The Monster [H.S.]

Chapter 31

1 MONTH LATER

"Pack your scarves and your mittens, pack your rabbits and your kittens! Pack your scarves and your mittens, follow me!"

Song danced through the streets and the smell of hotdogs and fresh meat filled my nostrils. The sun shone highly in the sky and not a cloud was in sight.

Rome.

It was beautiful. Every building was majestically unique and every pebble was flawlessly angled. It was beautiful. Dead flowers lay carelessly on the ground with smashed plant pots surrounding them but it didn't matter because I knew they had been beautiful in life.

We had relocated here a couple of weeks ago after Intrinsecus around the globe began to hear about what I was. Intrinsecus from all over the world; Russia, New Guinea, Greenland, were all coming for one reason and that was to kill me. They didn't know who I was or if I had family or how I got into the situation, they just labelled me as an enemy and preyed on me. Paul tells me I could have killed them all, I could wipe the whole population out if I wanted but I'm not strong enough and I don't want to be strong enough. Death is inevitable with that kind of power.

I stood from my chair that overlooked everything that occurred and 8 men who surrounded me also stood.

"It's fine boys, I'm just going to the bathroom." I smile sarcastically.

"Elliot, escort the Prophecy to the bathroom." James says, who is the leader of team A: the most highly skilled assassins in the Terrebitial army.

"James, for the thousandth time, my name is Annabelle. Elliot, if you dare escort me to the bathroom I'll form a forcefield around you so no one will ever be able to come within 10 feet of you, and I'll lock you in a room where you'll starve to death and still never have any contact with anything, understand?"

"Understood." Elliot nods to which James grabs him by the back of the neck and slams his head forward, bashing it against my chair and he slumps to the ground.

"Alexander, take Annabelle to the bathroom, right now."

I stand and watch in horror as blood seeps unstoppably from Elliot's head. He only looked a couple of years older than me.

Alexander grabs my arm and pulls me forward away from Elliot's limp body and I'm too traumatised to disagree.

"He's not dead. He still has his heart." Alexander reassures me but the image is ironed into my brain. I wish I would stop feeling such pity and disappointment every time someone was killed or hurt in front of me, but each time hurts more than the last.

Alexander stops and takes his hands behind his back and looks to the ground. I look at him questioningly and look to my right to see the bathroom. I would thank him but I'm not sure what for and I just don't really want to.

I open the bathroom door and step inside. It's a portable bathroom and I have about an inch of space to move around. I stand on the edges of the toilet seat and pull the window open, quietly climbing out and standing upright against the stall.

"I can hear you, Annabelle. You have 20 minutes before I have to report back and inform James about what you were doing." Alexander shouts from the other side of the stall. I almost laugh but I don't. Harry's the only one that can make me laugh and he's avoided me for over a month.

I run forward into the small forest and just run. I run over leaves and jump over fallen branches, passing different kinds of animals I never knew existed. As I'm running I look to my left and see a deer, the most beautiful and elegant one I have ever laid eyes on. They are almost extinct back in Virginia, and seeing one so beautiful and so up close makes me stop, and I grab a branch for support. I lean further forward to admire its beauty and a twig under my foot cracks, the idyllic animal bounding away faster than I can react. I sigh and look away but a glimmer catches my eye. I look back to where the deer once stood and sea clear blue water in the distance. I walk forward slowly, inspecting my surroundings. I've done this same run everyday for the last 15 days and I have never seen water amongst the forest.