Chapter Twenty One
I walked into the clearing carefully and doubted if this was where the boundaries were supposed to be.
It all looked so familiar.
My eyes met the figure perched on a big rock as he turned to me with a smirk.
I took in a deep breath before walking up to him.
"Giving up that easy, Summerstone?" Aaron smirked.
****A Few Hours Ago****
I was sitting on the couch in the living room. The empty house made me want to go out in the fresh air but I couldn't. Trevor had told me to not leave the house no matter what happened.
Trevor had to go somewhere regarding work and he had said he won't be back until evening. Patrick was on his way here but it had been an hour since Trevor left and I doubted if he would leave me alone for such a long time.
I feared that something might have happened to Patrick as I got up to call Trevor through the landline.
Just then, I heard a click from the front door and froze.
Patrick peeped his head inside and smiled at me.
I sighed in relief and dropped back on the couch. "I was about to call Trevor. I thought something had happened to you."
"Aw that's really sweet of you," He walked to the couch and sat down beside me. "But this is Patrick you're talking about. Nothing can happen to me."
I raised a brow. "Richard threw you into a wall with one-"
"Okay okay. Get over that," He raised up his hands and rolled his eyes.
I let out a laugh, shaking my head.
"So what happened at the party?" He asked.
All the serenity seemed to have vanished from me as I recalled the words of Jason again. I unwillingly told Patrick everything the council member had told me and waited for him to react.
He rubbed his chin with his index finger as he listened closely.
"So what do you think I should do?" I asked.
"I honestly don't know."
I nodded. "Nobody does."
"You do."
I raised a brow at him.
"It's easy," He spoke. "You just have to kill Aaron."
At this, I let out a laugh and he frowned.
"You think I could ever kill someone willingly? And even if I wanted to, do you think I can kill Aaron? He's so powerful and almost killed me."
"He's not more powerful than Trevor."
"So what? It's me that has to kill him."
"But it's not like we can't help."
I shook my head. "I just can't do it."
He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "This is the only way of going back, Leah."
"I know," I buried my face in my hands and leaned back. "It's just so frustrating and unfair. You know, to kill someone else for your mistakes."
"Aaron tried to kill you. You have every right to do the same to him."
I turned to him. His lips were pressed in a thin line and he raised a brow at me.
"I need a nap," I got up from the couch when he let out a laugh.
I went up to my room and sat at the edge of the bed, thinking.
I realized that I was being such a selfish person, only worrying about me going back. I have so many things at stake by one reckless action of mine.
Trevor's trade was the biggest of them all. Then there was Richard and his fellow elves who couldn't go back to their families.
Family. How could I be selfish enough to think about only my family when there were families of those who are stuck here, waiting for them to come back?
Trevor's gang has to protect me. I'm stealing all their time. I'm stealing Stella and Patrick's time.
I suddenly felt like a pathetic person and tears pooled in my eyes as realization finally dawned on me.
What am I waiting for?
I know the way to go back. The bottom-line is that either Aaron or me will get to go back home but whoever goes back, will be happy once more.
He deserves to reunite with his family as much as I do.
I should leave it up to fate now.
And, the most important thing is that boundaries will be unblocked again.
A knock on the door suddenly jerked me up.
"Leah?"
I walked up to it and opened the door. "Yeah?"
"I have to go to the warehouse for a while. It's important. You are coming with me." Patrick stated.
I frowned. "Why?"
"Because I can't leave you alone here."
"I've been fine since the past hour. Trust me. I'll be okay."
He seemed hesitant. "Are you sure?"
"Yes."
He nodded slightly and went downstairs. I followed him to the front door.
"If there is any problem, just call me."
"I will."
He left the house and I propped on the couch, going back to my previous thoughts.
I instantly made up my mind and closed my eyes, concentrating hard to get on the level I wanted to.
I gulped, feeling a cold shiver run down my spine once the connection was formed and I could feel his aura all around me.
"Is this a trap, Summerstone? Wait until I get my hands on-"
"You wanna kill me? So come and get me." I said back.
There was a pause and I suddenly saw his silhouette right infront of me. My breathing hitched.
"You can't trap me."
"I'm not trapping you. Meet me at the boundaries." I said back.
"How do I know you're coming alone?"
"That's for you to take a chance if you really wanna go back."
I suddenly lost the connection and opened my eyes, sighing in relief at my surroundings.
What have I done?
Will Aaron really come there?
Heck, will I go there?
Well, I took a decision and I should follow it.
It's time to finish this shit once and for all.
I got up from my spot and fetched some change from my bag. Without giving it another thought, I opened the front door.
The path was clear.
I ran to the corner to reach the busy street without getting noticed by anyone from the warehouse. Once I was on the road, I called for a taxi and gave him the address to Aaron's coffeeshop.
I finally reached there after ten minutes, praying all the while that Patrick hadn't come to check up on me.
I started walking down the familiar path to woods and shivered when I reached the road where it all started.
Shaking the fear off my mind, I entered the deep woods and walked across the path that would lead me to the boundaries.
I remembered most of it clearly from the day I had been here with Aaron.
I stopped when I came across the familiar grouping of the trees. They were all encircling a large clearing. My thoughts went back into a debate whether I should return back or not. Too late now. Aaron probably knows I'm here already.
I walked into the clearing carefully and doubted if this was where the boundaries were supposed to be.
It all looked so familiar.
My eyes met the figure perched on a big rock as he turned to me with a smirk.
I took in a deep breath before walking up to him.
"Giving up that easy, Summerstone?" Aaron smirked.
"I'm not giving up," I spoke with a hoarse voice and I realized how close I was to crying. My hands were shaking and I'd never been more scared in my life than I was now as I stared at him sitting there like a predator.
He got up from the rock and walked up to me. My limbs froze when he neared but I kept a straight face.
"Are you here to fight me?" He chuckled lowly. "Why? Where is Smith hiding?" He looked around the place.
"I'm all alone," I spoke and his gaze snapped to mine. "That's right. Nobody even knows I came here. And yes, I'm going to fight you."
He raised an incredulous brow at me and his lips pulled into a menacing grin once more.
"I'm finally going back to Epitoria," He lurched forward at me but I was fast in pulling out the pocket knife I had brought along and pointed it at him.
He stopped in his tracks and looked down at my hand. "You think that can stop me?"
His gaze was fixed on the knife and I suddenly knew what he was doing.
I blocked his magic as he looked up at me with a scowl.
I smirked. "You're not the only one who knows blocking spell."
He stepped forward again but I cast another spell on him which froze his hand in the air.
He struggled to move his hand. "What are you doing.." He trailed off as his other hand went rigid and I smirked at him.
His legs couldn't move either and the only thing that he could move was his face.
"You might be more powerful but I know more spells, Aaron," I smirked as I advanced towards him with the knife.
"Who's going back to Epitoria now?" I extended the knife in his direction.
I could see the horror in his eyes as he looked at the knife approaching him.
My hands were trembling but I tried to keep myself composed. I brought the knife to his neck, all the while maintaining the spell.
"I'm not your enemy," I started and he blinked at me. "I don't wanna kill you. I just did this so you would listen to me. We can work on this together, Aaron. There has to be some other way besides killing each other."
At this, the glint in his eyes returned as he let out a deep chuckle.
"There's no other way and trust me, if I were in your shoes right now, I would have used that knife."
I frowned at him.
"Do you have a death wish?" I gritted my teeth while touching his neck with the knife's edge.
"You're weak, Leah," He chuckled darkly. "If you really had an intention, you would have killed me already."
My hands started trembling again but I held the knife in place.
"Leah!?" I heard a shout and turned around warily.
"Patrick?" I asked in confusion. How did he find me?
I was completely distracted by his arrival. The spell broke and the next thing I knew was Aaron reaching for the knife in my hand and Patrick taking one long stride and jumping on Aaron.
I gasped as both of them fell on the ground, Patrick on top as he started throwing punches on Aaron.
But Aaron was not weak as he twisted Patrick's arm and shoved his face into the ground.
I cast the freezing on spell on Aaron again but it didn't work. Shit! He blocked it.
I tried to remember if I knew of any other spell that could help me but there was nothing.
Patrick was trying to defend himself but he was no match for an elf as Aaron kept throwing punches on his face.
I had to do something.
I looked down at the knife in my hands, an idea suddenly coming to me.
"Aaron!" I shouted, positioning the knife on my wrist.
He stopped to look at me. Patrick raised his head up to see what had stopped him.
"Is this a fucking joke, Leah?" Patrick spoke. "He already wants to kill you. What makes you think this is going to-"
"Stop," Aaron suddenly shouted as he let go of Patrick, his eyes wide in horror as he looked at my hand.
I smirked. "If I kill myself, it's going to be my sacrifice, not Aaron's. He can't go back to Epitoria if that happens and he'll have to wait for another minor."
Aaron stood frozen at his spot. "Don't do it," He threatened.
"Step away from Patrick," I snapped and he took another step away.
"Whoa," Patrick stood up, rubbing his head.
"That's right," I spoke again. "Either of us is going to kill the other one today. Survivor goes back to our land. It's a do or die."
"Don't fucking do it," Aaron shouted again but I ignored him and turned to Patrick.
"Go back. I don't want you getting hurt."
"Yeah right," He rolled his eyes. "So Trevor can kill me later. I'm not leaving you here," He snapped.
Aaron tried to advance in my direction but I held the knife close. "Don't, Aaron."
He stopped and for once, I was glad to have remembered to block his spell on the knife.
"And you were trying to ruin my face," Patrick snarled at Aaron. "Have you heard about dates you asshole?" He threw a punch on Aaron's face while I rolled my eyes at his words.
Aaron fell back and groaned in pain.
"Give up, Aaron," I said. "We don't have to kill each other. We'll figure a way out."
He glared at me. "There is no fucking way."
I didn't oppose his statement. I knew he was right. The council had left us no other choice. But the thought of killing anyone for my own selfish reasons bothered me a lot. There was no way I could kill him.
"End this," He snapped as he got up from his position. "Kill me and go back home because if I was the one holding that knife, I would have killed you."
Patrick stepped forward to face him. "Like hell you would."
Aaron glared at him but turned to me again. "You think I want to kill you? I'm as against this as you are. But the council has left us with no other choice."
I scowled at how right his words were.
He took another step in my direction. "Kill me or let me kill you. Either way one of us gets to go home."
I clenched my jaw and held the knife up to him. His eyes bored into mine and I found myself becoming weak under his gaze.
He took another step so the knife was pressed against his chest. "Do it."
My hands started trembling again as Patrick stepped near me, throwing a cautious glance at Aaron.
Even before another second could pass, Aaron pushed Patrick forecfully which caused him to collide with a tree as I watched him fall to the ground and lay there unconscious.
Aaron snatched the knife from my hands and I stared at him with wide eyes.
"I gave you many chances," He spoke dangerously as I turned around and started running.
I froze at my spot when my eyes landed on the person infront of me, blocking my path.
Richard.
My eyes grew wide as he smirked at me.
I finally saw the knife in his hands as he lifted it up and swinged it in my direction. The knife cut across air.
I watched it approach me but it slid to the side, causing a strand of my hair to jerk up in the air and I turned in horror as the knife jabbed into Aaron's arm.
I turned back to Richard in shock.
"Run kiddo," He nodded.
Aaron groaned in pain once more.
"But Patrick," I looked back at Patrick lying on the ground.
"I'll take care of him. And I'll stop Aaron too. Run," He spoke in a hurry.
I couldn't believe that Richard was helping me.
"Thank you," I spoke while still looking at him in surprise.
"Run before I change my mind," He snapped at me and I shivered in my spot.
I found my legs dragging me out of the clearing as I started running in any direction I could think of.
The trees and the path weren't similar at all from the last time and I doubted if I was even heading outside. I did not stop running either way as I found a completely new and unseen side of the woods.
This side was thicker and darker than the previous one but I did not stop. I kept running until my vision blurred and soon, I was running out of breath. My body was brought at a hault as I bumped into something.
I opened my eyes to see clearly but couldn't find anything. What did I bump into?
I tried to walk further but couldn't and lifted my hand up in confusion, only to find it touching a hard surface. An invisible wall.
My eyes grew wide. I was still at the boundaries!
Oh God! I was running parallel to them all along?
Shit!
"Finally," I heard a voice behind me and stopped breathing.
That deep voice.
I slowly turned around to look at him. His face held a deep scowl as I found myself shifting back.
My eyes went down to his hand and noticed him holding my pocket knife.
"What did you do to them?" I asked in horror thinking about how he could escape Richard.
He smirked at me. "It doesn't matter what I did to them. It's about what I'm about to do to you."
He threw the knife in my direction and I gasped, watching it flip various times in air as it approached me.
My eyes stared at it in horror and I wondered if I was suddenly drifted off to slow motion but no, that was not the case.
The knife was still.
It stood still in thin air, right infront of my eyes.
Aaron stared at it just like I did but he seemed to have realized it before me as he looked around and settled his gaze in a particular direction.
I followed his gaze and my heart started beating rapidly.
Trevor stood there, his eyes deeply focused on the knife. Just then, his gaze snapped to Aaron and then at me.
"I'm going to finish this today," He snapped.
I flinched at his tone and before I could realize what was happening, my hands reached up on their own and grabbed the knife.
Aaron struggled to move in his spot. "What is going on?"
I gasped when I realized. Trevor was controlling us.
He pointed the knife in my hand towards Aaron and I found my legs start to moving in his direction. Aaron's eyes grew wide when he realized what was happening.
"Trevor no," Tears started pooling in my eyes when I was standing right infront of Aaron and watched him struggling to get free with desperate attempts.
My hands lifted up and I turned to Trevor, trying my best to gain control of my hands.
"Please don't make me do this, Trevor," I shouted but he seemed to be deeply focused in controlling us.
My breaths came out in sobs as Aaron stared at my hand in horror.
Then, the world stopped.
In one swift move, my hand lifted up and slashed Aaron's throat.
The bloody knife fell out of my hands as I saw the last horrified look in Aaron's eyes before he fell to the ground.
My breathing turned heavy as I watched him lying dead on the ground, his eyes open and staring straight at me.
I took in a shaky breath and stepped as far away from him body as I could.
A bright beam of light came from my side and blinded me. I covered my eyes with my hands and narrowed my eyelids to see what it was.
A bright shiny pink light slowly formed right infront of my eyes.
It started from the ground and slowly lifted up to form an entire wall, stretching further across the woods, illuminating the place with a sparkle.
The boundaries!
They were back!
I stared at them with no emotion whatsoever as I still hadn't recovered from my previous shock.
I felt a pull, the same pull I had felt months ago. My hands slowly lifted up and I could feel myself drifting closer to the boundaries.
My exhaustion caused my eyelids to drop and I passed out.