RUN

SCENE SEVEN (MEG)

Apparition - Weapon - Affect

The haunting melody of the Huntress echoed through the darkened woods. Her presence was marked by a pulsating crimson glow that seemed to beat around her like a heart. The branch beneath me crackled like brittle bones, and I knew it was only a matter of time before it betrayed me.

With the Huntress swaggering away, an axe gripped tightly in her hand, I slid down the decaying branch, my descent hastened by the ever-present threat that she would hear me. As I approached the ground, her red glow faded, and a disorienting rush of neon lights flickered in my vision. I tried to head back towards Jessica but my tracks to the barn were lost, I had lost my footing along with my mind.

I blinked away another aching headache bringing with it the dissonance of laughter - once it faded, my eyes caught sight of a weathered chest, nestled against a gnarled tree. With a sense of resigned determination, I darted towards it, the idea of the unknown within would be nothing compared to the current threats I faced.

As the rusty lock yielded without resistance, I cautiously lifted the lid, revealing the contents within; A weapon—an ancient crossbow accompanied by two arrows.

RESOLUTION
I took hold of the crossbow and stowed away the arrows at the back of my shorts. 

I could only hope Hunter was able to free Jessica... I hoped Tyler was alive and better yet, not caught in this dreadful nightmare. Determination coiled in my stomach, I would do anything to get back to him.

Images slithers into my mind; with all the maddening noise I can't tell what is real and what isn't - but this feels like a memory laced in truth.

As the mental fog lifted momentarily, I found myself behind the wheel, Tyler's hand resting on my thigh. I feel laughter on my tongue, happiness intoxicating around us.

Jessica and Hunter occupied the backseat with their slobbering kisses and occasional bickering.

This was a celebration, a vacation to mark the end of our highschool year, the end of the football season, the beginning of the cheer competitions for Jessica - but it wasn't just that.

No, I felt it was more. More than an escape, more than a group gathering before we all headed off to college.

I pushed deeper in an attempt to unravel the memory.

I remember now.

I hadn't told them that I wasn't going to college; I hadn't told them that this vacation was a goodbye.

They didn't even know my mother had passed, they still thought I lived at home to take care of her.

None of them even knew she was dead. In fact, no one knew. I feel my hands tighten around the wheel as I realize my heart had grown cold. My childhood home had literally become my mothers tomb; for her body still grew with decay on the very bed where she had taken her last breath.

I'm afraid to push this memory further... but I do.

I see myself with Tyler in the cabin, our words heated as they always had - but this time I was trying to tell him about my mother's passing. I was trying to tell him I couldn't get rid of her body...

That's when I went running.

This trip was an escape - but not a celebration. 

I just wanted to forget.