The scream echoes in my brain over and over. The teeth, the claws, the blood. Just over and over like a never ending video.
I sit by the lake in the park and just see the images again and again.
"Fawn" I whisper to myself. I tear rolls down my cheek and I sigh.
It's been a little over a year now since Jennifer, Megan, and I escaped the depths of Magnum Terram. And I have not been the same.
The helicopter that had saved us took us to a Russian airport. We then transferred over to an airplane that was flown by the same pilot who flew the helicopter. He took us to a small airport in Illinois and paid for our taxis home. It was time to go our separate ways. I cried as Jennifer, Megan, and I hugged each other. We gave each other our phone numbers and got in our taxis. I still couldn't believe all the help we got. The pilot who helped us was a very nice man. After all the help he gave us, I realized that I didn't even know his name. So I asked and his name was Albert. I'll never forget Albert. The man who saved our lives...Or at least some of them.
Once I got home, I went straight to Tony since he is the only person I feel close to. He gasped when he saw me. My hair looked like a bird nest, I had multiple bruises and cuts, I was just dirty and smelly, and I had lost a lot of weight. He took me to the hospital and they fixed me right up.
That first shower that I got when I got back felt glorious. The nice clean water rushing over my damaged body. It was the best feeling in the world.
I tried to explain to Tony on the ride back from the hospital what had happened but of course he didn't believe me. He thought that I had just got lost when I went on my study abroad. I explained to him that I wasn't studying abroad and that it was just all a scam but he just didn't understand.
The first month after, I tried therapy but I slowly realized there wasn't anything I could do to get the haunting images out of my head.
I've had nightmares about every night and PTSD about every other week. I've slowly gone insane and I don't know what I can do anymore.
After about 3 months of my insanity, Tony finally saw that I had definitely changed. He asked me to tell him again what happened and he finally believed me.
Every second of everyday I am just replaying everything that happened. I sit here on the park bench just looking out onto the lake. The memories flood back as I remember what happened to Alicia, Link, and Kendall....They all died on a lake. It was a frozen lake but still it was a lake.
I can't stop myself from crying it's just an automatic thing. The absolutely terrifying and traumatic things I've been through just can't leave me.
The hair stands up on the back of my neck as I hear growling behind me. I slowly turn and see The Creature glaring at me. It's red devilish eyes just peering into my soul.
I try to get a scream out but I can't. I just sit there in fear. I'm still trying to decide if I should run or face this son of bitch that killed most of my friends.
I look back up and see its claw coming right at me. I quickly duck and fall into a hurdle position. The scream that I couldn't get out finally escapes my mouth.
I expect a sharp claw to pierce right through me but instead something else lightly touches me on the shoulder.
"Berry! It's okay. It's me, Tony."
I'm still shaking as I slowly look up. I see the familiar face of my best friend and he helps me up.
"I...I'm...I'm...sorry." I try to get out.
