"29" :: Chapter- 14

The players remained unaffected to the mishaps. The shutters were up, barely holding the bulls at the side.  Fabrice looked at his team mates  quickly taking up their positions. With a whistle the ball was tossed forward, a team mate leaped forward only to be struck by a knife halfway up in the air. His lifeless body fell on the ground but the ball kept moving, pass by pass, bodies kept falling. The opposition was merely toying with the players. Like a time bomb, the ball blew every player who held it. With exactly 3 players remaining, the cage at the side opened.

The players started running back the crowd became loud. Fabrice eyes widened as the entering bulls made way for rhinos too. The raging animals thumbed the fields making a sound of numerous drums echoing in the empty space. Fabrice ran to the exit to the left with the ground vibrating under him. Inside the narrow pathway , the vibrations still did not stop. It was like they all were following him. All of them. He stormed inside the locker room rushing into the shower area to the right, He hid in the first shower compartment, with a slight view of the outside area. The sounds were increasing gradually and silenced with a quick abruption.

Fabrice took a few steps forward and BANG the hall outside exploded. The bulls, the rhinos and some hippos stormed in the locker room, randomly banging on anything coming ahead. The chaos persisted for a few moments, Fabrice had closed his eyes fearing that the crowd would infiltrate the shower room, but it didn't.

After a while, after ensuring that the silence lasted for more than a minute, Fabrice took out the photo frame he had in his pocket. His face was vaguely visible with a graduation hat. He kept it in and catiously stepped out, tip toeing towards the locker room. He was too afraid to go back to the field. So he headed outside, only to find everything deserted like nothing had ever happened there.

Fabrice stepped out of the black gate and stared at an endless road that extended to the right, all the way, from the underground road. A hand caught Fabrice from the rear end of the neck, an elbow tightened its grip around his neck and a cold blade touched his neck. "You cannot save yourself from an end that awaits you" said the voice.

The man who's face still remained unknown to Fabrice led him to the road ahead and began walking. Fabrice suddenly saw Emilia walking by his side. He looked at Emilia in shock as she smiled at him. That innocent face which hadn't smiled, smiled now. That innocent face, not so innocent after all.