Celia Thorpe

Step number two

Ok, so I have a quick question.

My story has somehow climbed to #26 in the tag youngwritersshortstory out of like 1.5 k books.

HOW.

I have less reads and votes than a lot of the others.

IT MAKES NO SENSE!

I mean, I'm not complaining, just very confused.

Anyway, on with the story. (Soz about all the POV changes.)

Celia's heart pounded in her chest. The woodlands cast dark shadows everywhere and every tree trunk seemed to loom ominously above her. Besides her, someone stepped on a twig. Celia jumped about five feet into the air.

"Fuck!" She whisper-shouted.

"Sorry," came the sheepish reply from Ajax.

They were well into the depths of the woods now, and thick fog concealed any familiar sights. Enid stopped, peering up through the trees.

"Oh. It's a full moon. Shit."

Xavier groaned.

"Great. What do we do?"

"Enid and I can go by ourselves. If I take my hat off, and make sure I don't run into you, then anyone who sees me won't be a threat. And Enid beat a Hyde. Nothing's gonna get past her."

Enid nodded in agreement. Xavier was skeptical.

"You sure that's safe?"

"Positive. Well, fairly sure." Ajax said.

"Ok. When four hours is up, meet us back outside the school. If you're even ten minutes late, either if you, we'll sound the alarm."

"Ok. See you soon."

Enid and Ajax wandered off in opposite directions. The wood suddenly felt a whole lot more deserted. Celia felt a shiver run down her spine.

"Xavier, I don't like this," she said.

"Me neither, but would you rather be on the receiving end of a Kruger attack, or on the receiving end of an angry Bianca?"

"Let's keep going."

Ajax's POV:
Ajax felt very insecure without his hat on- the snakes on his head writhed about, enjoying their freedom.

"Shut up, guys." Ajax scolded them. Sulkily, the snakes flopped down onto his head.

Ajax's breath trembled. He'd walked far away from the others, and the silence seemed even more smothering. Ajax checked his watch. They'd been out for longer than he thought. Only one hour left! Motivated by the thought, Ajax walked even quicker.

Ajax knew he wasn't too far away from the school, when something caught his eye. A glint of moonlight shining in something. Cautiously, Ajax entered the clearing. He gagged.

The moon cast a silver beam on a tree stump. On which, a young girl lay, not breathing. Her torso was marred by a single, bloody gash. When Ajax got close, his eyes filled with tears. He clearly recognised the missing girl, Lucy Hurst. (Gross alert). Her chest was a gaping hole. Broken ribs glistened partially white amongst all the blood. Her heart had been torn out, leaving strands of tissue everywhere. Her lungs were visible either side of the hole and torn arteries still spewed blood all over her body like a set of broken water pipes.

Ajax gagged again, before retching into the grass. Tears were streaking down from his eyes. That poor girl. Steeling himself, Ajax picked her up.

Still blinking back tears, trying his hardest to not look at Lucy Hurst, Ajax walked back to the school, with half an hour left on the clock.

Ok so this is shorter than I intended but it's Xmas Eve and I wanted to get one more quick chapter out for u. Also my sister downloaded Wattpad and is now reading this. I'm thrilled. Absolutely dancing for joy.

Anywho, Merry Christmas!!!

From Sophie.