"Shit... I got carried away."
The mellowness in Azhir's voice weakened Sean's knees as they crashed into the ground. For a millisecond, his frustration and anger clutched the hair and he pounded the dirt.
"The fuck is wrong with you?! Do you have any idea what'll happen now?!" Sean screamed.
"At the least we know he's not a khata." Azhir noted a positive.
"You could've restrained him! Held back like you did with Oleg! Now we're...!" Sean pondered. Was I wrong? We know that Mallory and Jason were murdered but that doesn't mean that there aren't two murderers. What if Jason tried to hurt or kill Azhir? It's also likely Azhir killed Jason for no reason. Shouldn't I run away? Tell the others? But wouldn't they blame me? They'd definitely accuse me of not preventing this.
Despite the swirling of terror and negative emotions, Sean organized his thoughts and attempted to compose himself and evaluate. Do I have a choice here? Even if I survived all this, what would be the point?
"Did... did you kill Jason?" Sean questioned bluntly. Whether he killed Jason or not, Sean doubted any truthful answer. Yet, Azhir's conduct contradicted that of a true psychopath.
"No." A simple answer. Unfortunately, Sean had to rely on faith, something Azhir didn't deserve. Tilting his head, Azhir stared past Sean.
"I think someone heard us. We ought to get going."
"What the hell are we supposed to do now?" Sean choked back tears. Following Azhir and not peeling off from him has only achieved threats, accusations, and now he realized he'd lose the comfort of his abode.
"I injected you into a dilemma, haven't I?" Azhir sighed, not from exhaustion but from sympathy. Perchance, even empathy.
"Clearly, we should part here."
"..." An apparent surprise decorated Sean's face. Azhir's clinical speech returned but it lacked the same detachment in previous encounters.
"We tried and because of me, I've merely decreased our chances of success. They'll arrive in a few minutes, so I propose that I leave. I'm more than capable as you've had the displeasure of witnessing. Therefore, any suspicion from you can be cleared. Of course, you'll have to endure questions and specific behaviors you've seen.
"Now, I can either hit you or you can start running. I don't want them assuming we're collaborators."
A fist to the face would display breaking relations and Azhir's desperation for Sean not to point out the direction he fled in. I'd rather not be punched in the face.
"Damn you." Sean lambasted.
"I'm right behind you."
Azhir lingered for a heartbeat then dashed away. Before Sean followed, he peered back and made out the crunching of grass and faint voices.
After cursing under his breath, he trailed Azhir deeper into the forest leaving behind the crushed tent and his own still standing tent.
~
Lily paced anxiously. Kaitlyn hugged herself. The few others murmured among themselves or discussed their own future plans to track Sean and Azhir down.
Zuri glanced in the direction Oleg, Daniel, and Jack went, selectively drowning out the nearby utterances and immersed herself in the conversation.
The three found Tim's body in the vicinity of Sean and Azhir's campsite and were investigating the area for items or other signs leading to a motive. Jack insinuated that the absence of Sean's body meant that most likely, the two were in a conspicuous partnership. Fair enough, I guess. Zuri mused.
"How long is Oleg and Daniel going to take?" Kaitlyn asked Lily in a lowered tone. She merely shook her head, more fretful of Tim's status and her inability to persuade him to not travel down such a reckless and self-destructive path.
Everyone heard the scream mere minutes ago and rushed over. A couple of them strained to catch the noise of fleeing shoes. Much to Oleg's chagrin, Zuri instructed him and two others to outpace and reach the scene.
Presumably, Daniel volunteered because his actual role in hunting down the murderer would equal redemption. Jason's corpse wasn't the first time Lily beheld a deceased husk and regrettably, it certainly wouldn't be her last.
"I'd rather they not find him." Lily preferred to reprimand Tim.
"You two must've gotten a little close elsewhere." Zuri assumed.
"A few times in middle school. After that, we went to different high schools, and I forgot about him until we all came here."
Please Azhir, don't tell me you did it again. Lily begged.
Abruptly, three figures appeared and as they closed the distance, their details and features became more apparent. Leading from the front, Oleg's eyes were downcast.
"What did you two find?" Zuri requested the report as if she hadn't heard the discovery. Oleg gritted his teeth.
"Tim's... dead." The news affected Oleg more than he predicted.
"Azhir and Sean weren't there. One tent is fucked under a tree branch and the other is still standing. Wherever they are... I'm sure their night is going to be uncomfortable." Knowing that they wouldn't rest easy gave Oleg some relief.
Sean's alive? Then... there has to be a reason, right? Azhir didn't just kill Tim because he's a psychopath, right? If that were the case, Sean wouldn't be alive... maybe none of us would be. Lily's mind raced for possible justifications.
"I'd say we've got our culprit so let's start searching for the fucker. That way I can make sure to stuff some shit down his throat. Both of their throats." Oleg's declaration elicited few reactions.
Doubts were on Kaitlyn's face, but she didn't have the stomach to voice them. Who'd want to defend a killer? Regardless of the circumstances that led to Tim's scuffle with Azhir or Sean, she felt betrayed.
"Let's be careful in jumping to conclusions. For all we know, Azhir could be dragging Sean along and Sean could be with him merely to not evoke his wrath. But, since we've got a prime suspect now, let's split into two search parties. We won't be covering much ground but I'd rather everyone stays alive than be picked off.
"This way, we'll prevent more incidents." Zuri shot a look at Oleg.
"You, Daniel, Jack and Reyes. You all will be our powerhouse. Kaitlyn, Lily, Mabel, and I will keep our eyes open and yell if we see anything out of the ordinary." Zuri laid out the operation smoothly.
Why did Azhir kill Tim? Why didn't Sean intervene? I can't let them hurt Azhir... not until I get the truth... not until I can judge his reason.
"Do you have any objections?" Zuri asked politely.
"... No." Lily broke out of her daze.
Zuri smiled and turned her attention to Oleg and the boys to give them additional rules of engagement. Kaitlyn arrived beside Lily and sighed.
"So, Azhir killed Mallory and Jason?"
"I doubt it."
"Then it was Sean?"
"No." Lily shook her head.
"Then why is Tim dead?"
"..." Lily hated not having an answer. The only solace was hope that everything existed as a fabricated illusion that'd be broken sooner or later.
~
The large boulder separated Sean and Azhir's backs from touching. Stars gazing distracted Sean from mourning over the loss of his makeshift shelter and warm sleeping bag.
Briefly, his mind mulled over the unnecessary confrontation and the difficulty increasing because of a lack of discipline, though that wasn't on his part. Tapping his jeans lightly, his head leaned left.
Azhir radiated with acceptance which brought about a strange peace contrary to the current mayhem. No trace of guilt or hatred marred his composure. The silence remained unperturbed.
"Azhir..." Sean stalled before he continued.
"All this... khata mess and you... what happened? No one is born like this. Did... did the program do this to you? Transform you over time into some type of sociopathic monster?"
Biting his tongue, Sean instantly wished to retract those last two words. However, Azhir laughed. That's not an appropriate response. Sean listened intently.
"More or less." Azhir confirmed.
"And what's wrong with being a sociopathic monster? Aren't monsters basically just people that are hard to kill?"
The response failed to relieve any worry from Sean.
"You been to high school before?" Sean asked casually.
"Eh. On and off. I missed at least a month or two a year, but I guarantee I'm smarter than most of my peers." Rather than confidence, Azhir exuded a competitive nature.
"Guessing you didn't graduate then."
"Of course, I did." Azhir gave a defensive response that made Sean chuckle.
"Sorry, I'm not doubting you." Sean straightened his head and continued stars gazing for five minutes while replaying every incident over the past few days. Then he remembered. A khata's sense are enhanced. That's why he knew Tim wasn't with Lily and Kaitlyn. Also...
"You happen to know Lily or Kaitlyn?"
Azhir stiffened and coughed a couple times. He hoped Sean failed to notice his reaction and thankfully, he didn't.
"I know Lily. I've never seen Kaitlyn before."
"Does she know about you?"
"She does but I'm the only khata she's met."
Sean assumed Jason's body didn't warrant an explanation of khatas considering she'd encounter a conflict of interest.
"That means Lily could help us. I'd think because of her foreknowledge, all we'd have to do is inform her that there may be more than just you here. Everything can still work out." Sean explained, excited.
"Let's not include her in our business. I'm guessing they've already got it out for us. Even if Lily were to listen..." Azhir trailed off. Certainty, Lily would lend an ear but there were already too many prime suspects.
"Before... you said you had a gut feeling that Zuri is a khata?"
"I saw a flash of something. If anything, the woman is a good actress. I don't know why she's missing a career in Hollywood."
"Is she the murderer?"
"Possibly a breaking point."
"It could be Oleg you know. He's pretty damn strong."
"That's funny." Azhir scoffed.
"I'll admit Oleg isn't a meathead but there's a reason why most people don't suspect him. For one, the guy wears his emotions on his sleeves. It's mostly anger but you get the point."
"Could it be one of the girls beside Zuri?" Hypothetically, Sean imagined a scenario where Lily killed Jason and Mallory, ignoring the fact that at Mallory's murder, she still resided with Kaitlyn and Tim.
However, he couldn't see her. He conjured everyone's face in his mind, experimenting on viewing them in the act.
In the end, his efforts bore no fruit. Why is it hard for me to imagine someone doing something like that? Sean's own innocence was frustrating.
"No. Especially not my Lily." Azhir covered his mouth as if he could take the words back. The possessiveness there alerted Sean, but he decided to avoid jumping down that rabbit hole.
"She's the last person I'd think of." He reaffirmed. Sean exhaled long and hard then smirked.
"Second times the charm."
"What do you need from your handsome assistant this time?" Azhir joked.
~
Unlike Azhir, Sean's hearing was just like normal people. However, he specifically kept himself still and sifted through ambient noises.
Latching onto chatter, he learned this group contained all males. Among them, none of the important players were present. Azhir should be moving now.
Last night, Azhir theorized they'd be tackled by a disparity of numbers. The first time they aimed for Zuri, catching her by herself presented little challenge. Now, further aggression applied.
"Find her." Sean spoke in a normal tone. No doubt, Azhir heard.
Peering out from trees and bushes, Sean picked up a thick stick and snapped it. The sound of crunching grass and twigs underfoot grew louder.
Satisfied, Sean sprinted, dedicating all power to moving his legs and regulating his breathing. In the third grade when in P.E., he recollected the instructions his teacher gave him on how to breathe when running so as to not pass out. Inhale through your nose. Exhale from your mouth. Hopefully, he'd experience a runner's high a third time in his life.
He slid near a couple of stones and swiped them off the ground. Oleg and the others entered his sight, and he threw the stones like a pitcher. The power of his throw was below average at best, but they got their attention.
"Over here, assholes!"
Sean waved his hands and burst into another sprint.