Innocent

Still running

It was now dark. I was far in the woods and even further from civilization. I had been out of breath and tired from running so much. I didn't like the woods. They were a scary place. Nothing but trees and darkness, no humans for miles. When I was eight or nine, I had gone on a camping trip with my aunt, uncle and three cousins. It was the last day of the trip, and my three cousins Macey, Greg, and Luke wanted me to tag along on their little exploring adventure. I declined at first, but they wouldn't leave me alone til I said yes. So, I gave in and tagged along.

Long story short, they ended up ditching me in some cave that we found. 

I was found a couple hours later after my aunt and uncle called the park rangers and told them that I was missing. Macey, Greg and Luke didn't care. Once I had gotten back to the camp site, I went off on their asses. 

Let's just say that the four of us are no longer talking to one another.

I took a break and leaned up against a tree to catch my break, giving my legs a break. Each time I breathed in and out, I could see my breath. It was freezing out here and all I had was the flimsy pair of pants Alice had given me back at the station before I took off. The shirt I was wearing was keeping my upper half warm, but the pants weren't helping my lower half. I took a look around, seeing nothing but darkness. Lovely.

It was the break of dawn, and I was still on the move. I didn't want to stop and chance anyone finding me. Like they would, but I didn't want to chance it. And it's the middle of the forest. During my trek in the middle of the night, my foot got caught in an uprooted tree and I ended up twisting it the wrong way. That didn't stop me though. So, on top of being cold, tired, hungry and thirsty, I was limping.

I carefully made my way through, making sure to take my time and not risk breaking my ankle. That is if it already isn't.

After walking what felt like forever, I stopped and took a break. My feet were hurting, and my ankle was throbbing. I sighed as I slowly sat down on a fallen tree, leaning back and closing my eyes. I really wanted to get some sleep, but I couldn't.

With a slight shake of my head, I opened my eyes and looked around. Nothing but trees.

I took a deep breath and blew it out before slowly getting back to my feet, only to hiss in pain and look down at my ankle.

Leaning against the tree for support, I bent down and took my boot off. "Oh god," I mumbled, looking over my badly swollen and discolored ankle, "That's bad."

I carefully put my boot back on and looked up. I gotta keep going.

Sighing I pushed off the tree and started walk, well limp.

With each step I took, it was only making my ankle worse.

That didn't stop me though. I continued through the woods.

I took yet another break, leaning against another tree and catching my breath.

As I stood, I heard what sounded like a voice in the distance. I wasn't too sure what I was hearing, but it definitely was a voice. No way. No fucking way!

I pushed off the tree, looking around. I couldn't tell which way the voice was coming from, but wherever it was, it was getting closer.

Taking a look down at my ankle, I sighed.

"Here's go nothing." Was all I said before taking off running.

Maybe running with a twisted ankle wasn't the best thing to do. Each time I had brought my ankle down, it felt as if it were to pop.

"Damn!" I cursed and slowly came to a stop behind a tree. Only, I heard the voice again.

Maybe I am going crazy for real this time.

I looked around, seeing nothing. "Maybe I am going crazy." I softly mumbled.

I stood still and listened for the voice.

After about five minutes or so, I heard it, "Mai! Mai! Where are you?"

My eyes widened and my heart started racing. No fucking way! 

I covered my face and shook my head. Great. That's just fucking great!

I took a deep breath and blew it out before pushing off the tree, "I gotta keep moving. I need to keep as much distance from them as possible." I mumbled as I started to limp away from the tree.

A sound from behind me had me freeze in my tracks.

I stood absolutely still with my arms locked at my side; hands beginning to sweat.

"Mai." A familiar voice said. I glanced down at my feet before looking straight ahead again.

"It's me, Abigail." She said.

I kept my back to the tree. "Please turn around?" She said.

I snapped. I whipped around the tree, stumbling some and hissing in pain due to my ankle. "How in the hell did you find me?" I spat.

She lightly flinched, taking a small step back, "I'm sorry Mai. I'm sorry you had to see all that. Alice, your therapist, came out and talked to Dad and I while mom was back talking to you. She explained everything and, I feel terrible. I feel terrible for how I acted." She softly explained.

I scoffed, "I don't care, and I don't care what you felt. I was locked in a room 24/7, with nothing but my thoughts. Wanna know what I thought about each and every day? I thought about my family. I thought about if they were going to come and visit me or write me a letter, but no. The family I thought I had, didn't give a fuck about me," I casually explained to her. I was slowly calming down as I spoke to her, but was still fuming on the inside. "I stopped thinking about you guys, probably a month after being there. Then my thoughts were all over the place. I was thinking about too much and I was actually starting to think that I was really crazy." I finished with a laugh.

Abigail took a step forward, "Adam is gone." She sternly said.

What?

My knees suddenly buckled out from under me, and I fell to the ground. My world going black.