Irene, My dead best friend [Wattys 2015]

Chapter 7: After sunset

I am the darkness, I am the night. I am the figure that haunts your dreams; I am the nightmare you avoid. You may think running is your escape, think again, your fate…is mine.

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It was an instinctual reaction. Within seconds of the gunshot, my reaction was to grab Irene’s hand (attempted to grab her hand, the fact that I couldn’t feel her hand wasn’t helping, but I ignored that, trusted my gut that she was being pulled along with me) and ran for cover under this large, old tree. There was a small, old hollowed out space near the roots of the tree where I all but pushed Irene in (it felt like I was pushing in air) and went in after her, blocking the entrance, trying t keep us safe.

Finally catching my breath, with utter adrenaline and shock running through my veins, a simple fact was now beginning to register in my brain. There was a woman out there; she had been screaming, probably in pain or something along the lines of that and then there had been a gunshot. Had she been shot? Her screams had died down…quite suddenly. I was nauseous and afraid, I wanted to go out there and help that woman, but I was afraid for Irene, afraid for me. No, I couldn’t just sit in here like a coward and let someone out there die, what if she was still alive and fighting for her life? It was bad enough I had a shocked and lost girl sitting here next to me, there was no way I was going to let another person die.

“I can see your resolve, don’t do it. It’s too dangerous,” Irene whispered, still in shock. She was looking at me, fear lacing those beautiful eyes, her voice barely audible.

“I have to. What if she’s still alive?” I looked back into her eyes, knowing just then that I had to save that woman out there and I had to save Irene. Besides, what if the person who shot that woman was still out there? We weren’t that far from my house, they could harm my mother. Fear and a sudden urge to protect everyone ran through my veins.

“Fine. Then I’ll come with you,” I could see the resolve in her eyes too. There was no arguing with her. Besides, I had a feeling that if she could survive out in the woods on her own, she would be able to take care of herself in this situation too, what with her ability to not be felt ( I was certain of it now).

As slowly as I possibly could, I turned around, facing the dusty road again and peaked out just a bit to see if the coast was clear.

“We’ll have to walk slowly, so we don’t attract too much attention, obviously that shouldn’t be any problem for you, what with you floating and everything,” I whispered at Irene, without turning around to look at her.

“What? Floating? Who’s floating,” her whisper back was hurried and agitated. Yes, I would irritate the confession out of her but not now. I had to save that dying woman out there, for her, for my mother, for Irene. I was just surrounded by damsels in distress.

“Nothing. Just be quite and stay behind me,” I whispered hurriedly, still not turning back to look at her. Every cell in my body was now attuned to the sounds on the dusty roads and the old trees that surrounded it on both sides.

“I think I heard her from that side,” I said pointing west, deep into the woods. I looked behind me to see Irene standing there with her eyes closed, as though she were listening. “What are you doing?! Stop wasting time,” I whisper-yelled at her, this girl had absolutely no sense of self preservation; I noted as she opened her eyes ever so slowly and nodded.

“Yes, you’re right. It came from there,” and with that statement she started in the direction of the sound. She had to be mad and I would tell her that but there were more pressing matters at hand. Tiptoeing into the woods, trying to take as much shelter in the tress as I could, we headed in the direction of the screams and the gunshot.