End Online: Volume 6 (9 page)

Verde screams as we
quickly slide down, descending nine floors of the temple before the ramp tapers
off, curving up from the ground to prevent any crashes and sends us flying
toward one of the buildings. The landing is much rougher than I expected, with
both of us crashing through the roof of one of the little buildings and losing
a quarter of our health.

The fact that there are no
‘Stone Guardians’ in this house is the only bit of relief I get. It isn’t long
until Mason, Matrix, Sir Laurence, CaptainGordon, and finally a grumpy Fen come
falling in through the roof to land on top of us. Acting as cushions for the
falling people, Verde and I are nearly killed, with ten percent of our health
remaining. I bring out some of my best homemade health potions, but she
adamantly refuses them, pulling out her own instead.

Fen grabs onto my arm and
pulls me away from Verde, her nails digging into my arm in the process. It
stings and I lose some health, but there is no actual physical pain.
 However, she gives me a frigid stare that sends a shiver up my spine.

I feel like I should
apologize to Fen for making her mad. At the same time, after what happened
between Verde and I at school with the fake relationship, I can’t seem to
apologize to Fen in front of her. I have come to realize the true meaning of
‘stuck between a rock and a hard place’.

Haphazardly trying to
change the focus of everyone’s attention, I quickly say, “We still need to
check all the buildings in these ruins for a mysterious stone tablet. I don’t
think that there is one here, but missing it because we didn’t search properly
would be depressing.”

I lead the party through
the ruins to search every building for a mysterious stone tablet, or even just
some hint of it. By the time we finish searching, the sun is already sinking
into the western horizon. Just as I suspected, we find no traces of such a
tablet, but at least I can leave the ruins with confidence that it is not here.

We don’t leave
immediately, but set up camp in an abandoned building without any ‘Stone
Guardians’ in it instead. A small fire crackles in the rear room, a pot of
boiling broth resting over the top. I grind up some herbs with a mortar and
pestle and throw it in the pot with some meat to cook. Half the roof of this
building has collapsed, so the smoke from the fire is properly vented.

Behind me, I hear Mason
talking to Sir Laurence and Verde. “That’s no good. Have you heard about the
sighting of the lost girl in the Potolmy Woods Reserve?”

“I have never heard of
such a thing. Some cheap ghost story isn’t going to scare me,” Verde
nonchalantly responds.

“I would like to accept
that challenge, but this isn’t some ghost story.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a true event that
has happened several times, each with eyewitnesses.”

“…Of course.”

“No, listen. Mav, a young
girl only sixteen, went into the Potolmy Woods Reserve with three of her
friends one late Friday near midnight as a test of courage. They were two girls
and a boy. The male friend, Lux, from the same class as her, took the lead. One
of the other girls, Laurie, used a pocket knife to etch into the trees as they
went along so they wouldn’t get lost.”

“Boring.”

“Don’t cut in. Just after
the clock struck midnight, a faint mist began to rise from the ground. It
wasn’t very thick, so it was still easy to see, but it brought a chill that
they could feel deep in their bonesmade all their bones creak.”

Verde, still unimpressed,
cuts him off once again and says, “They got scared and turned around to leave,
but surprise surprise, the cuts in the trees marking their path are gone.”

“Damn it, would you cut it
out! And no, that’s not what happens. Argh, why do I even bother?”

“Mason, I want to hear
it,” CaptainGordon says enthusiastically.

“Fine, but you,” Mason
points at a smug Verde, “keep your mouth shut.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Verde makes
a hand gesture of zipping her mouth shut.

“Okay… Now, where was I?
Right. After the mist rose, the trees in front of them had cuts on them exactly
like the ones behind them. Confused at first, they turned around and saw that
the markings on the trees detailing the way back were still there. Back in
front of them, the fake cuts in the trees had vanished, but all of a sudden, so
had the ones behind them.”

Trying to create a
dramatic atmosphere, Mason lowers his voice and begins to speak each word
clearly and slowly.

“Frightened, Mav and her
three friends quickly go back toward where they came from. The mist had other
ideas, however, twisting and swirling, sending illusions at the four people and
causing them to become lost.

“At the height of their
fear, the markings on the trees came back, signalling their path. But the
markings pointed in the direction behind them as well. Lux, putting on a brave
face, suggested that they should split into two groups of two, explore both
paths and meet back there in an hour. That should have been enough time to
reach the edge of the woods and return.

“One of the girls, Laurie,
cried that they shouldn’t split up, but Lux ignored her, dragging Mav off to
travel down one path. Laurie tried to follow after them, tears in her eyes, but
the other girl, Kate, held her back. No one knows what happened to Laurie and
Kate after that. Some say they are still there, lost in the woods, but others
say that they died already. Mav’s story is the only one that ever left those
woods, however.

“Mav followed behind Lux
closely, practically hanging off his arm in fear. She keeps talking to him,
‘Lux, when are we going to get out?’ ‘Lux, I’m scared, please tell me
everything is going to be alright,’ ‘Lux, please… take me away from here’.
Seeing him not replying at all, she brushes up against him one more time and
glances at his face before letting out a shrill scream that the residents of
the nearest town, Potl, could hear.”

Dipping his fingers in
some black ink he had prepared, Mason paints his face with the ink to replicate
his words.

“Lux had blood, as black
as the night, pouring out his eyes… nose… mouth… and ears. Mav fell backwards,
curling into a ball screaming in terror, but Lux didn’t notice, continuing to
walk through the trees as if he was possessed by something. Mav,
hyperventilating, hears some short, quick footsteps. Someone, or something, is
about twenty feet away.

“Mav instinctively ran
away, constantly collapsing as her legs kept giving way beneath her. She still
moved quickly, but the footsteps followed a strange rhythm. They kept walking
the same pace, but never got any further away from Mav than when she started.
In fact, the footsteps gradually got closer.

“Fifteen feet…… ten feet……
five feet… four feet… three feet, two feet… one foot away…” Mason gets closer
and closer to Verde as he says this, practically speaking into her ear by the
end of it.

“In a panic, Mav turned
around and swung her hand at whoever was behind her. Alas the culprit was a
little girl, so Mav’s arm passed well over her head.

“The little girl was the
epitome of horror. Her eyes mere hollow holes in her face with small pools of
black blood inside. Hair that was knotted and falling out adorned the top of
her head. She wore a pure white dress that was once pristine, but by then was
smeared with large amounts of dried blood.

“Mav’s legs completely
gave way at that point and she collapsed on the ground with no strength to even
move. The little girl reached out and opened her mouth as if to say something,
but only blood poured out, staining her dress even more. Her outstretched hand
was placed on Mav’s jaw, like a mother to a child.”

Mason places two fingers
on Verde’s jaw, imitating the girl’s actions. I doubt anyone else notices, but
I spot Matrix sneakily leaving the room for some reason. I pay him no heed and
continue listening to Mason’s tale while cooking dinner.

“Where the hand touched
Mav, her skin became festered, bubbles of pus forming before exploding and
leaving bloody, concave holes of red and yellow in her skin. The agony was like
being set on fire while having her skin torn off of her face at the same time.
The little girl’s hand continued around her face, a bloody grin forming as
Mav’s beautiful looks were destroyed, inch by inch.”

Verde tilts away from
Mason’s hand in disgust, a hint of her being flustered showing on her face.

“Mav’s wails echoed throughout
the night, and half of the townsfolk from Potl were woken up. A small group of
townsmen grabbed their rifles in a fury and stalked into the woods. They found
Mav lying in a pool of her own blood and pus, wailing has her hands continued
to claw at her own face. It wasn’t until one of the hunters saw the mysterious
girl that they hurriedly grabbed Mav and dragged her out of the woods.

“A search party was formed
the next day for the other three kids, but nothing was found of them – not even
corpses.”

Verde, her voice faltering
slightly says, “Is that it? That story’s fake and not particularly scary.”

It isn’t until Verde looks
over at the entrance to the room that she notices the figure of a little girl
covered in blood, and she squeals and covers her eyes, her shoulders shaking. I
follow where she is looking and see Matrix hiding behind and holding a doll
shaped like a little girl and covered in black ink. The doll isn’t even well
made, but he is hiding within a shadow with it so it is difficult to see
details.

“Okay, that’s enough,
dinner is ready,” I sigh resignedly as I hand out the now cooked food.

Later on, we all camp out
in different sections of the house. Fen and I have the rear room where the
ghost story was told to ourselves, the moonlight shining in through the broken
roof. I’m not sure about the others, but they appear to have separated into
three or four of the remaining rooms.

The humidity is bad here
in the jungle, so Fen and I sleep in a tent with one side fully open to allow
cool night air in. Late at night, to my complete surprise, someone comes
crawling into the tent. I initially think it is Fen, but she is already wrapped
around my left arm so it can’t be her.

“V-Verde?” I stammer when
her features are revealed under the moonlight.

Gone are the cloak and
thick clothes, and instead she is wearing the thin shirt and shorts that she
usually sleeps in. Her cleavage is presented in full as she crawls toward me on
all fours. Her swaying mounds threaten to fully reveal themselves at any moment
through the loose collar of her shirt.

Of greater concern though
is Fen, glaring murder at Verde. Verde notices and visibly falters, but
continues moving until she is next to me. I notice that her face is a little
pale and I can’t help but ask.

“Scared?”

Her eyes seem to be on the
verge of tearing up as she curtly nods her head. I’m surprised at how timid and
girlish she can actually be, unlike how she normally acts in front of me. Of
course, Mason and Matrix tormenting her from the depths of the shadows so much
that it can actually get to her is going too far.

“Not alone. Just for
tonight,” She whispers to me, a small amount of color returning to her face as
she blushes in embarrassment.

Fen obviously has no
intention of letting her stay, as the temperature in the tent drops
dramatically and an ice dagger forms in her hand. Fen reaches past me to stab
at Verde.

I hastily catch her hand
before she her attack connects. I don’t know what to say to mediate the
situation and feel terrible inside. I understand she must be scared, but I
can’t understand why Verde came in here. She had to know it would provoke Fen.
 And as for Fen… I guess I could say that I’m in love with her. I can’t do
anything but look helplessly toward Fen whose eyes can’t seem to express enough
anger.

Seeing my look, Fen averts
her eyes, snorting onto my shoulder and causing a small area to become covered
in frost. At least she doesn’t continue trying to attack Verde.

Verde grabs onto my other
arm tightly, and I feel a heavenly pleasure as the figure of her body is
pressed against me. With a beautiful girl on either side of me, I am in a
situation that most men would envy. Despite this, inside I am crying.

***************************************************

The next morning there is
only one person clinging onto me: Fen. The wolf girl is half sprawled out on
top of me with one leg extended, pushing Verde half a meter away.

Finally realizing that it
is morning, I hurriedly wake Verde up and plead for her to leave here before
anyone else notices. It is early so they shouldn’t wake up for ten or so
minutes at least.

Verde looks at me in
confusion at first, but soon blushes before hurriedly leaving.

There is no Mason or Sir
Laurence waiting outside the room so I feel like I have dodged a metaphorical bullet.
If they saw… I shudder to think about it.

When Fen wakes up, she is
angry at first, but calms down when she sees Verde has left. She pecks me on
the cheek a few times and bites my ear, distracting me until I turn my head and
return her kisses. Pressing my lips against Fen’s, my mind becomes blurry and
all stray thoughts are lost.