Remembering the Hornets

10~ On the Run again

Rosswood... or, at least, that's where I guessed I was. The forest was dark, and I didn't even know how I'd gotten here. "Jay? Tim? Alex? Are any of you there?" I called out to the eerie silence. I didn't like the feeling of my surroundings as I got up to look around. I looked around carefully, finding myself slowly taking steps and beginning to walk.

There was a splitting ache in my head and I tried to ignore it. My phone was dead and I probably wouldn't get any service out here anyway. I couldn't remember the day, or even what time it was, but by where the moon was in the sky, I could tell that it was late at night.

I ran a hand through my hair and gasped loudly as I felt something out of place and looked at my hand, which had patches of blood on it. "Wh-what?" I asked myself loudly with wide eyes. "D-did that come from my hair or... how did it even get on me?"

I wandered around soon finding one of the paths, which I hoped would lead me out of here. Following down the winding paths, my head began to hurt more. A loud snap of twigs brought my attention to my surroundings. "Who's out there? I'm warning you, I'm not afraid to fight."

There was a quiet response that I could barely understand. "You wouldn't fight me, would you?" My eyes widened as I looked around for the owner of the voice. "Not your dearest big brother."

"Alex, don't get any closer to me!" I called out, not seeing him but hearing his voice. I knew that he could see me and that he was hiding, which meant that I should either run or try to hide. If I tried to hide, I knew that he would find me. If I ran, I knew that he would either chase me or know something was wrong. My heart beat loudly in my chest and I thought that if he was any closer, he would have been able to hear it from where he stood.

Just beyond where I was looking, I could see the shape of someone moving towards me. "A-Alex stay away." I pleaded, wide eyed,  not wanting him to see me like this. I knew he had changed into a monster; I'd seen it myself on the tapes. I didn't want to end up like Amy, Brian, or Jessica: missing, or even possibly dead.

"Ali, it's only me though. Your big brother." He said, coming into view. His one hand was in his pocket the other was down to his side. "I thought that you were worried about me. All I want to do is make sure you're safe."

"Safe? Yeah, sure. Last I knew, you didn't even know who I was."

"What makes you so sure I do now, Ali? I am after all only repeating the facts that you have already told me." he replied with an almost amused smirk.

I looked at him carefully, glad it was dark out; the moonlight was the only way I was able to tell it was him, with his glasses. 'Hopefully he can't see all this blood on me that I still have no idea how I got.. Maybe I got hurt or mugged and it's mine... hopefully its mine.' I thought in panic. My fight or flight response was kicking in and it couldn't decide on what it wanted to do.

"Ali, now, don't do anything irrational. How about you just calm yourself down and come with me." He held out his hand, and that's when I noticed he looked like he had been attacked recently. 'Was that me, or could it have been someone else?' I thought, looking at him. I took a tentative step back, not sure what to do.

"Ali!" a male voice called in the distance. I watched as Alex turned his head to look. "Ali, are you there?"

"How does Jay know you." Alex asked quietly, still not looking at me. I looked at him. "How the hell does Jay know who you are!" He demanded loudly, snapping his head over to look at me. I gave in to the fight or flight response and ran. I ran as fast and far as my legs could carry me.

"Jay! Run!" I called, not knowing if I was running towards him or not. I was running blind- the only thing I saw was the blur of trees and the path in front of me. "Dont come after me, just run!"

If it was just him he probably wouldn't listen, but I knew that Tim could talk some sense into him. So either he wasn't going to listen to me or he was going to listen to Tim and get out of here. My mind raced for what to do... My current options were to run away, hide from everyone, or lead Alex away. The one that made the most sense was leading him away. 'Jay's the one with all the tapes, and he's the one who knows what's going on... if I lead alex away, Jay can continue with what he was doing before I came into any of this.'

I tripped suddenly, causing me to tumble. My hands held onto my ankle tightly, knowing that Alex was still after me. I had to make myself seem to disappear, and silently too. "All I want to do is end this, Ali. If you're helping Jay and Tim, then I have to get rid of you too. I don't have any other choice."

"Fat chance with that, Alex." I muttered. "Besides, it's your fault all of this is happening."

Alex was in my sight now as I tried to hide in the underbrush and blend in with my surroundings. "Ali..." he called, almost like a cat toying with a mouse. If he found me, I knew I was done for. My heart raced as I fought back the coughs that threatened to erupt. I was shaking, literally. Whether in fear, or if it was just from holding back, I'm not sure.

There was a loud shout from him as he suddenly fell over, almost as if someone had tackled him. I could hear a few curses, along with words like, "You stay out of this!" and "You have no business being here you thief!"

A voice in the back of my head yelled, "Run! Jay needs you!" I did as it said and took off, this time with a slight limp, so I was a bit slower than last time.