I SURVIVE (#Wattys2017)

CHAPTER 8

*New and Improved Version*

John was pacing at the edge of the hill whilst cautiously peering closely down below. Right at the corner of my eyes, two red colored circles caught my eyes and I stared at it directly. There were two set, staring back at me. Both were pure menacing eyes and suddenly I felt scared and uncomfortable.

I looked away but the heavy breathing that came from it made it even more uneasy. When they knew that I was avoiding them, their shadows emerged out from their hiding place slowly. There were three. The third one jumped from above somewhere, and landed heavily on me as I toppled.

Wolves were attacking us. I was expecting something else.

I reached for a large stone and clouted on its head and pushed it off the hill. I got up and make sure the wolf had tumbled down far to the ground. All of a sudden, I saw something that glinted in the dark, far on the east. Another wolf was pushed off the cliff by William and I promptly pointed at the ruin.

"There! The gate!" I exclaimed and he too stopped to look at it, and then continue on killing the last wolf. I turned to them and saw that William was covered in blood and took out the dagger that he thrust it in the wolf.

He then scowled at John, the coward who looked like his eyes were out of the sockets. Nevertheless, I did not feel the sympathy for them especially William for I was trained to be tough. I faced the ruin again and leaned forward to have a good look at it. Yet, it was too far to the east. I crossed another bridge that connected another rocky hill, but this bridge is much longer than the last one.

After that, went to the ledge and leaned to look at the glinting structure. It was mesmerizing even in the darkest night for the gate must be shining. "How do we get all the way there?" William asked and stood beside me. I smelled blood, a lot of blood and told him to scoot far away from me. It was not that I could not stand the smell of blood, but it was just that I am not used to the smell of blood in a large quantity.

"Maybe....," I said slowly as I stepped nearer to the ledge. "We could climb downhill and head east."

I glanced at him and took another step closer to the edge when unexpectedly, I slipped on a wet grass and tumbled downhill, earning a scratch, a bruise on my head and few cuts and ended with a crash. It was a long way down, I was lucky I did not hit a rock and I was very grateful after I found out that I was still alive. Still breathing. There were the sound of thundering footsteps and a thud. John leaped from the slope and landed beside me.

He did not help me to get up nor even gave a hurried look but he just ran into the woods to the gate. A dumb ass will always stay a dumb ass. The illogical thing was, how did he recover from sliding so fast?

Soon, William slid down and checked for any minor injuries that I suffered. All the enthusiasm had gone as if the leaves had soaked them all up from my body. I pushed William's hands away, feeling annoyed and he immediately ceased with the 'look-for-scars-duty'.

"I am not a little girl anymore!" I protested and limped into the woods as he followed behind.

"But you are still my little sister," William muttered with a hurt tone at the end.

Having an older brother who take their responsibilities of taking their younger sibling's care and health as a serious case is such a bore. He made me feel like a spoiled kid. If only William was not that too caring. I am 18 years old already. I do not need a 'healthcare-and-companion'. Unless if I am 8 years old like our little sister, Carolynn, then I do not mind much.

We soon made it to where the high gate stood, proudly shining in the dark with the help of light from the moon. I looked at it, feeling nervous.

What was behind the solid gate?

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