Chapter 109: Please Don’t Leave
In the dark forest, Rebecca had caught the sound of approaching footsteps while she lay paralyzed and blind on the damp soil. But those footsteps were the last thing her mind registered before unconsciousness claimed her.
The excruciating, venomous pain tearing through her body had exceeded what her frame could endure, forcing her consciousness into the dark.
Her eyes snapped open into a memory. Her heart slammed violently against her ribs, her entire body burning with a feverish heat born of raw grief and boiling rage. Tears of pure despair soaked her cheeks, running all the way down to her chest.
"No!" she screamed, her knees on the cold wooden floorboards.
Her gaze locked forward. She tried to sprint toward her target, but a massive boot slammed brutally down onto her back. The crushing force smashed her ribs flat against the wood, driving the air from her lungs in a breathless gasp.
Directly in front of her, a silver-haired woman cried out, her frame thrashing against the floorboards as a young male hunter knelt over her. He laughed, his eyes bright with a hungry, sadistic amusement as he used his black dagger to shred the fabric of her dress from her shoulder.
"Please..." Rebecca choked out, a frail, desperate whisper tearing from her throat.
Without warning, a black katana blade swept from the shadows, slicing clean across the silver-haired woman's neck. A spray of hot blood erupted from her throat, splashing across the laughing man crouched over her body.
"Hey, what the hell?" the man snapped, annoyance and surprise in his voice.
"We need to get out of here," a deep, commanding male voice barked from the shadows behind them. Rebecca couldn't see the speaker, her eyes remained locked entirely on her mother.
Her mother had stopped screaming. The begging had ceased. Her eyes hung wide and lifeless. Rebecca knew what had just happened, but her mind struggled to process the horrific reality: her mother had just been murdered before her eyes.
"Let's finish this quickly," a woman's voice ordered from the dark.
The crushing weight pressing Rebecca into the floorboards suddenly lifted. As she scrambled to her knees to crawl toward her mother's body, a steel blade struck her collarbone, severing the bone and muscle in a single stroke. Blood spurted from the wound, and Rebecca collapsed flat onto the floor, blacking out once more.
***
She blinked her eyes open a second time, her mind drifting through a fog of distressed voices, a man and a woman speaking in hushed, urgent tones.
A strange warmth washed over her body, bringing a faint wave of physical relief. As the blurry shapes above her began to sharpen, she saw two figures standing over her frame.
The woman held her hand suspended over Rebecca's chest, her palm emitting a soft, golden light that soothed her wounds and restored clarity to her vision.
"She's awake," the man said, a gentle smile touching his face.
"Don't worry, we're not here to hurt you," the woman said, though her smile carried a grim, heavy sadness that failed to reach her eyes.
The full horror of her reality flooded back into Rebecca's mind in a single, devastating instant. She rolled onto her stomach, pushing herself up to look across the floorboards. Her jaw dropped open in shock.
Her mother's body lay resting just feet away. The blood pooling around her throat had turned dark and dry, sunken deep into the grain of the wooden floor, a silent sign that hours had passed while Rebecca lay unconscious.
A tiny, high-pitched squeak escaped Rebecca's throat, sounding like a suffocating creature. Gasping for air, a ragged, heartbroken scream tore from her lungs as she dragged her body across the floorboards toward her mother.
"Mother!" she cried out, her hands clutching the blood-stained fabric of her mother's clothes as she stared at the wide, horrific gash across her neck. "Mom, please! Don't leave me... Please don't leave me alone!"
The woman beside the man took a step forward, reaching out to comfort the sobbing girl, but the man extended his arm, stopping her. He shook his head slowly, his eyes heavy with quiet solemnity.
"Let her," he murmured softly.
Rebecca buried her face into her mother's clothes, her body shaking with endless, gut-wrenching sobs.
Outside of this nightmare, outside of this excruciatingly painful memory, Rebecca's fingers were clutched tightly around the collar of Tyler's coat in the present dark forest.
Tears of feverish grief streamed down her cheeks, pooling against her skin as her trembling voice whispered into the night air:
*Please don't go... Please don't leave me alone.*
Her voice shook with the weight of the past as Tyler held her securely in his arms.
Tyler ran steadily through the night, crossing the river while cradling Rebecca in his arms. The edge of the forest drew near, and the silhouette of the hunter base appeared beyond the tree line. As he ran, his brow furrowed into a frown at the memory of her crying. The arrogant archer with the sharp, mocking gaze now felt like a fragile, vulnerable young woman pleading for help.
Though he couldn't explain why, his mind had already settled on the fact that she was the victim, her terrifying proximity to death's door had left no room for doubt. His lingering thoughts vanished as he reached the tree line and stepped out from beneath the canopy.
He deactivated the *Rush* skill. The kinetic surge faded, and he exhaled a heavy breath he hadn't realized he was holding as his energy settled back to normal.
Although no longer sprinting, Tyler kept a quick, steady pace as he carried Rebecca through the quiet camp. Very few hunters moved through the base at this hour, and most of those out were assassins like himself. They cast brief glances at him before turning away, treating the sight with indifference.
He had expected their gazes to linger longer, given that he was carrying an unconscious woman. But the reality clicked quickly, this was a hunter base, a brutal place where people entered the monster zone and often never returned. A hunter carrying an injured companion out of the forest was a common occurrence.
Tyler headed directly toward the main tent. Ducking beneath the canvas flap, he stepped inside. The young night receptionist looked up from behind the counter, his eyes widening as he saw Tyler holding the unconscious archer.
"Sir, what happened?" the young man asked, stepping forward.
Tyler bent down, carefully placing Rebecca onto the nearest wooden bench. Her right hand dangled off the edge, limply brushing the ground.
Straightening up, Tyler turned to the receptionist. "She was attacked. Right now she's unconscious."
The young man walked around the counter to inspect her, his head bobbing back in surprise. *She doesn't have any wounds.*
"What attacked her, exactly?" he asked out loud, looking at Tyler.
Tyler shrugged, catching the receptionist off guard. "I'm not sure. I just found her unconscious in the forest and decided to bring her here."
"Oh... she's not your companion?" the man asked, straightening his posture.
"Um, no, she's not," Tyler said, rubbing the back of his neck.
The receptionist paused, looking between Rebecca and Tyler. Tyler muttered under his breath, "What do I do with her?"
Hearing him, the man looked back at Tyler. "So you're saying you just found her in the forest, unconscious, and decided to help?"
"Yeah," Tyler nodded. "She looked like she needed it."
The man hummed softly, rubbing his chin. *I've never heard of this before. Is he new here? A hunter just doing things out of kindness?*
"You could leave her at an inn," the receptionist suggested. "You'd have to pay, though."
"An inn?" Tyler exhaled, scratching his hair in frustration. "That's pretty far. I'd have to carry her all the way to town."
"What? No," the man shook his head quickly. "Don't you know about the inn here in the base?"
"There's an inn here?" Tyler asked, surprised.
"Yeah... you're really new here, aren't you?" the man said.
*Yeah, there are two more buildings that I never visited here. I always wondered what they were, but never bothered to check them.*
"It's the furthest building to the right, the one next to the registration building," the receptionist explained, pointing toward the exit.
"All right. Thanks." Tyler bent down and lifted Rebecca into his arms once more, carrying her back out through the canvas flap.
The young receptionist stood alone in the tent, watching him leave. *What a strange guy.*
Tyler walked calmly toward the building on the right. He pushed through the open double doors, stepping into a dimly lit lobby. A middle-aged woman with short brown hair, a dark skin tone, and a stocky build stood behind a wooden counter. Her eyes widened and her posture straightened as she took in the sight of Tyler carrying the unconscious girl.
"Good evening, sir," she said, her words dragging as her gaze rested on Rebecca.
"Hey. Can I reserve a room for one person?" Tyler asked, nodding toward the girl in his arms.
"Yes, of course," the woman replied. "That will be one silver for a regular room."
Tyler wanted to reach into his pocket for get a coin out, but both of his arms were occupied holding Rebecca. He looked at the innkeeper. "Can I go put her down first? I'll come right back and pay."
The woman looked at him for a second, then gave a nod. "All right, sir. Right this way."
She led Tyler down a narrow hallway lined with old wooden doors. Reaching for a heavy ring of keys at her waist, she unlocked one of the doors, revealing a small room with a stone floor and a narrow bed tucked into the corner. The accommodations were sparse, a thin mattress resting on a wooden frame with two thin blankets and no pillow.
Tyler stared at the bed in surprise, but stepped inside anyway. He carefully laid Rebecca down onto the mattress, letting out a soft sigh as he straightened his back. Reaching for the blankets, he pulled them up to her chin, tucking her in.
*What am I even doing?* he thought to himself as he adjusted the covers. *I don't even know this girl. In fact, I hate her. Am I an idiot?*
He turned back to the innkeeper, who was watching him with a warm, approving smile. Tyler thrust his hand into his coat pocket, letting a silver coin materialize inside his palm from his inventory. He pulled it out and handed it to the woman.
"Okay. When she wakes up tomorrow, tell her to meet me at the tent in the afternoon. And tell her I have her weapon," Tyler said, stepping past her into the hall.
"All right," the woman agreed, taking the coin.
Tyler exited the inn and returned to the tent, repeating the exact message to the young night receptionist. Leaving the tent once more, he paused in the quiet base, rubbing a hand back through his hair as he looked up at the stars.
*I came here to hunt those damn rabbits, but ended up saving some random girl. I used up my potions...*
He let out another heavy sigh, his arms dropping to his sides. He muttered to himself, "I don't think that wagon is coming. Looks like I'm going to have to run all the way back."
He activated the Gloom Coat's Rush skill once more. Kinetic energy surged through his legs, his eyes flar
ing with a faint blue glow as he launched forward, blasting out of the base and leaving a cloud of dust behind him as he sprinted toward town.