LIVING SOULLESS

Chapter I

"Betcha' can't beat me!", he smirked.

His light brown hair spiked up liked a scared cat with an arched back.  His 5-freckled cheeks simultaneously turned to the left slightly. A toothy grin adorned the small boy's face, while his pair of chocolate brown eyes were filled with adventure and joy. The green jacket seemed a size too large for the boy's body, but he didn't mind. Light blue jeans covered his small legs and partly of his green and black shoes. Although he seemed fairly harmless, he can cause a room to look like a hurricane washed over and a tornado ran through to air dry the couches. He was, after all, my annoying little brother Marco.

"Please, I can beat you any day", I boasted.

Rain sprinkled on my long, choppy black hair with red highlights in my bangs. It was a sprinkling night with bright yellow lights hovering above us. There was little traffic, only a few cars and trucks passed by on the wet concrete. My mother and two aunts were playing with my 2 year old cousin Mikey as he was giggling and trying to run away from them. Keyword: trying.

Sebastian, however, is as serious as ever. His dark red hoodie covered his long black hair. His mysterious black eyes sparkled in the yellow light, then blended in with the darkness. His navy blue jeans slowly walked forward along the pavement with a pair of black and white shoes sometimes revealing themselves. He casually walked with his hands in the hoodie's pockets, looking rather unamused with his childish family. It's difficult to think that he is related to me, since I am the exact opposite of him. He had always seemed to be caught in a thick science book or be in his own world. Despite his mature act, he was a gentle and calm brother.

"Race ya' to that traffic light!", Marco raced off.

"Hey, you cheated!", I sprinted after the troublemaker.

Halfway towards the traffic light, I caught up to my brother who was panting. Smirking , I sprinted off leaving a dumbfounded Marco behind. Grinning in success, I waited at the traffic light named Ferris Road. I noticed that the traffic had started building up. Looking closely at the drivers, I saw startled looks, some even frightened. Suddenly, I felt a weak attempt of a punch on my right arm (pretty sure it's Marco). Marco (yup), who was breathing heavily, glared up at me in anger.

"I...wanna...rematch!", he panted, pointing weakly at my direction.

I was too focused on the now heavy traffic and the drivers' faces. They were all now panicked and speeding up. Marco, still trying to catch his breath, accidentally leaned against me causing me to fall over the curb and be inches away from a red Ford truck with a panicked bearded man at the wheel.

"Woah!"

A pair of small hands grabbed the back of my black hoodie and pull me back with all their might, until I crashed on the sidewalk, hands first. The ford veered away dodging several other frantic cars, honking at pedestrians to move out of the way. People were now screaming and running with fright, children were crying. My family, who were catching up to us, were now carried away with the sea of people. Rain poured down on all of us, fire was starting to form on abandoned, crashed vehicles.

Marco, now drenched in water, placed his hands on my shoulders, shaking me out of the daze.

"Lexi! LEXI! We gotta go NOW!", Marco yelled at the top of his lungs.

His eyes were filled with fear and worry, something that I thought I would never see. The once uncontrollable spiked light brown, hair, was now plastered across forehead. Instead of reaching for my hands, Marco desperately tried pulling me up by underneath my arms. Once up, I caught a glimpse of my scraped, bloody hands.

Great, I thought. Nothing more comfortable than glass.

"LEX RUN!!!"

A scream from the swarm of people brought me back to reality. Of all the people I thought that would run to me, Sebastian, the most calm individual on Earth, came tackling his way against the frantic people.

While I was too stunned to move, Sebastian made his way towards us and took me by the shoulders, shouting my name. He had his hood down, making his drenched long, black hair reach his concerned black eyes. He was soaked from the rain from head to toe. Marco tugged at my arm, trying to make me move. Lightning flashed, thunder roared over the small city. A sudden growling made me jump and back up against Sebastian. 

There, behind the wave of scared people, were monstrous people. No, things. Monstrous things were terrorizing the innocent people. The smell of rotten flesh and death filled the air, intoxicating the atmosphere. Red, hungry glowing eyes were following an innocent person. Then, the most disgusting and horrifying event had occurred. The thing had chomped down on the person's neck, while the male yelled in agony as he fell to the ground. More of the creatures engulfed the person and started feasting as well. Screams and smoke filled the city. More people crumpled to the hard concrete. A creature had started making its way towards our direction. It growled in victory, then, as it was about to run at us, a blue car slammed into the creature, sending it flying and crashing against his fellow comrades.

I soon saw an eighteen-wheeler with three hairy man in the front. One with long, curly brown hair and a bushy beard, another with a moustache and bald head, and the last one with short black hair and a thin beard.  They all jumped out of the eighteen-wheeler leaving it to crush the small blue car and head towards our way.

"RUN!!", I screamed, pushing both of my brothers forward with the back of my bloody hands.

Marco stumbled a bit, but luckily Sebastian caught him and carried him. Let me just say I'm never racing Sebastian. He sprinted off leaving me not too far behind. I resisted the urge to clench my fists. The eighteen-wheeler came closer and closer. I ran even faster, until I felt a cold, disgusting hand wrap around my ankle, causing me to fall once more, but this time face first.

"Lexi!", Marco yelled, concern laced in his voice.

Numb to the pain, I saw two blurry red, glowing,hungry eyes in front of me. The stench of rotten flesh made me dizzier, but luckily I had the strength to kick it off me. A sickening crack came from the creature's neck and instantly crumpled to the sidewalk.

"LEX!", Sebastian cried out.

He placed Marco down and strictly told him to run and start a car (trust me, he has done it before. Don't ask how or why). Although the sound was muffled and my sight was blurry, I understood through his hand motions. Sebastian came sprinting towards me, but the creaking and scraping of metal against concrete caught my attention. The eighteen-wheeler was ten feet away from me. Nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...

"LEX, NO!!"

The headlights got brighter and brighter by the second. I was frozen and numb, not able to move. I closed my eyes and suddenly I felt someone grab me like their bride. A gust of wind flew through my hair. It felt pleasant at first, but the person has to work on his or her landing skills. My head crashed onto the hard concrete, leaving my vision even blurrier. I could not move, and I only heard the muffled sound of a car stop in front of me.

The last thing I saw was a blurry black figure with two glowing white eyes.

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Hey guys! Thank you so much for reading my story!! It really means a lot to me! Please leave a vote and comment if you have any suggestions!!!

~JackieLynnRamirez