Suicide Forest

Chapter 18: Revival

Recap:

Pushing myself up one more time, I had already made up my mind that if I didn't resurface after that, I would just give up.

The demon's grip on me only tightened as pain radiated throughout my body and that was it for me. I was done trying to fight it and knew that death would follow in a matter of seconds.

Goodbye.

"I think she's dead..." a voice said from afar and I couldn't muster the energy to find the source.

"Why did you even bother saving her? She could be one of them!" Another voice argues and I felt myself slowly  regaining consciousness, causing the voices to sound more clear.

My mouth tasted of salt and my throat felt like someone had a boot on it. I opened my mouth to cough as my body shook with every rasp.

My eyes flew open and I quickly rolled over, letting water spew from my mouth and onto the dirt.

My fingers plunged into the dirt, desperately holding on for dear life with my head hung low. I was practically begging for the gods above to take pity on me.

I coughed until the weight was lifted from my chest and even then, I felt no true relief. Taking a few shaky breathes, I finally looked up as I was met with the wide eyes of two strangers.

A woman and man about my age stared down at me with curiosity and an alertness evident in their posture. My lungs were on fire and I looked right into their eyes, practically begging for them to kill me already.

The guy tilted his head sideways, causing strands of his ruffled brown hair to fall right over his intense eyes that continued to study me.

The girl with blood red hair and cold blue eyes reached into her pouch and pulled out a knife. My position did not falter as I stared, daring her to hurt me.

I was too weak and my brain felt like someone scrambled it so I was fine with whatever fate laid in store.

She took steps towards me and lowered the tip of the knife to the nape of my neck.

Unfortunately, the guy by her side rushed to pull her hand back as I sighed in disappointment rather than relief.

"What the hell are you doing? I thought we agreed to not trust anyone!" She yelled while dramatically flailing her arms with the knife still in hand.

"Calm down Calley, she almost died and looks completely harmless!" He fired back, completely shielding me from her.

It was funny that he was so adamant to protect me when I could care less about what could happen to me.

"Harmless? Remember the last girl who was 'harmless' and tried to strangle me to death in my sleep? Not to mention she attempted to run away with our supplies!" Calley spat, taking a moment to pause and give me a death glare.

Moments later, she ducked under his arm and jabbed the knife in my direction.

Within seconds, the guy was in front of the knife and droplets of blood began dripping onto the ground.

Speechless and utterly flabbergasted, I stayed behind him and watched as he gently pushed Calley back. He kneeled in front of me and kept his back facing me.

"Kayden... why?" She whispered, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and he held his arms out, shielding me from Calley.

Ah, so Prince Charming has a name, a nice one at that.