Survive Or Die

Chapter 15- The best day ever

I grudgingly open my eyes and stretch my arms. I hit something hard and hear a male wince. I gasp and turn in shock to find Carl rubbing his stubbles jaw. He smirks. "Good morning, Princess."
I bolt up and take in my surroundings. I'm in his house, I know that much. His couch, to be more precise. My breath hitches and I shoot him a panicked look before remembering the events of last night.
Lets just say that new surroundings make me nervous.
I close my eyes and take a reassuring breath. Once I open them I find Carl looking at me, his head cocked to the side and curiosity in his eyes. "Done yet?"
I roll my eyes. "Done."
"So now do you want to talk about it?" He yawns.
I glance down in embarrassment. I must look so weak... "N-No."
His eyes softens and he pats the spot next to him. I gratefully sit and burry my head in my hands. He hesitantly places his hand on my back. "Let me reword that," he says. "Tell me what happened."
I glance up at his persistent yet soft eyes and realise that he isn't going to stop. "I have to kill Issy," I breath. The words feel heavy on my chest now that I've said them.
He looks taken aback and shocked. "What? Why? Are you okay? Did she do something?" He questions.
"She- no- I- we-" I sigh and take a shaky breath. "She got bitten." I swallow back tears and offer a shaky smile.
Carl gets off the couch and paces in front of me with his hands behind his back. "Can't you just release her, make her somebody else's problem?" He offers.
"No. I-I need to be a good leader. You know, strong. I can't..." I gulp. "I can't be selfish."
He sits down next to me again and pulls me closer, wrapping me tightly in his embrace. He rests his chin on the top of my head. I listen to the steady thump thump thump of his heart and the steady beat of his breathe. "You're not selfish," he says quietly after a while. "You've sacrificed so much for us. I think you deserve this."
I close my eyes to hold back the tears and frantically shake my head. "You're wrong." I stand up abruptly and take a few steady breaths. I bite my lip and turn on my heels, walking out of there. If I stay another second I'm afraid he'll convince me to free Isabelle and I can't put the Hopi Nation in that kind of danger. I growl in frustration. Why me? Why do I have to make these kind of decisions? After a few seconds of well deserves self pity, I trudge back to the small house.
"Judith?" I call into the cold house. "Judith, are you awake?"
"Celia!" I hear the excited yelp from behind the house. I spin around to see her running to me with large, joyful eyes. I smile as she stands in front of me, practically buzzing with energy. "Celia, I need to help."
My smile quickly turns into a frown. She rolls her eyes. "It's not that bad, you know." She takes my hand and leads me to the edge of the forest. She puts a finger on her lips, signalling for silence, and pulls me further into the trees. After a few hundred metres I hear a small cheep from behind a tree with a piece of cloth tied around it. I notice a large rip in Judiths dress. "Is that your dress?" I ask.
She nods absentmindedly and dashes around the tree. She emerges a few seconds later cradling a small bird. Upon closer inspection I see that it's a small loverbird. It has bright green feathers on its small body and an orange face. It's beak is curved over and eyes are soft black. One of the birds wings are bent slightly at an unnatural angle. "I named him Charvi," she whispers. She notices me confusion and rolls her eyes. "It means beautiful, you know. He is beautiful," she speaks softly as if she doesn't want to wake the small animal. I feel pride swelling in my chest at my little sister, still so pure after everything. "Can we take care of him?"
She peers at me with wide, pleading eyes. I smile. "Of course."
She squeals and sets the bird on her finger. "Did you hear that, Charvi? You get to live with us!" The bird chirps as if it can understand her and she runs carefully back through the woods.
"Cute bird. The question is; who's going to look after it," I hear from behind me. I jump and whirl around, my hand instinctively reaching for my knife, to find Carl leaning on a tree, looking utterly amused with surprise.
I take a deep breath and straighten up, allowing myself a smile. "Are you... stalking me?" I smirk, surveying the deserted forest.
He looks taken aback. "Of course not. I'm on the hunting schedule. You're in the forest. They have me in this sector. Don't flatter yourself, Princess," he scoffs, turning a slight pink.
"Uh huh. That's what they all say," I laugh.
His scowl turns into a grin. "You are so dead," he grins.
"Not if you can't catch me," I challenge and start running towards camp, laughing all the way until I can't breath. I hear his heavy footsteps behind me. As I run I slip off my jacket and, for once, allow myself to take off my belt that contains my weapons. I kick off my shoes as I near the lake. He seems to be getting closer as I let him. Then, with a shout, I dive into the water. He looks shocked than grins, stopping at the edge of the water.
"Well played, Princess," he grins.
"Come on in," I laugh, treading water.
He rolls his eyes. "I'm good up here. On land. With my weapons."
I smirk mischievously. "Scared, Potter?" I hold a glint of triumph in my eyes.
I have always wanted to say that.
He throws his head back in laughter and starts taking off his own jacket and weapons. He dives in the water, causing a huge splash and a small wave.
Passing people stop and stare at us, supposedly crazy people in the lake during autumn. A few even start undressing themselves.
Carl resurfaces and smirks. "You read Harry Potter?" He asks.
I bite my lip. "Only once or twice... or twelve times." I feel my face heat up so I drop underwater.
When I come back up I find at least thirteen people have jumped in, laughing and splashing.
But I lost Carl.
I look around in confusion until someone grasps my shoulders and spins me around to fave them. The second I do, I find his lips crashed onto mine.
After the initial shock, I kiss him back. All the stress, anxiety, anger, seems to leak out of me at that moment, leaving me completely at peace in the best day ever.
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Okay okay. I suck at this.
I'm super super busy and, as I have said before, I don't have internet at my place.
I decided to make them kiss which I hope was a good idea, to kinda make up for it.
I guess her mood went in a completely different direction after I didn't open this book for a few... weeks? Months?
Fuck I'm sorry guys, really really sorry but I didn't know what to write.
Aria- 27
Celia- 26
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