Chapter 7 This Is Just The Beginning

We stopped by this old motel. We're safe for now but it will only take them a matter of time before figuring out our location.

"What the hell, Rafael?" He's currently blocking my way, preventing me from entering a room where Wilhelmina is hiding. "Why won't you let me see her?"

"We're taking care of it, Asteria, trust me." He calmly said, as if my anger doesn't intimidate him.

"Who the fuck put you in charge? You don't get to decide, okay? Now, get out of my way before I kill you too!" I tried to shove him away but Ryle backed him up, making it harder for me to get through. "Matt is dead, and you're protecting the traitor that got him killed?" I cried, showing vulnerability they weren't expecting.

"We're not protecting her, okay? But we need to unite in order for us to survive," Ryle answered as he held my shoulder to comfort me.

"Do you think I'm an idiot? I know that. I just want to talk to her," they paused and I took that opportunity to try to manipulate them. "Don't you think I deserve to know why she did it? I lost my boyfriend, talking to her will help me to get a grasp on this situation."

"Fine. Just for five minutes, and we'll be with you the whole time, understand?" Ryle insisted, and I nodded as a response. At least I get to see her.

When they opened the door, I quickly entered to see her, sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, guarded by Hailey, Serena, Damien, and Axel. I knew exactly why I wanted to come here.

I lashed out at Wil, throwing punches at her while they struggled to stop me. "You may not have killed him with your own hands, but you are a murderer! You sent him there knowing they could kill him ... he was a great guy to you, to all of us. Why?" I screamed, but I think sadness overpowered the anger in my tone. I held my chest when I felt a sting from my heart due to all the mourning.

"I'm sorry." Wilhelmina apologized. She fell on her chair when I beat her up, but she got back on it. I was enraged. I stood up and clenched my fists, then hit her in the face again. All I could think of was that soldier slitting Matt's throat and how much I want to slit hers too. No one was stopping me this time, they just let me beat her.

"I really am sorry for your loss, Asteria," She struggled to speak as her face was beaten up quite terribly now. "I was scared. They said the only way I could save myself is if I bring our leader. I knew they could kill him, but it's better that he dies than me." I was dumbfounded.

It took me a few seconds before realizing that she's saying she doesn't regret what she did. I kicked her chair hard, making her fall on her back, then proceeded to kick her several times.

She was helpless and alone, beaten up, shaking in fear, surrounded by the people she called her friends but none of them tried to help her.

"What will we do with this bitch?" Hailey broke the silence and I stopped hurting her. We looked at each other, hoping that one of us would decide.

"She'll be a prisoner," we all looked at Damien who suddenly spoke. "We watch over her closely, she's not allowed to go anywhere, then we'll see if she'll be pardoned."

After all that incident, Rafael assigned us on things we should do. Some watched over Wil, some prepared food since we haven't eaten anything for dinner yet and it's dawn already. In the meantime, me, Serena, Axel, Hayden, and Rafael guarded the motel, we spread outside to keep an eye over the area.

"This is hard for us too, you know?" I looked at Serena who suddenly spoke to me, we're guarding together. "Matt was our friend too. Please know that you're not alone. We'll always be here for you."

She even gave me a hug as she said that, and I didn't know that it was all I needed. A hug from a very close friend. I felt like I lost the only person who actually deeply cared for me but I still have my friends.

Our sentiments were interrupted when we heard a loud explosion. "What was that?" Serena questioned with a quavery voice.

"It sounded like it came from the back," I answered with the same trembling voice.

We hurriedly made our way to the back of the motel, where Hayden was assigned to watch over. My mind was a mess and I felt anxious that something bad may have happened to him.

When we got there, Axel and Rafael were already with Hayden, who looks like he's in shock. I looked in front of us and saw smoke coming not that far away from here, along with soldiers hiding behind trees, who then shot fire at us. All five of us quickly ran towards the closest brick wall to take cover.

"What happened?" I asked Hayden in a panicked tone.

"They have fucking grenades! They threw one at me but I threw it back." My eyebrows furrowed as I faced Hayden because of what he said. "I know it sounds unbelievable but yes, I did. The grenade didn't go off immediately, I threw it back at them very quickly. If I moved 2 seconds slower, it would've exploded in my hand."

"Enough talking. Serena, go get the others and tell them to leave this place. We'll cover for you," Rafael ordered, but Serena didn't move from her place.

"No," she insisted, making Rafael raised an eyebrow at her refusal. "Where will we go? You're stupid if you think we'll leave you, you're gonna die!"

"Just take the others, wait for us in the street just across the store beside this motel. We'll meet you guys there," he tried to persuade her, but she didn't look convinced. "Go!" With that, Serena ran away while weeping, afraid that we might not survive this. Frankly, I am also not feeling confident with this, but all we could do is try.

We shot fires at the enemies as Serena made her way back inside the motel. Everything was chaotic. No one had plans on how we could do this.

I looked around and tried to search for another entrance to the motel, but there weren't any back doors. There is a window on the second floor and we can go there easily while still being covered. The problem was how we could climb up.

"Hey listen," I tried to get their attention. "See that window there?" I pointed at it. "We can escape through there so we can join the others. The problem is we can't climb it."

"Yes, we can," Axel sounded positive so my eyes darted at him to hear his idea. "I was watching the sides of the motel and there was a ladder we could use. I can get there and take it."

"What makes you think there's no soldier there? They probably have the area surrounded," Hayden made a point.

"There are small brick walls there, I can just crouch to cover myself," he offered, and though it sounded risky, we didn't have other options but to let him go. We bombarded them with more gunshots as we tried to cover for Axel who hurriedly made his way to get the ladder.

"Shit, they're getting awfully close to us. Where is Axel!?"

Just then, Axel showed up holding the ladder, but with his left arm bleeding. Rafael ran towards him to help him carry the ladder, then he tore a piece of cloth from his shirt to cover Axel's wound.

They made me go first. I quickly climbed up and budged it open. I quickly jumped inside and assisted Axel who was right behind me. I proceeded to shoot fires from inside the building as Hayden climbed up the ladder too.

When it was Rafael's turn, he was halfway up the ladder when soldiers got behind the wall and were about to pull him down when they were suddenly shot from their right side.

I peeked outside the window and saw that Serena was there, standing with a handgun rifle in her hand as she killed three soldiers in an instant because none of them were expecting her. She quickly followed Rafael and climbed up.

"I can't believe you're here," I happily said as I hugged her tightly.

"I couldn't leave you guys," she said. "We didn't go through the front door because they have it surrounded, but there's a glass door on one of the rooms we could use to get out. It wasn't watched by anybody so it's safe."

We ran down the halls and followed Serena as she led us to the door she was talking about. We rushed to go to the street where the others were expecting to meet us.

When we got there, we all exchanged hugs and some of them were even crying, afraid that they lost us. They even brought Wil. I was mad, and to be honest, I hope they just left her there, but I can't dictate them what to do.

"They found us!" We all turned behind our backs when Ryle screamed, only to see three more soldiers now chasing after us. We ran down the streets while they chased, even calling back up since they looked like they weren't armed.

We found ourselves trapped when we reached the end of the street. It was a dead end, and all there was was a school. We had no choice but to enter it. The sun was shining already when we successfully made it inside.

The school was big so we had to explore first and look for a safe exit, but we made sure to hurry. Since it was a dead end, it's obvious that we had no choice but to go here.

Damien found a fire exit on the third floor which leads to a forest in the back of the building. We dashed to get there and we were on the second floor when we suddenly heard explosives coming from inside the building.

We instinctively ducked and covered our heads from the impact, luckily the explosion didn't affect us. I quickly realized that it came from the first floor and it was followed by loud footsteps. We looked at each other before proceeding to run to make our escape.

We reached the fire exit safely. They escaped first while I looked out to see if anyone's coming to get us. When it was only Wil and I left in the hallway, I thought it's better if I went first before her.

Before I could go down the ladder, she held my arm, so I looked at her frowning. "Asteria, I just want you to know that I really am sorry. And I regret everything I did," she said weakly.

I just nodded. That doesn't mean I forgive her. What she did isn't worth just a sorry, but nothing will happen if I just fight with her again.

I was about to go down when someone suddenly grabbed my arm again. I thought it was her at first, so I was surprised to see it was one of the soldiers. I quickly tried to punch his face but he caught my fist and harshly pushed me to the other side of the hall.

I felt my back roughly hit the wall before falling to the ground. I was in pain because of the impact, but I had no choice but to stand up and try to defend myself. He hit me on my lower lip and I could taste my own blood as I tried to fight back.

Just then, the guy screamed in pain, and I saw that Wil stabbed him on his shoulder. She saved me. She overcame her fears and had the courage to fight.

I smiled at her, thankful, but then the soldier suddenly grabbed her by her neck, making Wilhelmina suffer as she tried to gasp for air.

I punched the man's back, even hitting his wound, but I was surprised by how strong he was. He looked so determined to kill Wil, he didn't even flinch while I tried to hurt him.

"Run! Save yourself!" Wil was able to loosen the man's hand from her neck, and she used this opportunity to tell me to run away.

I hesitated, but when I saw that he was killing her, and I'm probably next, I knew the smart move was to run while I still have time and he's still distracted.

I successfully climbed down so I decided to tell them what happened up there when they looked at me with questioning eyes. "They killed Wil," that was all I said. They looked shocked and none of them knew what to say. "This isn't over. They were right behind me when I climbed down so they'll follow us."

As if all of this is just a never ending war, we were running in a forest again. There were footsteps from behind us, even gunshots, but fortunately, none of them hit us.

We haven't eaten for a long time, haven't even drank, and some of us, including myself, were wounded or injured. Our running has gotten slower due to exhaustion and avoiding the bullets was getting hard, luckily, someone shot at them, and in an instant, all of them were dead.

We were filled with curiosity as to what happened. What looked like a military vehicle parked in front of us, and I was shocked when people carrying snipers got out of it. They were the ones who saved us.

"Is anyone hurt?" a woman asked. They were all wearing white, and the woman looked like a doctor. "Get them to the back, they're hurt."

The feeling of relief when we entered their vehicle was something I longed for. For the first time in a long time, I felt safe.

-

I woke up with the bright fluorescent light hitting my face. I opened my eyes when I was able to adjust to the brightness and I was welcomed with the view of a white ceiling. I sat up and held my head as I felt it stinging with pain.

"Great. You're awake," I was startled when someone spoke from my left side. I turned to see that it was the same woman who saved us. "I don't believe I have introduced myself. You can call me Ms. Faith." I didn't answer. Instead, I scanned the room.

It was just a small room. The while tiles were shining. The walls and ceiling are also white, along with this bed and the couch. Other than that, the room was pretty empty.

I looked down to see what I was wearing. It was a white loose T-shirt dress that goes all the way to my knees.

"You can speak, Asteria," she giggled in a very elegant way.

"You know my name." How did she know who I was?

"Ah, yes. You must be confused. Your friends told me." She looked so calm, as if none of this is unusual, meanwhile, I am puzzled as to how I got here when the last memory I have was riding in their vehicle after they saved us.

"What is this place? How did I get here? What did you do to us?" I bombarded her with questions in a demanding tone, but she remained calm.

"I understand you're confused, I would've also been like that if I were asleep for two days but-"

"Two days? How could I sleep for that long? Did you drug me!?" I screamed and stood up quickly to leave the room but I was attacked with extreme headache and dizziness.

She immediately followed me and tried to guide me to stand up but I shrugged my shoulders to remove her hands on me.

"Please let me explain, Asteria. If you'd like to see your friends I could bring you to them," she was even smiling, which bothered me. In the end, I decided to lower my guard down and allowed her to bring me to them.

Ms. Faith assisted me as we walked down the hallway, which was also very white and bright. It was so quiet, there was no one in the hall but us. We took an elevator and she pressed the ground floor.

It's like a castle. It was a huge dining hall with luxurious chandeliers. There was a gigantic window at the end of the hall, allowing just the right amount of sunlight to seep through. It looked like everyone's sitting in groups. I looked around to search for my friends.

"Oh my God, Asteria!" My search was over when somebody called my name. I looked at my right side to see Damien running towards my direction. "I'm so glad you're finally up. Come," he signalled me to follow him, so I did.

The others excitedly waved at me when they saw me, and I sat with them at their table.

"Here, Asteria, try this steak. It's nothing like we've eaten in months," Avrey excitedly handed me the food.

I allowed myself to devour the food served in front of me. I haven't had meat in a long time. "How long have you guys been awake?" I asked in between bites.

"Michelle was the first one to wake up, followed by Ryle. We didn't all wake up at the same time, I just woke up earlier in the morning, but you were the last." Hailey explained.

"Do you guys think we're safe here? Are we staying here?" I asked them, wondering if we'll go back to our home.

"No," we all turned to Rafael who strongly answered. "Look around and tell me this is not suspicious. Why are we all wearing this stupid white clothes? Why is this dining hall the only normal looking spot in this building, and the rest are just white? Why did they drug us while they took us here without our permission?"

I looked around us to see if there's anything suspicious other than the fact that all the girls are wearing white dresses and boys in white shirts and shorts. They didn't look happy. They were eating, but didn't look pleased. It was quiet, and we're the only group talking.

I felt like I was being watched so I looked around. In the corner, I saw a man sitting alone. He had a meal in front of him but he wasn't touching it. Instead, he was staring at me like he was thinking of something deep. He's looking at me like he knows me. We made eye contact, but that just made his gaze go deeper, and I felt like he was looking at my soul. I immediately look away, feeling creeped out. He looked familiar, but I'm sure it's just nothing.

I excused myself and stood up, deciding to approach the man to fulfill my curiosity. Everyone I passed looked up to me while I was walking and I felt weird. They looked like they're wondering why I was approaching someone who wasn't from my group.

"Hey," I called the guy when I reached his table. He looked at me, emotionless. "I... I'm Asteria." What the hell was that? Okay, maybe it's not that bad. Introducing myself isn't a bad way to start a conversation.

I stood there for a few seconds waiting for him to say his name, but he didn't answer. I was left staring at him, so I also had time to observe him closely. He looked like a mess. He has dark under eyes, probably not getting enough sleep. His bottom lip is bruised and his jet black hair is so messy, as if he's not brushing them, but the messy look kind of fits his aura.

I was surprised when he roughly stood up and stepped closer to me, "Be careful," He whispered in my ear and left. I remained standing there, shocked. What does he mean?

I didn't have a clue as to who that man was, but I trusted him. I need to find him and get more information about this, but for now, I will do as he warned and be wary of this place and the people who claimed to be our saviors.

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