There was a menacing silence, before Matt broke it with a soft whisper."I don't know." his voice was strained, he looked just about as conflicted with our situation as I felt. We couldn't do anything about the Pendomite's, we were way outnumbered by now. Matt turned making eye contact with his friend, Jay I think that was his name. "Did you see anything going on at the base camp? Are we fighting back?"

Jay looked hesitant, "No, well, I don't know... I left early, you weren't there, and I hadn't seen Clarissa all day. I was wondering what had gotten into everyone, so I took off to find you."

So, this was the guy Clarissa was telling me about earlier that morning.

"First off, you hurt Clarissa, and you're dead. Second, did you hear a scream when you were out here as well?" I said simply, I mean I acted as if I hadn't just threatened this boy's life.

He was dumbfounded for a second or two, but after registering my question he nodded slowly. His hazel eyes seeming a bit worried as they shifted between Matt and I. "Yeah, I think it came from somewhere near the cliff."

Matt and I gave each other an uneasy glance. Trying to read each others thoughts. I quickly looked past the tree branches and bushes in that direction. "If that was Katrina I heard, odds are Clarissa is with her. Seriously I doubt that she would just leave Katrina by herself." I whispered to Matt and he nodded.

"It's our best option too, it's not like we can just barge in over there." Matt nodded in the direction of my cabin."Odds are if we do that we'll be gun downed" After a pause he turned to face Jay. "We will take care of them, can you keep a watch out and make sure they don't start to scout in this direction. And, if they do, stay low, stay hidden." Matt whispered.

"You do what you're best at, and I'll do what I'm best at."Jay nodded, which made Matt smirk a bit, I knew exactly what they were talking about. Jay, hide. Matt, run.

Matt grabbed my wrist and lifted me to my feet. We had to be completely silent when we sneaked away, or else our exact spot could be given at any second. We were barely even two steps away from Matt's friend, but then he spoke once more. "and, Matt. Take care of Clarissa when you find her, please."

"You can count on us." Matt reassured Jay before silently shuffling through the woods, slowly heading in the direction Jay was sending us too.

We were doing our best to stay out of plain sight, which meant we didn't take the dirt trail that we normally would have used. We creeped through trees and bushes as quietly as possible until we knew that we were out of sight. The only sound you could hear was our boots crunching against dry leaves on the soil below.

It took Matt about five minutes to declare that where we were was a safe area, and that the coast was clear. The forest was still completely silent... And thoughts came rushing through my head again. There was only one scream.

Just one scream.

I was starting to worry more and more about my little sister. Why would she only scream once if she was in a real threat? Unless, she was hurt... Or gone. I didn't get it, and that was what made me even more worried. I only had two conclusions.

"She's going to be okay." Matt whispered, as of reading my mind.

I didn't say anything, and just allowed that sentence to lingerie in the air, he rubbed my shoulder comfortingly.

Slowly we inched closer and closer to the cliff at the end of the forest. On any other day the scenery would be beautiful. Just to look out at the sun, passed all the forest trees and clouds. On a summer day the lake below would be refreshing, just calling your name for you to jump. The cliff was an absolutely stunning sight on a normal day.

But we got closer.

We approached the cliff silently. Neither of us speaking. At first the only thing I could hear was a barely audible, sound of whimpering. I stepped closer so that I was able to see what was going on. I noticed my little sister hovering over the limp body of a dead pendomite soldier. Her shoulders shaking, as she tried to catch her breath. She was crying, her tight curly hair was tangled and blowing against the wind. Single curl strands of hair waving across her face. Her emerald gem of eyes were widened with half shock and fear. Hands clenched tightly into fist, when the shock faded, the tension fell within her right hand, a rock, the size of her palm fell from her fingertips. Forever staining the soil on the ground with crimson.

"Katrina?" I whispered hesitantly, while slowly stepping into the incredible scene. Katrina turned around at the sound of my voice. Her skin was pale, her eyes, innocent.She ran to me while wrapping her arms around my waist, there was no hesitation when I bent down to hug her back.

"D- Destiny. I-I killed him." She cried.

"I know, I know. It's okay." I tried to calm down my frantic eleven year old sister.

"No, I- I killed him Destiny. I-I'm a murderer" Her voice cracked. "C-Clarissa told me to run so I did, a-and there was no one blocking the woods yet s- so I just ran. He saw me... a- and I couldn't get away. The only thing I could find was th-that rock. After I hit him one time he fell... but I just couldn't stop." Katrina cried into my shirt. I rubbed her back trying to comfort her as she continued to cry.

"Calm down Katrina, It's okay. You had to do it." I whispered but she just couldn't stop crying.

It was heart shattering.

and Clarissa was still somewhere in the village...

All I could do was hope that my best friend was alright as I rocked my little sister back and forth in my arms trying to calm her down. Soon enough her cries faded and everything fell silent. There was a hand against my shoulder, and I turned around meeting Matt's sapphire blue eyes.

"Guys, it's not safe right now, we need to hide out for awhile." Matt suddenly broke the silence, in a low whisper. After I nodded slowly, he continued to speak. "Destiny, get Katrina to the treehouse... I'll be back there shortly, I need to get Jay. I have a key and the tree is unlocked, make sure to lock it. Okay?"

I nodded "Got it." I responded quickly as I helped Katrina regain balance on her feet.

I started to hear Matt's boots step away from Katrina and I. Grabbing his wrist, I gave him a worried glance when he turned to meet my gaze. "Matt, just, be careful over there please." I pleaded and wrapped my arms tightly around him. He did the same after a second or two.

"I promise, I will." He whispered before I slowly pulled out of his arms. He bit his lip, having to break the eye contact first.

I sucked in a breath, watching him turn around, walking back to a deathly scene that could be sure to kill him if he wasn't careful. Jay and Matt would be completely out numbered by our nation's rivals. They weren't safe there, but neither was Katrina and I at the moment.

"Katrina, let's go." I whispered as that thought came to my head.

She slightly nodded and followed me as I went through the opposite direction in the woods. Matt's house was barely two minutes away, but there was a lot of trees and bushes that surrounded the area. The sky was grey and the air was humid as we reached the tall oak tree.

I climbed first, knowing that Katrina didn't know how to use the latch yet. I reached the top quickly pushing the door latch open,and lifted myself into the house with ease. I reached my hand out to Katrina, helping her inside. The moment both of us were in, I swung the latch down while locking it. Making sure to follow Matt's instructions.

Matt would be okay, he always was. That's what I didn't understand. Why was I so worried about him?

Matt was one of the top soldier's, he was the quickest, and best aim they had. Hs had to learn how to use weapons, and later decided that he'd teach me.

I know, it's uncommon to use a blade when hunting, but I found it the most convenient. I never really got into big guns and weapons, well other than two-sided wrathblade. It was like a boomerang. I mean it was nothing like a regular knife, when the weapon is thrown, and misses the target aimed for. Automatically the wrathblade aims back to you, because the blade comes with a special glove, a magnet made inside of it. That allows the blade to make it safely in your hand without a slice.

Speaking of weapons, I bent down to unzip a compartment in my boots picking out a random knife, in case of danger. I placed the weapon on the side table next to Matt's bed silently. Looking around I slowly kicked off my shoes beside the bed and sat down on it.

Katrina was sitting silently on the couch. Her eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles under them from crying. I knew what she was thinking. Katrina, my eleven year old sister, was not a murder; she just thought she was. The look in her eyes said everything. I didn't know what it was like, but Matt probably did. That day when we were younger for example. I tried not to remember that day so I bit my lip.

"Katrina, it's not your fault. Some things have to happen. If you didn't do what you did, you wouldn't be here. No one knows where you would be." I tried to explain, quietly sitting down next to my little sister.

She wouldn't look straight at me, her hands were nodded into fist, her knuckles white, and her jaw was clenched. "Mom's dead..." Her voice was hoarse and tears fell from her eyes. My eyes went wide, how could she know that already. "I saw it in class yesterday." I bit my lip and rubbed her back trying to comfort her.

"I know, I saw it too..." I felt breathless, like my heart dropped as I watched her. She only got to have six years with a real family before the war started. It seemed so distant to think about life before the war began, everything was so different. I wrapped my arms around my little sister as she silently cried. "I know, I'm going to miss her too." I whispered.

Suddenly she wiped away those tears and looked up at me."Destiny?" Katrina questioned while pulling away from my arms.

"Yeah?" I questioned in response.

"If the pendomite soldiers are looking for dad, and they killed mom because she didn't know where he was... Are they here because they are trying to find us?" She was scared, and her hands were now shaking.

I bit my lip while looking at her, she was smarter than an average eleven year old girl. Although I didn't know how to answer that question. The pendomites could be here for any reason whatsoever. "I don't know." I whispered. "I'm sure everything is going to work out though." I had reassured my little sister. I mean there was nothing else I could do or say right?

Suddenly I heard the latch shaking, and I quickly jumped to my feet. Grabbed my knife and snuck closer to the latach. It swung quickly open and I saw a glimpse of dark brown hair, and sapphire eyes before putting down my weapon and rushing to the 'door'.

Matt was inside the treehouse, helping a young boy around the age of Katrina inside. The young boy had blonde hair and grey eyes, a pale reflection and seemed just as shaken up as everyone else. Once the boy was in he stepped back so that Jay could climb inside with ease. Jay had gotten inside and slammed the latch shut, locking it quickly. They were all panting and out of breath. "Everyone get under the bed!" Matt called. We all listened without hesitation.

Matt was squished at my right, Katrina to my left. I was shaking, and had no idea why. Matt noticed that, and placed his hand over mine comfortingly. "Calm down, were going to be okay." He whispered into my ear so that only I could hear. I simply nodded and tried to relax as much as possible. "They didn't see us, but they are close, they're leaving." Matt explained in a whisper, and I nodded.

The only thing you could hear was our breaths. Everything else around us grew silent as we hid from the danger below.