Secrets | TMR | One

4:0

A/N This chapter starts from before the end of the last one (if that makes sense)

Also... there's gore. Well, I don't think it's gory, but you might so yea... warning about that.

And mention of suicidal thoughts?? I mean, it's not really suicidal thoughts, it's more like... just being done with life's shit, ya know?
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It is half-past ten. The doors have only been closed for three hours, and already, Adeline has lost count of how many Grievers she has had to outrun and outsmart.

Her feet throb from constantly smacking against the slabs. The bases acting as tiny pincushions for every stone that lodges its way into her worn-out trainers.

Every muscle in her body screams for the girl to stop. For her to finally give up the fight. To hunch down on the ground in one of the many corridors, and await whatever may come her way.

And slowly, her mind begins to convince itself that this may be the only option.

She is tired, her body feeling no less than utterly depleted from doing nothing but run for her life, with only the reflection of the moon against the walls to guide her path.

Adeline just wants some peace. She just wants to feel...

Calm.

So, finally, she listens to the words and sentences that are swirling around in her brain.

Her run turns into a jog, which slowly turns into a dawdle. With both arms swinging on either side of her body, Adeline keeps her head bowed down, struggling to keep her tired eyes open as she stumbles around in the maze.

But as she rounds the last corner, her eyes are too focused on the ground in front of her, and her mind is too consumed by the thought that this may be her last night alive, that she fails to notice the figure sitting by the wall at the end of the corridor.

She tries to keep her footfalls quiet, but the girl finds that she just does not have the energy for such a task anymore. 

She is simply done.

Adeline stops just by one of the many ivy-coated walls, feeling as though this is as good a spot as any to sit down and take a well-needed - and well deserved - rest. 

Her body turns and collapses down against the brick, her back sliding down the stone. The cracks and dents in the wall grip onto her shirt, dragging it up as she drops down.

But Adeline does not care.

She is too lost in her own mind. Too caught up in the thoughts of her life, her choices, her regrets.

With her brain swirling full of memories, Adeline finds herself gasping for breath. Her right hand flying up to cover her mouth as she attempts to silence the harsh sobs escaping from the bottom of her throat.

Thick tears bead together, dribbling from the bottom of her eyes and creating a steady stream of warm liquid running down her face, splitting and separating as they reach the top of her hand.

Us three and the beach.

Those are the five words that spring to mind when she thinks about her current circumstances.

Adeline is not ready to die, she still has so much that she would like to do.

Like, visit the beach. Feel the grains beneath her toes while she wiggles them on the sand, and the gentle breeze, lifting and twirling her hair as she closes her eyes and stands right in its path.