Alone

The Woods

Summers POV.

   Candy was all I had left. I was alone before, but now...now I'm truly alone. She has always been there for me, she went through everything with me... She was all I had left...

Faster... Almost there... Just keep running...

   I was running hard and fast, faster than I ever had before. Tears ran down my face. Once I heard that Candy was gone, it's like something clicked in me, something turned that switch back on.

   I keep running, and my legs and sides scream in pain, but I keep going. Run, Run, Run. I enter the forest, and the branches whip against me and scrape my face and arms as I run by. I just keep running though, father and deeper into the woods. I feel a strong breeze, and I look up to see a cloudy sky. I don't know how long I run for, but suddenly I trip. I fall and scrape my knee.

   I'm breathing heavily, my chest rising and falling fast. I push myself against a tree and bury my head into my hands. Why me? Why does everything happen to me? Why can't life just leave me alone?

   I sob loudly, mainly because there is no one else here to hear me. I shiver slightly as the strong wind whips against my clothes and hair. I feel something cold drop on my head. I look up, and I notice that it's drizzling. The sky has gotten to a dark grey color, and the trees are whipping around with the wind like crazy.

   The wind blows my hair into my face, and it sticks there because of my tears. I sigh loudly, sniffling too. Suddenly the rain starts to pour harder, and there was lightning and loud thundering in the distance. Suddenly my sadness is replaced with fear.

   I stand up, realizing I have no idea where I am. I put my black hoodie over my head, and look around. I feel myself start to panic. I reach into my pocket for my phone, but I left it in my backpack. I take a deep breath... This is not a good time to panic.

   My anxiety built though, as I realize how truly alone I am. I'm in a huge forest and I have no idea where I am, or even how long it took me to get here. It could have been minutes, or even hours. I ran out of desperation to get away... Away from everything...

   The rain starts to pour hard, and the sky is dark with bright lightning. It was a bad storm, and with each thunder I shook. I never liked thunder...

   I hear a loud crack from behind me, like a branch cracking. It chills me to the bone and I freeze. I quiet my breathing and I listen. It's quite for a few seconds, which felt like forever, but then...

Crack...

   But this time closer. I turn and run, fast. I don't know who's out there, but they better not be following me. Suddenly I hear even more consistent twigs snapping, and I know whoever or whatever it is, is following me.

   I run faster, scared to look back. What if it's Lukas? What if it's his friends? What if it's a killer? Complete stranger? Lukas scares me more than a stranger, or even a killer...

   I couldn't help but look back, I knew it would slow me down, but I needed to know. I take a quick glance back, and I see someone. It's a guy I believe, wearing all black, and he's tall. Tall like Lukas and his friends. He had his hood up so I couldn't see his face.

   He's close behind me, about a few yards. Faster. I sprint and take random turns, trying to lose him, but he has long legs, unlike me. My breath catches as I trip, and I'm launched forward. I hit the same knee on the ground, and I rip my jeans on that part. I feel my heart beating inside my ears. I try to crawl away, but I don't get very far.

   The footsteps get louder, and I curl up into a ball. Lightning flashes, and the thunder roars along with the wind. The rain pelts me hard. Someone grabs me, and I scream and kick,  trying to get away.

   I get pushed up against a tree, and I close my eyes and look away. "Please don't hurt me! I'm sorry, I'll a-answer your texts I p-promise! Just leave me alone!"  I scream at the guy, getting flashbacks of Lukas. The lighting flashes and I see Lukas in the hoodie, and I scream out and cry, struggling to get away.

   "Summer! It's me!" The guy says, and pulls off his hoodie. Ryder stares down at me, still making sure I don't run. I breathe heavily as I stare up at him, so much relief filling my chest. "Why are you out here? Why aren't you home? Tyler called me saying he couldn't find you, that you ran away. Is that true?"

"I... I" I suddenly break down into tears again, and Ryder pulls me into a hug. "hey hey hey, it's okay, I'm not mad." he says while rubbing my back.

   "I'm sorry," I say, pulling away and wiping my eyes.

"It's fine..." Ryder says. "Why did you say that to me when I caught you, who did you think I was? And what do you mean about the texts?" he says, a serious expression on his face.

   "I thought...I thought you were Lukas, " I say quietly, looking down and brushing the hair out of my face. I see him clench his jaw and run his hand through his now wet hair. "a*shole" he mutters. "cmon, you must be freezing. I'll take you to my house and get you dry and warm, then I'll call your parents to come get you."

   I nod my head. He doesn't know that I live with Tyler. Nobody does, and I like it that way. He holds my wrist lightly as he guides us through the woods. Everytime I'm about to trip he catches me, which is nice because my knee stings, and I can see dried blood on it.

   We walk a long while out of the woods, then walk to his house. It takes about an hour and a half to finally get there. We take off our shoes on the porch, then he grabs us some towels before walking inside. I dry off as best as I can, and he lets me borrow some of his sister's clothes, although I never heard of him having a sister.

   While he makes hot chocolate, I look at some pictures. There are many of a girl, which im guessing is his sister. She looks a lot like Ryder, only more feminine. I see one where she is wearing the shirt I am borrowing of hers. But something catches my eye. She is standing next to a little boy, who looks about 13. He looks like Ryder. But that can't be Ryder because that has to be a recent photo since I'm wearing her shirt, which she would have definitely grown out of if it was when Ryder was 13.

   "Hot chocolate is ready, " Ryder says, walking to the couch holding two. I smile and take it, but I still feel overwhelmingly sad that Candy is gone.

   "Did you call someone to pick you up?" he asked me. I nod my head, because I called Tyler.

   "Why were you in the woods?"I  ask, curious.

   He looks uncomfortable and runs his hand through his hair. "Um...visiting someone, " he says, rubbing his neck absently. I nod my head, but I didn't believe him. I wasn't going to push him though, I know what it's like to not want to talk about something.

   The doorbell rings and I say goodbye to Ryder. I was gonna eventually find out what was going on, I was too curious to just let it go, but for now, I'll just have to leave it.