LOST

Chapter 25

Ella's POV

I sat beneath that tree feeling broken hearted and just crying my eyes out for hours. I couldn't move and I shuddered profusely as if I was being drenched in tears.

The image of the tree squeezing the life out of Mandy , kept on replaying over and over in my head just like a movie.

I still couldn't believe that she was gone. It all happened so fast... so fast that one minute we were talking, having a heart-to-heart conversation, then all of a sudden, life had been sucked out from her by a tree, leaving us with no chance of saving her.

''Ella... I soon heard Alex's voice call out to me

Looking up at her... her face was filled with sympathy and concern, as she sat down as well beside me.

''Ella... it's okay, you need to get yourself together,'' she whispered as she pulled me closer to herself.

'' 3! Three of us are gone,'' I whispered as the tears continued to fall. None stopped from my eyes.

'I know that but there was nothing we could do," Alex said softly.

There is not something I could do... I could have tried harder, Alex, I could have pushed harder,'' I let out in an agitated voice.

''I know Ella, but we both know that the powers at play here on this island are far greater than any of us. We all fought to save her ,but whatever force it was holding her refused to let her go.

And there was nothing we could do," she said in a comforting do

'' Remember I promised I would get her out of here, that this would only be just a story we tell our children,'''I said. and Alex nodded as tears clouded her eyes as well.

' I failed her...'' I sobbed, saying as Alex pulled me into a tight hug.

Her arms were calm and comforting, but it didn't help to mend the brokenness I felt on the inside.

' Ella,'' Alex whispered my name into my ear.

Olivia and I are still here. Remember you also made a promise to us , to get us out of this island , and you can not fulfil it if you keep wallowing in self-doubt,'' Alex said so seriously as she pulled me apart , looking so intensely into my eyes.

''I don't think I have it in me anymore to run," I whispered as my face fell to the floor again.

''Ella..' Alex tried to reprimand me

''I can't do this... I thought I could, but I can't take this constant fear anymore.

that fear that hunts you, that fear you can't shake off, That just can't handle it anymore,'' I let out as Alex's eyes continued to reprimand me.

But..." Alex tried to protest but I cut her off immediately.

Goodness, we can not even see who or what we are running from," I screamed.

But that's not a reason to stop... we are still alive , so we still have hope," Alex said.

''Mandy just died, a tree just swallowed her whole, and you still have a fight left in you,'' I said.

'' My heart is broken Ella, but I have to keep fighting , we have to keep fighting. If you give up now, then what do you expect Olivia over there to do," Alex screamed, and immediately my eyes drifted towards Olivia,

Olivia was in a terrible state , she wasn't herself , shaking profusely as if she had just been dipped into a bucket of ice-cold water, murmuring inaudibly to herself as she bit aggressively on her fingers.

''Olivia...'' I called out to her softly.

But she didn't reply, she continued murmuring things inaudibly to herself.

Olivia... talk to me,'' I urged her to speak

''The tree...Mandy... where is Mandy,'' she murmured psychotically.

''Mandy is gone, Olivia," I said and Olivia screamed as tears dripped down from her eyes.

No... No, that's not true , she is inside the tree," Olivia let out as she tried rushing towards the tree, but I stopped her.

''Olivia Mandy is gone, the tree took her,'' I said.

Olivia continued to disagree with me as all she wanted was to see that tree in search of Mandy.

''No Mandy is not dead , and we can still save her,'' Olivia screamed as she fell to the floor crying.

I held her in my arms just like Alex did for me, comforting her with all I got.

''It's going to be alright,'' I kept on saying, hoping that if I said it long enough, maybe I might actually believe my own words.

We need to keep moving, guys. We can't stay here for much longer. What if whatever that was comes back to us? We need to get to the other side of the island. Maybe there might be hope for us if we get there.

''But we don't know what is on the other side, what if it is worse over there , than it is here,'' Olivia whispered in a hoarse voice.

''Nothing can be worse than the torture of watching your friends die one by one, with no means or knowledge of how to save them.

There is no greater punishment than having to live with the fear that you might be the next one to die. None of us is safe as long as we stay here , so it's best we keep moving towards the other side of the island. It's not like we have anything left to lose," Alex said, and I instantly knew she was right.

Even though I was so close to losing hope, even though my idea to get to the other side of the island slowly became like a fairy tale to me , what I knew right now was that Alex was right.

''We had nothing left to lose, because a person who expects disappointment would never get disappointed''

Well, in our case...

''it is a person who expects a visit from the angel death, might never get visited''

So, with the conviction that death would come for us all , we picked up our bags again and ventured to the other side.

With no knowledge of what is there