Running From Time

Chapter 25

A/N: It's my birthday!! Sorry for not updating sooner btw :D

I had suspected it for a while. Everyone had always said that Serpius was the only one, other than me, that was half Siomean. Yet Sam existed, and no one had any record of him. Then there was the fact that he'd supposedly tried to kill his father. That sounded exactly like something that Serpius would do, and his father was a Siomean, after all. I was certain that Sam was Serpius.

You're less stupid than I thought.

The familiar voice came into my head and I narrowed my eyes, almost hissing at him. Joey and I were walking down the side of the road, parallel to the line of trees. Not a single car had passed us and I knew that we must be getting close to the address that Sam had given me. I'd heard stories at the facility that no one would dare go near there.

What do you want from me, Serpius?

I asked in annoyance and anger, a slight hiss escaping my lips. Scales momentarily appeared on my arm as a warning but I forced the anger down, causing the scales to disappear. Anger and fear seemed to be the triggers for this, and unfortunately I was feeling both at the moment.

You're too much of a threat to me. I need to kill you.

But why me? Even if we were the same species, it wasn't as if I was trying to threaten him.

How am I a threat? What did I ever do to you?

I could feel him chuckling and shuddered.

If only you knew. You know what: I'll make you a deal. I'll tell you everything about your past and about me as long as I can kill you afterwards.

I almost snorted at the fact that an all powerful alien was trying to bribe me. But there was no way I would let him kill me.

Deal.

I lied to him and cut the connection so that I had some time to think. There was no way that I was going to sacrifice myself to him without a fight, and he probably knew that. Joey started to speed up and I could almost sense his fear as he looked at the trees to the side of him.

"You okay?" I asked him and he turned to me, looking like he was about to throw up.

"I will be once we get away from these woods." I snorted involuntarily and he gave me a death glare, walking faster.

"They're not that scary. I'm sure those tigers won't come back." He shook his head and turned to me.

"It's not just that. That creature creeped me out, too." I bit my lip guiltily.

"Why? Was it trying to kill you?" I asked softly and he stopped, causing me to nearly walk into him, before continuing at the same fast pace.

"No...it wasn't." I pretended to be confused as I looked at him.

"Really? Well, why are you scared of it then? Maybe it was trying to protect you." He frowned and looked at me curiously.

"How would you know? You didn't see the look in its eyes. There was no soul there." I felt a pang of guilt within me but pushed it away, knowing that I couldn't reveal my secret to him.

"I'm sorry." I said, not sure what else to say. Joey gave me a small smile and I caught up with him, patting him on the shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, honestly. We're gonna make it through this and defeat Serpius. Then you, I and Thalia will walk free together." I told him confidently, being as encouraging as possible. As much as Joey seemed to have a positive outlook on life, he did worry a lot.

"Yeah." He said with a grin and started to walk on ahead again.

**********

Evening had settled in and Joey and I were, once again, sitting around a campfire. This time we were next to the woods in a field. Joey was shivering from the cold and I knew that he wasn't ready to face Serpius. Although, I wasn't either.

"I'm going to go and find a stream or something to wash in." I announced, standing up. He looked at me and nodded silently. I felt bad for just leaving him there, but I really did stink and I couldn't bear it any longer. The woods were on the other side of the road, glowing eerily in the moonlight. As I walked towards them, I could've sworn I heard a growl come from just within those trees. A fire formed in the palm of my left hand and I held it out, using it to see in front of me. Of course, I could just use my newly discovered night vision.

Something moved to the left of me.

I instantly threw the fire in that direction and it sailed towards the ground before disappearing completely. Frowning, I walked over to it, wondering why it had gone out so suddenly. As I reached down towards the ground, my hand touched something wet and I jerked back instantly. Reaching out again, I cautiously let my fingers touch the wet ground. There must be water nearby. I got on my hands and knees and, without warning, felt myself tumbling down a hill. Something above me had pushed me. I fell into a stream, causing a huge splash, and desperately tried to make my way up the bank but it was too slippery. As I struggled, my skin started to ripple.

Joey

Chris had gone into the woods to wash himself and I was left here in the dark field. Shivering, I moved closer to the small campfire and waited for Chris to return. A twig snapped on the other side of the road and I looked up instantly, searching for the source of the noise. My eyes scanned the trees but there was no movement. It was probably just an animal. Turning back to the fire, I relaxed slightly.

I could no longer see.

Screaming, I realised that there was a bag over my head and a person was holding it there. I kicked wildly but the person never released their grip.

"Shut up!" The voice above me commanded but I only screamed louder. Fear flowed through my body and I went rigid with terror. Suddenly, my capturer went flying and the bag came off my head, letting me see again. My eyes widened in horror as I saw the scene before me.

The creature was back.

It held my capturer back against a tree and I squinted in the low light. Ms. X? I recognised her face because the Leader had shown us the faces of everyone in Serpius' coven. She was bad news. The creature was closer to me than last time and I could make out more of its features. It had scales all over its body instead of skin and it had long fangs, much like a snake would have. I realised that it was very reptilian-like in general, with the piercing eyes and the tail, which was violently swishing back and forth. On its head was hair, like a human would have, but this thing was definitely not human.

"Chris!" I called out in the direction of the woods, desperately hoping for a response. My effort was in vain though as nothing moved within the trees. I looked back at the creature and X to see that she was gone. The creature looked around in confusion and spotted me. For a second it just stared at me and I gulped, preparing for the worst. Then it simply gave me a peace sign with its fingers and ran off into the trees, almost blurring with speed. I started to run in the opposite direction, adrenaline coursing through me. Maybe I could make it out of there before either of them came back.

Chris

Trees whizzed past me as I ran, trying to find Lydia. I wouldn't let her hurt Joey! He had become one of my best friends in the time I had known him and there was no way I was letting him die now.

Joey let out an ear splitting scream.

I whipped around and started to run back towards him, anger fuelling me. As I reached him, his screams died away and I knew it was too late. He was gone. My skin rippled and went back to normal as I reached the edge of the woods, hopeless. A car was driving off down the road and all I could do was watch. I had failed Joey.

His face appeared at the back window of the car and he spotted me, his face a mixture of fear and betrayal. I had let him down and the worst part was that he thought I was a monster. My feet started to move of their own accord as I ran after the car, tears silently falling down my face.

What do you think is going to happen to Joey? Please vote if you liked it and leave comments :)