War

Chapter 4

Don't worry! I'm not dead! :D

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Aiden:

Blood. Puddles and puddles of blood surround me. All my friends lie on the ground, motionless, pale, their chest don't rise or fall to signify any sign of life in their soulless bodies. 'I have to go' I thought as I ran in no particular direction, just a place away from all of the...madness. 'They attacked us. They hurt my friends... my family!' I run as far as my legs are able to carry me. I hear something whirring in the distance. 'Planes' I thought. I run in to an alley between two destroyed buildings to avoid being seen. I rest my back against the wall, hand over my chest, trying to capture oxygen before passing out. I sink to the ground and place my hands over my ears just hoping, waiting, for all the catastrophes to end. The shootings, the deaths, the lies. 'Please. . . End the madness! I can't do this anymore!' I yell to no one in particular. 'I need to go. Get up. . . Now!' I rise from the ground, bringing my feet under me. I run out of the alley, and dart down empty dirt roads and streets, between houses and buildings, over rivers and in to lakes. I get far enough to where I think I'm safe. I collapse on the ground and look back at the war zone. 'I escaped. . . No more disasters. No more hiding. No more anything. . .' After, my eyelids grow heavy, unable to remain open. Soon, light turns in to darkness and then I pass out. . .

I wake up breathless. The plane is silent and dark. To my left, the passenger next to me is reading a book. I lean forward slightly to see the cover.

'Bodies.' I avert my eyes, leaning back while grunting. 'Not now. . .' I stare out the plane window, looking in to darkness. I sigh and shut the shutter. I never liked darkness. Not when I was young and definitely not now in present time. I have always thought of it as a void in to another realm. A realm of fears. Where one can co-exist for a brief moment. Anything can be thought of in this realm, but usually, monsters and demons are what come to mind and for a moment, you're there with them. Your reflection brings your world and their world together, torturing you with your darkest fears and deepest regrets. I have never and can never stare in to darkness too long as my world of fears and regrets will be too much to handle. . .

I observe the rest of the passengers on the plane. I see a little girl with her mother and father on each side of her. She reminds me of Erin when she was young. How she would cuddle next to mom before bed, anticipating a story. Mom would usually give in and read to her. When mom was too tired or home late, I read to her. I even acted out the characters just to make her smile and laugh. Her joy brought me happiness that lasted for ever. I'm glad I'm going back home now. I can see her before she grows too old to care about me. One of my biggest fears is losing her. If anything were to happen to her, I could not live. Breathe. All happiness would fall into a deep deep pit and darkness would rise, erasing the smile off my face and any hope of bringing it back.

I take my mind off of anything saddening and resort to reading. I pull a magazine out of the pocket behind the seat in front of me and open to a random page to focus my mind on other things. 'We'll be landing soon. . .'

I lean back in to my seat and read the text on the page, not paying attention to the actual words. After about 10 minutes of "reading" I grow tired and fall asleep.

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I wake up to the jolting of the plane throwing me forward a couple of inches. I open my shutter and see ground. 'Finally. . .' I lean forward and sit up straight in my seat. I look around the plane which is lit up and lively. Bright morning faces sit in the seats preparing their belongings to get off.

I stretch and unbuckle my seatbelt. The clicking on the plane signifies that everyone else did the same. I stare out the window as we taxi to the gate. I'm glad to be home. I'm safe here. From all the tragedies and fears. . . I'm safe. . . For now.

We reach the gate and everyone stands up. I straighten out my uniform, flattening out the wrinkles and fixing the collar. Soon the doors open and people file out one by one off the plane.

I step out of my seat into the aisle. When I reach the door, a flight attendant smiles at me.

"Thank you for your service." she says giving a small bow.

I smile back, letting an in audible laugh slip out. 'If that's considered service. . ." I step out as she continued to motion people off the plane. I walk through the cold hallway to the main part of the airport. I sigh as I look around. 'Home.' I smile to myself as I start toward the train leading away from the gates.

I step on to the train and grab a pole for balance. The train then lurches forward, heading towards the other side of the airport. When it arrives, it stops with small force. The doors open and let everyone out. A man stops and motions me to go first. I smile and wave my hand at him to signal thank you. I walk to the exit of the train and walk with the crowd. I turn the corner and see a sea of people waiting for their families to return.

I stand on my tiptoes and look about the heads. 'Where are they. . .?' Then I hear my name being shouted. I look at the crowd and see people moving to the side, letting a small body come through. 'Erin. . .' A large smile appears on my face as I bend on one knee to hug her. She runs to me with full force and when she hits me, I grunt from slight pain. I hug her tightly, not wanting to lose this moment. I reminisce on when she was little. On how she always hugged me when se was happy, sad, or even just to do it. The memories make me cry a little but when we pull apart I see her face is shiny as well.

"I've missed you." she says.

"I've missed you too." I smile at her and hug her once more.

I grab her and carry her on my back.

"Where's mom?" I ask, looking around.

"Umm. . . There!" she says pointing.

I follow her finger and soon spot mom standing in the crowd. I walk to her and she spots me. I set Erin down and go to hug mom.

"Welcome home, sweetie." She says hugging me tightly.

"It's good to be home." I give her a big hug.

We pull away and I grab Erin's hand. We make our way to the baggage claim so I can grab my bag. We walk in sync and talk. Mom follows slightly behind us. I turn back and smile at her. I look down to Eri.

'Safe. . . For now.'

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I did my best to make this chapter long! :D Sorry I took so long to update Dx I do better next time. Thanks for reading and please, do'a vote and recommend this here story to fellow amigos!! A'Thank you!

~ Toodly-oodly!