The Unthinkable

'Josh can you please stop growling'

'Well, I wouldn't be growling in the first place if it wasn't for that sky person. He never told us Xand was still alive. He's lying to us! To you!'

'I said shut it'

I turn around looking up at him with a strong and hard glare. Anna is next to me holding my hand and still in shock from the realization of her brother's fake death. When Josh doesn't look away from me I turn to Anna and continue walking through the woods.

Because Anna found the message pinned to a tree we all decide that the most logical place for Xander to be is in the woods. I lead the group with Anna by my side and Josh behind us as we run through the huge oak trees. It is just how I remembered it from last time. Fresh and bright green with the melodies of birds calls in every direction. It all felt so real and natural but it's an illusion and I have to keep reminding myself not to fall for its bait.

We run to the edge of the forest reaching the cold metal walls and still see nothing.

'Where else could he be?' Josh asks as I turn around to look around for some sort of trace.

'Anna!' Echos through the room ringing through our ears and catching Anna's attention immediately.

'XAND!' She responds running away from us before we can catch her.

'Anna! Don't!' I scream after her running in the direction of her footsteps.

I hear Josh behind me as well as if turning this whole situation into a huge game of tag. All trying to catch a certain person. All of us are going to fail.

'Anna!' Xander screams out again in pure pain and suffering. I push myself to go faster as I start to lose sight of Anna in the trees. Luckily we reach a clearing meadow where I know that I can probably catch up with her, but it's too late.

Standing in the meadow clearing is not surprisingly Xander tied to a wooden pole with a huge coil of rope, however, he looks different. His skin is scarred red all up his arms and chest and very obviously on his left cheek. They have no sign of a cut mark and they look nothing like Charly's wounds but I already knew what torture they had used on him. I have seen it before with all the floater incidents. Burns from the fire.

Next to him is Tanya, Jason, Aurick, Bess, Zenon and...Freddie. She stood there closest to Xander holding a knife on one hand and looking to the floor not making eye contact.

'Freddie, what are you doing?'

'I am afraid your Freddie here is no longer with you but is now with us' Tanya speaks up walking forward with a cocky grin. She's juggling two knives in her hands staring at them with a sinister grin.

'Shut it, Tanya, we never asked you!' I growl back at her.

'Oh, so you don't want to know why your, Bestie, here is betraying you?' She mocks the word Bestie with a girly voice earning some smirks from her fellow group members, but again Bess and Zenon stay neutral and calm maybe even ashamed.

'You see, today when you picked a subject for evaluation you really picked the murderer. Of Xander.' My mouth opens slightly but I close it maintaining a strong face.

'Freddie don't do this' Josh speaks up stepping slowly towards Freddie.

Shockingly she looks up and I can see she is hurt. Her eyes are red from crying and I can see an open cut across her left cheek. She gets her feet shoulder-width apart holding the knife at her side, staring intimidatingly at Josh.

'Leave me alone Josh! I don't have a choice right now. If I fail then I die' Josh starts slowly walking forward whilst blurting out his response.

'Freddie there is always another way. I lov-'

'NO!' She screams and he stumbles back slightly.

'You never loved me. It was always her.' She whispers it out looking over to me.'By the way, you were right about Charly.'

Tanya lets out a sarcastic gasp smirking and starting her unnecessary, stupid comments.

'Wow, the drama! You know you guys are great entertainment for Charly up there. You know...'

Josh moves back to my side and then I finally realize something. We are one man down. Anna wasn't here.

My heart rate increases as I look frantically with my eyes trying to find her but not attract attention. Tanya must have not noticed as she continued her speech rambling on about:

(*Cue the mocking Tanya voice)

'OOOoo we are going to kill your friend. Oh, look at me I'm the leader. We only have a chance because we have knives. OoooOO. Charly's watching you! Freddie's betrayed you!'

Yeah, I hate her.

'Aaah!'

The boy Aurick screams out as Anna appears from behind him kicking him to the floor with her boot and punching his face a few times. Wow, Anna is stronger than she looks - I mentally think to myself.

As he sits unconscious she steals his knife running over to her brother. Josh jumps into action guarding Anna against Freddie and dodging her stabbing motions. That's when I realize that I am needed. Here we go.

I run at Tanya dodging her knives that she poorly tries to throw at me. When I get to her defenceless, great idea honey to just throw all your weapons away, we circle each other readying for a fist fight.

'You know you're nothing without a knife Tanya'

I mock her, obviously seeing her nervous state.

'Well, you're nothing without that boyfriend of yours, who is about to watch you DIE!' She charges at me and I simply step to the side dragging my foot out to trip her, which she does. I then kick her stomach and she limps up coughing and grunting in pain.

I look up to find Zenon and Bess stand side by side watching her. They haven't moved since our attack and something tells me they weren't moving at all. So I leave them.

I turn to Josh who was now dodging Freddie who was swinging her knife at him furiously, trying to hit him somewhere. I simply throw one of Tanya's knives across the floor to him, and he takes it quickly using it to his advantage.

Then Anna. She is wildly cutting at the huge piece of rope around Xanders' arms as they talk and cry together. I rush over hoping I haven't disturbed anything and help cut the rope with Tanya's other knife.

'It's okay Anna we have nearly won this'

She stops her work for a second looking up at me.

'They will pay'

I don't have time to answer as a scream comes from in front of me.

'Lilie! Watch out!' Josh screams as a knife comes hurdling from behind me. I pull Anna down to the floor with me as it passes over our heads. Then the world goes in slow motion as the knife flips in the air getting faster. And faster. Until. It finds it's a target. And the screams in pain erupt.

Not from the victim.

But from me.

As I realize I have lost another person who I care about.