The Untold Chronicles of Liliana Lawton

Chapter 5- Death Knell

"Every day I have the feeling I'm being watching by something,
But day to day, I no longer trust anything."

Violet held the camera in her hands, playing with it. She observed the camera, eyes focused on the screen. 

"Did you know the Natives believed that photos take away your soul?"

Violet turned to look at me with an annoyed expression,

"Photo's cherish your soul, they allow others to remember you."

I snorted, and turned away to face the small waterfall, right on the edge of a rocky jagged cliff.  Green trees surrounded it and large insects were buzzing around. 

The birds were chirping but not too loud and not too soft. The world felt so calm for that minute, even though ordinarily, it was full of chaos and danger. 

When the world is breaking apart, diseases spreading, people dying due to lack of food and water, the government covering its tracks of our past history, laws created to control and defeat the minority, I come to a halt and look at waterfalls.

I watched the water splash down into a river bank over and over again. The water never stops falling, just like our society. People come and go, civilizations rise and fall, animals go extinct, never to be heard from again. And just like the waterfall, we all come tumbling down to our doom.

"Violet!"

"Yeah?"

"Aristotle once said, 'It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.'" 

Violet looked up at me confused.

"Okay...?"

I chuckled, "Does it ever feel like the end of the world to you?"

"Everyday, when I read the news."

That's where it all starts, the news. Where we feel the world is ending, coming to an end step by step. It's hard to find good news, happy news or just generally something that we can read without having to react in genuine fear.  

I got up and approached Violet who was still playing with the camera's settings. 

"Need help?"

Violet shook her head, "I figured it out! Mind taking a picture of me in front of the waterfall?"

"Sure!"

She handed me the camera and posed in front of the waterfall. 

"Make sure to get the whole thing in it!"

"I know!"

I held up the camera and framed it perfectly. I snapped a picture and the shutter made its usual sound. 

"Got it! Wow, this one looks good Violet-"

I looked up to see Violet missing. She disappeared.

"Violet?"

I looked around but she was nowhere to be seen. It was silent, she really just disappeared. I looked back at the camera screen to see that Violet was no longer in the picture. It was just the waterfall.

My heart started to race, what the hell was happening? A loud bell started ringing from a far. It sounded similar to a death knell. 

As I looked up towards where the sound was coming from, a black hooded figure stood on top of a hill staring down at me.