Forgotten (original version)

Chapter 8

I screamed as loud as humanly possible. This doesn't even feel real. The blade sinks under my skin, causing my body to shut down.

I feel someone drag me by my leg. I shove my fingernails into the dirt and try to claw away. The dagger in my stomach hits a tree root and I gasp as it shifts.

I decided to try and use my legs to get away. I kick him in the stomach with my free leg, and he stumbles back. I jump up and bolt away. I knew it was a bad decision to run away from Harry.

My breath is shallow so I can't get very far, but I get far enough away that I feel as safe as I can in this situation.

I lean against a tree and push into it. I don't dare look down at where the dagger was still in my stomach. A single tear slips down my cheek. I can feel my heart slow. I slowly make my way over to the clearing of trees I had seen in my dream.

In the silence, shadows creep. I hear a little girl singing. But I keep moving.

Echos calling, secrets deep. The sound is getting louder, closer. The voice sounds oddly familiar. Not just from the dream.

In the midnight hour I hear you moan. I reach the circle and see a girl sitting up ahead.

Ghostly whispers chill to the bone. As soon as she finishes the song she turns around abruptly, tilting her brunette head slightly as she looks at me with brown eyes.

"Hi there, Luci." The girl calls. A sob escapes my lips as I realize who the girl is.

"Voletta." I whisper. She was the one who came up with the nickname Luci. It was why I never let anyone else besides Dani call me that.

"Hey there sis. It's lovely to see you again. Oh, thanks for coming to find me by the way." She spoke with a smoothness to her voice that left me unsettled.

"Voletta I-"

"You what?" She interrupted. "Do you regret ever giving up on me? Or do you regret not saying goodbye? Or do you regret not even attempting to look for me?" I was crying now. And every sob caused the blade to sink further under my skin.

"Oh my gosh you're stabbed!" She just now realized. Every stride she took towards me she flickered in and out of sight. I was surely dying. I stumble backwards as the dagger sinks even further still into my aching body.

"Hey, it's ok." Voletta whispered. "It'll be ok." I shake my head. A bruise was now forming all around the wound. Nothing was ok.

"Come here." Voletta commanded. "I'm gonna try and help you." I do as she says but end up needing help to walk. It's gotten so much worse.

"This is gonna really hurt." She warned. I still couldn't believe she was alive. She yanked the dagger out and let out a scream that shredded my throat. Tears streamed down my face, and red brimmed my vision as I looked down to my stomach.

I feel light headed as the blood gushes out. What did she do to me?

"Ok, this is gonna hurt even more." She said, her voice shaking. I hold my breath. A sharp pain stabs into the tender bruise. A sob escapes my lips as I bite my tongue.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. The sharp pain was gone. But in its place was an aching feeling that I knew would never go away. I look down at my stomach and see that she has stitched the wound up, but surely my organs have to be damaged after all of that.

"I'm sorry I freaked out." Voletta murmured. "I just have been waiting for you for ten years."

"I know. I'm sorry too. When you disappeared everything started falling apart. Dad became . . . Abusive. And mom spent most of her time staring at the wall."

"Dad did? I-I-" She didn't know what to say, and frankly neither did I.

"OH MY GOSH I FORGOT, THE MURDERER HAS HARRY." I yelled. How could I forget that?

"Wait- murderer?" Shoot.

"Oh um . . . H-he killed mom." Voletta sucks in a breath. "And kidnapped Dani. I don't even know if she's alive anymore." Voletta stared at me in disbelief.

"Well then let's go get Harry." She whispered. I slowly stood up and doubled over as sharp pain shot through my body.

"I'm fine. Just give me a minute." I grit out. After about twenty seconds I stand back up and take a deep breath.

I can do this. I tell myself. Voletta and I go back to the place where I was stabbed. She covers her mouth as she sees the blood that was smeared on the ground.

"I'm ok now." I reassure her.

"I know." She states.

"Well well well." A deep voice mutters. "Look who decided to not die. I admire your ability to keep going, Luciana." I shove Voletta behind me.

"Oh I'm not going to hurt your sister. I've known she's been here the whole time. I am in fact the one who put her here. Because I am doing something to her. It's happening right now."

I look over at Voletta, "What is he doing to you?" I ask her.

"I-I don't know-" she muttered.

"Who even are you?!" I ask him.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He laughed. My hands clenched into fists.

"Let's go, Voletta." I mumble.

"Stop." He said. I instantly stopped, but I didn't try to.

"What the . . ."

"You must stay a second longer. The sun is going down. I want you to see what happens!" He said enthusiastically.

"I'm so sorry, Luci." Voletta cried.

"F-for what?" I was worried. What was going on?

"Oh? She didn't tell you?" He said sarcastically. "You'll see."

"Why aren't you stabbing me?" I ask him.

"Because I don't need to." He stated. Voletta was trembling behind me.

"Hey, we'll figure it out, ok?" I reassure her.

"No. No we won't. You don't understand." She sobbed. I looked back to where the murderer was and . . . . He literally was nowhere to be seen. He disappeared. Like a ghost in the wind.

"Let's go, Voletta." I grumble.

"No. I'm not going with you."

"Come on, he was just trying to scare us." She shakes her head.

"I'm deadly." She whispered.

"But I know you won't hurt me." I argue. She shakes her head again. She collapses to the ground screaming in pain.

"WHAT'S WRONG?" I panic.

"Go-" She gasps, but I am not leaving her.

"I'M SERIOUS LUCI." She screams. When she looks at me, her eyes are pitch black.

"You should've run." She tells me. "Now you get to die."