A trip through the forest; that is what we took, the day before it all came crashing down onto us....I never wanted it to end, but I guess fate is just strange like that. You beg for a change in your life; a change in the everyday sequence you partake in, your routine. When you finally get that change, you never believe that it would have been what you got.
We were going to play hide and seek in the forest; I was ecstatic. My heart had been racing and my blood had been pumping that day, but now everything is so still and icy. Kaitlyn had tagged me as ‘it’ and I was bubbly over that. It was my first time to be ‘it’! They all ran off and hid in their spots, while I began to count to twenty.
“1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10...” I counted, blood burning the veins in my body. I never would have expected... “Ready or not, here I come!” I squealed, sprinting off into the forest to find my cousins and friends; they had all hid extremely well. I spent around thirty minutes looking, only managing to find one.
“I found you!” I had said, tugging at Kaitlyn’s arm.
“Why me?” She had whimpered.
I didn’t respond. A loud scream came from the distance; it had reminded me of my brother, Adrian.
“D-Did you hear that?” She stammered.
I simply nodded.
Being the oldest, I knew I would be held accountable for anything that happened to them. With that piece of information in my head, I grabbed Kaitlyn’s arm and pulled her in the direction of the scream.
Only twelve years-old, I had no idea what to expect. My heart was begging that it was just Adrian messing around with the others and falling or something.
A voice began to emerge. It sounded soothing...motherly almost. As if it was trying to hum it’s sobbing child back to a calm state of mind. Although it was meant to relax your body, every inch of me suddenly grew cold and stiff. My eyesight seemed to be growing sharper, catching every little movement in the trees around us, but I never stopped running.
My head turned back, to check on Kaitlyn; she was still there....I didn’t want to lose her and something bad happen to her.
Another scream came and faded. This time it sounded, closer, more nerving....
“A-Adrian!” I had screamed back, my heart rate speeding.
I slowed to a tip-toe. My body began to fight against every movement I made, even blinking and breathing. My eyes peeked around a large, rotting Oak tree, just to see what was going on and if it was worth heading into. I didn’t want to go in blind, not knowing what I was about to encounter.
Adrian laid on his stomach, in a pool of blood that was increasing in size. Tears rolled down his reddened cheeks and his mouth hung open, struggling to get air.
“A-Adrian...” I mumbled, running over to his side. My hands slipped underneath him and every muscle in my body tightened as my fingers touched up against a soft, exposed organ. What had happened to him...?
“My sweet, did you come to perish also?” The motherly voice echoed from nearby
“N-No...” I stammered.
“Now, now, don’t be shy,” A woman-like figure walked out of the trees; her body shrouded in a coal-colored cloak and a blood-stained dagger that was held by her hand.
How could such an innocent game become deadly? Why was Adrian her target? He was the youngest...the one who had the most going for him....He didn’t deserve to die!
My hand slid out from underneath my dying brother and my shaky legs struggled to push my body off the ground, but succeeded. “W-Why?” I mumbled.
“Children, I am only saving you from this wretched world.”
My throat grew dry and tightened up.
“It is for your best.”
Tears stroked my face, blurring my eyesight. My mind now, does not even understand how I was able to stand.
The woman glided over towards my frozen body; her thin, elegant fingers pushed up against the bottom of my chin to lift my face up towards hers. “Do you wish to be like him or do you wish for an injection?”
Nothing could escape my colorless lips, but my eyes grew in size at the idea. I didn’t want to die...
“Sweet child, it does not hurt as bad as you think,” The woman whispered, pushing the dagger tip against my chest.
I winced and tried to pull back, but the woman quickly slid her free hand behind my back to prevent so.
“It will be over in a second,” She hummed, pushing it deeper and deeper, until the knife couldn’t be injected into my body anymore.
My body lost its strength and fell limp onto the dagger. The woman slowly pulled it from my chest and backed away, letting my body crash down onto the hard soil beside my brother. The blood from our lifeless bodies mixed together, as if it was trying to keep us together, even after we were both only empty shells.
A trip through the forest; that is what we took. The day before it all came crashing down onto us.
