Chapter 187
Clementine:
“She’s right. So who’s gonna stay behind?” Yorick asked first.
“How about we do rock-paper-scissors?” Troy suggested. Haiden shook his head.
“I’m really bad at that game. I never have good luck,” he complained. The others just watched him.
“So what exactly do you mean by losing? Do you want to go or stay?” Yorick asked, giving him a knowing look.
“Isn’t it obvious? I want to go after my mate,” Haiden admitted confidently and shamelessly, preferring to come with me. I noticed Troy and Yorick glance at me, and I instantly felt shy. I didn’t want them saying things like that out loud.
“Fine then. We have to do something.” Yorick suggested, “Let’s do this, whoever calls for the index finger when Clementine holds it up gets to go with her. The other two will stay behind.” It was a good idea. The two staying behind wouldn’t be alone, since I didn’t trust the white squad.
The three of us turned around. I lifted my small finger, and both Haiden and Troy lifted theirs. “Okay, for this,” I said, holding up the index finger. I watched as Yorick raised his hand, and it was decided.
“Damn it! We should have stuck with rock-paper-scissors. This was such a stupid game,” Troy complained, glaring at Haiden.
“And you said you were only bad at rock-paper-scissors,” Troy continued bothering him. Haiden had his hands on his hips, staring at me as if I were lying. However, Yorick wore a very satisfied look on his face.
“Okay, kids, you all go back inside while we continue our journey. We don’t know when those guys will come back, so we need to find Valerie before the train returns and we are ready to leave. I don’t want another delay once one task is over and Valerie is still missing,” Yorick explained, detailing how things could go wrong if we didn’t hurry and finish all the tasks together.
“Whatever,” Troy hissed, dismissing Yorick with a wave of his hand.
“Please take care of yourself,” he said to me before turning around and leaving. He sounded so upset.
And then there was Haiden, who kept staring at me before he suddenly stepped closer and kissed me on the cheek. My hands were awkwardly clutched between our chests. Once he pulled away and walked back inside, I turned and saw the wide-eyed Oriana.
“He’s gonna get you in a lot of trouble one day,” Yorick commented, hissing as he started walking with me. We began walking together. It was just Oriana, Jessie, me, and Yorick at this point.
“Where are we going to find her?” Yorick asked.
“We’ve looked through the woods and didn’t find her, so probably the village, maybe near the station area. Or we can move forward,” Oriana suggested, letting us know they had already cleared the area.
“Did you notice the fleshmingos aren’t everywhere anymore?” I commented, looking around. At this point, we had also realized it was better to move forward than go back.
“Well we should have left with the others,” Yorick complained, rolling his eyes. I had to constantly remind him, and Oriana to not to complain too much. Jessie was heavily emotional, left behind by Matthias in the hope that we would take care of her. I wanted to do a good job because I knew how much it meant when someone trusts you.
Soon, we were on the abandoned road. Suddenly, the sky filled with clouds, and we instantly knew it was bad news. We exchanged a look. It was the most horrifying moment, because the minute the world started to darken, we began hearing those screeching noises.
I gulped as I glanced at Yorick, who nodded and rested his hand on the dagger at his belt. I pulled out my sword. Oriana did the same, while Jessie held two daggers, one in each hand.
“I think those things are near us,” Yorick commented.
“You’re right,” I said.
“Or maybe we can turn around, go back to the mansion, and wait for the sky to clear again?” Oriana suggested, and honestly, both Yorick and I were silent. The decision fell on Jessie, and she immediately turned around to make it clear she wasn’t accepting it.
“No! My sister might be out there! So no, we’re not going back. We’ll only move forward, and maybe we’ll find another safe place,” she shouted.
As she was talking, all three of us looked behind her. A huge Wendigo leaped from a tree onto the road, and even Jessie shrank her shoulders before terrifyingly turning to make eye contact with it. The creature was still a fair distance away, but it meant we were in grave danger.
“How about going back to the mansion now?” Oriana asked. The next thing I knew, the Wendigo began sprinting toward us. We all turned and ran toward the mansion, sprinting as fast as we could, swinging our arms because the creature wasn’t moving straight.
It leapt from tree to tree, sometimes crossing to the other side of the road, making these erratic movements that filled us with anxiety.
“Don’t go straight, go in a zigzag line!” I yelled, and they all started to follow me. As we did, I noticed the Wendigo beginning to get confused.
However, she was still able to jump right in front of me. I swung my arm, trying to slice her with my sword, but it would take a lot more force to harm her. Her skin was incredibly thick.
That’s when Yorick jumped on her back, trying to stab her, but she tossed him aside. I lunged forward, stabbing her in the eye, and she squealed.
As she thrashed, she threw me onto the road, my sword slipping from my hand. I began crawling toward it, but Yorick grabbed me, lifted me up, and together we ran for my sword.
At this point, I noticed Jessie had run in another direction, as some fleshmingos were emerging from the houses. Oriana had gone straight toward the mansion, and Yorick was guiding me back there. When we arrived, I saw Jessie heading for the backyard of one of the houses.
“No, I can’t let her go alone!” I yelled, freeing myself from Yorick and sprinting toward the back of the house.
“Clementine!” I heard Yorick scream. I turned briefly and saw Oriana pushing him inside the mansion.