Forgotten Past

Part I: The Meeting

A/N sorry I know I said there wouldn't be a lot of authors nite but I'm gonna keep this short. This is a work in progress so bear with me here. Yea. Also all my A/N will be in bold so I might add my 2 cents here and there. Hope you like it. Love ya my little babies.

The sound of  her pulsing heartbeat pounded in her ears. Blood coated her knuckles. Breaths short, rapid, and rugged from slamming her fist against the strong as the tree. Exhausted, she slumped on the ground, knees bent. Her head resting against the trunk. She hadn’t felt this uneasy since-no don’t do that to yourself, She scolded . You're not that 12 year-old girl anymore! You're fine!

She couldn’t shake the overwhelming queasiness throughout the whole morning. Most people in her “situation” would find this feeling to be alarming, but it only caused her to feel utterly confused about what could possibly be different today. Her morning was the same thing as always: wake up, morning run, occasional surveillance of the area, and mid-morning workout. Even on her most paranoid and stressed days, a good workout got her mind off of it. But today, not even her most intense exercises could expel this sensation.

So, she decided on a different approach and ignored the feeling. After washing up, she wandered to a nearby field out of meer boredom.
After she laid herself in the crisp and lush grass, she found that her gaze couldn’t help but take in the calming scenery. As difficult as it was to live a rather secluded life in the woods, it had it’s ups. At least she wasn’t completely alone, her beloved sister by her side. Her thoughts soon wavered as sleep began to lull the girl to sleep. However, the trance had suddenly snapped as she heard something. Something… human. The realization sent chills crawling down her back like spiders. They didn’t find me, did they? No! You’re freaking yourself out for nothing. You’re overreacting. Just calm down. Your fine, Sadie. It’s probably just a wolf . Your fine!

She tried her best to calm herself and clear her head, but her efforts proved fruitless.

She heard dog-like panting, but there was no doubt in her mind. It was no wolf; it was most definitely human. The only question now was: How did they find her? It felt strangely abnormal. Granted, everything was strange ; nothing was ‘normal’, yet it still seemed odd. She felt something in the pit of her stomach. Sadie always thought that when - correction, IF- they finally caught her that they’d be both confused and aggravated as to why they were hunting down a random teenager. She also had imagined her pursuers to be fierce and deadly, not out of shape and out of breathe.

Maybe they won’t be surprised, she thought. Maybe they would already know why they were chasing her ; know of what she had done. Maybe they weren’t even tired because they had trained and prepared for a fight. Still, it didn’t sit right with her and no way in HELL she would trust them again. Silently creeping behind the boulder to her right, she checked her back pocket for the knife she carried.

However, as she felt her fingers curl around the blade’s handle, Sadie stopped. She was better than this! Instead, her hand slid from her pocket and crept quietly to the object beside her : a fallen tree limb.

The rustling got closer. Tightening her grip, she positioned the branch and drew back, launching the stick forward at her attacker. Right before she was going to bash his head in, she stopped. Much to her relief and shock, it wasn't some 30-something year old guy taking her back but a mere child wearing a look that she knows all too well: fear. Pity swelled up inside, but for once in her life it wasn't for herself. Sadie studied the boy. He looked a few years older than her and even though he was a little taller Sadie was sure she could win in a fight if it came to that, with brown curly hair, big hazel eyes, and a face shape that looks like it would dimple really cute if he were smiling. Which he is not, quite the opposite actually.

Something about him told Sadie that he could be trusted. As paranoid as she was she learned that if she followed her instinct she was never wrong except for the rare moments when she was wrong. She prayed that this was not one of those times.

Gathering all of her courage Sadie abandoned her hiding spot and left her nonlethal weapon behind. Try nice and peaceful maybe she could find out why he’s here.

With great reluctance she walked up to the kid. But the boy was looking in the other direction so he didn't notice Sadie until she lightly tapped his shoulder. Of course he jumped like he was just hit with an electric fly swatter. “Hey,” Sadie said trying to do something she hadn’t done in a long time: a friendly smile. “Why are you here?”. So up close Sadie could she redness in the boy's eyes, as if he has been crying. What is going on?
“Are you ok?” She asked genuinely concerned, she didn’t know why but she felt a sort of bond between them.

The boy seemed to still be recovering from his shock,  so he was a little slow to understand. Finally he gave a small shake of   his head “ Do you want talk about it?” Sadie asked started to feel  a little frustrated that when she finally sees another person she still ends up having a conversation by herself.

“Sorry.” Sadie quickly snapped back to reality. More specifically to the boy in front of her.

“For what,” Sadie asked with fake confusion. Knowing all too well that the boy understood that she was annoyed at his silence. She probably let her annoyance leak into her voice more than she thought.

“For being rude. You were trying to be nice and i just ignored you.” the boy responded with yet another expression she hadn’t seen in years: shame.

“It's okay you were just shocked by my sneaking up on you. Anyway i know what it's like just to want to be alone. I assume that's why you're in the woods,” suddenly curious for the answer. He could be like her. That's how she acted for the first year after what happened. Maybe. But don't be ridiculous he probably just ran away from home.

“Yeah I ran away from home,” He said reading her mind “Because if they are going to ignore me and my dreams and wishes fine by me I'll just leave. So I did. I always loved the woods their beauty, their peace and quiet. It's so much better than the noisy city or urban houses,”he said bitterly.”Why are you here? Did you run away too?”

“No. I was escape.”

“What do you mean by “escaped”?” concern written all over this stranger's face.

Sadie silently cursed at herself for telling him that little piece of information. Not wanting to lie she bends the truth.“Well i was held there against my will. And if i didn’t leave i would've died or much worse,” Getting angry at the memory of that awful place.

“I'm so sorry that terrible,” he answered seeming to be sad as if it were him telling the story.

“Thanks. But i think introduction are well overdue. I'm Sadie. Sadie Daisy Jackson. You?”

“Right. My name is Frank Carswell Valdez.  Call me Craswell.”

Hey sorry I know super long. Don't worry the next few chapters won't be that long.