“Kelly? Kelly!” A familiar voice surrounded me as I felt warmth creep into my flesh. “Please, open your eyes. Look at me.”
Every inch of my body felt heavy as I tried to move. I wanted to let my companion know I was okay, but I couldn’t do anything except listen to the soothing voice as he coaxed me into waking.
“Please, sweetheart. Do this for me.”
After a few moments of silence, I complied. My eyelids felt like weights were settled on them as I did so. I sucked in a deep breath as the air filled my lungs, stinging.
“Thank God,” he whispered, lightly placing a kiss on my forehead. The gentle brush of his lips against my cool flesh made me gasp. A small smile curved his lips upward as he gazed down on me. “I’m so glad I found you.” He ran his knuckles down my cheek as he spoke, his eyes dancing. When he saw how shaken up I was, he slightly pulled away, confusion sparkling in his pretty eyes. “What’s wrong?”
My heart twisted as I saw the worry there. “Darkness…” I whispered, shivering at the memory. “I was taken by darkness.”
“Taken?”
I nodded, not meeting his eyes. “Pain captured me as I tried to get away. I thought…” I trailed off as a whimper came forth.
“You thought what?” my boyfriend asked after a moment, when he was sure I wasn’t going to say anymore.
“I thought you guys left me.” My voice shook as a few tears ran down my flushed cheeks.
“I would never leave you.”
I was about to reply when screams suddenly cut through the night. Daniel pulled me to my feet seconds before we took off running towards where our classmates where presumably. He led the way as we ran, his hand clutching mine. Everything that happened earlier was at the back of our minds as we raced through the forest.
I heard a loud screech ahead and flinched back, making Daniel stumble, but he didn’t stop. I tightened my hold on his hand, which was growing slippery. My breathing was quickly becoming ragged, my heart pounding faster the farther we went.
By the time we stopped, I was aching everywhere. I fell to my hands and knees, gasping. My chest was hurting extremely badly, and I felt dizzy. I closed my eyes, hoping to make the world stop spinning.
“Kelly?”
I felt nice warm hands on my back, his voice at my ear as he spoke. I was afraid to move so I stayed still, letting my heart slowly slow down.
“Hey,” he said, gathering my hair out of my face. “Are you okay, sweetheart?”
After a moment went by I slowly sat back, leaning against Daniel. He wrapped his arms around my waist as I did so. Silence hung around us like a drape. My ragged breathing were almost gasps; each breath I took racked my body, making Daniel hold me tighter.
“Are you okay?” he repeated after several minutes went by.
“Yeah,” I rasped, repositioning myself to where I could lay my cheek against his chest. “I’m fine.”
“Listen, I’m-”
“We should go,” I interrupted. “Whatever was here could always come back, and I don’t want to be here when it does.”
“Yeah,” he replied. “You’re right.” Daniel studied me for several minutes, his eyes sparking with something unknown to me. “Why do you look so scared?”
“I’m not,” I said, a hint of a snort in my voice.
“If you say so.”
I glared at him, and Daniel held up his hands as if in mock surrender. I shook my head and rolled my eyes; turning on my heels, I began to walk away. “You don’t always have to be right,” I said over my shoulder. “Just because I look scared doesn’t mean I am.”
“I know that,” he responded. I glanced back at him, surprised that he was close behind me. I faltered, stepping on a branch; I flinched as it made a loud cracking sound, as if a gun shot went off. I quickly moved from that spot, reaching for my boyfriend. “You know we’re safe, right? You don’t have to do all of that.”
“You must know deep down that we’re nowhere near safe.”
He didn’t reply.
“Hey,” I said suddenly, “what happened back there? When I got back to our ‘camp’ no one was there.”
“That’s because everyone scattered,” he said calmly as if it was totally normal. “A few girls heard some noises so me and a few other guys went to check it out, but when we got back everyone was gone. We had heard a few screams before, but didn’t think anything of it.”
“Screams?”
He nodded as if that was answer enough.
I stared at him, processing everything he said. I didn’t understand why anyone of our classmates would leave the designated spot unless something awful happened.
“Kelly?” he asked, noticing the way my expression changed to wonder. “What’s going through that pretty little head of yours?”
“What could have happened to them,” I replied as my heart began to speed up. Honestly, that thought was driving me crazy. What in hell could have happened?
“What do you have?”
“I don’t know,” I said after a few minutes. “But it’s nothing good.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” I murmured. “In my mind’s eye nothing is good.”
“Let’s keep walking,” he said, taking my arm and leading me.
“You don’t feel safe now?”
He glanced at me as if trying to assess if I was being sarcastic or not. After a moment he must have decided the latter because Daniel replied, “A little.”
“A little?” I asked. “Wouldn’t that be code for afraid?”
“Shut up,” he answered just shy of a snap.
“Hey, I was being serious. No sarcasm around here.”
“Wow, this must be serious then. You’re putting all of your attention on it.”
“Our lives could be in danger,” I snapped. “Aren’t you worried of that?”
He shrugged, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Not really. After all, you are an amazing fighter; you could protect us.”
“Quit joking around.”
“Actually, I was being quite serious on that amazing fighter part. You can hold your own in one.”
“Well, thanks, but not the time.”
“Fine,” he grumbled.
“Thanks. So what are we going to do now?”
“You’re the genius, you tell me.”
I pondered that over, my mind weaving possible scenarios. While I was thinking, a brisk breeze washed over my already tingling flesh. I was freezing. I bit down on my lip as goose bumps raced across my skin, my fingers going numb.
“First of all, we need fire,” I said, shivering. My teeth rattled together and I winced; I could taste the bitterness of fresh blood in my mouth. Noticing this Daniel wrapped me in his embrace, instantly chasing away the goose bumps.
“Okay, fire, and then what?”
“I don’t know.” I hated voicing those words, but it was true. I had no idea what was going to happen. I didn’t know if we were going to live or die, and I don’t like it.
“Damn,” he muttered, pulling away from me and slipping off his leather jacket. He placed it on my shoulders, and almost immediately I could feel my flesh warming up. “You stay here. I’ll be back.”
“But what if you don’t come back?” I whined. “What if something happens again?”
He stared at me, defeat starting to flare in his eyes as he said, “Alright, you can come with me.”
“I don’t need permission. I was only saying. Besides that, wouldn’t it be easier to have some help?”
“No,” he said immediately.
I pulled his jacket closer to me, watching him intently. Daniel met my steady gaze, and I almost flinched away. What I saw there was the most heartbreaking thing ever. I could see the all-power
ful love he felt for me, as well as, the fear of losing me. I felt a piece of my heart break the more our gazes stayed locked.
For a few moments, I couldn’t speak. I was stuck speechless. Some words formed in my mind, but nothing came out as I tried to voice them. All I could do was simply stare into those emotion filled eyes. I was unable to tear away from the depths of them, so I just stood there, letting his emotions wash over me.
A roar suddenly sounded, shattering the moment. At the same time we looked in the direction it came. I was prepared for a bear or something, but not what I saw. A six-foot monster came barreling towards us, its teeth as sharp as razors as it roared again, flashing them at us. I took a few steps backward, my eyes never straying from the beast. Its fur was an extremely dark charcoal, its eyes a crimson beady red. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it.
Daniel, always the one to take action first, grabbed me, pulling me backwards as we took off running in the opposite direction. I could hear the beast’s furious scream as it charged after us. We barreled through the woods, snapping tree branches, crunching leaves. I winced every time there was a loud crack, knowing the beast could hear it and be lead directly to us. My hand slipped out of my boyfriend’s as I stumbled; I reached out to grab Daniel’s hand again, but found nothing.
I screamed suddenly as I tripped over a peeking branch, falling and tumbling down a hill. I tried to grasp something to stop myself, but everything I grabbed only came out of the earth. I hit the bottom with a thud, intense pain flaming throughout my entire body. I was dazed for a few minutes. I stayed where I was until the spinning stopped. After a moment, I carefully stood up, wiping my bleeding hands on my jeans.
I glanced around, causing icy pain to flit through me. I closed my eyes tightly, willing it to go away. When I opened them again, I instantly realized that I was alone.
Daniel was nowhere in sight.
Somehow we must have gotten separated, but how? My heart hammered at this realization. I tried to picture where he could be, but nothing came to me. I pulled out my cell phone, my eyes traveling the screen until I found what I was looking for.
No signal.
I sighed as I read those two words again and again. Damn it. That isn’t going to get me anywhere. I shook my head and snapped my phone closed, returning it back to my pocket. I assessed my surroundings, trying to locate somewhere where I could be safe for a while.
Unable to find anything that wasn’t on the ground, I began walking. My legs were screaming its protest, but I ignored the pain. I had to get somewhere safe-I couldn’t just stay in one place and be bait. So I kept on trekking towards the unknown, knowing it’s much safer. I let my hands brush the grass in the areas it was tall, letting the nice cool graze wash over my fingertips. All the while my eyes darted, looking for any signs of danger.
I went on like that, watching as the black night soon turned into a light dawn. I was quickly growing tired, my vision beginning to blur with sleepiness. A yawn split my lips and I paused, letting myself fall to the ground as I tried to sit. I didn’t bother looking around me as I found a place under a tree and laid down, letting sleep curl within me as I drifted off.