The wails at the gate intensified till it became uncomfortable.

"There seems to be people banging on the gate. I need to check that out," Lyra said and sprinted off in that direction.

Unanimously the rest of the people followed her to see what the matter was.

Sariel looked at me and I shrugged in indifference. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

I followed them down to the gate though I already knew what the matter was about. I wasn’t in any way curious about it.

It had to be people seeking sanctuary.

We had become a beacon so it was only natural that we attracted attention.

The noise grew as we got closer to the gate. I could see that Lyra was already talking to some of them and gradually the din reduced.

We could see them through the gaps in the gate and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

It was a joyful sight to me though as I revelled in chaos.

The uniform look across the group was fear as they battled the wraiths that encircled them.

Most of them went down even as we watched and it was a bedlam of fear and confusion.

Their faces broke into relief as they saw the rest of us coming towards them.

Perhaps they thought that they were now safe.

I walked closer to where Lyra stood to listen in on her conversation.

"Please open up. We have enough supplies with us, we only need sanctuary... "

ARGHHHH!!!

The next minute, the man was snuffed out quickly by a wraith.

"Open up, goddamnit," Another wild-eyed man screamed, punching the gate with a bloodied fist.

Apparently he had a fire based ability because he launched fireballs at the gate determined to bring it down.

In all the attacks, the gate was sturdy and stood firm.

~WHOOSHHH!~

He was quickly targeted by the wraiths who were drawn to the flare and he went down under their assault.

PLEASE HELP!!!

"Lyra? What do you want to do?" I asked as I saw her trying to open the gate.

"What do you think?"

"Stay back. Don’t open that gate!"

"Are you serious right now. Infact why am I still talking to you," she said then proceeded to continue with what she was doing.

"You heard him, don’t open the gate," Sariel said, stepping forward to confront her.

Sariel surprised me because I wasn’t used to seeing her take the initiative in matters like this.

I was content to see it all play out.

"Jer... Masked Man, call her off," She said, suddenly sounding tired.

She no longer looked like the leader she was rather she appeared to be a girl cowered into a corner by a bully.

"I can’t do that. Besides, she has a mind of her own. Just do what she says and it will be fine."

"But you heard them, they have enough supplies for themselves. They only need sanctuary. They are dying out there."

"Isn’t that right? You guys have supplies right?" She said, turning back to the gate and addressing the crowd outside it.

"Yes we do, we defended ourselves against other groups that tried to attack us earlier and looted them so we have enough resources. We are willing to share too so please open the gate," One of the men pleaded.

"You heard him. Let’s help them out."

"No," I said, refusing to budge from where I stood on the matter.

Seeing that she couldn’t convince me, she turned to the other leaders but they averted their gaze from her.

There were murmurs and arguments from the rest of the people gathered but the general air was that no one was on Lyra’s side.

I saw the growing realization dawn on her.

It was just humans following their basic instinct.

Selfishness out of self preservation.

It was disappointing that she was only now seeing them for who they truly were.

She gasped in disbelief when she saw that she wasn’t getting help from them too.

"You all can’t be serious. You mean you’re just going to let all those innocent people die out there. It could easily be us in their shoes. Think about it."

"They are anything but innocent. Do you think they would think of you if the roles were reversed?" I shot back at her.

She was trying to make us feel guilty but it wasn’t working. Appealing to people’s mercy never worked out in situations like this.

At the moment, it was every man for himself. Also there was the issue that I was against it so naturally they wouldn’t want to offend me.

Yet again, I had won another round.

***

Lyra couldn’t believe that people weren’t siding with her and that they were fine with letting others die.

"I have strayed far from my morals by not exposing Jeremy sooner and now I’m paying the price for my omission," she mused within her as she watched them.

The people now sided with Jeremy and not her, and even the future she saw before was completely different from what was happening now.

She was in the dark just as much as anyone.

She tried to keep her steeze but she broke down into tears.

"Lyra is feeling a bit unwell. Could you carry her to the hospital wing?"

It was Jeremy and she was ready to snap at him. The manipulative bastard was getting a kick out of her misery.

"Stay away from me. I’m perfectly okay," She said with tears streaming down her face.

The wails outside decreased until it died down completely. She realized that it meant that it was all over and they were all gone.

"They are all dead now. Is that what you wanted, Jeremy? When were you going to tell everyone that you are the Hoarder?" She screeched, lunging at him.

She was quickly intercepted by two guys who captured her.

"That’s right. I’ll expose you for the demon you are. I rue the day I met you down in the tunnels."

Nobody listened to her . Instead, they were looking at her with pity as she struggled with the two guys that were leading her away.

She realized that she sounded like a mad woman to them which was why they were unbothered by the accusation.

She took one last look at Jeremy and the lady beside him and spat out in disgust. She was sure that beneath the mask, he was smiling.