Looping Hearts

Chapter 30 - The red eyes

 He activated his night vision right away and slowly looked around him; Taehyung and the mountain had disappeared. He was standing in the middle of a bank of little white and oval pebbles. A fairly wide river flowed peacefully to his left, and a few trees rose high and proud to his right. The bank continued behind and in front of him. He remained on the same spot for a few minutes, unable to move. A drop of rain falling on his cheek pulled him out of his immobility and, suddenly feeling vulnerable in an environment that was not his, he rushed under the trees to take cover. He looked up to discover a sky like he had always known at home, cloudy. A light shower fell on Lyka, and soon the croaking of frogs could be heard all around him. Frightened, Jimin quickly squatted and held the trunk of a tree with his two hands as if he wanted to comfort himself. His eyes rapidly moved from left to right, trying to catch on any sign of danger that might come his way, and his heart pounded hard in his chest. He gradually got used to the incessant noise all around him, and he got up, a little more serene. Taehyung had told him he would most probably not see any animals, but that he would hear them. Whatever these animals were, their sound was very distinctive.

He looked to his left then to his right. Taehyung had told him to find the river and follow it on the bank lined with pebbles, towards a small cliff. He slowly approached the water and looked on the other side, there was only grass there. He mentally congratulated Taehyung for making him land on the right side, then looked left and right again. There was no cliff in sight. He went back to the trees and climbed one of them until an owl hooted and made him fall in surprise. He crushed his back against roots coming out of the ground and moaned in pain, slowly turning to the side. He waited a few minutes for the pain to fade, then got up and climbed the tree again.

To the right. The small cliff stood quite small from here to his right. He began to come down the tree while saving energy, but stopped short when he heard what seemed like a distant scream. His heart raced again and a sense of urgency suddenly took him. It was dark. Taehyung had told him that after dark, he would only have a few hours in front of him. Jimin did not know how long it had been dark, nor how far towards the cliff he had to go. After all, Taehyung only remembered the light beam. He could only rely on himself from now on, using as little energy as possible to save his strength. He did not bother to climb down the few branches left and directly jumped to the ground before starting to run at a moderate pace.

He ran noisily on the pebble ground for long minutes, following the river which, although it did not look like it, almost seemed to grow larger, as he started to eventually feel a little out of breath. His throat was sore and a thin layer of sweat covered his neck as he had put on his hood to avoid being too wet by the rain that kept falling more and more.

As he ran straight ahead, the cliff now right in front of him, another scream, much more powerful and close this time, echoed. He stopped short and put his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He grabbed his flask and drank several sips of water while looking to his right, where the scream came from. « It seemed quite close, I should be quieter from now on. » He thought to himself as he hung up his flask around his waist and slowly left the bank of noisy pebbles to advance into the grass of the meadow.

He ran without any landmark and without making the slightest noise in a straight line at first. He had stooped down and almost ran on tiptoe for fear of being spotted by anything. Quickly, a multitude of different sounds, all coming from the same direction – cries, screams, detonations, then as he advanced, weak lamentations – guided him not far from the foot of the cliff. The voice he heard did not tell him if it was a man or a woman. Not having even seen it yet, he wondered if he was even on the right track or if he was simply following a complete stranger. But Jimin's thoughts came to an end when he finally saw the back of a silhouette, a long black cloak falling to the ground and covering his head. He opened his eyes wide and hurriedly hid behind a huge stone coming out of the ground. He smacked his hand against his mouth to not make any noise, and waited a moment. Taehyung had told him about a black cloak... Trembling, he waited until his breathing and heart returned to a normal pace and then, with a lump in his throat, dared a look in front of him after adjusting his hood over his head. The dark cloak figure still had its back turned towards him and did not seem to have noticed him. He briefly analyzed the surroundings and noticed a multitude of stones like the one he was hiding behind. It was an advantageous ground for both. From the corner of his eyes, he saw one of these stones leave the ground and quickly fly towards the cliff before breaking into several pieces and fall back to the ground into thumps.