37 The Color that Shook my Heart

The green leaves of the tree canopies loomed over us, rustling in the early afternoon wind. Strange.

Everything was so calm, so serene. So wild, yet beautiful. I had never been used to seeing so much greenery at one place before, and it halted my senses in a way, taking me into a deep reverie of what was real and what was not.

I had a lot of things to wonder about, but there was now a green I was more captivated with.

His eyes.

They sparkled brighter than any dewy leaf on a rainy day, holding me, cradling my sight and resting it on bliss.

I tried to let my hands go, but he wouldn't leave it.

"Let me go," I sighed and looked up at him. A strand of brown hair played in front of my eyes and I lifted my other hand to move it away. But then his feet shifted and he caught that hand too.

I glanced down at the strand of hair, "I need to move it out of my face, it's tickling me," I reasoned, but he still refused to let go.

"Answer me first."

I blew on it and the strand floated away for a second, then fell back on my nose again. Now it really tickled.

"I have no answer. Why would you even ask something like that?"

He frowned, "I don't know, I thought maybe—"

"Maybe what?" I snapped at him, really annoyed by his persistence and my tickling strand of hair. I felt a sneeze building up inside me.

"Maybe…you like me or something. It felt that way whenever we talked."

I let out a breath. Wow. He was so open. I shook my head, a bit too frantically, to get that hair away. "You're misreading things. And weren't you the one who pinned me on the wall back in the room?" I narrowed my eyes, "Maybe you're the one who likes me."

He stepped back in surprise, his hold on me loosening a bit. I chuckled and pulled my hands out in that short opening and walked backwards, slowly building into a run to get away from him.

"Hey! Where are you going? Don't leave me alone among all these dangerous animals!"

I turned back and laughed, "Then why are you standing there, little mister turtle? Run!"

He shook his head and ran after me. Seeing him determined to come near me, I ran faster through the woods, not caring about the thorns or bushes now, just winging it.

"You're so fast!" he screamed from the distance. I smirked and waited for him by the lake, "Pfft. Come on. You're just slow."

"I'm just conserving my energy," he panted hard now, clutching his knees, "I…can…run…faster…"

"Liar," I laughed even harder, "You spent ten years in the game and still you can't run fast?"

He looked up at me, his face pale and losing color, "I'm serious. I could actually run real…fast. I don't know…what's happening," he panted harder, unable to take full breaths.

I threw my joke mode out of the window and stepped closer to him, concerned. His face was getting paler every second, "Oh no…" I held his shoulders, it felt weak. "Something's wrong," I mumbled. He stood up straight and looked at me to say something.

Before he could actually get words out of his mouth, his eyes rolled up and fell forward.

I screamed and tried to hold him. But he was too heavy for me! My legs gave in and I stumbled, thorns grazing my unprotected arms and fell backwards, Adrien in my arms.

I shut my eyes close until everything settled down, then slowly opened them, the scarce light entering my eyes slowly. I looked down and saw the back of Adrien's blonde head on my stomach. I couldn't move.

I held his torso and tried to roll him to the other side. After a couple of tries, it worked and I could finally breathe again.

An elephant trumpeted somewhere in the distance.

I nudged his face to the side. Nothing happened. "Adrien," I breathed, scared. I looked around for help instinctively before realizing there was none.

I lifted his chin, "Wake up, you dumbass!" I screamed and got up, looking around for danger. I only saw the lake, the dark hideous trees and the little animals. Why did I have the bad feeling that the bigger ones were only hiding for now?

"Oh God…" I held my forehead and looked down, "What are we supposed to do now?"

I heard a cough and I looked back at him on the ground. He coughed again and tried to rest himself on his elbows. He looked at me from under his eyelashes in pain, "Did you just call me a dumbass?"

"You idiot!" I knelt in front of him. "What's wrong with you? Why did you black out?"

He groaned and lied back down, "I can't feel anything. I think…I'm losing energy."

"Is it because of the run? It wasn't even much."

"No," he coughed again, "I…my stomach. It's burning."

That's when it dawned upon me. The reason we came here. "You can't survive without blood now."

"Guess not," he smiled and closed his eyes in pain. "We haven't even spotted one deer yet."

I covered my mouth and wiped the sweat that was forming around my lips. I was tensed. Obviously. Here was a boy who wanted blood, with a normal girl like me deep in the forest.

"Wait here," I told him and walked away.

"It's not like I could move anyway," he mumbled under his breath and saw me go. 

I walked to the other part of the lake and waited. It was high noon and usually animals were supposed to come together to drink water at this time. Some deer were sure to come. But the problem was, how do I bring one to Adrien?

Before I could think any further, I stopped. "Adrien," I whispered under my breath, "If he is on the verge of dying without blood, what will happen to him when he doesn't get any?" I found myself smiling, but then it dropped again. Why was I even smiling? This is supposed to be bad.

"Will he die then?" I wondered again. I saw a couple of deer step out into the opening and stand next to the water. They dipped their necks to lap up the water, still.

But I didn't move. Instead, I walked back and hid between the bushes so that I could watch Adrien without getting noticed.

Without blood, he would clearly be out of energy and without energy, whatever is running his body will stop and he will…die. And all this would be over.

This was…perfect.

"Are you falling in love with me?" his words rang in my head. I bit my lip and watched him squirm on the ground, gripping his stomach and groaning. Tears threatened to escape my eyes. I couldn't see him in pain.

I got up and walked away from him, taking the path from where he wouldn't spot me.

"I'm sorry Adrien. You're just a folder," I repeated to myself. My family would be saved. Systema Games would be back on track again. My dad's legacy…will remain.

'Eliminate the most important person,' Darren had said according to Dad's notebooks.

This was it.

With this, I would finally be free.

Then why did I feel so broken inside?

I was quite a distance away from him, I still heard his voice.

"ASHE!!" he screamed with all his remaining strength, "Where are you! Save me!"

I hesitated to walk further.

"Are you falling in love with me?"

No. No I'm not. I never will.

You're just a folder.

"ASHE!!!" he screamed in pure pain, his warbled voice echoing throughout the forest, threatening to clutch my heart. 

"Ashe," he whimpered again.

And then there was silence.