Confused and scared, Luna looked around. The feeling of having a scalpel pierce her abdomen and blood slowly draining off her body was still fresh in her mind.

She felt disoriented; nothing made sense.

In front of her was Ryan, kneeling as he sobbed, staring at her wide-eyed.

He slowly touched her cheek with the tips of his fingers in disbelief.

Luna flinched, startled to see Ryan crying with a crazy expression on his face.

She still could not get rid of the fear of the excruciating pain she experienced. She touched her abdomen, as she feared that she would find the scar.

But before she could do anything, Ryan hugged her tightly.

Relief washed over Ryan, realizing his friend was still alive and well, prompting him to hug her even harder, which made Luna break the hug.

But Ryan didn't mind.

Luna had always hated hugs. It was a surprise she did not say a thing about it till now.

He kept touching her in disbelief, happiness, and relief. He combed her messy hair with his fingers.

Luna felt uncomfortable at the sudden act of love Ryan was exhibiting.

Bells chimed in her head, prompting her to look at the floating blue window which she had forgotten about.

Ryan, too, was startled by the sudden chimes in his head. Both looked at their respective windows, though neither could see the other's.

[1 hour is up.

Remaining rest time: 59: 57 ]

Displayed the window.

Bells chimed in Luna's head again, a message of the reward for the life she took.

[Current possession of coins: 8800]

Shivers ran down her spine.

She could not believe she was being rewarded for murder, that a person's life could be calculated, or the fact that a person was only worth a mere 500 coins.

Ryan, catching a glimpse of Luna's grim expression, stood up quickly and pulled Luna up breaking her trance.

Luna, furious, glared at Ryan.

She was still confused about everything and Ryan, acting all strange, did not make it any better.

"What happened here?" asked Ryan, looking at the two corpses.

Luna jumped, realizing she had been leaning on the injured boy's corpse until then.

Ryan snickered inside, seeing Luna jolt in surprise, but he still managed to keep a stern face.

"I... don't know," Luna said in a low voice, once again feeling guilty over the murders.

Ryan looked at how the boy had an arrow through his neck. He glanced at the bow that lay near where Luna was lying.

"Did you do this?" Ryan asked, his voice cold and a little harsh as he pointed to the arrow.

Ryan was quite upset. He could not believe Luna killed someone.

He wondered if Luna had killed the other one, too. He felt like he had lost the person he knew forever.

Luna had changed. She was a cold-blooded murderer, not the caring and loving person he knew.

"Yes," she replied with a glum face. She was still shaken up by everything.

She still was having a hard time processing the nightmare she went through.

Ryan was quite disappointed by her reply. He had hoped she would defend herself or give a reason.

He could not understand the sudden change in his friend. With all that was happening, Ryan had forgotten a very important thing.

Ryan grabbed Luna by the arm as he started trying to drag her away from the crime scene.

Luna, startled by the sudden action, screamed, "What are you doing ?"

Her eyes furrowed with anger as she looked at Ryan. He turned around to glare at her, thinking it was self-explanatory.

"Getting you away from the crime scene !"

Luna shook his hand off quickly, "What-"

Midsentence, Luna, and Ryan heard a cough.

Their gazes followed the noise to spot the corpse of the injured boy. Confused, Luna went closer to him to check as Ryan stood behind in confusion

Luna slowly crouched, staring wide-eyed at the body, trying to figure out the origin of the cough.

More coughs followed as the injured boy opened his eyes, and sat up coughing, as saliva and drops of blood dripped out of his mouth.

Luna, startled by the corpse moving, fell on her back in confusion, surprise, and fear.

She stared wide-eyed at the boy, still alive with all the blood on his shirt.

Ryan, getting the gist of the situation, hurried to grab the knife next to the dead boy's body and rushed to impale the boy, who was still coughing.

Luna stared in awe and happiness, knowing he was still alive.

Then at a moment's notice, Ryan plunged at the injured boy with the knife to try to end him, just to be stopped by the injured by himself.

Luna sat witness to Ryan trying to kill the boy and the boy saving his own life by the width of a hair.

Luna was shocked and taken aback.

A scuffle ensued where Ryan tried to pierce the boy's neck and the boy pushing Ryan away to save his life.

Luna quickly got to her feet, even though Ryan plunging at the boy from behind her disturbed her.

She pulled Ryan away from the boy.

"What are you doing?" shouted Ryan, startling Luna.

"What do you think you are doing???" rebuked Luna.

"Obviously, getting rid of the evidence!" reproached Ryan.

"What evidence?" Luna questioned as the injured boy grunted in pain.

"You tried to kill them! They are alive! You could end up in jail!" shouted Ryan, taking the knife that had fallen to the ground during their brief scuffle.

"I didn't," said Luna explanatorily as she shouted back.

Ryan, who had already taken two steps with the knife in hand, whipped his head around in confusion.

He tilted his head to the side as if questioning her and stared at her for a good 3 seconds before turning his head back.

He sighed as he looked at the injured boy trying to run away. He quickly grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck and dragged him to the athletics club room which they had yet to enter.

Luna looked at Ryan, dragging the boy he had just tried to kill by the scruff with a knife in hand and hurried behind quietly.

They reached the room and Ryan reached for the handle and paused for a second before proceeding.

Luna could understand how he felt after having witnessed the horrors in the other room.

*click*

He opened the door. It was quite a spacious store room, it even had energy drinks, protein bars, a few chocolates, and water bottles on the shelves.

There were also quite a few bags in the corner.

The room had a barred window that let in sunlight.

This was to prevent birds and thieves.

There was an issue where the club members' lunches, uniforms, and other seemingly low-value stuff would disappear even though our club, which housed compound bows and other such valuables, never faced robbery.

We made our way into the slightly gloomy room.

There was no death here. Maybe because all of them had gone to the field to practice for the upcoming competition.

A sigh of relief washed over both Ryan and Luna.

Ryan dragged the injured boy inside and threw him gently across the room. Luna entered after.

Ryan slammed the door shut behind him, knife in hand. And used his body to block the door as he leaned on it, crossing his leg.

He stared at Luna, tilting his head, ready for an explanation.

"So?"

Luna turned to look at the injured boy as she explained the details to Ryan.

Ryan's face relaxed, and he slumped to the floor as a big burden lifted off of his shoulders.

He felt relieved.

He felt joy knowing he had not lost his friend.

He had been in an emotional turmoil inside.

Luna was always his guiding light, and she always found a way, even in impossible situations.

She was kind, which intrigued Ryan, as she was also ruthless when needed.

Tears flowed down his cheek to both Luna's and the injured boy's surprise.

Luna sat next to him, leaning on him.

She took the knife from his hand slowly and held his hand.

As the friends had a moment of union, the injured boy, now in one corner of the room, felt out of place.

"So, are you guys gonna let me leave now? " He questioned, looking like he was going to claw his way through the wall.

"I understand you are having a couple's moment, but this is not the situation to be doing so. "

Luna and Ryan, both surprised, looked at him with Luna clarifying their relationship.

"We are just friends"

The injured boy shot them a look of confusion.

He opened his mouth to add something, but Ryan quickly shut him up with a question of his own.

"How are you alive? ", he asked.

They had yet to hear why the boys were trying to kill him, what happened, and how he was alive after getting stabbed in the stomach.

"Didn't you get stabbed in the stomach? And from what I can see, you seemed to have bled quite a bit too.", added Ryan, shooting a suspicious stare at him.

"I didn't get stabbed," He said, he lifted his shirt to show a wound just deep enough to let out maybe a drop or two of blood.

Luna's eyes furrowed at the revelation. "Whose blood is it, then?" she asked, pointing to his shirt, which he now was holding in his hand.

He looked at it with sorrowful eyes. "The teacher's," he said, as a memory flashed in his mind where a taller man got stabbed.

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Thank you for reading !!! pls comment your thoughts on this chapter !, it is much appreciated !! lov ya <3