Melody’s POV
The school trip was boring, more than I thought it would be. It wasn’t that I had great hopes for it but I hated how I was disappointed.
This wasn’t it. The teachers should have just given us a free day and told us to stay at home if they didn’t want to teach today rather than bringing us to a place as dry as this.
The other kids were playing a game to pass the time but I wasn’t interested in it. The game was boring to me as well. I stayed off from them so they wouldn’t drag me into their boring game against my wish.
“Why are you here alone?” Nathan asked as he walked towards me.
He was alone and I wondered where his brothers were.
“I was bored. This place is dry.” I replied. “I want to go home.”
He chuckled. “I know. Me too. I can’t believe I was looking forward so much to this.”
“I wasn’t.” I confessed.
He nodded. “Too bad that we can’t go home until the teachers say we can.”
“Why don’t we play a game together?” I asked, gearing with excitement as the idea popped into my head. “It would be fun. Where are your brothers? The four of us can complete the puzzle I just started and I’m sure it would be more fun than running around and screaming as the other kids are doing.”
“I will go get them. You said the four of us. Aren’t you including Eve?” He asked.
I frowned as I shook my head. “I haven’t seen her in a while since we got here. I guess she is out playing with some of the other kids.”
“I bet she would find a way to push herself into our group when she finds us playing a game together.”
“Maybe she won’t.” I replied. “She might be having fun where she is. You don’t know. That could be why I haven’t seen her. You know how clingy she is.”
Nathan nodded at my words, seeming relieved by what I said. “I will get the others. Get your puzzle ready.”
“I have it ready.” I said and watched as he skipped away to bring Neo and Nick.
“There you are.” I heard Eve say behind me just as Nathan left.
I wondered if she had been around me but was waiting for Nick to leave before she showed up. I watched her face but didn’t see anything that told me she had been watching me from afar.
“Where have you been?” I asked her. “I’ve been scanning this whole place for you.”
“You have?” She asked, sounding surprised.
“I was.” I nodded.
“I was looking for somewhere we could have fun together.” She said. “Come on, Melody. You wouldn’t believe what I found.” She said, grabbing me by the hand.
“I…” I hesitated, thinking of Nathan. He would soon be back with the others and I didn’t want him to get paranoid that something had happened to me or think I had changed my mind.
Eve scowled, sensing that I didn’t want to follow her. “I thought you liked puzzles and adventures.”
I frowned. “I do.”
She smiled. “Then let’s go. You would like this. I was wandering around when I saw the place and immediately I saw it, I thought of you.”
“The boys would soon be here. I think I should wait for them.” I argued.
“Then you would never see the treasure I found. They will talk you out of it. You know those boys don’t like me for reasons I don’t know of.” Her lips quivered. “Don’t you want to see what I found?”
“I do.” I replied.
I knew she was manipulating me but at that moment, I wasn’t thinking. I was curious to know what she had found as well and Nathan wasn’t back yet so I thought there wasn’t any harm in finding out what she wanted to show me. Hopefully, we would be back before the boys got here and they wouldn’t know anything of what I had done.
Eve smiled. “Let’s go. You won’t regret it.”
Fifteen minutes later, I was wheezing hard from the long walk and wondered where she was taking me to.
“Where are we going, Eve?”
“We would soon be there.” She said, moving forward, her pace faster than usual.
I looked at the jagged slopes around us and carefully placed my legs on the path. One mistake and I would be falling to my demise. I would have broken my neck and died before I reached the bottom. I wondered how she had found this place. This wasn’t a place someone found by mistake. I sighed as I wondered what had made her come all the way here?
“Aren’t we there yet?” I groaned. “I didn’t know you love taking risks like this.”
“Are you scared?” She looked back, her smile taunting me. “I thought you love adventures.”
“Not one like this. Where is the treasure you said you found?”
She stopped walking and turned to face me. “Don’t worry. I’m about to give you the biggest adventure ever. The adventure of death. Sweetheart, there is no treasure. Well, there is a treasure which is you and I would be getting rid of you soon.”
“Eve?” I called out, my heart in my throat as my head pounded with horror. I couldn’t believe what was happening to me.
I should have listened to Nathan the other day when he told me to be careful of Eve. She was acting strange and I was getting more scared. She wasn’t acting like the clingy classmate that I knew.
I looked back and winced. We had come a long way and even if I shouted, no one was coming to save me. They wouldn’t hear me no matter how loud I shouted. I couldn’t run back to where they were unless I wanted to fall to my death. The path was too steep to run on. I even had to watch my steps as we walked here.
I sighed as I realized I had stepped right into the path Eve had set for me and wondered why she was doing this.
“Why are you doing this?” I asked, hoping she would answer me.
If she was going to kill me, at least, she shouldn’t leave me dead and crazy with unanswered questions.