Stronghearted

chapter 3

Chapter 3

            Somehow Rosemary made it through the day, and it turned into evening. The hours passed quickly, and before she knew it, it was time for bed.  As she climbed into the bed she realized there were only five more days before they would go home.

I guess I have to think of a plan to sneak out at night in four nights. Rosemary thought to herself. 

With the light going off she resigned herself to her fate. With little hope she wanted to have a nightmare free night.

          After a dreamless night, Rosemary awoke with a start. It was 7:00 and Rosemary was happy for the extra sleep. She slowly walked to the kitchen and paused next to her parent’s room.  She overheard her mom and dad’s conversation:

“There was another murder last night.” Her dad said.

“Are we safe here or should we leave today.” Her mother asked.

“We should be safe as long as we stay in town.”

“Are you sure it’s our children’s safety we’re talking about.”

“We’ll be safe don’t worry about it lets go back to sleep.”

“Okay I will trust you.”

          Murder, leaving town, and my safety, were the thoughts that were running through Rosemary’s mind as she walked down to the video game room that was intertwined with the computer room. Rosemary being surprisingly good with electronics was able to rewrite cookers game state. She added dozens of new ingredients and made it so the simulations were more accurate.

Her phone beeped, alerting her of a new text message.

Rosemary looked at her phone and saw the text from Artemis.

Wats up.

Nm u. She replied

          She went back to playing cookers.  A few minutes later she received a text from Artemis saying

Nothing lol

That sucks

  Since Rosemary doesn’t like playing video games much she decided to read the Beyonders.

          After a few hours of reading Rosemary’s grandma called Rosemary to come eat breakfast. Rosemary reluctantly set down her book and went into the kitchen.  

Three days till I sneak out Rosemary thought to herself.

          Rosemary decided to go for a walk.  She was going down a dusty trail when she stumbled upon a gruesome sight. A trail of blood leading down the road. Rosemary steeled herself for what lied ahead. She slowly walked ahead to a scene that even someone who could stand blood would gag at. It was a cow ripped to shreds. Pieces of it in a million different directions. It was barely recognizable as a cow. Rosemary stopped herself from running away and walked past the sight to unknown dangers.

          She came to a giant sand hill and started walking up. When she got to the top, she saw a view that would rival Niagara Falls. A rustling caught her attention, but she turned a second too late. Something big hit her and she flew off the hill.  Her consciousness  fled.

            Rosemary awoke to darkness.

“Anyone there.” She asked softly trying not to awake whatever attacked her.

Worried she stood up. When she finally got to her feet an awful throbbing shot pain in her head. Dizzily she stumbled down the path she had followed during the day. Then she remembered that all of the attacks happened at night and she would be easy prey for them right now.

Must find shelter Rosemary thought. She stumbled off the path right into the welcoming hands of sleep.

“Rosemary.” A soft feminine voice said.

“Rosemary.” The voice said again.

“Rosemary wake up.” The voice commanded gently.

Rosemary burst into consciousness.  She felt something watching. She knew the killer had found her. Normally she was in great athletic shape, but ever since she got hit off that hill she hadn’t been what one would call in a position to run for her life. But run, she did.

Her energy was sapping quickly, she would not be able to keep up the pace for much longer.  Her breath was ragged, her legs burned but she promised herself that she would not give up. She soon could not run anymore, but it didn’t matter anyways, the creature had caught up.

Rosemary did not expect to breathe another breath of air but she did. She knew she should be dead and was surprised not to be, surprised not sad.  Every part of her body hurt. She had hundreds of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. She knew she had to have at least broken a rib. She felt an evil presence.  She pulled herself to her feet and almost blacked out then and there. The pain she felt was excruciating and she was once again surprised to be alive.  She slowly limped through the desert not walking in any direction. She knew that she needed to keep moving. If she did stop walking she would be even easier prey for the monster.   She suddenly felt the cold air that the night brought.   She saw movement in the corner of her eye.  She turned and saw a shadow darting closer to her. She knew that it would reach her in the next few minutes.  She headed towards the only visible light in the distance. It was at least a few miles out.  She knew she would not make it there but survival instincts forced her onward.  She felt the monster tackle her. She saw it, a creature so hideous that she felt like puking at the sight of it. It had burning hateful red eyes.  She knew that this was it she would die if she did nothing. She did the only thing she could do, grab its neck and try to kill it. Adrenaline brought her strength and she gripped the neck harder than anything before. It scrambled away from her. She knew that it would come back so she grabbed a stick that she would use to club the monster when it comes back.   She once again slowly limped forward on. 

          She got to town, but it wasn’t the town she knew. The buildings were the same but there was no sign of life. The lights were off, except for the one that she had seen earlier and every now and then she saw a building that was destroyed.   She slowly assessed the damage and realized there was no hope for reconstruction of the town.

She started walked to her grandparent’s house afraid of what she would find.  She was walking down the street when she noticed a movement in the corner of her vision. She knew that the monster was following her.  She sprinted to her grandparent’s house. It was one of the houses that was completely destroyed. She searched the wreckage and didn’t notice any loss of life. She hoped for the best and feared for the worst. She felt lost. It reminded her of a time when she was 8 and she got lost in a mall. She thought she would be lost forever. She felt like all was lost and she would never see her family again. She was scared until she felt someone grab her arm. She jumped and was relived to find that it was her mom.