed louder. Suddenly he jumped on top of me and wrestles me to the ground. I struggled trying to kick him but he was to strong and he managed to pin my arms beside me.

“I’m not going to hurt you!” he roared.  When his words and the look on his face sank into my delirious brain I started to calm down. I was calculating a way out; I still believed he was going to hurt me. He relaxed a little and let my arms go. I sat up slowly and he let me. I didn’t take my eyes of off his face.

“What was that?” he panted.

“Nightmare, only worse this time,” I said warily. He came closer and I let him. He wrapped his arms around me and I stiffened. But I relaxed and hugged him back. It was starting to get lighter and I could see him properly. He looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. He had purple bruises under his eyes, as if he had been in a fight. The long gash on his head had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked infected. I immediately felt concern for him.

“Your cut,” I gasped. He vaguely put his hand on it.

“It doesn’t hurt,” he said.

“Yes, but it looks infected!” I got my knife out and placed it on his head. He froze at first but relaxed. I let the knife do its work and again it sucked out some of my energy but not as much as before. When I had finished, the cut on his head had shrunk and it was now a faint scar. He touched his head again and smiled at me.

“Thanks, it feels much better,” Again, I stared at the knife, wandering what it was made of and how it has powers.

“We should probably get moving now,” Will said breaking into my thoughts. I agreed and once again, we set of into the unknown.