Red Circles

12

3 am
I've made it 10 sprints from the playground, leaving Ryan and Ever to tend to Micayla, when my foot catches on something, sending me crashing to the ground. I curse, struggling to get back up. Come on, come on I think, I need to get up and get a signal! In my struggle to get up I don't notice the sudden change in air. It's gone quiet. Very quiet. No sound meets my ears. Nothing other than the pounding of my heart and the ragged raspy breath. Wait, that's not my breath. I whip around, my own breath catching in my throat. Nothing there's nothing there. You're just imagining thing's Harlow! Come on, you're better than this! My heart is pounding at a thousand miles an hour. My breath quickly catching up. All of a sudden everything is very cold. My hands are slick with sweat, wait no, is that blood? I can't feel my feet. My stomach is turning and churning in circles. My brain starts to buzz, a ringing in my ear is blocking out everything left. Icy chills sprint up and down my aching back. My eyes are darting everywhere searching but not really seeing. Then , the stench hits my nose. Stale old burnt out smoke. Suffocating my lungs. Burning out my nostrils. I gag and go to throw up to stop the churning in my stomach, wet, slick liquid spews all over the pavement. Oh my gosh! Did I just puke blood!? I don't know anymore what's real and what's not, all I know is my heart is pounding, my hands are shaking, and everything is spinning. I can feel myself slipping, feeling my body become heavier and heavier. No, NO, no I must not pass out! I need to get up! What about Micayla! She needs me. She needs me! Think brain, think! What would she do? What would Micayla do in a situation like this? I have no Idea how on earth she is staying awake through something like this. But, wait! My vision is clearing, and things are starting to come back into view. I can see my bloody scraped up hands and feel my legs again. They might be trembling and my hands may be throbbing, but I can definitely feel them there! My breath is slowing, so is my heart. I might make it! I might just make it. It hasn't been too long has it? I can still get up and get help. My breathing has slowed, only why does it still sound so fast and heavy? That's when I hear it. Again, not my breathing. I look forward to it. From my spot on the ground I see it. Standing in front of me, it's big and tall, towering over me. Slowly I raise my eyes, up the long black body. I shut my eyes silently praying it's Arlin here to help. But it's as if my body already knows. It's not Arlin, the body is too slim and too bent to truly be human. I slowly open my eyes. I look up and shudder. There it is. Standing in the moonlight. Lighting up its ugly, horrifying face. I look into those dark black eyes, groping for any sign of kindness, or mercy. Alass, there is none. The last thing I see are its glittering teeth, pointed perfectly shining hungrily down at me.
"Goodbye Harlow." It croons in a deep raspy voice, rumbling deep and terrifyingly through my bones as it brings a large, old rusty, red fire extinguisher down on my head. CRACK! The world fades to black and so to I.