Tempt In The Trees

One

My heart pounded at an alarmingly fast rate as I sprinted through the deep and mysterious woods. I was tempted to turn back to look at my chaser. However, I knew if I did, I would meet an untimely demise. Kind of like the movies. Or books. Or comics.

I shook my head, pushing the thoughts that distracted me out of my mind as I kept running. I leaped over a tree that must've fallen. Fragments of light illuminated the ground that was covered in leaves and twigs.

Eventually, my curiosity got the better of me and I turned my head to look around-

There was what seemed to be a weight on my stomach that had awoken me. "Em! Get up! We have to go to the Seremoni! We can't be late!" A sweet, yet demanding voice called to me.

"I'm up, I'm up." I muttered, groggily, as my little sister, Jasmine, hopped off of me. I swiftly stood up and ushered Jasmine out of my small bedroom.

I quietly shut the door and walked over to my white dresser. I opened the third drawer and pulled out my dark violet dress and laid it out on my bed.

I walked over to my slightly foggy and dirty mirror. I combed out my straight, brown hair and wiped a few eye boogers out of the corners of my light brown eyes. I sighed and put on my dress and then stuffed my feet into some dark brown dress shoes.

I opened my bedroom door and stepped outside. I grabbed Jasmine's hand which was wearing a white, laced glove. She had put on a black, knee length dress that had three quarters length sleeves and a sweet heart neckline. Her hair was tied up in a tight ballet bun. For an eleven year old, she cleaned up nice.

For a fifteen year old, I usually never wore dresses and stuck with a dirty pair of combat boots. I sighed and walked towards the town square, catching sight of the gallows. I gulped, not loud enough for Jasmine to hear. There was already a crowd surrounding the gallows.

I stood in the back, still holding Jasmine's hand. Everyone stood there, staring straight ahead with blank faces. Jasmine and I replicated them as a short woman of about fifty walked close to the Devils Knot. I felt Jasmines hand squeeze mine as I coveted her eyes with my hand and forced myself to shut my own.

All I heard was screaming for a bit and then SNAP! I heard Jasmine yelp so I decided to pull her close to me. "Mommy..." was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

I let out a shaky sigh as they carried off my mother's lifeless body. I had never noticed how pretty she was. I never noticed how her electric blue eyes shined in the sunlight. Now, they had a lifeless type of sparkle that hinted at suffering.

I knew I never could've loved her much after what she had done. She was a monster. My blood was shared with a monster. I uncovered Jasmine's eyes and walked her to our house.

As we passed a few civilians, we had gotten weird stares and scoffs. I simply had stared ahead of me whilst Jasmine whined under her breath. I had known that the stares made her uncomfortable. She had this habit of whining when she was uncomfortable or nervous. It had been adorable to me.

I was stopped in my tracks as I noticed two men who were wearing jet black armor were standing in front of our house. I pulled Jasmine behind me as I swallowed softly. They were carrying guns so expensive only the Sjef could have had afforded them. They were the soldiers.

"We're going to ask you to go outside Community grounds, ladies." One has said in a deep yet average volumed voice.

"Why?" I had asked, trying my best not to sound mortified.

"Sjef has ordered us to... escort... you out. Don't make us use force, Bennet! Your mother was arrested and persecuted. You have no money to pay for the house. Leave peacefully or we use force." The second one had said in a booming voice that practically echoed authority.

"Use force I dare you!" A small childish voice had said from behind me. The two men smirked and sprinted towards us.

"Jasmine, run!" I yelled, turning on my heels and sprinting towards God knows what direction. As I ran, tiny footsteps followed me along with the loud crunch of boots against leaves.

During the chase, I must've had lost track of Jasmine because when I looked behind me, she wasn't there, only a soldier was following me. The Community gate opened and I zipped outside of the Community.

An all too familiar scene was laid out in front of me. The scenery replicated my dream along with the sounds of boots against leaves. My hands became clammy and my throat grew dry as I turned a few corners to try and lose the soldier.

I fought the urge to turn around and see where the guy was so I just kept running. My heart was beating so fast it practically jumped out of my chest and ran to Russia.

To my dismay, a cramping sensation had formed in my left side, aching to force me to stop and breathe. However, my mind had been telling me to keep running. It had told me on repeat to never stop running.

The sensation had soon overwhelmed me and I was forced to stop running. I slowly turned around to see if the soldier had still been chasing me.

The last thing I saw was Jasmine's body being carried by a soldier before a loud popping sound was heard and my whole being was surrounded by darkness. Darkness and dread.

Crunch

Snap

Pop

Sounds of footsteps had seemed to echo in my ears as I regained consciousness. Jasmine. Jasmine. Jasmine. That was the only thought that I had running through my mind. No, not running. Sprinting.

Light flooded my vision, having made me squint to try and adjust to the new brightness that was in contrast to the constant darkness. I hadn't dreamed, which I found odd. I usually had always dreamed about something or another.

It didn't take long for me to find out that I was laying on the ground in the woods. Shit. I had thought as I slowly propped myself up on my elbows, wincing at a sharp pain in my shoulder. I slid the sleeve of my dress up and analyzed my left shoulder, having found a gunshot wound.

They must've had shot me where I wouldn't die, and dumped me in the middle of the woods. Where the hell was Jasmine? Was she okay?

I stood up and did a three sixty to scan the perimeter for  any sign of human life. I jumped, hearing the crackling of leaves and sticks behind me. I jolted around to be faced by a tall guy around my age with a head of curly black hair and dark brown eyes.

Out of instinct, I kicked him in the stomach and winced as a pulsation of pain jetted through my arm. The boy tilted his head and looked at my left shoulder as if it had suddenly sprouted a tree or something.

"Are you hurt?" He said, his voice calm and soothing. With that voice and those looks, he was basically guaranteed everything in life. That's exactly what I disliked about him.

"I can handle it myself." I grumbled and sent him a glare that could've cut diamonds. He put his hands up in surrender and stepped forward.

"I can help heal it. I'm very skilled at that. About an hour earlier, I found a body a mile from here. I took it to base and the person is being cared for." He said.

My heart skipped a beat as he said that. Could it be Jasmine? I shook the thought out of my head and continued to glare at the mysterious boy.

"I'm Vincent." He said, holding out his hand for me to shake. When I didn't do anything for thirty seconds, he continued, "And you-"

"None of your business." I said, cutting him off. "What?" I asked, noting he was staring at me. "Stop undressing me with your eyes and lead the way." I said, rolling my eyes.

His only response was a smirk.

(1440 words)

(Any Songs I put here are basically on the soundtrack for this book. Feel free to listen to them while reading.)