My Muse || READER X RAY || The Promised Neverland

🔒 My Muse || Chapter Forty Two

"Jump!" Emma cried from the front of the group. The crunching of leaves underneath our feet were silent for a split second as we gracefully hopped over a protruding tree root. Well, all except one. Jemima tumbled to the ground. I cursed under my breath, scooping her up in my arms. I placed her head on my shoulder. "Don't look at it!" I yelled. "Just pretend it's a game of tag!" 

Don and Emma moved towards the left, while Gilda moved towards the right. They lifted their arms signaling the divide. Gilda tossed her lantern to Don, who shook it loudly. "Over here! Demon!" Don called, provoking the monster. Gilda's group quickly ducked to the right, hiding behind a tree. Just like tag. Thank god this jungle was so gnarled and jagged. The monster had trouble keeping up with us, and right in front of us was a familiar grove of enticing thin trees. 

"The vine pit!" I yelled, in between breaths. Though it was distant, it was reachable. "Head towards there!"

Ray immediately rejected the idea. "We can't run with everyone!" I started to notice the growing fatigue of the children. Though they were fast, their breaths were growing thin too quickly. "Ray, take Jemi! I'll go!" "But y/n, your leg!" Emma cried. "I'm fine! I can do it!" I fought my own stinging lungs. Emma was right, though my leg was fine, running this much at this speed took it's toll. My right knee still throbbed from the pain, along with the pain on the left side of my head that's been raging ever since we left. 

Ray laughed loudly. The monster seemed to be aggravated by this and started to run faster. I could feel it's breath on my neck. "You're both crazy if you think I'm letting either of you take a hit." Ray quickly sped up, overtaking Don, Emma and the pack of tired children. "Give me the lantern and run left." He said. "I was always the better one at tag, right?" Don hissed, throwing the metal lantern to Ray and diverting the group behind a cluster of trees. 

"Go find Gilda! I'll see you again!" He shouted. 

We stumbled behind a tree, the demon ignoring us. It headed straight for Ray. 

The creature was a disgusting black lump with frog like feet. It's mouth was nearly half it's face, waved of razor sharp teeth grinding back and forth. The beast had dried blood smeared all over it's carcass, thousands of wriggling beady eyes focused on Ray. It was something I'd never seen before. But it felt so familiar at the same time. Jemima climbed out of my arms. I didn't realize that I had fallen. She was shaking me, her hands on my shoulder. 

"y/n! y/n!" Huh? Was that Jemima? It didn't sound like her. Wait! What if the monsters come back? I have to protect them. I have to protect my family. Emma rushed to my side, her orange hair bouncing as she propped me up on a tree. Her voice was muffled, the moonlight between the treetops growing brighter and brighter. Was Ray taking a picture? Did I drop the pen? 

"She's burning up!"

I saw Anna's light blond hair peak out from the corner of my eyes. Gilda's group is here. Thank god. "The wound on her ear opened up. She's losing too much blood."

A woman was calling my name. It wasn't Emma, or Gilda. She was screaming my name. Crying. 

Beyond the concerned group of people surrounding me, I saw a figure standing on a small bed of flowers. Was it her? Was she the one calling my name? 

Gilda stepped towards her, looking quite fierce. The person smiled, holding a lantern of her own.

The yelling grew louder and louder.

It was from my nightmares. "I'll give you anything. She has to live. She has to change the world. I can't. She has to do it for me. For them." 

Another being, replied in a soft robotically toned voice. "Even your soul ?"

The woman scoffed. "If that's the price." 

I closed my eyes. My backpack was taken off and an arm shifted underneath my leg and behind my back. My head leaned on a broad chest, but it didn't smell like Ray. My head hurt. My leg hurt. I was tired and hungry. If I was home, I would be in bed. I could go downstairs for a drink of water, or find Ray and give him hugs. But I didn't have a home anymore. Nor did I feel like I had Ray. 

I felt a tear slip down my face. 

And then I felt nothing at all.