Chapter 20
આજની ૧૧ પુનીશ
tuva“ Preva exclaimed, bey voice bubbling with excitement as she practically skipped to catch up. Her face lit up with a
and her eves sparkled with admiration
vid thought she was pretty cool, but this Standing up to Sophia Bennett and her mean–girl posse? That took
was like karma in action. After all, she and Sophia had been mortal enemies forever, and
csuddenly stopped, spinunng around to fix Freya with a sharp look. Her piensang gaze was so intense in
doing something dumb
sunitense like it weighed a ton, dropped it with an audible thud and doubled over, panting. Her pale face was flushed
everything a fine. Se
emouth than she noticed Stellan and Selah exchanging weird looks, their faces stiff like they were trying not to maightened. Shaking in
hispered.
oking at me like that?” she demanded her voice tinged with irritation. “Do I have something on my face or what?” She
shed around in her bac for a minor.
strange, tingang sensation crawled up her legs. She froze, her blood
turning to ice.
staring at her legs with a deadpan expression slowly, Freya looked down–and nearly passed out. Wrapped nike, is body coding upward like it owned the place.
voice trembling. The snake raised its head as if it had heard her and flicked its tongue in a slow, taunting motion.
Oh my God Awake! There’s a fucking snake on me she screamed, her voice shooting up several octaves.
mitime group into motion.
into motion. The other contestants came running, their curiosity quickly turning to horror. Meanwhile, the ist, zoomed in for a close up
her use her tire body trembling like a leaf in the wind, Sweat poured down her forehead as if she’d just run a marathon.
The fear hossed and raised its head higher before lunging straight for her face.
grabbing a stick from the ground and sprinting toward her like a man on a mission. Selah was right behind him.
acide Preva out of the way if it came in that.
nove. Her legs felt glued to the ground, and her brain screamed at her to ran, but nothing happened. She could only watch in ike darted toward her tongue ticking inches from her nose.
cut through the air. The snake’s body jerked violently, and it fell to the ground, writhing. Freya gasped as the creature was
and pinned to a tree by a gleaming knife, its blood splattering against the bark
standing beside her, her tone calm but her eyes scanning Freya for injuries.
Força bönked up at too stunned to respond. Slowly, she touched her cheek where the snake’s tail had slapped her. Her fingers trembled as her
chuched from Odalys to the snake, still wriggling but securely pinned
she stammered, her voice cracking Tears welled in her eyes as the memory of the snake coiling around her leg sent fresh waves of go ber. Her karna wobbled and she felt like the might collapse any second.
| imamous.” Odalys said casually, as if she hadn’t just saved Freya’s life in the most cinematic way possible. She strode over to the tree.
a swift motion, chopped the snake into pieces. Kicking the remains aside, she turned back to Freya
12
Soph
ver Firya
the ude, her face twisted in harely contained rage. She’d been relishing Fi milated–orwone. But Odalys had to step in and ruin everything.
Freya’s freakout, convinced this was finally
clenched her fans so hard her nails dug into her palms. Shed despised Freya ever since she snagged the lead role Sophia had been
out of the picture, everything would’ve fallen perfectly into place.
gunning
row had destroyed her plans. Sophia’s jaw tightened as she shot Odalys a glare sharp enough to cut glass. Why the hell did Why did she have to play hero? And why, why, did she have to save Freya? she thought bitterly.
2.46 PM
Chapter 20
It was like the was hell–bent on making Sophia’s life miserable
“Thanks” Freya’s voice came out shaky as she clutched Odalys’s arm like a lifeline. Her grip was tight, her fear obvious, but she managed to muster those words even as her knees threatened to buckle.
Odalys glanced at her and smirked, her sharp gaze softening just enough to make room for amusement. She reached out and gently wiped the lingering tears from Freya’s cheek. “What’s this Afraid of snakes?*
Her tone was teasing laced with a calm that only made Freya feel smaller. “If you’re that scared, you’ve got to toughen up. I’ll show you a real snake later–you might as well leam to deal with ic
“What?” Freya’s head snapped up, her wide, tear–streaked eyes locking onto Odalys. “Are you kidding me?” Her voice cracked somewhere between disbelief and outright panic.
Odalys chuckled under her breath, giving Freya’s nose a playful flick “Relax, crybaby, Let’s keep moving” She clapped her on the shoulder and turned away, striding ahead like nothing had happened
Behind them, Stellan and Selah were frozen, their arms still raised with makeshift weapons they hadn’t gotten a chance to use. sheepish looks before finally lowering their hands.
“Damn,” Stellan muttered, his tone half–admiring, half–defeated. “She’s on another level.”
“Let’s go.” Without waiting for a reply, he stepped forward, sening a brisk pace.
They exchanged
Freya, still visibly shaken, barely noticed Stellan reach down and grab her suitcase along with his own. Selah hesitated, then stepped closer, her voice low and careful. “Freya, you okay? Need a hand“”
Freya nodded quickly, her voice failing her. “Yeah, thanks,” she whispered, leaning into Selah’s steady arm
The group fell into a rhythm, with Odalys leading the charge. Stellan trailed behind her, carrying both suitcases with ease, while Selah kept a protective grip on Freya. No one wanted to linger in the eerie silence of the forest. The sooner they were out, the better.
“Pick up the pace!” Finnian called from behind, his voice tinged with impatience. He was juggling Sophia’s huggage, his earlier cockiness long gone.. The forest was unnerving. Every sound–leaves rustling, twigs snapping–set his nerves on edge. The deeper they went, the more it felt like the place was alive, watching them. His confidence wavered with every step.
He glanced at Odalys ahead, her calm, measured strides cutting through the chaos. She didn’t look fazed in the slightest, and for a moment, he felt
flicker of respect. She’d grown up in the mountains–that much he’d heard. Unlike the rest of them, she actually belonged here.
“Ah!” A sharp cry from behind snapped him out of his thoughts,
He turned to find Sophia wincing, one hand gripping her ankle. “What’s wrong now?” he asked, his frustration barely masked by concern.
“Just a rock; Sophia said quickly, brushing herself off. “I stepped on one wrong. Let’s go. We’ll lose sight of them if we don’t hurry.” She bit her lip. pushing through the pain with an air of forced resilience.
Atlas, sull pale from the snake incident, silently quickened his pace. The image of the snake lunging at Freya had shaken him more than he cared to admi
Lucian brought up the rear, his sharp eyes darting around as if he expected something to jump out at any second,
The production crew followed a short distance behind, their earlier carelessness replaced by cautious steps. The cameras never wavered, capturing every tense moment
They’d split into two teams to keep both groups in frame, ensuring the live–stream stayed as dramatic as possible.
The live chat was blowing up, a chaotic storm of opinions flying in every direction. [Are you kidding me? What’s wrong with this production team? They didn’t even clear the trail! They knew there were snakes out here and didn’t bother to warn anyone. Poor Freya must’ve been scared shitless.] (Honestly, with all that screaming, who even knows if it was real? What if the snake was just a prop they planted for drama?
[Fake? Nah, no way. I just rewatched that part a bunch of times. That snake was 100% real. Plus, it’s a live stream–how the hell would they fake something like that!]
[to did anyone else notice how calm Odalys was? Like, girl didn’t something 1
flinch. She looked like she’s been out the wild her whole life or
Sophia is over here acting like the world’s ending. She’s so damn dramatic–it’s embarrassing. Someone get her off my screen.
2/3
Chapter in
Odalys came in an slept stop, her eyes scaunting te vergrown nail alad the shed lige lyde this
“There, she sand, posting “That’s a case. If the wind pbks up tonigla, we’ll need to scher then Toure not hope would holdepened
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