the others

Chapter 4 Run

The night dragged on, and I still couldn't sleep. No matter how hard I tried, I just sat in the corner of the room, replaying the situation from last repeatedly in my head. It felt as if I was the only person in the world until I heard a bunch of noise coming from the living room. I slowly stood up and walked out the door, but before I got into the living room, I peeked my head into the room in front of me where Ahmed and Zara were. Ahmed was laid on the ground. I didn't know if he was sleeping or still in a coma-like state, but either way, he looked peaceful. I know it was terrible to think this, but I wish I were him at that moment.

When I got into the living room, I noticed everyone sitting in a circle whispering, and when they saw me, they stopped immediately. I stepped closer and asked,

"What are y'all talking about?"

My mom turned to me and said,

"It's not important."

I crossed my arms and said,

"So if it's not important, why can't you just tell me?"

Then I looked at Nadene; Nadene could never keep anything from me no matter how hard she tried. Nadene looked at my mom, then back at me, and said,

"Dan told us what happened to you last night; he was worried."

I slowly turned to Dan and screamed.

"Who are you to tell my business? I told you I was fine. Now you're going around telling the entire house something you know nothing about."

Nadene stood up and said,

"Liv, he's just trying to help you."

I whispered to myself,

"I can't do this right now,"

So I just walked out of the house. I could hear my mom screaming,

"where are you going?"

But I didn't turn back. I walked for a few minutes until I met the end of the road, and I- I just started hysterically screaming as loud as I could. My thoughts and mind were spinning. I was so mad, but not just at my mom, Dan, or sister, but I was mad at myself.

Before the world completely turned to shit. I used to run to clear my mind, so that's what I did. My soles felt like they became their own melody, my thoughts became the lyrics, and the wind embraced a calming sound that was my background singer. At that moment, my mind started drifting from running from my anxiety to feeling like I was back at school on the track running. I ran until I couldn't feel my feet, and when I finally stopped, all the regret flooded my body. I knew it was dumb for me to be out by myself, but I couldn't stay in that house any longer either.

I decided to suck up my pride and walk back home until I ran into them, the others. One of them had a girl no older than ten wrapped up in his arms. He tried to throw her into the back of the truck, but she was fighting for her life. Then another man came beside them and stuck the girl with something. it made her pass out. Then he threw her into the back of the van. I was about to run until he turned towards me. I could feel my body tense up. Why was I freezing now? I could see the men point in my direction, which made my brain send a signal to my feet telling me to run. I ran straight into the wood and hid in one of the ditches. I stood there for a few minutes until I heard the man's footsteps. A leaf creaked under him with every step he took until everything stopped. It was like the man was standing right over me, but I couldn't move because if I did, I would have been caught, so I just stood there, not making a sound.

Then out of nowhere, I heard running. It sounded like two animals were fighting for their lives. The fight lasted almost five minutes. Then I heard my name whispered,