Existence

Chapter 9

Edited - December 26, 2018

Pitch black. That was all she could see.

No, there were tiny lights up in the sky— dozens of stars peeking through a canopy overhead. Sarah blinked rapidly, trying to make her eyes adjust to the gloom. Trees suddenly appeared in her line of vision. As well as—

"Sarah Walkman," a voice rasped. From out of the gloom came an outstretched hand, followed by a familiar face with one violet eye.

"N-no," Sarah took a few steps back, "you— you're— Byron hit you with an arrow!"

The Shifter sneered and held up a dagger with his other hand. "The archer missed. Now don't move."

"No!" Sarah turned and ran, pushing through bushes and low-hanging tree branches.

The Shifter tsked behind her. "Not even your brother was this uncooperative."

"Sarah?" Alex's voice called out in the darkness ahead. "Sarah, where are you?"

"Alex—" Before she could say anything else, Sarah felt herself go weightless as something ensnared her and lifted her up into the treetops. Curled on her back, Sarah clawed desperately at the material around her. She had stepped into a net trap.

"Sarah?"

Craning her neck, Sarah could make out the silhouette of her cousin wandering below her. He looked around for a moment and scratched his head.

Quiet laughter came from behind her, sending chills down her back.

"Gotcha."

Sarah woke with a gasp, her heart beating erratically in her chest. Something was still holding onto her, lifting her off the ground. She squirmed around, trying to get free, but the hold around her tightened and she began to struggle even harder.

"Whoa, calm down, Sarah," a familiar, soothing voice said. "It's Byron."

"Put me down," Sarah insisted, still finding it difficult to breathe as she pushed at Byron's shoulders.

Byron complied immediately as he shifted his stance to put her down. As soon as he had loosened his grip, Sarah leaped out of his arms and landed on the ground on unsteady legs. She blinked up at their surroundings, briefly squinting as sunlight hit her face.

They were still in the forest, but it must've been another section. The trees here were not as close together as the ones near the Tunnel. In fact, they were getting sparser and sparser up ahead. The afternoon sun's rays covered every inch of exposed soil.

It took Sarah a moment to remember what had happened. The ambush. The one-eyed cheetah. The sudden drowsiness that had come over her. Sarah lowered herself to hug her knees for fear of completely collapsing, closing her eyes and trying to rid her head of the memories.

Byron watched her with a concerned expression on his face, thankfully keeping his distance. Casey had been walking a few feet ahead. Seeing that Sarah was awake, he began jogging back towards them.

"Sarah, you okay?" Casey asked as soon as he was within earshot.

"Where's Alex?" Sarah managed to spit out.

Her cousin was nowhere to be seen, as was Azazel. Sarah looked up at the trees questioningly, expecting to see either one watching them from the foliage.

"He went ahead with Azazel to meet the chief," Casey replied slowly, kneeling down next to her. "Since the Solquine scout never went back to report our arrival, another one came by on a GRIP. Theplatform couldn't carry more than three people, so we stayed behind with you."