Eyes Of the Lost

5- Awake

I stand as tears burn in my eyes. A smoke arises from my shaking body. The Howlight in front of me breathes one last time and dies right in front of me. I have no doubt the blood on its snout is Samantha's.
I'm so infuriated I can feel the heat radiating off of me.
What the hell just happened?!
I can't think. I cant hear. I can't think.
Everything is a blur.
Then I remember.
Wolves traveled in packs.
I'm pushed to the ground, blackness on top of me. Blue drool drips down and covers my face.
I'm so exhausted, I can barely move.
The Howlight is in my face, snarling a giant wicked smile as its claws dig into my stomach. I cringe in unfathomable pain as blood stains my clothes.
I grasp the Howlight's leg and its fur bristles. For a moment, I feel calm. Then an unbelievable feeling spread through my body, and I grip the Howlight harder as I'm barreled into. Suddenly, I jolt up, flying the Howlight off of my body. I can hear its yelps in the distance, but I can't move.
I just lie there, listening to the Howlight gasp for its last breaths. I'm bleeding out on the forest floor, the gashes in my stomach pounding with a piercing pain. I look up to the tree tops. I swallow my pain and almost laugh. My glasses that blocked the sun fell off when I ran, but despite the bright light, I'm glad. The setting sun is the perfect thing to see before you die.
I close my eyes, the wet grass helping me drift away like a cloud beneath my still body.
Then, I hear heavy and quick steps through the forest. Probably another Howlight here to finish me off.
"Vivi!!" Shouting. Its Ethan, Jack clutching his hand.
He's standing over me, his face looking at me frantically as he pulls my ripped shirt off to examine my wounds. He winces at my gashes as tears roll down his cheeks.
"Jack, give me my bag!" Ethan shouts.
Jack drops a huge bag to the forest floor. Ethan grabs it and dumps out the contents. I spot him pulling some sort of salve off the forest floor out of the corner of my vision.

My eyes begin to droop, my mouth open. I can't stay awake. It feels nice. "Don't die on me!" Ethan cries angrily.
My eyes flutter shut as he tends to my wounds.

I wake to a dark sky above me surrounded by trees. It feels as if the ground below me is shaking. And then I realise. It is.
I try to sit up, but I cringe in agony and fall to the ground again.
"She's up!" Ethan shouts.
I can barely breathe, but I struggle my best to talk.
"Wh-where are we?" I cough, tasting copper in my mouth.
"We're in a truck bed. We'll get you home soon, don't worry."
I wish I could roll my eyes.
"Your home. Not mine," I threaten.
Ethan chuckles a bit.
"Even on the brink of death, you still hate my guts, don't you?"
And you don't?
Suddenly, I realise the reality of the situation. Samantha.
"Where's Samantha?" I gasp.
Ethan looks over me, the look in his purple eyes apparent.
"We couldn't find her, and you were bleeding out. We had to go."
I close my eyes. Pinch my arm. Bite my lip. I have to be dreaming. I just want to wake up back home. I don't care what the punishment is for skipping an entire day. Just let me wake up from this nightmare.
"We will go back for her... I promise," Ethan whispers.
For a moment, it's quiet. Its so hard to let this all sink in.
"Here," Ethan says, holding his hand out for me to sit up.
"I've got it," I say, not wanting his help.
I try to push myself up again and groan with intense pain before falling back to the truck bed.
Ethan grabs my hand for me and pulls me up. I suddenly feel lightheaded. I've never been on a real vehicle before, and the thought of someone else, that I don't even know, holding my life in the palm of their hand terrified me.
"So... I have a question," Ethan speaks.
I look up at him and nearly jump out of the truck. His eyes are glowing in the dark. I can barely see the outline of his face, yet his eyes are aglow like fire.
"What happened... To the Howlights?" He asks.
I shake my head. I remember the screams... The blood... The power flooding through me.
"I...I dont know...I mean..."
"It was your powers, wasn't it?"
I pause.
"What?"
Ethan's eyes flash in the darkness.
"We know about your powers. We know more about you than you realize."