Nyx (Complete✅)

Chapter 42

She turned around to open the door, but her hand froze. There was a note taped to the door, folded so she couldn't see what was written, but in a way that she knew there was writing on it and it wasn't just a blank paper.

She snatched it off, narrowing her eyes. The last time she'd found a note taped to her door, it had only bred trouble. She hoped this time was different, and she mentally crossed her fingers as she unfolded the note.

"Meet me near the barn as soon as you see this."

The message wasn't signed, and it had no indication that it was meant for her, but she was still curious. Who would want to meet somewhere without just outright telling whomever they wanted to meet? Was there something secret going on?

She decided that, since she had nothing better to do, and it was best not to disturb the captain anyway, she would investigate the purpose of the strange little note. It couldn't harm anyone, and what if the note was meant for her anyway?

She couldn't help but feel a rising sense of excitement at what it might mean, and she tried to tell herself that she was being ridiculous, but her thoughts buzzed with possible outcomes. Perhaps having a day off was better than she'd imagined.

The path to the barn—where they kept all the animals, was a bit less familiar than the one to her place of work, but she'd been there enough times to not get lost among the countless small buildings and endless side-paths and smaller roads which were quickly starting to form.

She reached the barn within minutes, and she scanned the area for anyone looking suspicious, but all she saw was a child throwing small seed pods into the pens.

She sighed. Maybe this was stupid after all. She'd almost convinced herself to continue with her plans of talking to the captain when she realized that she hadn't even gone into the barn yet. She had to make sure nothing shady was happening.

She made her way around the building to where the entrance was located, and she opened the door to enter, but she was stopped by a flash of white on the edge of her vision.

She leaped back, ready to fight—and equally as ready to flee—should there be any threat in the barn. Did someone set a trap, hoping an innocent victim to be killed in their perverse trap?

But no—as she stepped closer to investigate she saw that there was nothing there. Nothing but a small piece of paper, stained red by the coppery dust.

She picked it up, another burst of excitement flaring inside her chest when she realized it was another note.

"You just missed me. Come to the ship."

She inhaled sharply. Another mysterious note, obviously from the same person as the last one. She immediately took off running towards the ship, which was nearly on the other side of the clearing from the barn.

She was out of breath and covered in dust by the time she got there, but she had to make sure she didn't miss the note writer this time. She had to catch them in the act. She walked forward cautiously until she was standing in the shadow of the ship's bulk.

There was a flicker of movement off to the side and she whipped around to see that another small leaf of paper was slowly fluttering to the ground behind her. The only place it could have come from was up on the side of the ship, but that was impossible. She looked up to scan the surface, and just as she'd thought, there was nothing there.

She bent down to scoop the paper up, unfolding it with slightly shaky hands. This was turning into a bit of a wild goose chase, but she was in too deep now. She simply had to get to the bottom of it or she would die from curiosity.

"Wow, again? This time I promise I'll be there, but you'll have to hurry. Head to the sun deck."

The message was even worse than the last one because she was sure that once she got to her destination, the person would still not be there. She sighed in frustration. She had more running to do, because—once again—the note writer had chosen a location nearly on the opposite side of the settlement.

The sun deck was a small patch of ground that was planned to be a building, but in the meantime, people were starting to use it as a hangout zone because it was on a slight rise, making it more exposed to the cool breezes that swept through the trees, but it was open and in direct sunlight for most of the day, making a refreshing mixture of warmth and cold.

She shook her head once more, then took off running through the maze of buildings and houses to where she knew the sun deck was. Most of the people who didn't have work to do went there, and she was assuming that it would be a high number, and she almost dreaded having to find the mysterious note writer among a throng of people, but when she got there, the sunny little knoll was abandoned.

She frowned. That wasn't normal. On a day like this, there should have been a whole bunch of people chatting and hanging out, but there was no one there. Not one single person. It was extremely suspicious.

She walked around for a second, trying to puzzle it out. Not only did the person break their promise—they weren't there like they said they would be—no one was there. She could understand if there were only one or two people, but no one?

She almost went flying when her foot caught on a stick protruding from the ground. It was a short stubby piece of fungus wood that had obviously been able to dry, otherwise, it wouldn't have been strong enough to trip her as it had.

She rolled her eyes. Upon closer examination, the top of the stout little branch was hollowed out just enough to fit a small sheaf of paper on the inside of the hole. She delicately plucked the small note out from the little hole using her nails, and then she unrolled it.

"Now that wasn't so hard—was it?"

She frowned. That didn't tell her anything. She threw the paper on the ground in frustration. The whole thing had been a complete waste. She'd wasted her time, her energy, and whoever had made her do that had wasted the paper. She sighed.

She almost screamed out loud when someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she whipped around to see Liam standing there.

She let out an exasperated sigh. "Don't scare me like that." She swatted his shoulder lightly.

He laughed. "I won't do it again, I promise." He paused for a second. "This time I promise." He winked slightly.

She gaped at him. "That was you?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up almost of their own accord.

He nodded. "I- uh... wanted to ask you something." He seemed suddenly nervous, and his eyes flickered to the ground as if he couldn't bear to meet her gaze.

"What?" she took a step closer, narrowing her eyes, "Is it important enough to have me run all over the settlement?"

He nodded. "Its..." he swallowed, then licked his lips as if his mouth was dry. "It's very important." He blinked.

"What is it?" she was starting to get worried. Was there something wrong?

But then her heart nearly stopped in her chest. She recognized what Liam was doing.

He took her hand gently in his own, then he dropped down on one knee. He looked her straight in the eye,

"Beth Fields—" he smiled widely. "Will you marry me?"