Mind BLOWN. (CLOSED)

Sometime later, a snap echoed outside the cave, stirring me from my sleep. I pried my eyes open and glanced around, fear rising up inside of me as I thought of the guards who were hunting us. After a moment of silence, I breathed a sigh of relief.
“It was just the wind,” I chided myself. As I relaxed my body, I realized I was still wrapped in Levi’s arms but he was trembling like crazy. Snow was piling up at the mouth of the cave but something told me he wasn’t shaking from the cold. I shook his arm in concern, trying to wake him up.
“Levi,” I said. “Levi?” I raised my voice when he didn’t answer. “Levi!” He jumped back, swinging his hands madly, and looked around groggily.
“What happened?” he mumbled. I pulled away and sat across from him, a safe arm's length away.
“I think you were having a nightmare,” I told him.
“Oh yeah,” Levi said. “Sorry, that happens more than you would think.” I was about to ask him what he meant but before I could I heard a small creak. A second later, I heard the snap of a twig.
“Levi..,” I said looking around. “Did you hear that?”
“Maybe it was just an animal,” Levi suggested hopefully. I was about to agree with him when the mouth of the cave suddenly darkened as several wisps of flying darkness dived in.
I screamed in terror as they swooped down on us, flying crazily. When they touched me, they cut my skin open, in paper thin strips. They flew around me cutting me on my shoulders and neck. One flew across my stomach, slashing it open. I tried holding my hands around me but there was no way to stay safe from these things. Then as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone. I looked around frantically.
“What were those things?” I cried out, putting my hand over my stomach.
“Wisps,” Levi replied. “Karisity’s little ‘surprise’ obstacle for us.” He glanced at me then asked, “Are you okay?” I moved my hand away from my stomach and saw blood running down.
“I suppose,” I said, trying to ignore the sting of it. “But what in the world are wisps? Those things were like . . . flying darkness! That isn’t even possible.”
“That’s what I though. They didn’t explain this to you?” he asked giving me a questioning look. “That’s what they put inside of us.” I gave him a weird look.
“You mean in place of my heart and your soul?” I asked. "Someone told me 'darkness' was replacing them but they didn't really go into detail."
“Ok, the wisps are darkness. Obviously they were alive, so darkness is a living thing. They replaced your heart and my soul with it to keep us alive.” He reached up and touched the cut on his face. Blood came off on his fingers but also darkness floated out of the blood and disappeared.
“And it looks like it’s spreading a lot quicker than anticipated,” he said frowning. I looked down at my stomach and hand. Red, gooey liquid stuck to them and every few seconds black darkness rose from it and disappeared.
“What happens when it spreads all throughout us?” I asked worriedly. Levi shook his head.
“I’m not exactly sure but it can’t be good. It’ll take us over, that’s all I know,” he said quietly. We sat in silence and I suddenly thought of something.
I looked up at Levi, my eyes wide. “Can we stop it?”
“I’m not sure. But I don’t want to wait to find out. We have to do something fast. Something right now,” Levi said. “Zayna, I don’t think we have time to wait for those clues Karisity mentioned.” He broke off when we suddenly heard heavy footsteps crunching in the newly fallen snow.
"What now?!" I moaned in aggravation. "Can't we just catch a break for once?!"
“Shut up Zayna!" Levi whispered, leaning forward to put his hand over my mouth. "I think the guards are here." I bit my lip and looked around. If they were here, that means they had been hiking in the snow all night. They would've also had to have been climbing up..
“We have to climb up,” I whispered back to Levi. “They must be further below us still so we have a little bit of time.”
“Let’s do this then,” Levi said, picking up and gripping a sharp rock tightly. I looked at him in confusion before the realization that we were going to have to fight hit me. I was the type of person who would rather talk a situation through than fight, but I was also a realist and I knew that in some circumstances fighting was the only option. I picked up a few oval shaped rocks and put them in my pockets, ready to throw them since I was an ace at targets and that was the only way I could protect myself.
I stood up, trying to ignore the searing pain that coursed through my stomach, and waited for something to happen.
“Look up there,” Levi whispered suddenly, pointing to a small hole at the top back of the cave. I walked underneath it and saw the dim light of winter streaming through. It barely looked big enough for Levi to squeeze through. “We could climb out that way and pull a sneak attack.”
“Good idea,” I whispered back. I grabbed onto a foothold, ready to pull myself up, but a split second later I fell back to the ground gripping my stomach as I squeezed my eyes shut and held in a scream.
"Hey, hey," Levi whispered in concern. "Let me see it." I looked up at him and slowly nodded, moving my hands away. In an instant, he was kneeling by me, his gentle hands hovering above the cut examining it.
"The cut is worse than we thought," he mumbled. He looked around, pursing his lips in deep thought. "You need to stay here, ok? I'm gonna hide you behind those rocks but I need you to stay there. Alright?" He lifted me up effortlessly and slid me behind jagged cuts in the walls. "You'll be safe here. I won't let them get you, I promise." And with that he got up and started climbing through the opening as more footsteps sounded outside the cave.
"Levi!" I whispered loudly. "You can't take them all on! You'll get hurt! Levi!"
"Don't worry," he said, poking his head back down through the opening. "You’d be surprised what I can do." He twirled the rock around his index finger like a basketball, caught it with his hand, and then winked at me before disappearing. I gulped and tried to slow my breathing as my thoughts intensified. Anything could happen to him.. He could get hurt or even die!
Distant voices reached their way toward me and I coward behind the rocks. I listened intently, trying to figure out how close they were when suddenly a scream rang through the cave. I slapped my hand over my mouth as a gunshot sounded. I covered my ears as it echoed off the walls.
Another gun shot rang out and I bit my lip. I stood up, with my heart beating fast, knowing I couldn’t just sit there while Levi could be wounded. I had just taken a step when Levi appeared around a bend in the cave.
"Are you okay?!" I gasped. He looked like he was about to puke or pass out.
"I'm fine, just bleeding a little," he said. He came over and grabbed my wrist in a daze, pulling me from the cave. "Come on. More of them could come any minute." I winced in pain but kept my mouth shut. We had just reached the front of the cave when three men came into view. Three dead men. All were lying in a pool of blood and I couldn't help but gasp.
The first one was lying face down, a bullet hole going right through his head and one of his arms laying out in an unnatural position. The second man's mouth was agape, his eyes permanently paralyzed in fear as he stared up at nothing. His neck was slit open roughly and blood still slowly spewed out. The last one had a bullet hole in his chest and another in his head, as if the first blow didn't kill him.
"What did you do?" I whispered to him, shocked.
"It was kill or be killed," he replied, nonchalant. I looked at him, my eyes wide as I processed his sudden uncaring attitude.
"So you felt the need to torture them?" I asked, horrified, referring to the second guard I couldn't help but keep staring at.
"It's really not as bad as it seems. Head and neck wounds always bleed the most, but end it quicker. I tried not to cause more damage than necessary." I looked at him and pulled my arm out of his reach.
"You're acting like murder can be justified!" I replied angrily. Levi sighed and turned around, looking at me straight in the eyes.
"Zayna, I was trying to protect you. They were going to kill you just as soon as they found you boxed in back there, then you would be the one having to kill them. We can go into depth about this later but right now we really have to go," he replied. I stared at him for a minute, unsure if I should drop the subject or not.
"Answer this for me first," I said quietly; intently. "Do you feel any remorse for what you just did?"
"I feel as much remorse for killing them as they would have for killing us," he said evenly. "I'm sure it'll eat at me later but I'm trying to get out of here so we don't have to kill anyone else." I licked my lips and shook my head as I stared into the distance. Dark, ominous clouds were rushing overhead, swirling snow flurries all around us. The cold nipped at my nose and I let a shiver run through my body. I kept staring at the gloomy sky until Levi sighed in frustration.
"What?" he snapped. I let my eyes travel back to his.
"You know.. I'm a pretty realistic person. I understand that sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do in order to survive. But if we are going to live by that idea, then I think that people need to start feeling again," I told him, unfazed by his menacing tone.
"Meaning what exactly?" he questioned, crossing his arms in mock interest.
"Meaning, that the lives we live and the world we live in is.. Terrible and unjust and cruel! And this is partly because people have stopped caring about anything other than power and their own wellbeing. People are turning into robotic monsters and soon that's gonna cause the whole world to go down in flames. If life is ever going to get better, we need to keep up the emotions that keep us human; that keep us kind," I explained.
"Whoa now, Zayna.. You think life will get better?" he asked in disbelief. "The government sent us out here to watch how we'd struggle to fulfill this stupid mission. It's all a conspiracy to cover up the wretchedness those monsters perform to keep control of us all!" He spit that last part out with such force and distaste it made me flinch in surprise.
"That's exactly what I mean, though, Levi. They need to learn to be loving again," I confirmed quietly. Levi looked me over, trying to figure out if I was serious or just delusional. After a minute, he slowly started to shake his head.
"Whatever. Right now all I care about it getting out of here alive and, I hate to tell you this, but you're probably pretty close to dying from lack of blood," he said, pointing to my stomach that was still heavily bleeding.
"Wow, cruel much?" I joked.
"Naw, just brutally honest," he replied, getting a little grin on his face. "So, I recommend that you take my well given advice and we leave now so we can start looking for shelter before a storm hits."
Just as he finished his sentence, a clap of thunder filled the air, making my head snap up in surprise. I looked back down at Levi and folded my arms over my stomach.
"Alright. Let's go," I sighed, starting to walk ahead of him as snow started to lightly fall from the sky.
"It's about time," he scoffed in mock joy. "Maybe we can rustle up some things to clean your wound with, too."
"It isn't that bad," I mumbled, feeling embarrassed that I was the weak link at the moment. I would never admit this to him, but with each step a new wave of pain shot through me; like needles jabbing into my flesh. Luckily, I had had enough practice to know how to keep up a poker face.
"Phsh, yeah. Okay," Levi chuckled, humored by my pathetic tone. "Even if it's not, I still need to fix it up. It's my duty as your partner."
"Partner?" I asked in surprise, stopping and looking back at him. "Do you really see us as partners?"
"You know Zayna, even though the government conspired to put us together just for their own agenda, I'm glad they did. We may not know each other that well but.." he paused for a moment and looked at me, "We've already been through a lot together in just one day. So, yes. I do see us as partners."
I nodded slowly, trying not to grin.
"Good to know," I told him.
"Why do you say it like that?" he asked, sounding a bit self-conscious.
"Oh, no reason," I replied lightly, holding back a chuckle.
"What?" he asked desperately. His face looked so pitiful that I couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry, Levi!" I managed to say as I tried to catch my breath. "Your face just looked so heartbroken there for a second."
"Oh, ha, ha," he mocked, crossing his arms. I loved how we had gone from serious to joking around in a matter of seconds and, for some reason, that made me laugh even more.
"Owe, my stomach. Oh, it hurts," I gasped as I giggled, putting pressure over my cut.
"Good!" Levi yelled, playingly. Then more seriously he asked, "What? Do you not see us as partners?" I cleared my throat and looked up at him.
"No.. I do," I replied.
"Okay.. Good," Levi mumbled. "So.. Partners?" I grinned up at him then turned around and continued to walk away from the cave.
"Partners."

((I'll probably change it up a little bit on my own side if that's okay with you just because of how much more they bonded since we wrote this scene, I can just see the conversation going a little differently lol we could run through it though if you want or just leave it how it is and start on the guard's chapter! I've been waiting to rewrite the guards chpater forever now xD Their's asre always my favorite! But Zayna and Levi are so much closer now than in the firsxt draft that I enjoy them just as much too!

Anyway xD Next chapter???))

Zayna
“I think you were having a nightmare,” I told him, looking at him with concern.

Zayna
I was about to ask him if he was sure but before I could I heard a small creak and I strained my ears to listen. A second later, I heard the snap of a twig.
“Levi..,” I said looking around. “Did you hear that?”

Zayna
I had just turned around to face the mouth of the cave when it suddenly darkened, the moonlight streaming in covered, as several wisps of flying darkness dived in.
I screamed in terror and jumped to my feet as they swooped down on us, flying crazily. I heard Levi yell out in surprise as they encircled us. When they touched me, they cut my skin open in paper thin strips. They flew around me cutting my shoulders and neck. One flew across my stomach, slashing it open. I tried holding my hands around me but there was no way to stay safe from these things as they created paper cut like wounds on my knuckles. Then as suddenly as they appeared, they were gone. I looked around frantically, confused and freaked out.
“What were those things?” I cried out, putting my hand over my now throbbing stomach.

Zayna
I moved my hand away from my stomach and saw blood seeping through my shirt.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I rushed him off, trying to ignore the sting of it. I was too concentrated on my confusion to care. “But what in the world are Wisps? Those things were like.. strips of flying darkness! Is that even possible?”