One Killing Maze

Chapter 4

The sky hadn't gotten much brighter during her time upstairs. Small slits of light peered through the closed curtains of the windows that lined the cabin, closed by either Liu or Jeffrey. Speaking of which, Liu was there, sitting on the living room couch. His body was hunched over, muttering to himself.

"Er, good morning," Y/n decided to break the silence, stepping out of the dark hall that the stairs came out of. Liu lifted his head and then turned his body to face her. His emerald eyes were wide with surprise. The male turned back, leaned forward to grab something, then got up.

"I was going to head up and wake you, but," he motioned to her readied state, "looks like you're perfectly fine."

Y/n snorted, a small smile appearing on her face, "I'm a big girl. I can get out of bed on my own."

Liu nodded silently and averted his eyes. Speaking of which, Y/n could see small, dark circles underneath his eyes. Y/n knew what lack of sleep could do to you as much as the next person, but she was kind of hoping that the two killers that stayed the night would at least take shifts.

Wait, does Jeffrey even sleep? Wait, how does he sleep? Y/n shook her head. There were more important things at stake here!

"Where's Jeff?" She broke the short silence as Liu began to nervously pick at his old scars. The boy raised his brows, but then shrugged, motioning lazily to the front door.

"Left earlier. He said he was getting bored," Liu explained, heading over to the door himself, "I think it's our turn to leave soon too... Don't want to stay here too long and risk detection."

He was right. As much as Y/n wanted to argue and stay, he was right. She nodded. Liu pointed over at a backpack that sat hung on a hook next to the door, "don't forget that. It has your rations."

Then, Liu exited the house, most likely to wait outside.

The remaining girl in the house inhaled deeply, the nostalgic, woody air filling her senses. She remembered the time when her mother had Gilbert help with cooking their first, big meal together. That night they learned how much of an excellent cook he was to the rest of them (Jerry couldn't exactly cook a full meal anyway). They would all depend on each other to take turns in keeping the house clean in teams of two. It was a fun system.

And Y/n really missed them.

Their faces, their voices, everything. Even if she had seen them only hours ago...all of this felt surreal. It felt the same then, and now.

Y/n inhaled once more, sucking up all of her emotions that had gathered to the front of her mind. She missed them, but that was okay. She had to leave, but that was okay too. They'd want her to hide and seek help; she knew this... And that's what she was going to do.

The h/c-haired girl snatched the backpack hanging on one of the many hooks and looped it around her left shoulder, then bent down to take the brown hiking boots she had for quite a while. They used to look ruined, once covered in mud and other grime, but they were cleaned as soon as she got here. After making sure they were strapped tightly into a double bow on each boot, she stepped outside, swiped the key that always rested on a plank of wood outside, and securely locked the door behind her. Y/n passed Liu who was sitting on the swinging bench and tossed the key into the scattered rocks that were settled underneath the slightly raised cabin.

The morning was surprisingly chilly with cold wind nipping at her exposed ears and fingers. The fact that she had just taken a shower did not help her case and even with the clean hoodie, she felt a bit cold.

Liu stared at Y/n for a moment and then stood up from his place and walked over, his hands raised to his neck.

"Here," an unfamiliar warmth settled around her shoulders. Liu's hands wrapped the scarf one more time around her neck, allowing the longer end to hang behind her. Y/n raised her fingers to the scarf, finding it to be quite helpful. It reached to the corners of her ears despite how small it looked on the scarred male.