Speak Quietly

Chapter Five - They Can't Hurt You, Anymore

Through the woods, hundreds of branch arms clawed at me while their feet tried to capture me. They sought out blood; I was giving them what they wanted. I had no idea why I headed to the woods instead of civilization; I just wanted to leave that place. No friends to run to or a family to comfort me, I suppose I thought I could get a new fresh start. You know what people say in the movies, “I’m going to change my name, move to a different location, meet new people, and leave everything behind.”  That was running through my head until I heard a loud snap from a twig or tree branch. I froze as for some odd reason I thought it was Crystal’s boy. My eyes scanned the forest but I didn’t even see as much as a breeze moving leaves. I saw stillness which made me even more unnerved. I took one step and suddenly heard another synchronized step with mine.

“Hello?” I spoke. I was scared, I felt like I was in a horror movie waiting to be slashed by the pathetic murderer who gets found in the end. I looked around one more time, again saw nothing, and ran. I didn’t like back, I had to run and not care if I had passed certain things or not. I made the mistake of turning my head to look back as I ran into something and was knocked to the ground.

“Woah!” a male’s voice said. I closed my eyes; I didn’t want it to be him. I prayed to God that is wasn’t the man.

“Hey, are you okay?” he spoke. I knew that voice. Where was that voice from? I opened my eyes to be greeted by the most handsome face in the world.

“Joseph Winkler…” I whispered.  He smiled and let out a slight chuckle.

“And you’re… Allyson Gray, correct?” he held out his hand to help me back to my feet. I felt myself get red faced.

“How are you doing, by the way? I cannot express how sorry I am about the accident. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing…” His face went from bright to gloomy in seconds. It was almost like the sun dissipated from the clouds. The clouds took the sun into its clutches and strangled it until all the light evaporated. I was almost completely healed, I had forgotten to wrap my arm this morning but I didn’t want him knowing I was still “damaged.”

“I’m fine, Joseph.” is all I managed to say. I wanted him to know that I really was okay with the accident; it didn’t faze me, actually. I didn’t want him feeling guilty, anymore. His eyes slowly looked up from the ground to my arm which was still painted with bruises, yet better but he wouldn’t know that. He took hold of my arm and traced the abstract figures visibly formed underneath my skin.  I was in complete and utter ignorant bliss for a moment until something didn’t exactly add up from the moment I bumped into Joseph. I slid my arm away and studied him for a moment. Nothing seemed wrong, he wasn’t carrying anything, and his clothes looked clean and fresh…

“Um, Joseph, why are you in the woods, in the first place?” I asked suspiciously. He hesitated for a minute before blurting out nonsense.

“Oh, well you see… Well, I was… home and my dad sent me here to get something for him and his girl and she left so I was about to go home but then he called saying she came back so I still need to find it and.. yeah.” he said flustered. It was apparent that he was lying but I didn’t know whether to take this further or not. I was, in fact, running away. Why was I even carrying out this conversation with him? I quickly snapped out of it so I could carry on my way. I looked at him, smiled, and walked away without another word. I tried to slip from his gaze quickly but he yelled for me moments after I, slowly but surely, power-walked away. Meters between us, I stopped but didn’t turn to face him again. I heard the faint sound of leaf and branch crunches become louder with each step Joseph took. Before I knew it, they stopped. I sensed him behind me but nothing happened for a while. I just stood there in anticipation.

“Joseph?” I whispered.  I felt a hand take mine. I turned around to face him as he raised my hand up to his lips. He gently kissed it while raising my sleeve. It revealed every line, every bruise, every wound inflicted onto me. He stopped as his eyes wandered over every single one. I thought he was about to walk away until he just embraced me.

“They can’t hurt you, anymore, Allyson.” he whispered in my ear.