~Rain~

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven –

Taya turned, averting her attention from Cael, who was stumbling solemnly alongside her, arguing with everything she said. Her eyes combed the darkness behind them, where the forest was thin and the little warehouse lay silently, nestled into the trees. Wiping the blood from her hands, she looked forward again, seeing nothing of concern.

Behind them, a twig snapped.

This time Cael whipped around, determined to find whatever was following them. Surely, it couldn’t be the girl? She was dead, or as good as.

The leaves that were settled on the ground lay still, and the wind stopped for a fraction of a second, as if the forest were holding it’s breath as it waiting.

‘We have to go back and check, ‘ Cael growed.

‘No, she’s dead. And she screamed. Someone could come – we have to get out of here as soon as we can.’

Cael grunted in a way that meant he didn’t really agree with what Taya was saying, but was going along with it anyway; this was the girl with the knife.

Snap. Taya whipped around, her eyes darting across the forest quick as lightning. Nothing but darkness and tree’s and more darkness. Ahead of them was the school, Cael’s old school. Behind, the town, where the fire’s where being lit and the houses being raided.

Maybe the house on the outskirts of town where the kids were staying were being raided right now. Taya decided she didn’t care. There was hardly any food after all, the girl had taken most of it.

There was another rustle in the forest behind them, and again Taya snapped around, alert and a little afraid.

The darkness loomed, the rain now silenced.

‘Come on!’ Taya barked, pulling her jacket closer to her body and bracing herself against the biting wind. The sounds were unsettling, but she had to keep moving.

Cael lingered for a second before following hurriedly behind her, ignoring the pebbles that slipped under his heavy feet.

They walked in silence for a time. It could have been minutes, it could have been longer, but Taya finally awoke from her tangle of thoughts they were standing, facing out to the sweeping view of the town, at the top of the hill.

‘Should we keep moving, do you think?’ Taya asked, keeping her eyes trained on the horizon. She didn’t want to see the town, didn’t want to see how far the Nelia had got tonight.

‘We’ll stay here for a while.’ Cael sighed, pushing his hair from his eyes and sitting down on the cold, wet ground.

Taya followed a little hesitantly, laying out her jacket and slumping down on the cool earth, imagining what it would be like to die. Maybe Alice was lucky. Taya could think of worse ways to die than lying, all alone in the darkness.

Taking a deep breathe of the cold night air, Taya wished, just for a second, that she hadn’t survived. She had done what she had had to do, in killing Alice, but she wished, just for a second, that she hadn’t of had to.

And then, she remembered that it wasn’t her fault, and it was for the best.

The stars were invisible in the sky that night.

…

Tyron was running, and he didn’t know where Miles and Willa were. He didn’t care. All he could feel was the thick blanket of leaves that cushioned his steps, the sharp feeling of the branches of the tree’s cutting into his bare arms and the exhilarating thump of his heart beating in his chest.