Chapter 1: Vermillion
(A/N: I know it's been a while but it's finally here! updates will be more sporadic compared to Book 1, but I will do my best to make sure I get chapters out. There will not be a year between chapters but there might be a little wait. Hope you had/have a good summer!)
Unknown POV:
"We have to keep moving." I pant to the two males. All of us were exhausted, but that wasn't anything new. What was following us with malicious intent wasn't very new either, despite how terrifying it was, I was used to this figure. I've had to stare into its eyes for the past... almost four years now.
A boy with pitch-black hair was supporting the mud and dirt-covered auburn-haired boy. His legs worked fine, or...leg, what was left of one of his appendages was a stump, a wound that was just more than a few days old. Both I and the black-haired teen refused to acknowledge that if we left the butchered teen, we would have a higher chance of escaping.
That was never an option. This is just an obstacle that we must face to get away...all of us.
"How much further? Do you see her?!" the auburn-haired boy asked in pain and panic, without any real medical care he hadn't made any progress when it came to healing. He was struggling the most when it came to trudging through this dark swamp that we had been forced to flee to. Constantly looking over his shoulder and in turn the other boy's shoulder.
It was almost pitch black, even moonlight didn't pierce through the thick leaves and branches that were covered in vines. There were other things that I couldn't make out but was sure that they were parts of other poor souls who were even more unlucky. I could make it easier to see but that would cause more, dangerous, problems. If I could see, it could see. That being said, the light wasn't even the biggest problem, it was the mud. While we were lucky that there was not much water, instead there was about a foot of thick mud and rotting flesh, it reeked and made fast movement impossible, completely and utterly, hopeless.
"Does it matter?" I barked. Running over and lifting his other arm over my shoulder. My body screamed but my mind screamed louder. I can't leave them no matter how much my body cries for it. I have to get them to move faster, 'It won't help,' Although I couldn't see our pursuer yet, that didn't mean that beast wasn't on our tail. This was one of its favorite games, after all, its favorite sick, twisted, game.
'A game you always lose.'
We were being herded like cattle, cattle being chased by something scarier than a wolf.
It wanted us to come here. It knew that if we were in the swamp, she would get to watch us flip and flop around like fish out of water, something I was sure she was enjoying.
Even so. After so many years... I don't want to waste this chance.
This valuable chance. 'I can't go back!'
"Oh goody, goody!" A high-pitched voice rang through the dark. It was high-toned and sweet like the. Even so, I didn't look back despite the sharp, stinging that came from the nape of my neck, where it laid its mark. Branded across the pale skin.
it was here...but where!?
The handicapped man between us started sobbing and we dragged him, his long hair and oily hair fell from his shoulders, his fear stopping any forward movement other than the forceful tremors radiating throughout his body. "This is it, we're done," the brunette spoke lowly, his head down and his eyes unblinking.
"Not yet..." The black-haired boy grunted, the weight of carrying his companion through the thick sludge was starting to drag him, despite my help.
"Don't listen to her words," I tell them both, we couldn't give up now. We aren't even close to freedom, 'I refuse to go back! Not without seeing a sliver of hope!' We could go so much further.
