Burning lands

Chapter 9

Angie laid on her back and watched the shooting stars fly across the sky. “This place used to always be this beautiful.” “Who are you!” She shouted as she jumped to her feet. “I will reveal myself when the time is right and you are ready to know the truth.” Angie was then left in the rain of the dark and deserted streets, there was no more beauty. The smell of burning bodies filled her nose as she tried to figure out where she was. “Hey you!” She swung around to see who was yelling at her. There was a man, he was about the same height as Angie, with brown hair. She realized the gun that was being pointed at her, she quickly threw her hands up. “Please don't shoot, i'm not one of those creatures.” As the man drew closer Angie's problems faded away. “Angie!!” Zack said as he ran towards her. She broke out into tears as they wrapped their arms around each other. “We were so worried. You just disappeared, don't ever do that again!” Angie laughed and cried at the same time, she could find the words to say as she hugged him tight.

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Five days earlier

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    Zack jumped woke up to Ashley shaking him. “She's gone! Angie’s gone!.” He jumped out of bed and ran to Angie’s room. “Where the hell did she go?” He shouted at Ashley as she made her way towards him. “I don't know!” She broke into tears as her gaze landed on a silver object coated in blood. Zack spent an hour checking every crick and cranny hoping to figure out if Angie left or something broke in and grabbed her, but everything was exactly the same as the night before. Nothing came in or left. “How is that possible?” Ashley asked as he told her what he found. “I don’t know, but it's the truth. She is not in this house whatsoever, but she never left.” Ashley broke into tears and sat on the torn couch that sat in the middle of the dining room. Zack sat beside her and tried to comfort her, “Don't worry, we will find her. She couldn't have gone to far if she did manage to leave.” Ashley wiped away her tears “Okay, how should i help?”

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“Where’s Ashley?” Angie asked as they walked towards the truck. Zack glanced at her then back towards the truck. “Oh.” She watched the ground as they walked. “When?” He thought long about both questions, then answered. “She was taken by these people, I don't know who they were. They took her in a white van two days ago and i haven't seen her since.” A piercing pain shot through Angie’s head and she dropped to the ground. She dug the palms of her hands into her head. She could hear Zack but couldn't make out what he was saying. An image of a white van popped in her head and the pain got worse. The image was as clear as day. On the side of the van were big black letters that spelt S.N.A.P With a red stripe that looked like it was holding the letters up. The image went away and the pain stopped as quickly as it started. Zack stared at her horrified. “Are you ok?” Angie nodded as she stood. “I think i know where Ashley is.” He looked at her confused “What do you mean?” He said as he unclipped the holster that held his gun. “I sam an image of the van and i think i might know where it came from, but before we go i need to sleep.” Zack nodded and walked toward a building that looked like it had been deserted for years, even before everything happened. They walked inside and went up a few floors and entered a room. He pointed at a bed. “All yours.” then he walked out of the room. Angie plopped down on the bed and fell asleep.

    She could here Ashley's screams in the darkness of her thoughts. They were screams of pain and agony, as if she was being tortured. “Your friend is in pain and it's partially your fault.” The being slowly circled Angie, it smelled of death. As if it crawled out of a pit full of fifty year old corpses, it wore a black hooded cloak, with the hood pulled over its head. A hand, that was nothing but bone, hung out of one of the long black sleeves. “You two look so much a like, as if you were sisters. The people who captured her were looking for you, now she is going to die and you can't do anything to stop it.” “There has to be a way to help her. Please don’t let her die, she doesn’t deserve it.” Angie cried. The creature stopped moving “She doesn't deserve it?” The creature waved its hand and a book floated from out of nowhere to hover in front of it. The creature flipped through a couple of pages then stopped and started moving again with the book in front of it. “According to this, Ashley was a terrible person. She married men just to divorce them and get half of everything they had. She aborted many children over the course of her lifetime, even after stating that she was against it. That last husband she had was murdered, police were told he was abducted by a criminal mastermind, but the truth is she killed him and proceeded to bury his body at a construction site.” The book closed and disappeared into the darkness. “I think she deserves what's coming.” Angie was shocked, she couldn't move or speak. She stared into the darkness as all the information swam in her head. “You best wake up now, or you'll regret it.” The creature disappeared and Angie woke up to find herself strapped to the bedposts. “Son of a bitch. Not again.” She yelled out then quickly glanced around the room. To her surprise she was still on the bed Zack had told her to sleep on, even in the same room. “Good you're finally awake.” Zack said from a corner of the room then stepped out of the darkness. “What are you doing?” Zack stepped towards the bed and looked her up and down. “Angie, i have a confession. I'm a virgin.” A wicked grin spread across his. “I refuse to die like this and i know you're not willing so i decided to just take advantage of you.” Angie's expression changed from anger to fear. Tears clouded her vision. “I thought you were friend. I trusted you.” She cried trying not to break down completely. “Well that was your mistake.” He smiled and laid his hand on her thigh. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the fear faded and the rage returned. “I trusted you!!!” She yanked her hands and snapped the bindings. Quickly lunging up, she wrapped her hands around Zacks throat and squeezed with inhuman strength. The bones snapped in his body and Angie watched as the life drained from his eyes. Zack slumped to the ground as if he was just a rag doll. She then tore the leg bindings off and walked out of the building into the cold night air.