Curate, connect, and discover
“Hey! Wake up!”
I felt a sharp poke on my arm. My eyes flew open and I instinctively scooted away.
“Whoops, sorry. Was that painful?”
My eyes met hers. Those glittering black eyes shone brightly in the sun’s rays from the windows. Middy smiled apologetically, a smile that could make anyone forgive her for anything.
“Forgive me, Kate?” She pouted like a child. A 29 year-old child.
I sighed, ruffled her silk auburn hair and cupped her face in my hands, rubbing the little butterfly shaped birthmark on her cheek. Middy was like a child in an adult’s body sometimes, or maybe more than sometimes. A ball constantly full of energy, an energy that I didn’t have.
“All right, Middy. All right.” But it’s worth it.
Middy giggled and kissed my hand. She bounced up to her feet, towering over me.
I could already tell, without her having to say anything, that she was absolutely brimming with adventure. I couldn’t help but smile at her child-like excitement. Middy loved adventuring, exploring, and dragging me along with her.
And I would follow. Willingly.
I got up and started tidying up the bed.
“So? Where are we going this time?”
Middy chuckled.
“Remember the cave we found yesterday?”
I froze, and clenched the blankets in my hands. I looked up at Middy to see her smiling evilly.
“The dark and scary one?”
“Yep.”
“Oh no.
“Oh yes.”
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It was a good day. The kind of day where it wasn’t too bright or hot that it was scorching your skin, nor was it too dark or gloomy. The kind of day I would spend feeding the horses fresh carrots, dancing around the house, and falling asleep under a shady tree with Middy.
Oh hell no. Instead I stand at the entrance of a black hole. The entrance was huge, making it hard to miss during our previous exploration. We had shone our torch into the cave from the entrance, but the light showed nothing in the murky darkness.
Yet, the cave seemed… alive.
Well I’m just glad we didn’t decide to go at night. I shifted the quiver on my back and tapped a finger on my bow, assuring myself that I would be safe.
Middy rummaged through her backpack and pulled out two lanterns. She placed one at the entrance and one further into the cave. She stood up, proudly putting her hands on her hips.
Then I thought I saw her finger twitch slightly, or maybe her arm shaking a bit, or maybe her smile falter a little. I reached out a hand to see if she’s alright. But she whipped around and picked up her sword and backpack. “Alright, let’s go!”
“Ah!” The only sound I could muster, and then I clamped my mouth shut when Middy turned to look at me. She seemed completely fine now.
“You okay?” Middy asked. Should I ask? I took her hand, unsure of both questions. I smiled, and nodded.
“Let’s go then.”
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“It’s so… empty.”
We had left a trail of lanterns every 20 or so steps we took, but it was useless, since the cave’s darkness swallowed up more and more of the light. Without our handheld lanterns, or the glow worms scattered sparsely throughout the cave, we would have been in the suffocating darkness.
“Yeah,” I responded. “The darkness isn’t exactly comforting either.”
Middy collapsed onto a huge rock, setting her lantern down on the ground. I joined her.
“A big, dark, silent and empty cave.” Middy sighed, disappointedly looking at a glow worm crawling on her finger. “How depressing, I was expecting something more.” She flicked the glow worm away. She sighed again, leaning back with her hands on the rock.
While Middy moped around, I waved around my lantern, reaching out as far as I could. Besides the glow worms –even then there were very few of them in such a huge cave– there wasn’t a single living thing residing here. No insects, no creeping vines, nothing. This whole cave was not only dead silent, it felt dead in general.
I lowered my lantern from the cave ceiling, down along the cave walls in front of us.
Then suddenly, the cave wall disappeared into the darkness. I shifted my lantern to the left. The cave wall appeared again, only to disappear into darkness once more. What the heck?
I got up to take a closer look. Middy questioned, but followed closely behind me.
Turns out it was actually two pathways, a wall separating them in the middle. There was an ‘X’ scratched out on the wall, with an arrow pointing to the right side.
Middy traced it with her finger, “Someone’s already been here.”
Just as she said that, a high pitch screech came from the right pathway, vibrating off the cave walls. I winced as it rang in my ears, my hands halfway to my ears.
“Middy, you hear–” I paused when I saw the look on Middy’s face. She was frozen, almost like a statue, her hands in fists, gripping her sword tightly. Her eyes, wide and unblinking, fixed on the darkness leading down the right pathway, as if there was something there.
I’ve never seen her like this before. I gently rubbed her shoulder, and she blinked rapidly, as if I broke her out of a trance.
“Don’t worry, I’m okay.” She smiled, but it was a different smile.
“We don’t have to do this, we can just go, and maybe do this another day…”
“Kate.” Middy said firmly, “You worry too much! It's probably nothing, I just got a little shocked that’s all.” She ruffled my hair and turned towards the darkness, raising her hand and pointing to the darkness in a confident pose. “Let’s go!”
But I could tell she was still shaking.
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We ventured down the rocky path. This time, the cave seemed both alive and dead at the same time, and also somehow even darker than before. Or maybe it’s just me. We tread carefully, shining our lanterns around the walls. There was this uneasy feeling that there was something hidden in the darkness, just out of the light, just outside of our vision. It was unsettling.
“Woah!” Middy exclaimed. I whipped my head around just to see her catch her balance. “I think I kicked something?” She crouched down. It was a grey backpack. A worn out picture of a white crescent on a purple circle was printed on the front. Below it was a name badge.
“Martin Ward.” I read it out. “Is he still here? Why would it be just lying around here?”
Middy zipped open the backpack. A couple packets of bandaids, a water bottle, an empty lunchbox, an energy potion, and a book and pen with the title, ‘Martin’s Journal’. A dagger was in the side pocket of the backpack.
“This guy packed extremely light for a trip down a dark cave. Not even a single lantern.”
We picked the backpack up and walked forward a few steps before finding a stray arrow abandoned on the ground, the shaft had another name engraved on it: Ekina Salters.
“Huh, is there another person here?”
Middy kept talking, but I started to tune out when I heard a quiet scuttling sound, like metal tapping on the ground. I placed my lantern on the ground as gently as possible. “Middy, do you hear that?”
She stopped talking and got to her feet immediately, her sword drawn and lantern raised, on guard immediately. The scuttling got louder and slower. We stepped back. I nocked an arrow, alert, scanning the ground.
It got closer.
And closer.
And then it stopped. Near my lantern, right outside the light.
Suddenly, the same high pitch screech broke the silence, but it was so much louder. My ears rang, and my eyes started to water but I held my ground. A black figure launched towards us, the source of the scream. I raised my bow and immediately released the arrow. I heard a wet thunk and thud following quickly. The screech reduced to a gurgle and everything went silent.
“Yins.” I recalled Middy saying to me one night, pointing to her drawings in her journals she had shown me as I was wrapped in her arms. The picture she pointed to looked like a beetle. It had black, slick and slimy oval body. The legs were shiny metal, the ends sharp. They have small, beady red eyes that could stare straight into your soul and instantly know all your darkest secrets.
“They’re quite rare, but if you do encounter them they would always arrive in clusters. They would latch onto you, and dig into your skin.” Middy flipped to another page. A sketch of a Yin clinging onto an arm. Its metal legs dug into the skin, blood seeping out of it. “Many others will join and it’ll be hard to get rid of them, so you’ll either die of blood loss or sustain serious injuries.”
“Have you met any Yins?” I had asked, tracing circles around Middy’s arms.
“No.” Short, curt answer. No “Nah I wish I did though.” or “Man I wish.” Just a cold “no”.
“No?” I echoed.
“No, I just heard these from a traveler during one of my travels.”
“Anyway, you can get rid of them and just stab them, but there’s a catch.” Middy flipped to another page. A drawing of a dismembered Yin, an arrow pointed from it to a reconstructed Yin.
“You can’t actually kill them, they’ll just keep coming back.”
“After all, you can’t kill what’s already dead.”
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“We have to run Middy!” I could barely hear my own voice over the screeches of the incoming Yins. There had to be hundreds of them, clustering around us, metal legs scratching against the rock floor, threatening to dig into our skin till we bleed.
I tugged at Middy’s arm, but she was stiff. I looked back and saw the same expression on her face from earlier.
Except she was absolutely petrified. Her hands were shaking, covering her ears, and she had dropped her sword.
Something clung onto my ankle and I kicked it away. The Yins were surrounding us at a rapid rate, I felt a sense of growing panic in my stomach. Middy wasn’t responding the way she usually did and we were going to get consumed at any moment.
I slammed down my bow on a Yin creeping up to Middy’s feet.
“Middy!” I screamed. And she came to life. I looked her directly in the eyes. It was the first time I had ever seen Middy’s eyes filled with so much fear. I grabbed her arms, squeezing tightly so that she stayed with me, “Snap out of it, please!”
Middy gulped, and nodded her head.
“We have to run, understand? Grip my hand tightly and don’t stop running until I say so.” I grabbed her hand, and she grabbed her sword with a shaky hand. “Run!”
I kicked the grey backpack up and caught it with my hand which also held my bow.
Middy and I ran as fast as we could, deeper into the cave. The light from Middy’s lantern swayed violently as she ran, our pounding footsteps combined with the neverending screeching from the Yins that chased us down echoing off the walls made my head pound along with our feet. It took my every will not to collapse right there and let the Yins consume me. Middy was with me, I had to make sure she was safe.
“There’s a hole there, big enough for us to crawl into, we should be able to hide from them!” I slid to a halt, Middy nearly bumping into me. I helped Middy into it, and crawled in after her.
Middy extinguished the flame in her lantern and we held our breaths.
The screeches and skittering of metal against rock grew louder.
I shut my eyes tightly, a hand tightly over my mouth, another even tighter around Middy’s hand. Her head buried into my neck. I could feel her shaking slightly.
The screeching stopped, but they got closer.
My chest burned, aching for air.
They were right in front of us.
The Yins were slow, like dogs sniffing out its target. I pressed myself against the wall behind me, as if the distance between them and me changed. The sound of metal scratching, dragging, against the ground so near us was unnerving, like a train screeching to a halt on train tracks, like chalk on a blackboard, sounds that I wish didn’t exist.
The Yins scuttled past, lingering in the same place just right outside of where we hid.
Middy was shaking even more, I squeezed her hand. It felt like a flame was lit in my chest, burning painfully.
Then, silence. LIke time had frozen. Then, time restarted again. The Yins started skittering again.
This time, however, they were all in sync, like soldiers marching in a line. And they were crawling away. They got quieter and further, until there was just silence.
Middy and I let out our breaths, the silence broken by our ragged breathing. Middy clinged onto me, her breath hot against my neck. I’ve never seen her this terrified before. “It’s alright. They’re gone now.” My shaky hands found her lantern and turned it on.
Two huge, green glowing eyes stared back at us. Middy muffled her yelp by clamping a hand over her mouth and I stiffened up.
The three of us stared at each other for a good while. He had red, long and unruly hair that nearly covered his eyes. His eyes, now that I took a closer look, were like a cat’s eyes, his pupil a narrow slit, staring warily at us. He wore a black turtleneck and jeans, which were torn in a lot of places. His olive skin was filled with scratches and dried blood.
Poor kid. “Are you, perhaps, Martin?” I spoke up first, gently as possible.
Martin’s eyes widened for a second, surprised, then squinted cautiously at us again.
“Hey, we got your backpack! Here.” I slid his backpack towards him. Martin snatched it and checked its contents. He took the dagger out and hugged his backpack like a teddy bear, the dagger ready in his hand.
Martin looked a bit more relaxed, but I could tell his guard was still up, understandably.
I put down my bow and surrendered my hands in the air, moving slower than a turtle. Middy put down her sword, showing her empty hands.
“My name is Kate and this is Middy. We have plenty of food and medical supplies back at our house. It’s quite near this cave. It’s safe, and I promise that neither of us,” I pointed to Middy, who nodded, and then me, “Will hurt you.”
Martin’s expression stayed the same.
“I’m sure you’re a very brave kid, having made it this far. This girl’s been through worse and she’s shaking like a cowering little puppy.” I nudged Middy and laughed, who rolled her eyes and pushed me back playfully. Martin let out a breathy laugh.
“We also do need your help to guide us back out of this cave, since it’s, well, incredibly dark.” I nodded at him, at his night vision eyes. Those with green, cat-like eyes had night vision, which explained why Martin didn’t bring any sort of light source with him. “In exchange for your help, we will give you food and something more than those bandages.” Martin hugged his bag tighter, I smiled sheepishly, “Yeah, sorry, we were curious.”
I crossed my legs and extended a hand towards Martin, a sign of trust and peace. Martin looked at my hand and then up at me, at Middy at my hand and then at both of us again. Martin reached out a hand, a long scar that seemed to have been there for years already ingrained across his entire palm, and grabbed my hand. It was so small compared to mine, very firm too.
“Alright, let’s go then.”
But he didn’t let go of my hand, he held on to it, and pulled a bit, as if he wanted to ask me something.
“Yes?” Martin squinted his eyes, thinking for a moment. Then he rummaged through his backpack to produce his journal. He started to write, taking quick glances at us. He turned the book and showed us what he wrote: “I have a friend. They’re somewhere in this cave and I lost them and I need to find them, please help.”
Middy and I looked at each other in silent agreement, and I turned back to Martin, “We will help, where do you think they are?”
Martin looked down at his book and wrote again, but he didn’t show us. After a few moments he shut his book and packed it quickly. He gestured us to come and crawled out of the hole, with Middy and I in tow.
Middy and I followed closely behind with our lanterns. We didn’t run across a single Yin, as if they had all disappeared in thin air, like someone had snapped their fingers and made them all vanish in an instant.
We ran till we reached the place before the paths diverged. Martin looked around frantically, but there was no one that we could see.
I was suddenly pushed back by an invisible force. I stumbled back, Middy catching me from behind. The air in front of us rippled, and a person appeared in front of us, holding a bow, arrow pointed right in front of my eyes, Martin behind them. I noticed the arrow shaft had a familiar name on it: Ekina Salters.
“Hey… Are you supposedly Martin’s friend?” Ekina’s face scrunched up even more and stepped forward, the arrow’s tip ever so close to my eye. I felt like if I breathed my eyes would end up at the back of my head immediately.
Martin yanked Ekina’s sleeve, catching their attention. I felt Middy wanting to step in but I held her down. Not now. Martin signed something with his hands and Ekina paused for a moment, glaring back at us. Then Ekina sighed, putting the bow and arrow down. Middy and I sighed in relief.
I extended my hand, and smiled as kindly and friendly as possible, “Hello, my name’s Kate and this is Middy. We’re sorry for startling you but we found Martin alone, and he wanted to find you.” Ekina looked at my hand and scanned me and Middy, then shook my hand briefly.
Ekina looked at Martin again as he signed something. “What– why?, we can go back home now.” I was slightly taken aback by Ekina’s voice which contrasted with their dark-looking appearance. It was soft, gentle, and mature.
Martin looked at Ekina with puppy-dog eyes, pleading, the same way Middy would do if she really wanted something. Ekina sighed and said, “Fine, only because you trust them.” Ekina turned back to the two of us. Middy stepped beside me, squeezing my hands.
“Martin here wants to follow y'all, and I will follow too. Y’all seem like nice folks but one wrong move and we are gone, understand?” Ekina’s face softened, just slightly. “My name’s Ekina Salters.”
I grinned. “Yeah we know.” Middy said, causing Ekina to raise an eyebrow.
“The arrow.” I interjected quickly. We smiled.
This is gonna be awkward. I readied myself.
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“You really like strawberries don’t you?”
Martin nodded vigorously, his red hair bobbing up and down as he scarfed down a second plate of strawberries like no tomorrow, while Ekina nibbled on their second.
The atmosphere in the house was odd, but the good kind of odd. There wasn’t any awkwardness I was expecting. Middy chatted away like she always did, and Martin took in every word she said silently but eagerly, like a plant taking in sunlight in the afternoon. I patched up Martin’s wounds, while feeling Ekina burn holes in my back, watching everything I do. While it was slightly uncomfortable, I understood that they were only being protective. After all, we were still strangers.
“So…” I decided to strike up a conversation on my own for once, “How old are both of you?”
“19.” Ekina said bluntly. Martin showed one in his left hand and six in his right hand.
“Wow, 16 and you’re in that cave. You’re so brave!” Middy exclaimed, and Martin shook his legs in excitement. I chuckled, asking him to keep still as I applied the last plaster.
“I’m done patching you up. Let them heal for a few days and then you can take them off, okay Martin?” Martin nodded, licking his strawberry stained mouth. He seemed so much more alive now, a cheerful twinkle in his eye, completely different from the boy in the cave we met not long ago.
Not only Martin, Middy too.
Ekina took a tissue from the table and wiped Martin’s mouth gently, as I put away the medkit. Martin stuck his tongue out at Ekina and let out a breathy giggle. Ekina smiled, the first time I’d seen Ekina smile. Small and sweet, loving, caring for Martin. Middy noticed it too.
“So… are you two siblings or something?” Middy asked casually. Martin nodded, but Ekina looked hesitant. Martin signed something to Ekina and Ekina looked back at me, and then at Middy, and then back to Martin.
“Yes we are siblings, but not really at the same time. Do you want to explain, Martin?” Martin jumped off his chair and ran to his backpack, taking out his journal once again. He placed it on the table and flipped to a blank page.
Middy huddled closer to look, Ekina’s eyes fixed on her, but less guarded, more… trusting. I took a seat next to Ekina as Martin started writing.
“Ekina and I are siblings, not related by blood though, but I still consider them family.” Ekina smiled again, a bit wider this time.
Martin continued writing, “We also have another sibling, his name is Fredrick, and he’s like, way older, 21 years old.”
“Wow he’s only like, 4 years younger than us!”
“Y’all are 25? You seem so much younger, except you Kate.” Ekina said suddenly. Middy burst out laughing and I raised an eyebrow jokingly, pretending to look offended. “I-I mean that you look more mature, so I thought you would be a bit older.” Ekina stumbled over their words. I laughed.
It was Middy’s turn to be offended, “Are you implying I’m not mature?” Then she burst in fits of laughter again. Martin was kicking his feet, smiling so hard we could barely see his eyes.
Ekina, though flustered, looked much more relaxed, now sitting comfortably, hands no longer a fidgeting mess.
In some way, Ekina reminded me about the time I met Middy. I was so much more closed-off, but somehow Middy’s charm drew me in. She may seem immature, but she was lovable, didn’t mind when I was too tired, or when I wanted to be alone. Middy always made me feel warm, made the rainy days feel better, taught me that you could also enjoy the rainy days even before the sun comes up. She opened my eyes to so many things, so many new experiences, so many new… feelings.
That’s how I realised what love is.
I snapped back to the conversation. “So do all of you have powers?” Middy asked, a question Ekina and Martin probably get asked a billion times. Humans with magical powers aren’t rare, but they aren’t the most accepted most of the time, despite the situation getting a bit better these past few years up till now. I never saw the reason why we hated or were scared of them in the beginning, they were just humans but a bit different, but I guess most people are scared of what they don’t know.
Martin tapped the sides of his cat-like eyes and wrote, “Nightvision!” Ekina looked reluctant to say anything. I gently tapped their hand. “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.” Middy nodded in agreement.
Ekina shifted their legs close to their chest, eyes wandering over to the side. “Yeah, Frederick, Martin and I all have powers. I don’t think it’s much of a surprise, but people don’t really like us. It’s not like they will beat us up or anything, but they act like we are the most dangerous beasts or something. Like they haven’t seen something more terrifying or disgusting than us.” Ekina’s voice reduced to a mumble at the last sentence. The room fell quiet. Martin shifted his eyes to his book.
I wanted to say something to lighten up the mood, but didn’t know what. This was what I feared, the awkward silence, the moment when we step into a territory filled with landmines, every step will send us to our immediate death.
Thankfully, Middy knew exactly where to step.
“Yours is camouflage, right Ekina? I met a person who had the same powers too. She kept messing around with me.” Middy laughed, a lighthouse on a stormy sea, “We would play tag and I would try to chase her, but she would disappear, and I wouldn’t be able to find her. Oh! And she would disappear sometimes and pour water on my head, and I would think it was raining!” Martin already had a smile on his face, letting out short breaths in amusement. Ekina chuckled softly too. “So in retaliation, I poured water on her head! Then our parents would scold us for playing with water.”
Middy told them story after story, listening attentively, curiously, intrigued. Martin would chime in on his own stories, writing furiously in his journal. Middy and Martin threw stories back and forth, laughing and widening their eyes in awe. Ekina watched and listened, their head propped on their hands, smiling fondly. Middy showed her scars on her hand, telling how she got them one by one, describing each adventure in vivid detail, every creature she’d met, every person.
I noticed Ekina kept eyeing a music disc on the table. A music disc with the picture of a cartoon girl lying comfortably on green grass, the reflection of clouds in her glasses. I picked it up. “Do you want me to play it?”
Ekina nodded slowly, “If it’s alright?”
I smiled. It was my favourite song, “Of course.” I put it on the player. Soft, comfy piano filled the air, as the familiar tune played out. Ekina closed their eyes, and their shoulders relaxed, as if a weight had been lifted off their shoulders. Even Middy stopped talking to listen, even though this was the umpteenth time I have played it. Martin bopped his head along to the beat and played an imaginary piano.
The song played on loop as the sun started to shyly hide behind the tall trees, like a shy child hiding behind their mother. Soon it was time for Ekina and Martin to leave, unfortunately. Middy never stopped chatting with Martin, not that he minded. Those two had formed such a strong bond in just a few hours, which wasn’t surprising to me. They radiated such similar, chaotic, thirst-for-thrilling-adventures kind of energy I’m surprised they hadn’t met sooner.
Whereas Ekina and I, we were more of listeners than talkers like Middy and Martin, I think we shared that similarity.
I handed Martin a container of fresh strawberries, and his eyes lit up in an instant. He snatched it out of my hand and waved it at Ekina as if Ekina wasn’t right next to me. Ekina smiled, this time bigger and brighter, “Yes, we will share them with Fredrick when we get home.” Ekina went and stood next to him.
“Speaking of home, do you know where to go? It might be dangerous.” Middy asked before I could, startling me.
“Yeah, the woods look familiar, if not we can always contact Fredrick. Oh and speaking of contact.” Ekina nudged Martin.
He rummaged through his bag and fished out his journal. He opened it, but this time to tear out a page. Martin and Ekina pressed their thumbs onto the corner of the page, creating the imprints on the page and wrote down their names below it. Martin took Middy’s hand and my hand and we did the same. Our thumb imprints appeared on the paper and he wrote both our names below them. Martin handed the paper to Middy.
“That paper,” Ekina explained, “Is a messaging paper, used to contact anyone whose thumbprints are on that paper. Write anything on that, and it’ll appear in Martin’s journal.”
“Wow, thank you.” I said, as Middy turned and flipped the piece of paper, examining every inch of it, as in awe as I was.
Ekina suddenly hugged me, and I blinked in surprise, “Thank you for making me, us, feel normal.” Ekina whispered. I patted their head, it was then I realised a small scar, on their forehead underneath their long bangs.
“You don’t have to thank me, Ekina.” I said. Ekina looked up at me.
“Please,” Ekina looked at me and Middy, “Call me Eki. It’s what my friends call me.”
“Group hug!” Middy shouted and threw her arms around us, Martin followed suit, burying his head into Eki’s side. We laughed.
Good things always felt like a dream. I relished the moment, just in case it was.
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The moon rose, a full moon, bright in the starry night sky. I took out the messaging paper Martin and Eki gave us, with Middy over my shoulder, tapping her foot in anticipation.
“Are you two back home?”
I sat back and waited, Middy’s hands fidgeting on my shoulders.
Then, below our message, a word was written out, like an invisible hand holding a pen. “Yes!” Then both messages disappeared.
I felt Middy’s whole body relax, her forehead resting on my head as she muttered out a “Thank god”.
“Aww were you worried about them?” I cooed at her. Carefree Middy was worried? Middy scoffed in response.
I got up and wrapped her hands around me, staring up into her eyes, black as the night sky, but brighter than the full moon. I could get lost in them. She grinned her silly, special little grin.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, are you alright?” Middy cocked her head to the side, as if she had never heard of the question before.
“I mean, I have never seen you so… awfully terrified before, back in the cave. I was just.. You know… wondering if there was anything you wanna talk…” Middy pulled me closer, her head over my shoulders. I was on my toes, but I felt like I was floating, felt like the whole world fell away and it was only us.
Middy’s soft breathing and heartbeat was all I could hear, not even the sounds of the night could reach us.
“I’m fine, I really am.” She and I sat on our bed, but we never let go of each other. “It’s just a shock to the Yins again–”. She cut herself off, letting me go. “I mean, yeah those Yins look incredibly freaky haha.”
“Again?” I was confused. “I thought you said you’ve never met any before?”
Middy remained silent, not looking me in the eye. I felt an invisible wall between us.
I took a deep breath, “Why would you lie about something like this?”
The silence grew thick, suffocating.
“Middy…” I didn’t want to fight, I didn't want this silence to go on. Please talk to me.
“Do you promise not to laugh at me?” Middy finally said, in a small voice.
“Of course I won’t!”
Middy clutched her legs close to her chest, and leaned against my shoulder.
“It was a few years ago, before you and I even met. I had a few close buddies back then, and they would always compliment me for being brave.”
“One day, they dared me to go down this cave, and of course I did it. I went down, it was dark, extremely quiet. I only had one lantern with me, and my sword of course. I went deeper and deeper. And then I saw them. There was one at first, I thought there was only one, suddenly so many more came.” I thought back to our encounter in the cave.
“I fought and fought, but it got too much, I was getting exhausted, and they were relentless, they were so loud, I was reaching my breaking point. Then I dropped my lantern.” I suppressed a gasp. I could see she was shaking, hand clenched so hard it turned ghost white. I rubbed her hand, letting her continue.
“It… was… dark. So awfully dark. It felt claustrophobic, like it wrapped around my neck, squeezing it. Everything was loud but I couldn’t see anything. So I ran. Blindly. I didn’t know where I was, I didn’t know where to go. The screeching sounds from the Yins were gone but they echoed in my head. I was hurting all over, too.” Middy rubbed her neck.
“Eventually, I heard the sound of rain and followed it, and I got out. When I got out, I cried. More than I would like to admit. My friends had left but I figured it was because of the rain. I ran back home and told my parents about it, but they didn’t really believe me, they were more angry at the fact that I came home late and wet.” I shook my head. I never liked Middy’s parents, and the hate was mutual.
“I told my buddies the next day. I thought they would comfort me, because I was still very shaken. Instead, well… they laughed at me and called me a coward. Worst thing was, I believed them.”
A few drops of rain fell, reflected by the moon. Then more, and soon the rain was beating against the windows, like they were trying to get in.
“Do you still talk to them?” I asked.
“Oh, no. Never again. I tried not to let their words in my head, but it’s kinda hard sometimes.” Middy traced the scars on her hands.
“I’ve met and fought things and creatures, many creatures, none scared me as much as Yins. I’ve thought about going back to the cave I went into a few years ago, but everytime I think about the darkness and what I felt.” Middy shuddered and shook her head. “Didn’t know they’ll appear here though.” She chuckled dryly.
The wind sighed in the branches of trees. The silence was no longer suffocating. But I didn’t know what to say, even though I wanted to say something. It was the first time Middy opened up to me like this, so vulnerable.
“Well, I bet if they were dared to do the same thing they wouldn’t even follow through.” I don’t know who Middy’s ‘buddies’ were but thinking about them made me fume, “You know, I bet the moment they even step into the cave, they’ll come running out, wetting themselves!” Middy laughed, a genuine one. I missed it.
“They don’t know who you are, they don’t know the Middy today. Yes, you froze up today, but tomorrow, you will rise up and fight, I know it. You’re braver and stronger than you think you are.” I tapped her forehead. “They don’t know what they’re talking about.”
Middy leaned back to look at me. She leaned back in and kissed me. I kissed her back, tasting strawberry. Then, she rested her head on my shoulder, her face warm on my neck.
“Kate?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.” Middy tilted her head up and smiled. Warm, full of love.
I kissed her forehead. “I love you too.”
--------------------
We went back to the cave, to the two pathways that we found. We had asked Martin and Eki if they wanted to come with us, but they already had some other plans.
Middy placed a lantern at the entrance of the left pathway, and lit another lantern of her own. I stood by her side, gripping my trusted bow, the familiar weight of my arrows in my quiver, slung over my shoulder. Yet it could not calm the uneasiness that grew like a seedling inside of my stomach. The right pathway was scary in a way that something might jump out and attack. But the pathway we were about to go down, it had an eerie vibe, like something was crawling in there staring at us. They can see us, but we can’t see them.
Which somehow felt much, much worse, I shivered, though it wasn’t cold.
“Hey.” I felt a warmth spread around my body, like the warm morning sun shining through our bedroom windows when I wake up. Middy had her hands around my stomach, her chin over my shoulder. “You okay?”
I let out a held breath, and put my hand over hers, “Yeah I’m fine. This place just gives me bad vibes.”
“Breaking news!” Middy joked, and we both laughed, which faded into silence once more. I felt that Middy was more silent than usual ever since we left.
“Did you pack the mana potions we got? Just in case.” Her voice barely over a whisper.
“Yeah, you told me multiple times to pack it.” I took out the glowy liquid encased in the glass flask, secured to my waistband. It was only to be used during emergencies when we were extremely weak. “What’s with you huh?” Her face was warm in my hand as she nuzzled it in the palm of my hand.
Middy grabbed my shoulders and twisted me around to face her. The yellow glow of the lantern made her eyes look like there was a flame ignited in there. Being a little over half a head taller than me, her stance felt intimidating yet comforting and safe at the same time.
Her face softened, “Nothing, nothing at all. I just wanna say…” She hugged me again. “I love you, and I would never be able to do this without you by my side, not in a million years.”
I cupped my hand on her face, “Let’s do this then. You and me.”
--------------------
There were thousands of Yins. On the walls, on the ceiling, on the floor next to our feet. Middy and I stayed close together, our backs literally stuck together, our guards up and weapons drawn.
What was strange was that none of them were attacking. All of the Yins travelled in the same direction, organised in single lines close together. They weren’t tripping or climbing over each other trying to get us. We couldn't even hear the tapping of their metal feet against the rocky surface.
In fact, it seemed like they weren’t even acknowledging our presence.
They were everywhere, trapping us in a tiny space in the middle of the pathway, shuffling us forward with the fear of accidentally stepping on a Yin and having all of them attacking at once, from every direction.
Just thinking about that made my knees weak.
“What the hell is this?” I nearly tripped when Middy whispered, her voice like an explosion in the pin drop silence, she even stiffened up a little.
The Yins did not react in the slightest.
“I don’t know. Do you think this is a trap?” I winced at my own voice, a mere whisper vibrating off the walls.
Middy didn’t answer, which I’m glad. I don’t think either of us wanted to know the answer.
Middy tried to lift her foot over the Yins crawling just centimetres away from her feet. They didn’t budge, or even bothered to look up. Just kept on crawling.
Middy and I had no choice but to keep shuffling forward, anticipation level high up. The thick silence was suffocating, only broken by my heartbeat thumping in my ears, so loud I thought Middy might be able to hear it.
Thump Thump.
Thump Thump.
Thump Thump.
Thump-
Thud.
My foot connected with a wall in front of me. I was so focused on the Yins around me that I didn’t notice that we had reached the end of the path. The Yins skittered away, behind us.
“Kate?” I touched the wall as the Yins began to disperse, trailing my lantern up along the wall. Walls in front of us, to the left and right.
“Kate, they’re all gathering in one place.” Spider-web cracks spreaded across the rocky walls. I felt something light drop onto my head, like the first drops of rain at the start of a thunderstorm.
But it wasn’t water, instead tiny pieces of rock fell from above. I looked up.
“Middy, what’s going on?” Thick green vines slowly snaked out of the cracks of the ceiling, towards the ground around us. The ground started to shake like an earthquake. I bumped into Middy and finally turned around.
All the Yins were starting to merge. Their slimy bodies stuck together, metal legs digging into the black void of their body to form something bigger. Middy swept her arm in front of me and both of us stepped back, my hand subconsciously on an arrow behind me.
The Yins grew and grew, and suddenly light from our lanterns went out, and we were plunged into darkness. Middy gasped, and a loud clang reverberated around in the dark.
--------------------
I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t see anything. Not a sliver of light, no silhouette, nothing. It was darker than the darkness when you closed your eyes. A lump formed in my throat as I blindly fumbled in my pocket for my matchbox. The darkness was incredibly claustrophobic.
“Kate!”
Come on. Come on. I rubbed my thumb along the edge of the box for the rough patch and struck the match.
“Oh god!” Middy was pinned against the wall, holding off a black metal crab-like claw that was as big as Middy herself. The claw was just centimetres away from her face, the only thing between them was Middy’s sword, but the distance was closing more and more. I quickly lit up my lantern on the floor.
“Shoot it!” I shot, the arrow landed into the goopy black arm with a wet squelch and ended with a loud ‘clang!’, like it connected with more metal. The claw retracted, and another appeared out from the darkness to yank the arrow out. It threw the arrow to the side.
I shot another arrow into the darkness, but all I heard was a loud snap as it fell down into two pieces. Middy roared as she ran forward and connected her sword with one of the metal claws. It barely made a dent, and it sent her flying back against the wall.
“Middy!” I lunged out for her to cushion the fall. Middy recovered surprisingly quickly and was on her feet, sword raised.
“Stay away!” Her voice wavered slightly, but her stance didn’t. She stood in front of me, her empty hand swept to the side as if to cover me. My heart pounded in my ears, adrenaline and admiration pumping through me. I grabbed her hand, and stood by her side.
“Well… well…” The voice boomed, or rather, voices. It was as if dozens of different people all spoke in unison, bouncing off the walls. I could feel a headache starting to form behind my eyes.
Then, it stepped into the light.
A monster stepped into the light, though it seemed as if the light was consumed by it. It was like a Yin, only it was the size of the entire cave. The slimy body was a black void, which looked like it could consume and trap anyone in eternal darkness. Four, large metal claws attached to appendages protruding out of its body, like some weird hybrid of an insect and crab.
I would have laughed at how ridiculous it looks if it weren’t for the fact that it can slice my head clean off with one swing of its claw if it wanted to.
And it certainly wanted to.
“How does it feel to be so tiny and insignificant faced with something so vast and great?” Deep voices, high pitched voices, taunting whispers, banshee shrieks and hateful cries were all I heard say back. I never wanted to rip my ears out so bad until now.
“Even the mightiest of elephants cower at the sight of mice!” Middy’s voice was like an angel sent from the heavens, the dove among a murder of screeching crows. She gripped my hand tighter, and I mentally gave her all my support.
Six, red beady eyes similar to that of six lava pits in its void of a body met ours, burning holes into our faces.
“Such bravery and ferocity.” A claw crashed into the wall right beside Middy and she sunk her sword into the slimy flesh, hitting the metal skeleton underneath.
“Down!” Middy pushed my head down as the claw dragged along the wall right above our heads, bringing Middy’s sword along with it. Bits of rock rained down on us. I pulled out another arrow and shot it directly in one of the eyes. The arrow sank into the eye and the monster roared, louder than the thunder.
Middy took this opportunity to grab her sword and ran it against the metal hidden under the flesh of the arm, making a horrible screeching noise, searing through my head. Sparks flew and Middy yanked out her sword and rolled away.
The monster made a sound similar to thousands of dying horses. Then I saw why. The sparks had made the flesh on the arm melt, exposing the metal skeleton underneath, which was slightly melting as well. A long scratch etched into the metal from Middy’s sword. The black goopy flesh dropped to the floor and disappeared into smoke, and the arm did not repair itself.
Middy’s eyes met mine, reflecting my surprise. I nodded. I knew she was thinking the same thing.
We’re not letting it take our lives away!
I threw her my matchbox and grabbed my lantern. “Hey you!” I called out to the monster. I swung my lantern and let it fly into the air towards it, though short lived as the lantern was immediately smashed onto the ground with an unsatisfying crunch by the monster’s claws. The same asphyxiating darkness fell again, but not for long. The light in Middy’s lantern came to life and sank into the monster’s flesh, exploding into flames.
Earsplitting demonic screeches echoed throughout the cave, so deafening it could bring the whole cave down to a rubble. My bow slipped out of fingers as I clamped both hands on my ears tighter than ever, my eyes grew hot, my ears rang. I opened my mouth but whether I screamed or not didn’t matter.
I felt myself hit the ground, and the last thing I saw was Middy thrown to the ground like a ragged doll.
--------------------
I couldn’t tell if I was alive or not. My limbs were stiff as glue, my mouth dry as sandpaper. My eyes were open, staring up at the cave ceiling. Like my body was a corpse but my conscience was still there. My ears no longer rang, leaving a dull throb.
Silence. Then a muffled sound of distant shuffling, as the ground below me shifted ever so slightly. A soft crackling noise above me. My hearing slowly came back to me, and I realised the warmth I was lying on wasn’t the ground.
“Hey. You’re awake.” Middy’s exhausted eyes met mine, but her voice filled with relief. Multiple scratches littered her entire face, some reaching down to her neck. An especially large gash reached down her cheek like a tear streak. The gash red as the monster’s lava-like eyes. Her clothes ripped in some areas. She held a match in one hand, holding mine in the other.
“I know right? My red hair compliments my face very well.” Middy joked when I stared for too long. Playing fun, even in such a dire situation. I sought to scan our surroundings with no energy or voice to tell her off.
From the looks of it, it was the same cave we fought the monster in. Except thick green vines encircled around us like a cage, firmly planted to the ground from the ceiling. Thorns littered around each vine, making escaping infinitely more impossible if we didn’t want to poke our eyes out.
“It knocked my sword out of my hand,” I squinted into the darkness of the cave and saw a glint of metal. “I don’t think your arrows are sharp enough to cut through.” My arrows lay scattered across the cavern floors, some in the cage with us and others outside the cage. The ones outside the cage were all broken into pieces.
“Don’t worry, your bow is right here.” That’s the last thing I’m worried about right now.
My lips felt like they were stuck together with dried glue as I pried them open to see if I had lost my voice. It was as if all the fluids from my body had evaporated, leaving me like a dried raisin, a wilted plant deprived of water. Middy raised her water bottle to my lips and I gratefully relinquished it.
“Fire…” I tilted my head to the matchstick Middy held.
“I tried, but it’s gonna take a lot more than just matchsticks to burn our way out” I got myself to sitting position, my limbs stiff and sore. But I’m sure Middy was feeling worse.
“Hey, don’t get up so fast, you’ll get a headache.” Indeed my head spun and purple dots floated in my vision, but I didn’t care. I collapsed at the slightest loud sound and Middy would fight till she was dead.
I was disappointed, mad. Mad at myself. I didn’t do enough. Maybe if I fought longer we wouldn’t be trapped in the first place, maybe Middy wouldn’t have gotten hurt.
I didn't realise I had been crying until Middy touched my cheek and I realised how warm it was. “Hey now, why’re you crying? I’m fine, I swear!” Middy patted my face, a weak attempt in calming me down. “It’s just a little cut, nothing major, I have had lots before!”
I didn’t know what to do, so I just babbled out my mind, “I’m sorry, I should’ve done more- You got hurt because of me, I didn’t do anything-” I choked between sobs.
Weak.
Middy threw her arms around me, careful of the match in her hand. Her body was warmer than the tears rolling down my face. I’ve never cried this hard in front of anyone, not even Middy. My whole body rocked, and I could barely breathe.
Pathetic.
Middy pressed her lips to the side of my head, and breathed out next to my ear. I breathed out along with her. When she took a breath, I breathed in.
She breathed out. I breathed out.
She breathed in. I breathed in.
Breathe in.
Breath out.
Middy’s entire sleeve was drenched with my tears by the time my sobs were reduced to quiet sniffles. It was also then I realised how tight I was clinging into Middy. I tentatively leaned away and wiped my face with the palm of my hands.
“Sorry.” I mumbled, unable to look at Middy, my face hot. I heard her laugh, a pleasant, honey giggle that made my heart flutter.
“This,” I flinched when she touched the long red gash, even though I didn’t experience it. “This might heal into a scar.” Will heal into a scar.
“But you know what?” Middy grinned. The goofy grin. The grin that made my heart throb when I first met her. The grin that told me that everything was alright. That everything was going to be okay.
That you can also enjoy the rain before the sun comes up.
“I think that this will be my favourite scar. My favourite story to tell.” Middy took my wrists into her hand and held them against the sides of her face. My fingers tentatively brush the skin beside the cut, feeling the warmth of her skin on my wrists.
“I’m not touching it, I might infect it.” I placed my hands on her neck and bumped my forehead against hers. Middy chuckled.
We stayed like that for a while, and I wish we could stay like that forever. Ignoring the dark, dangerous cave encasing our fate and demise.
Just the two of us, together, a pleasant silent air between us.
“We’re definitely getting out of this place, alright?” I nodded back, wiping away the last of my tears. Middy got up, helping me up to my feet.
I heard a rustle, and caught a glimpse of something falling out of my pocket. A paper lay at my feet.
Not just any paper though. It was the messaging paper Eki and Martin gave to us.
“You had it in your pocket?” Middy asked.
“I must’ve put it in unknowingly.”
Then it was like something clicked simultaneously in both our heads.
“We don’t have a pen though.” Middy said, looking around as if a pen might drop down from the cave ceiling. I glanced at the thorns on the vines, small but sharp, and pondered for a bit.
“Maybe we don’t need a pen.” I hovered my finger over one of the many thorns, thinking aloud.
Middy immediately grabbed my wrist away from the thorn. “Woah now, let’s think this through. Both Martin and Eki are incredibly strong and resilient, don't get me wrong, but we have seen them before in this cave. You really want to call them here again? They might not agree to come back. They’ve also only met us once.”
I blinked, surprised yet again by how much Middy thought this through. Past Middy probably would’ve just jumped on into it immediately. I smiled, proud.
“Well, I was thinking that they could bring their brother Fredrick? He’s only a few years younger, and he has fire powers, which is the monster’s only weakness. And,” I stepped forward, closer to Middy. “Martin and Eki won’t be alone this time.”
“Do we have any other choice?”
I shrugged. Middy sighed, “At least let me do it then.” She said softly. I let out a short breath of amusement, and pressed her palm on my cheek.
“You have already done so much, it’s time I also do something.” I released her, “Besides, I think it’s also time I get my own scars.”
Middy laughed, “I don’t think that alone will leave anything.”
“Well, next time I guess.”
I pressed my thumb down onto the tip of the thorn, wincing as the blood flowed out. I pressed my bloody thumb against the paper. “Let’s hope they don’t get too freaked out.”
I wrote, Danger, help, trapped, in the cave. Not at all ominous.
As I wrote, my thumb the quill and my blood the ink, I thought I heard a voice. A tiny squeak somewhere around the cave. Footsteps too.
“Did you hear that?” I tore a bit of my sleeve off and wrapped around the cut on my thumb. Middy was already peering out into the darkness of the cave, but that was all there was. Cold darkness.
“Actually wait. Look.” Middy pointed to the darkness. I squinted, then realised it wasn’t just darkness.
A spark of light, then two, then three, bobbing in the darkness. Then voices, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.
I see something move on the messaging paper. Words formed on the paper.
“WE ARE COMING!”
And then they appeared in the light.
Eki and Martin ran towards us. “Over here!” Eki shouted out.
“Careful, there’s thorns.” Middy said as they reached the vine cage. I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face.
“How did you know we were here?” I barely sent the message before they found us.
“We heard an incredibly loud sound coming from here.” Eki explained, as Martin ran back to another person who came out of the darkness. “We remembered y’all said y’all were going back into the cave and got worried. We brought Fredrick along too.”
Fredrick, the new person Martin came back with, was tall, maybe taller than Middy even. He had dark hair and fiery eyes and walked up to us in a casual manner.
“Stand back.” His voice was deeper than I thought. He cautiously slipped his hands between the thorns and gripped one of the vines tightly. His eyes glowed brighter than the sun, and though I wasn’t him, I could feel the heat surge through his arms, to his hands, to the tip of his fingers. A spark, and then fire, eating hungrily at the vines, turning the bright green to mere ash in seconds. The greedy fire spread further to other vines, eventually leaving a whole large enough to let us through. The fire, having satiated its hunger, dissipated into smoke.
The boy with fiery eyes extended a hand, an amicable grin greeting us. “Name’s Fredrick, but I think you two know.” I shook his hand, followed by Middy, an excited and shocked twinkle in her eye.
“Thank you, I’m Kate and this is Middy, but I think you know that too.” I shot a knowing look at Eki, and they smirked.
I saw Martin hand Middy her sword, and Fredrick burning more of the vines, weakening it and pulling the still green bits to the ground from the ceiling. Seeing more people, despite only being only a few more, filled me with a sense of comfort, security, and hope.
The cave seemed so much livelier and brighter. Gone was the dreaded, suffocating darkness.
It didn’t seem so scary anymore.
I felt a sudden poke on my shoulder, startling me. I whipped around but saw no one. But I knew who it was and I rolled my eyes. The air rippled and Eki appeared, smirking at me. “Cheeky.” Eki laughed in response.
Eki handed me my arrows, but I noticed that there was an extra arrow that stood out from the rest. It’s arrowhead was red as fire. “Here, use the red one wisely by the way.” I nodded, only half understanding.
Martin kicked some stones on the ground. One of the stones skidded and hit the wall beside us. Then I saw it.
“Hey there’s a hole here.” A hole that looked slightly similar to the one we had hid in the first time we went into the cave. Middy crouched in front of it.
“I think this is where the monster went.” As soon as she said that, she immediately jumped back and swung her sword, cutting off a screech. We ran forward to see a small Yin, body sliced clean in half, but was slowly putting itself back together.
“Bleh. I’ve heard about these creatures but never seen them up close, I’m disappointed, safe to say.” Fredrick said.
I turned to Fredrick. “Could you maybe set this on fire Fredrick?”
“Can do.” He knelt down and placed his hands just above the dismembered Yin. A small fire came to life, and the Yin let out a fading squelch. It melted and disappeared into the air. Everyone except Middy and I widened their eyes in awe, a few ‘woah’s whispered.
I carefully picked up the thick green vines that were left, the wheels in my head turning.
“Are you able to control your fire, as in which direction it goes and what it burns?” I asked.
“Yep. Trained for a long time.” Fredrick said proudly.
Middy had a knowing look in her eyes, and I could tell she was thinking exactly what I was thinking about. We turned to the three of them, looking at us attentively in anticipation. Middy’s hand in mine, gripping firmly, by my side.
“We have a plan. Listen carefully.”
--------------------
The monster was expecting us.
But we were expecting it too.
“Well, well, well…” Its million voices boomed. “About time you escaped. I’m rather disappointed it didn’t take longer.”
“So sorry, you were just so unimportant we almost forgot about you.” I said sarcastically.
The monster stood tall, the height of the cave. Two of its claws dug the ground, the other two dragged against the walls, producing a horrible screeching noise.
The noise seared through my head, grating against my ears.
I held my ground, and felt Middy’s shoulders brush against mine, a comforting touch. A sense that I will be safe, there’s help and support on my side in a face of such monstrosity.
“You think you can defeat us that easily?” I surprised myself, speaking up at it. I felt the seed of bravery growing, sprouting and blossoming inside of me. Middy raised her sword, the blade brandishing in the monster’s red eyes. Its evil gaze did not waver us.
Suddenly, an arrow flew from beside us, and struck one of the monster’s eyes. Then another arrow struck another eye. My bow stayed by my side.
The monster plucked the arrows out, confused. Just what we wanted.
“Now!” I shouted, only then shooting an arrow of my own.
Martin and Fredrick ran out from behind us with the vines, quickly wrapping it around the claws that planted it on the ground in the midst of the monster’s confusion. Eki appeared from thin air beside us, releasing one last arrow before running after Martin and Fredrick, nearly getting hit from the monster’s claw as it descended onto the ground like an asteroid.
Middy seared her sword against the claw, and the monster let out a shrill screech that shook the cave ceiling, threatening to collapse on us.
Fredrick slammed his hands on the floor. Cracks formed on the floor, inching its way to the monster, sending the heat towards the monster. Flames burned bright, melting off the inky flesh, the metal skeleton was no longer hidden. The monster howled, sounds that came from the deepest depths of hell. Adrenaline pumped throughout my entire body, my thumping heartbeat overpowering the screams as I shot more arrows into the monster’s eyes, trying to distract it from the others.
The monster couldn’t move forward, as Martin and Eki were holding it back, but I knew they could only hold it down for so long, we had to act quickly.
Frederick melted the rest of the flesh of the monster’s head. The shiny metal skull exposed the six eyes, which now looked like six fragile red tinted glass instead of lava pools. He finished the job and quickly ran back to Martin and Eki to help them.
I leaped back to aim better, and shot an arrow into one of its eyes. The arrow flew through the air, shattering the first eye with a satisfying crunch, and the light went out of it.
The monster let out a shrill screech.
“Kate watch out!” Middy screamed out as a claw hurled towards me. I couldn’t avoid it fast enough and the next thing I knew, the wind was knocked out of my lungs and my arm scraped against the floor, burning. My hands covered my head to protect it.
I quickly got up, trying to catch my breath. I checked my arm. The gash, like a long, ugly and bloody red river reaching from my shoulder and flowing down to near my elbows. It stung so much, like a thousand thorns poking at it.
But I didn’t have time to dwell on it. I grabbed my bow off the ground and shot directly into another eye. The monster screeched and swung its claw again. This time however, Middy jumped in front of me and blocked it with her sword.
“Quick, destroy the rest of the eyes!” I nodded and ran, preparing three arrows.
Middy dodged the thrashing claws of the monster so well it was almost graceful, like a dance of some kind. She grabbed the last vine and wrapped it around one of the two remaining claws, took out a dagger and pinned it to the ground. The monster only had one remaining claw left.
“Your efforts are useless, you might as well stop trying.” It snarled, tugging at the restraints that once trapped us.
“As if!” Middy shouted, creating another scratch on the monster’s metal skeleton.
Two eyes left, lit up, the rest like broken spotlights, the light blinked weakly before fading away completely.
I shot another arrow. Missed.
The monster was growing weaker, the one free claw it had was nowhere accurate to hitting Middy, but it still fought hard. The more scratches and dents Middy put on the monster’s thrashing claw, the more difficult it was to hit the remaining eyes without killing Middy, and I could tell it was getting harder to hold the monster down for the three of them. The monster was sliding forward ever so slightly, threatening to crush me against the wall that was behind me.
I could hear the vines slowly starting to rip apart.
My last arrow flew through the air.
It hit. Stray pieces of glass clinked onto the ground. The light in the fifth eye flickered and died off.
“One more Kate! One more!” I fumbled for another arrow in my quiver, my arm shaking. My hand only felt cloth instead of the wooden shaft of my arrows. I panicked, a lump starting to form in my throat.
My quiver was empty.
“Kate! Over here!” Middy had stopped fighting to pick up a stray arrow from the ground. The arrow with the head as red as fire that Ekina had given me. It must’ve fallen out of my quiver when I got hit earlier.
“Catch!” She threw the arrow at me, but I saw a black blur heading towards her.
“Duck!” I grabbed the arrow and lunged for Middy, knocking her to the ground. I could feel the claw miss my head by a hair.
I pushed myself off Middy and scanned for the claw, the red arrow in my hand.
I ran towards it, possibly the same speed as it rushing back towards me.
Closer. The claw gnashed open and close. Threatening to squish my head like a stuffed toy.
Closer. My feet and my heart seemed to pound at the same time, the air whistled through my ears.
Closer. I could see my reflection in the monster’s claws.
Jump. I jumped onto the monster’s claw, running across it. I could feel the monster pause for a moment, as if surprised by the sudden bold action, but immediately lifted its claw up, lifting me up at the same time.
I leaped into the air, and suddenly it was as if time had slowed. I felt light in the air, above the monster, above everything. The red arrow was nocked into my bow, the head aimed directly at the last eye, which burned holes into my soul.
I stared back at it, daring it.
“Good-bye.”
I released the arrow.
And everything burst into flames.
--------------------
“Hey! Wake up!”
I feel a hand gently slipping through my hair, playing with it. My eyes blinked open to see Middy’s face bathed in the sun rays. Her deep black eyes reflected the morning sun, but her smile was warmer and brighter than the sun.
“Morning kiss?” Middy puckered her lips, and I scoffed and rolled my eyes, lightheartedly. I pressed my lips against hers, which tasted very strongly of strawberries.
“Were you eating strawberries? Without me?”
Middy laughed, “It’s not only me that’s eating them.”
Middy and I went out into the dining area, where Martin, Eki and Fredrick were eating strawberries and strawberry jam sandwiches, chatting between mouthfuls. They waved at us.
“Good morning!” Middy ran up to Martin and lifted him into the air, giggling, as Martin kicked his feet in the air, a half eaten sandwich in his hands. He ate the rest and signed at Middy.
“You want to go play in the cave? Sure, wash your hands and let’s go!” She put Martin down and he ran to the bathroom, and soon was out the front door.
Eki got up and gave me a cup of tea, “Strawberry tea, wakes you right up.” And ran out with Martin.
Fredrick started gathering the plates and cups left on the table.
“Go join the others Fredrick, I’ll clear up.” Middy said, and Fredrick immediately ran off, leaving Middy and I the only ones in the dining room.
We went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. A comfortable silence between us, broken only by the sounds of water and the clinks of plates and cups. Middy hummed a tune of no particular song.
It was a good day. A perfect day even. It was a beautiful day. The kind of day where it wasn’t too bright or hot that it was scorching your skin, nor was it too dark or gloomy.
We put away the clean utensils and walk towards the front door. Middy’s hand sneaked into mine, kissing my cheek over and over again. I couldn’t help but giggle. “Come on, let's go meet them.”
Middy stuck out her tongue playfully, and raised her hand which was intertwined with mine. The rose quartz stone on our rings glinted in the sunlight, sparkling like the shiny pebbles in rivers. My sleeve rucked down and exposed my scar, from when we fought the monster. My first scar.
Middy and I walked towards the cave. The slight breeze whispering through our hair, in our ears. Though it happened a year ago, I still remember when both of us walked the same path, a time before Martin, Eki and Fredrick knew us, a time that seemed like a dream and a nightmare combined.
We arrived at the entrance of the cave. It wasn’t dark and ominous anymore, like when we first came. Flowers of many different colours adorned the sides of the cave, lanterns rested amongst the vines, giving a soft and welcoming glow.
We ventured down the left pathway and they were there, frolicking around in the soft grass. Frederick and Eki danced around in the grass that grew through the cracks on the cave floors. It was no longer barren and dead. Grass, flowers, planted and grew on the walls and floors. Fireflies flew around in the air. Middy joined them while I went to Martin, who sat in a corner writing.
“You know it’s not good for your eyes to be writing in such dim lighting.” I sat down next to him.
“Nightvision dummy.” I chuckled.
Martin looked around the cave, taking the atmosphere in. It was peaceful, lively. We could read books, tell stories together and sleep under the fireflies.
“Funny how this place used to be where the monster lived, where we fought and defeated it.”
“I know right.” I ran my hand across soft grass, tickling my fingers. “It’s only been about a year, but it was crazy. I still remember how I felt when I shot it and it burst into flames.” I mimed shooting an arrow with a bow.
“It seems so much like a dream.” Martin wrote, flicking his pen in his finger afterwards, deep in thought.
I closed my eyes, “More like a nightmare, but it’s worth it.” I gestured to our surroundings. I watch Middy try to pick up Fredrick while Eki laughed at her efforts. “Seems like a dream now.”
“Good things always seem like a dream.” Martin smiled, proud of himself. I raised my eyebrow, impressed.
“That’s why you need to enjoy it while it lasts.” I got up and pulled him to his feet. We ran up to Middy and the others. I jumped up onto Middy’s back and she spun me around, and I laughed like a schoolgirl.
Eki plucked a flower from the ground and gave it to Middy. She held the flower and brushed some hair out of my face, putting it in my hair.
“There.” Middy kissed me, her smile contagious as I felt my lips curl up.
Everything felt like a dream.
I cupped Middy’s face, warm in my hand, and touched her forehead against mine, closing my eyes.
But it was definitely a dream come true.
Inspired by: https://youtu.be/DnGhWMKAur0
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