A Broken Soul

"We have to get out of here, quick!" I grabbed her hand and we both got up. We had to move right away. The longer we stay, the more enemies will be around, and the harder it will be for us to get out of the city.

I looked around to find my door shield. It was lying there with the bodies, soaked in blood. As much as I was disgusted to pick it up, I had no choice. The door shield is a great protection since it was big with the door handle already there for me to hold.

As I carefully picked it up, the sound of blood dripping to the ground sent shivers down my spine, but I finally got it.

When we moved to the gates, I carefully checked to see if there were any enemies around. None. So I turned back to her and signaled with my head that we were moving.

That was when something caught my eye. A very visible trail was behind us from the well to the gate. I found out that it was the lady's long dress, soaking with water from the well and blood on the ground, was the cause of it. 

I signaled her to keep quiet, sat down, and ripped a part off of her dress. We also took off our shoes for the same reason and walked barefoot.

I wrapped up the spare piece of cloth and shoes to keep it with me. Although the cloth was wet and dirty with blood, we didn't know what we could use the cloth for, we had to be resourceful.

Confident that there was nothing else to do, we stepped outside. The goal was to get out of the city.

Walking for a while, I dropped the door shield because I found it had more harm than good for us. Because we were trying to get out of the city as fast as possible, a clunky door would only slow down our speed. Also, the red color from the blood made the door very visible.

I figure the risk of slowing down and drawing unnecessary attention from the enemy outweighs its potential defensive capability. Our speed improved significantly without the door shield.

As we moved, I ran through the options that could get us here.

"The front gate is a no, enemies will guard it heavily. Disguise? No, they might check our faces and see a woman. They will know we aren't soldiers. Ugh! Think! Think!"

As I was lost in my thoughts, the young lady suddenly pulled me into a house to hide. Moments later I heard soldiers running by us. 

"Thank you," I whispered. She didn't reply. Now that I pay attention, she has always been quiet and shaking since we got out of the well.

I carefully lifted her face which was always down to see the look of the soulless. Her eyes were lifeless, with not a single reflection in it. Her cheeks left visible trails of tears that had dried up a long time ago.

She was not even crying anymore.

"Young lady, can you hear me?" I asked quietly, trying to get her attention.

She nodded, but it was more intuitive than with intention.

I put my hands on her shoulders, "My name is Do," I introduced myself. "You probably don't know who I am, but I will get us both out of here. Don't give up. We will live."

I tried to be energetic and positive, but she gave no response.

"Leave me," she finally said.

Those words, I don't know what they did to me, but they consumed me. Was it because of how calm and easy she said it? Or the look on her face as if nothing matters anymore?

Seeing the person whom I admired so much for seven years in such a state. Her once bright smile and lively giggles that I longed for. Her playful jokes, and the pure, innocent in her eyes, things that I witnessed just that morning, in just a couple of hours were all gone. Thinking that made my emotions overwhelm my body.

I slapped her.

But she didn't yell in pain or react. Her face stayed where it was after the slap I gave her. The red imprint of my hand slowly appeared on her cheek.

Anger overtook me. I grabbed her face near mine while growling. "Why aren't you reacting? Why aren't you hitting back? Where's your anger? Where's your rage for revenge?"

The young lady looked at me with her soulless eyes, and again, repeated.

"Leave me." 

I shook my head, denying the drastic change in the person I love. "Why are you submitting!? Don't you want to revenge your family's death!?" I quietly yelled.

Seeing her unfazed, I pulled her to the door and had her look out, where a group of enemy soldiers was passing by us.

"You see them? Those are your enemies, the people who killed your family. Don't you want to revenge them?" I told her while pointing at them, trying to invoke any kind of emotion in her.

"What's good of it? My family is gone," she replied as she teared up. But somehow, even though she was crying, her expression remained cold. It was as though I was talking with a corpse.

I pulled her back inside, "Then, you have to live!" 

"Why?" she asked. She sounded tired and hopeless.

I looked into her eyes, deep into it, and asked. "How are you still living? How did you end up in that well?"

I think that question of mine finally pierced through the young lady's clouded heart. She was still crying, but reflection started to show in her eyes, and at last, her face showed pain.

The young lady crumbled.

Her body contracted, and she had difficulty breathing. She had to cover her mouth to not let out a sound for the enemy to hear.

Even if she didn't see the slaughtering at the mansion, I believe she must have heard the screams of her family and servants must have traumatized her. I didn't know what else to do but to sit down and hug her. I felt her crying on my chest. At each inhaling and exhaling, I felt it was as though a piece of her soul left her body.

It was heartbreaking to see the young lady in that state. She had to cry without letting out a sound. 

"You have to live. Live happily, for them," I didn't know what else to say. She didn't reply but I saw her nodded. We then left the hug and I looked at her, smiling. "Let's get out of here." I could see her eyes lighten up a little more than just a moment before.