I hate Exam week!! Anyways, here's chapter 16!

Chapter: 16

It was already night. Stranger, along with Ima's siblings, had just finished tending to the Grubbs' wounds. He walked out of the Grubb city and took a little stroll in the forest.

For some reason he couldn't stop thinking about Ima. He wanted to forget about her, but he just couldn't. His heart began to ache even more just by thinking about her. Soon, he was haunted by memories of her. Memories of when she was just Mysti to him.

Flashback

It was night and the bright moon was high in the sky. Stranger and Mysti were standing over a wooden bridge. "So, do you really love me, Stranger?" Mysti asked, resting her head on his shoulder. "Of course, Mysti." He answered back, resting his head on hers.

"You won't hurt me in any way will you, Stranger?"

"What are you talking about? Of course, I won't hurt you."

"Even if I do something bad?"

"Even though, I'll still love you."

"Is that so?"

"You bet." Stranger answered back, happily. Mysti smiled at him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Thank you so much!" She whispered to him. After that, she walked away.

When she started walking away, Stranger began to rummage through his pockets. Finally he found what he was looking for and called her. "Mysti! I got something for you!" He called to her.

She turned to him and walked back to him. "What is it, Stranger?" She asked.

"Close your eyes. I got a surprise for you."

"Alright, then." She said, closing her eyes. Soon, she felt something being wrapped around her neck. "What are you doing, Stranger?"

"If you want to know, then open your eyes now."

"Alright." She opened her eyes and noticed a necklace hanging around her neck. "For me?" She asked, blushing.

"Yup."

"That's so sweet. I'll think of it as a symbol of the love between us." She hugged him. "I'll never take this off."

Flashback ends

He sighed after reminiscing about her. "She still has the necklace." He thought. Clouds started coming overhead. It wasn't before long that it started to rain. He decided to walk back to the Grubb city.

On his way back, the rain began to pour harder and harder. He was almost there. All he had to do was cross the bridge, leading back to the city. And it was the same bridge where he gave the necklace to Mysti.

When he finally reached the bridge, he noticed something or someone there. It was Mysti, or now Ima, standing at the bridge. Since it was raining, he couldn't tell if she was sad or not. He was also quite surprised that she was able to survive that crash. His mind and heart constantly fought with each other. He couldn't make up his mind of what to do right now.

His heart told him to go to her. She was probably very sad and needed some comfort. However, his mind disagreed. His mind told him to just leave her. Who cares what happened to her in the past? She was very selfish, and was willing to do anything to get back at Sekto. He and the Grubbs were very hurt because of her.

Despite the heavy pounding of his heart and the urge to go talk to her again, he decided to take the longer walk back to the city and avoid any contact with her. He thought if he walked away now, she wouldn't be able to notice him.

Ima, on the other hand, noticed him ever since. At first, she was oblivious to his presence, but when she heard him walking, she was very excited. Then she quickly realized that he was walking away from her, not towards her. She began to cry. She turned to his direction and saw him walking away. Like Stranger, her mind argued with her heart.

Her heart told her to call out to him because she was very sorry and wanted his forgiveness. She wanted to start over again and explain the whole thing. But her mind disagreed. Her mind told her that she should just let him go. He's obviously mad at her for using him and putting harm on the Grubbs.

And like Stranger, she began to walk away in the opposite direction of him, despite the pounding of her heart. She still wore the necklace he gave to her. She held the pendant of the necklace. It had the shape of a heart and was decorated with beautiful jewels. "It's the symbol of the love between us." She thought. "Sadly, that love doesn't seem to exist anymore."

She took off the necklace and ran back to the home where she and Stranger used to live together in. It took her a few hours to get there, since she wanted to avoid any Grubb seeing her.

When she finally got to the house, she could hear loud banging and crashing coming from inside. She noticed that those loud crashes came from the second floor of the house, and probably in her former room. She dared not to go inside. She could tell that it was Stranger. She silently climbed up a tree that stood near the house. It had sturdy branches that could reach the bedroom window.

From the branches, she peered into window. She was quite shocked to see what Stranger was doing in the bedroom. He destroyed anything that belonged to her. She could sense his anger and hatred towards her.

His rampage lasted for only several minutes. Then he left the bedroom, which was now completely destroyed. He didn't even notice Ima outside the window.

When the coast was clear, she quietly entered the room without making any loud noises. She was very heart broken to see what he had done. All her clothes were torn to pieces. Even photos of when they were still together were torn apart. "I guess it's really over between us." She thought, looking at the necklace. "I don't really deserve this anymore." She took off her hat and placed the necklace inside it. She tucked the hat under the pillow and left the room. "Good Bye, Stranger." She said, softly.

See you in chapter 17! Sorry if there are any typos. I was sort of rushing!