EQAO

Chapter 27 - Collin?

I lay there for a while, breathing heavily. The cool earth felt nice on my skin, and the grass was soft. After I realized that I wasn't going to die, I shakily sat on my knees. I took long, deep breaths. Mia's body was lying next to me. I couldn't see her face, but I could imagine the expression, full of surprise and pain.

My dagger is in there somewhere.

It hit me suddenly that it had just saved my life. I would need it to survive the rest of these 'Games'. I inched towards the limp figure, and groaned as I pushed her over.

The facial expression was worse than I had imagined. Her eyes were wide and lifeless, and her lips were parted slightly. I looked away. I had killed her. It was because of me that she had no future. It was my fault that somewhere, her parents were weeping. And I was still alive. The thought sickened me. I didn't deserve to live.

She was going to kill you. There was nothing you could've done. And you didn't even try to kill her, just knock her down.

That wasn't an excuse. I should've died. But I couldn't think of that now. I had a job to do. I had to take down Ms. Gerdalli. She was the reason for this. I knew what I had to do. I took a deep breath, and plunged my hand into the mess of blood and organs. It was the grossest, and most traumatizing thing I've ever done. Finally, my fingers closed around the hilt, and I pulled my dagger free. I shifted to the right, and threw up.

Once I was finished, I used the grass to wipe as much of the blood as I could off my dagger. After a while, I managed to stand. The bushes had parted to reveal a narrow path. I saw nothing else to do, but walk along it. I walked until I spotted what I was looking for. A huge, golden tree stood in the centre of a circular area. Its branches stretched out far, and each was covered in thousands of small, silver leaves. In the trunk, there was a wooden door. I knew that that was the way to freedom.

I took a step towards it, and I saw Collin standing there. His dark hair was shining in the light of the tree, and his back was turned towards me. I ran towards him, grinning.

"Collin!" I exclaimed, "Oh Collin, I'm so relieved to see you! I- Collin, what's wrong?"

When Collin had turned around to face me, he had not returned the smile. Instead, he looked rather expressionless.

"Collin, what-"

He grabbed my hands, and pinned them to my back. Then he shoved me to the ground, so that I couldn't move.

"What are you doing?" I shouted at him.

"Fulfilling my purpose." he replied, his voice blank.

No... No, he couldn't be doing this. He's got to be-

I sudden idea popped into my head, and I yelled loud and clearly,

"Beluga whales!"

Nothing happened. I tried again,

"B-beluga whales!"

Collin didn't move a muscle.

"Collin, this isn't you, you've got to fight it!" I cried desperately.

He laughed, but there was no humour in it,

"How do you know this isn't me?"

I felt my eyes start to water.

Don't cry now, you've got to be strong! You've got to get him back...

Too late. Hot tears spilled down my cheeks.

"Crying over your feelings?" he taunted, "Did you perhaps love me? Feelings make you weak. That's why I have no feelings."

"You were embarrassed!" I blurted out, before I could stop myself, "When I saw you without your shirt!"

He laughed again,

"A little good acting goes a long way."

I couldn't believe it. This was not the Collin I knew. The Collin I knew was... was...

Actually, what was he like? Kind? I have no reason to think that, other than that he wasn't not kind to me...

I knew for certain that he wouldn't have killed someone, and he definitely wouldn't have been about to kill me. Before I could do anything but try to figure this all out, I saw four figures coming towards us.