Page 44 of Marked for Extinction
The moment the smell came close to my nose, I lost all sense and shoved the hot meat into my mouth, burning it. Fanning my face and blinking back tears, I chewed quickly and moved the food around with my tongue so that it wouldn’t burn one single location inside of my mouth.
By the time I swallowed, tears were streaming down my face from the self torture I just inflicted.
Vik laughed as he slowly peeled some of the meat of his own stick and nibbled on it.
“What are you laughing at?” I huffed, still embarrassed but putting on a brave front.
“You,” he said bluntly.
I scrunched my face and asked for more food. He obliged while still chuckling. Instead of tearing off the meat, he brought out his knife, wiped it against his clothes and proceeded to slice off a bigger piece for me.
“Don’t forget to blow on it this time.”
I almost choked at his statement and it only made him laugh again. As mad as I was, I began to laugh too, happy that we were both able to still do that.
We ate in silence for the rest of the time. I couldn’t believe we did it. We were free.
“What are you thinking about so hard over there?” he asked.
I looked up at him. “We’re free, Vik. We’re really free.”
His face quickly morphed from calm and serene to something blank and eerie. What did I say?
“We’re not free until they’re all dead, Inés.”
And like that, he finished the rest of the meat on his stick and stood up, putting the half eaten food back on the spit and walking away.
“Vik, I—”
“Reaper. My name is Reaper. Ares told you that already.”
The last bit of food I chewed felt like a lump in my throat as I swallowed it down. When I turned to look at him, he had the goggles and mask back on. An eerie chill ran down my spine.
It was as if he was two different people now.
“Vik, are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he replied bluntly.
Why wouldn’t he be? I wasn’t okay, but I didn’t know how to voice it to him without the possibility of him taking offense and leaving me here on the mountain to die alone. I know I shouldn’t think that way, but it was a deeply rooted fear after what we went through. For the first few days, I thought I was being tortured alone. I thought I was going to die alone.
I couldn’t risk losing Vik now, so I kept quiet.
He sat on the ground, facing the entrance of the cave, sliding his blade across the stone in front of him again and again in silence.
The repetitive noise was driving me crazy. I wanted to help him. I wanted to get him out of this weird trance he was in. I stood up and took a few steps toward him..
“Vik, talk to me.”
Silence.
“Vik—”
I screamed when he leaped at me, pinning me to the ground.
My chest heaved as I stared at my reflection in his goggles. The flames danced and obscured the image, wavering it with its dark dance.
“I told you, Vik isn’t here anymore,” he quietly stated as he ran his knuckles, still holding his blade, across my forehead, pushing my hair out of my eyes.
