Forgotten (original version)

Chapter 10

My lips are stinging like crazy but I can't stop running. I'm going back to the spot I was stabbed, and I'm going to find that stupid door. I start coughing again so I have to stop. I throw myself against a tree in a coughing fit. I gasp for air between coughs. I close my eyes, and tilt my head back, the rough bark rubbing against the top of my head.

I open my eyes and scream. I stumble away from the tree and collapse to the ground. Sobs shaking my body.

"NO!" I scream. I punch the ground till my knuckles are bruised and bleeding. I turn around and see Harry. Hung. His neck is bloody and his body is limp. He has cuts in the shape of an X across his face. Painted across his face is a look of pure fear. I reach up to my head and start pulling on my hair. I've lost too many people. But Harry? Really? I was going to die.

I rip out a handful of hair and scream at the pain. But I need to feel pain. It masks the hole that has been drilled into my heart. I scream again. I scream until all of the air has left my lungs. I grab a nearby stick and bend it till it snaps. The twig shatters as I whip it with all my strength at the tree.

"When I'm worried and I can't sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep." I sing between sobs. My brother used to sing this to me when I was having trouble sleeping due to my dads abuse.

"And I fall asleep counting my blessings. When my bankroll is getting small, I think of when I had none at all. And I fall asleep counting my blessings." I start weeping again. But I need to finish the song. I owe it to Harry.

"I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads, and one by one I count them as the slumber in their beds. If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep. And you'll fall asleep counting your blessings." I curl up into a ball and cry myself to sleep, right next to Harry's dead body.

The next morning was hard. My body was aching, and my heart was empty. I slowly get off the ground. I don't so much as glance at Harry's body. I let a single tear slip down my cheek before I promised myself not to cry anymore.

Once I make it to the spot where I was stabbed, I start walking around with my arms out like a freaking idiot trying to find the door.

"Gosh dang it!" I yell out in frustration. Of course I couldn't find it. Nothing ever worked out the way I wanted it to. Ever. I felt tears forming in my eyes but I blinked them away.

"No crying." I whisper to myself. Even if I am alone, in the woods, trying to find a murderer . . . Alone.

"LUCI!" I hear a girl call. But it isn't Voletta.

"Dani-?" I mutter. "DANI!" I spin around to try and see where she is. It's possible that I'm just hearing things again, but I don't want to take that risk. I spin around again as someone crashes into my back. I gasp as my face hits the ground.

"OH MY GOSH LUCI, I'M SO SORRY." Dani tells me. I stare at her in disbelief. Was she really here? I tackle her with a hug and forget the promise I made myself. Tears pour down my face as I strangle her.

"Luci- we have to go." She said after she shoved me away. "He's coming." She jumped to her feet and pulled me up with her. I'm fazed at first, but I quickly catch up. I bolt through the tree lines and pull Dani with me.

"How did you get out?" I ask her while trying to catch my breath.

"There's a flaw in his system. Luci, we're all pawns in his game. He has full control over what we see, what we don't see, what we hear in these woods, and what we don't. It's all up to him."

"I don't understand." I told her. "Where is the murderer? Why isn't he following us? And how is any of what you just said possible?"

"Luci, please! We need to go!" I sigh but don't argue. She clearly knows more than I do about these woods.

"WAIT!" I yelled at her. "I have to show you something. Two things actually. She stops and nods her head.

"As long as it's away from here."

I led her through the woods, and to the spot where Harry was hung. I look away, but I can hear her crying. I know she really liked Harry. He was the only one—besides her—that stood up to my dad for me. But . . . She didn't know that he really liked her back.

I turned around and slowly faced where Dani was sobbing. I put my arm around her shoulder and hugged her. She didn't deserve this. None of us deserved this. My dad might've deserved to die, but he shouldn't have. I wish he wouldn't have. Even if it means living with an abusive dad. It means the memories will stay alive.

"I have one more thing to show you." I whisper to her. My hand clasps with hers as we walk to where Voletta "lives".

"Oh my gosh . . ." Dani muttered.

"Voletta, I found Dani." I told her. I smile spread across my face.

"Luci . . ." Voletta said with a worried look on her face. "There's no one there."