“He is controlling them…” Desperately thought Navia, not wanting to hurt innocent people.

  “If you want to kill HIM, you must get rid of his pawns.” The whisper appeared in her head once more.

  “No! I can’t! They are people!” Navia shouted to Sive, sounding like a mad person who had lost their mind. Even in that situation, he couldn’t resist his urge to stop and write that down.

  “Those that look like a person? Or a puppet used by this man…” Navia took a look at the child who was smiling like a madman, not a single thought in his head. “A man that you want to kill... THAT YOU NEED TO KILL.” The whisper changed its tone and commanded Navia.

  Navia suddenly kicked the child who was clinging to her leg, knocking him away. She then quickly grabbed the man with a knife by his arm and pulled him closer for a headbutt to his chin, knocking the man unconscious. The old man and the woman struggled to pin her in place but once she stopped restraining herself she threw the controlled woman over her shoulder into the old man.

  Once Sive finished writing, he saw Navia running toward him, her expression no longer anger or grief. Her eyes were focused on him, and that was all that was on her mind. “Kill him.” Whispered Navia, sending shivers down Sive’s spine.

  “GET AWAY FROM ME!” Sive shouted desperately as he spread his arms to both sides and pulled them to his chest as if he were dragging something. Suddenly, two more people flew to the center of the stage between Sive and Navia. The two men raised their arms, ready to punch the oncoming Navia.

  The first man was kicked with a knee to his stomach, making him vomit on the spot and fall to his knees. The other man threw himself at Navia, trying to tackle her. She effortlessly avoided him and pushed him so he would hit the ground much harder. As she thought that her path was clear, she heard as if an army was marching right beside her.

  The whole crowd jumped off the stands from both sides. The first people were sacrificed for a softer landing for the next ones who jumped down. A massive crowd of people quickly flooded the stage.

  Without much thinking, Navia punched the young man who was in her way straight in the jaw; the next person was struck with an elbow to the throat. She continued fighting her way to Sive, except the people didn’t attack her. All of them were standing still, looking in random directions.

  “You can’t hide!” Shouted Navia, pushing and shoving people out of her way forward, looking for the Drowned in unusual clothing compared to all the citizens of the shelter.

  “Good actor know how to blend in with the crowd.” All the people said at the same time, only their mouths moving.

  Navia slowed down to listen to the crowd and understood that running around wouldn't help her. In the moment of silence, she heard her blood dripping down to the ground.

  “If I don’t do something I’m going to bleed out…” Navia ripped the sleeve of her shirt and wrapped it around her wounded arm, using the other sleeve to wrap the wound on her leg.

  As she was taking care of her wounded leg, she heard footsteps behind her. Looking back, she saw a woman with a raised hand to punch her in the back of the head. Navia swept her legs and knocked the woman with one punch to the face.

  “Hey! Stop breaking my dolls!” The whole crowd shouted at the same time, making Navia cover her ears from the loud noise.

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  “They are not dolls! They are…” Navia wanted to argue with the madman but the whisper came back to her mind “Kill him.”

  At that sound, she turned to her left and began sprinting. She saw his hat between the people, trying to cover himself with them. While she was focused on finding him, another person extended his arm to slow her down and then grabbed her, trying to stop her.

  Navia raised her arm, and with all her strength, she hit the man in the arm with her elbow. The noise of his bone snapping was heard throughout the whole tent; the whole crowd let out a surprised gasp except for the man, who fell flat to the ground.

  Continuing her run, once she saw the bowler hat close to her, she took one long step and took her fist back, taking another long step, she extended her arm and threw a straight punch to the face. The body tumbled through the ground and stopped right in front of an old woman, a single tear falling from her face.

  Navia realized that she had punched the wrong person, it was a young man with blond hair, the exact opposite of Sive. The man’s face swelled from the punch he had received with a tooth right by his nose.

  “He should be here. I felt it.” Thought Navia, while lost in her thoughts, didn’t see what was right beside her. She barely saw the object as it hit her in the face. Blood from her mouth splattered to the ground.

  Sive stood right by her without his cloak and hat with a wooden cane covered with dark blood. As she threw a punch toward him, another person jumped to his aid and blocked the attack with their chest. The ribcage of the young construction worker caved in. As he fell to the ground, Navia lost sight of the wicked Sive.

  “He barely started his first work.” An old woman with the young man under her feet said, looking at Navia.

  She turned around to face her, disbelief and sorrow in Navia’s wide-open eyes. Her gaze then quickly moved to another citizen who spoke “Picked a job at a young age to help his poor family.” Said a man with a bushy black beard, standing sideways but turning his head to look at Navia.

  “Now he won’t be able to help his family.” Said an elderly woman in a simple grey dress, tears falling down onto the body of a young builder. His chest wasn’t moving as his heart stopped beating. “You killed him.”

  “No… No…” Whispered Navia, looking at the body of the young builder in disbelief. The whisper continued to ring in her head, “Kill him.” and the two thoughts collided and repeated in her head, “No. Kill him. No. Kill him. No! Kill him! NO! NO! NO!” Navia fell to her knees and let out a scream; the sound slowly changed and her pitch changed from a scream of sorrow to the scream worthy of a banshee. The high-pitched sound vibrated through the heads of nearby people, blood started coming out of their ears and eyes, and they fell dead to the ground.

  “Did you all see that?! She is a monster! No better than me!” Sive shouted, hidden between the people he controlled. The people were resisting Drowned power, but once another monster appeared, their thoughts changed, and all of them had mixed feelings. No one was sure of what to do about all of it, giving Sive more space to control them.

  Sive brought his hands close to his chest, lifting and moving his fingers as if threads were attached to them. “Defend your families!” Shouted the mad director, and two old men with muscles built after years of hard labor ran from the crowd toward Navia.

  “Don’t get close… Stay away!” Desperately shouted Navia as she used her legs to push herself away from the running puppets. Waving her hands, trying to push them away with invisible force.

  “They are no longer resisting his power… You know what that means? They want you dead.” The whisper informed Navia, and as if the whisper had its own body, it pointed Navia’s gaze at the men’s eyes. There was no sorrow behind them, they wanted her dead.

  “You’re lying…” Answered Navia, her voice and body trembling.

  “Want to stay alive?” The whisper asked but Navia didn’t answer, she was looking at the ground, lost in her thoughts. “Or do you want to break the promise you made with your husband?” Added the whisper.

  “No…” Navia answered very silently, trying to imagine Taizen by her side, expecting his voice to come next but her husband remained silent.

  “Or have you forgotten about your daughter back home?” The whisper asked, getting a response from Navia of a sudden twitch of her body. The memories overrun her head, memories she didn’t remember an hour ago. Now, all of them were clear as day.

  “How could I forget her name… Emma…” Navia whispered in disbelief, tears running down her face.