Blue Waltz

Chapter 8 - L𝄞B

Author's note: I'm so sorry for disappearing for a couple of months! I had to study for exams and I just started my last semester, so I didn't have much time and opportunities to focus on the story. From now on I will try to be more consistent with the chapters and they would be more interesting. Enjoy!

P.S.
Thank you so much, Daniel, for helping me with translations! I am really short on time, so he is helping me out and I am very grateful! 

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After both of them calmed down, Maeve and Oliver began their search - they needed to find the rest of their friends and something to eat before they collapse. Looking at the situation logically, even a day hadn't passed yet. But where they were now, logic didn't exist, so any amount of time could have passed since they ran away from their camp. Neither Maeve nor Oliver met any of their other friends since then, or so they thought. "You know what, I can't be certain anymore about anything that happened, but I think that I heard screams before it all happened," Oliver said while trying to recall the moments before he encountered his "Mom." Maeve asked, "Maybe one of the girls were there?" There was both hope and dread in her voice. On one hand, one of them might be close, but on the other, if he had heard screams, what was her fate?

"Have you searched for her?" she asked him, immediately feeling bad about it, knowing that the answer would be yes. "Of course, this is the first thing I did, but there was no one there and then..." He stopped. Oliver recalled the events that took place not so long ago. Many different and conflicting emotions flooded him while the scene repeated again and again in his head as if he was stuck in it. Maeve held his face in her hands and called for him until he was brought back to reality, "Are you alright? What were you thinking about?" She was worried about him and not without reason, she barely pulled him up when she got to him.

"Yes..., I think I am," he slowly responded, wondering if it was the truth. "I wondered," he said while Maeve waited for him to continue. He took a deep breath, "how did you find me?" He asked while stopping in place. "Let's sit," she sighed while pointing to a fallen tree nearby.

Maeve's POV:

I found myself absolutely lost and alone. I tried to not freak out and instead pulled out my flashlight and the pepper spray I brought for self-defense. Even if it won't kill the foe coming for me, it might buy me enough time to run away. I walked in the forest, searching for water, a hideout, and the rest of the group. In the beginning, there was dead silence, but after some time, I began to hear twigs snapping while seeing nothing. In any case, I was ready if something was about to attack me.

At this moment I hoped nothing would jump on me and I would be able to find a place to hide, but then I heard a voice. In the beginning, I didn't know to whom it belonged, so I followed it. Slowly approaching it, I heard, "I'm here!" The voice was close and I hurried towards it. At this point I recognized Oliver, yet couldn't see him, only hearing his voice. I knew we were close when I saw his flashlight, but soon it went off and in its place appeared some kind of a blue cloud of light, if it could be even described as such. I turned off my flashlight and quietly followed. It looked as if it were wrapping someone, leading them somewhere - Oliver.

He was talking to himself and I couldn't hear anyone else. Could it be that he was speaking with the blue light? Something didn't make sense. I was scared to even move or breathe in this eerie silence, but I couldn't abandon Oliver. I followed Oliver and the light until they stopped, then I saw him fall down a slope as if he were pushed, but there was no one to push him. Was it possible that this mysterious light pushed him? How? The last time I checked, light can't push people. On the other hand, light can't wrap and lead people to different places either.

After Oliver fell down, the blue light stopped in the same place. Was it dancing? It's hard to explain what was happening there, the light spun around itself as if it were dancing the waltz while wrapping Oliver, then it transformed back into a cloud of light and disappeared, like a mist. The moment the light disappeared, the panic in my heart calmed down a bit and I ran towards the edge of the slope to where he fell, hoping that I could find and help him. When I got there, I could hear him breathing heavily. I turned on the flashlight to find him and put it in my mouth so I could climb down and pull him up. When I got to him, I grabbed him with one hand, and with the other, I grabbed a tree next to me, which its root Oliver must have been holding. I pulled him up with all my strength and when I pulled him a bit higher, I released the tree so I could use both my hands to drag him up more easily.

It wasn't an easy task, but there he was - lying on the ground next to me. I felt like I was going to cry, my feelings flooded me: fear, worry, frustration, and relief. I don't know why all of it is happening to us and why this thing tried to kill Oliver, yet I feel relieved that he was still here with us, alive and breathing.

When both of us calmed down, we decided to go search for food and water so we would have enough energy to continue looking for our friends. I wanted to get to it as quickly as possible, yet Oliver preferred to rest a bit and wanted to hear what happened to me until we met. I told him and he seemed lost in his thoughts, probably thinking about his fall again. While waiting for his response, I looked around us with the flashlight in search of something useful for the rest of our journey and something reflected the light back. I got curious and got up to check what it was. "I can see something. I'll be back in a moment, wait here," I said to him and he nodded in silence.

I bent down to see what this item was and my heart skipped a beat. "Oliver.." I said, but he didn't respond. "Oliver, come here, It's important!" I said in a louder voice while my hands shook. He approached and asked, "What happened?" And when he saw the item, he went silent as well. The silence between us continued for a long time, although I don't know for how long. Both of us stared at the broken necklace with the three small pendants: the letter L - a musical key 𝄞 - and the letter B. Both of us knew what we were looking at, and in any other situation we would have been happy to see it, but the necklace that was once silver, was now stained red and left on the ground, while the owner of the necklace, Lyr, was gone.

I tightened my fist around the necklace, put it in my pocket, and zipped it closed so it wouldn't get lost. Oliver murmured to himself, "it can't be true," repeating the sentence, again and again, trying to convince himself that the worst option wasn't possible. At this moment, I made a tough and very selfish decision, but I felt that there was something I had to do, no matter what or how dangerous it was. "Oliver, I'm so sorry, I really am so sorry," I told him while holding his hands and trying to hold back my tears, as well. He raised his face in a confused look, but before he could ask, I said, "I have to find this thing, I have to find Lyr. If something happened, and I really hope that it's not what we think, she should be close. And even if she isn't, I have to find this thing that haunts us and get answers. I'm sorry, I have to do this alone. I will leave you my flashlight and I will return for you later. Please forgive me."

At this moment I released his hands, grabbed my bag, and ran in the opposite direction from where we came, in hopes of finding Lyr. I know that it was cruel to leave him behind, especially after what happened to him. However, if I'm alone, there is a good chance that this thing will try to attack me. I believe that it doesn't know that Oliver is still alive, so at least he will be safe for now. Now I needed to act fast and find her. She needs me.