It had been a week at this odd dysfunctional hide out. My only memories of my life only consisted of the past several days, which wasn’t a very hopeful thought since I was missing out on nineteen previous years. However, I think I was discovering some more about myself. Not that the information was too important, it was strictly personality.
Apparently, I was insecure. When I looked at myself in the mirror before showering, I took note of my thin waist and small breasts and nice hips. At first glance I thought that I was sexy. Then I began to look closer, noticing that my breasts were too small for comfort and that my waist wasn’t all that thin and I took note of scars along my wrists and wondered if I’d had these thoughts before.
I also discovered that I am in love with books with smut. At first I thought it was a joke Hayley was trying to pull, but after reading one about a werewolf and vampire love story, I couldn’t contain my urge to read more. She had laughed at me, apparently that had been my favorite book before I had lost everything. Some things don’t change.
A few other things were discovered. I think I had anxiety. Not that it was so extreme that everyone noticed or that it was so severe that I was certain it was anxiety, but in specific scenarios my pulse would accelerate and a form of discomfort would envelope my spirit. They were always random moments like: someone raising their hand to scratch their head, a thunderstorm, or simply being in a room with too many people.
I hadn’t realized much else about me other than I despised my messy blonde curls and my eyes changed from blue to green depending on my mood. Overall, there hadn’t been much to excite about. Not a single memory had been recalled and the initial confusion I felt when I woke up still hovered over me like a dreadful cloud.
The group would divide itself sometimes, half going into town and the other half staying home to protect the place. I always had to stay home, Jacob refused to allow me to go join them considering the “danger I was already put in.” Screw him!
“Amy!” Hayley’s voice startled me from my thoughts and I stood from my bed to give her a hug.
“How was the trip to town?” I asked trying to sound as normal as possible.
“Ugh, Jacob had to go messing everything up. We lost about half of our supplies because he thinks he is a hardcore parkour master.” With an exasperated sigh, she went limp and fell onto her mattress.
“Okay, no, that is not what happened!” Jacob stormed into the room, Gavin close behind.
“Then what happened?” I asked. Not that I was too curious about the supplies or this parkour, but just to seem polite. Maybe a new discovery? Did I have manners?
“There was a beast chasing us and it was particularly fond of me so I decided to not die and do some epic stunts over this tall ass fence and my backpack got torn off by the fence but hey at least I’m alive!” Jacob had a certain pride in his “epic stunts” he spoke of.
“Oh yay…wouldn’t have wanted anything to happen to you.” Hayley’s sarcasm was thick but in reality you could tell she secretly cared.
“Shut up Hayley.”
They continued to bicker, throwing insults back and forth, neither of them really meaning what they said. Meanwhile, I managed to sneak away from the two and creep outside. I hadn’t been outside but once the last week and when I was outside I ended up being scolded for my recklessness and dragged inside. I was hoping no one would over analyze my disappearance and I could steal a moment of fresh air.
Perhaps I had been a hippie.
The sun was setting but I couldn’t see the vibrant sky well due to the thick trees. The vanishing sun cooled the Earth and the shadows especially chilled the air. A slight shiver came over me and only wearing shorts and a tank top probably wasn’t sufficient for this late summer night. Or maybe it was early spring. I couldn’t really remember when it was.
Underbrush crunched and snapped under my boots as I wandered deeper into the woods and further from the house I had associated as a home. It was beautiful and I couldn’t help but feel in a daze. It was a comfortable stupor and I walked on without much attention to the direction.
It was nice, just walking about without a goal. Just a little stroll simply to enjoy the atmosphere the forest gave off. It gave me time to break away from the now and go into a time that I wouldn’t have to worry about who I was or where I came from. It was as though in this moment I was simply an accessory to the lovely world.
My shoe snapped a twig in half and almost immediately after a much larger cracking sounded from my right. Startled, I froze and listened more intently to my surroundings. Was I alone? It was then that I realized it had grown extremely dark and a thread of fear tied itself around my heart.
For what felt like eternity, I stood waiting for any sign of another presence, each minute causing more worry. Swallowing hard, I slowly stepped backward preparing to turn around.
A yelp escaped my lips as my back rammed into a hard wall. I knew it wasn’t a wall; there hadn’t been a wall there before. Panic shot my heart into rapid acceleration and at the sound of a low growl it stopped. Spinning around on my heels I looked up at the very tall creature that towered over me.
A dark figure that stood like a seven foot tall man proceeded to snarl deeply at me. Long talons connected to human-like hands and thicker claws were attached to odd looking paws. The hind paws seemed as though a person was standing on the balls of its feet, the foot itself extended quite a bit. The torso looked like a man, covered with course fur and especially muscular and odd bulging veins. Further up was the head of the beast; it was as though someone took the human skull and lengthened the jaw into a small snout causing disfiguration of the nose. The creature’s ears resembled an elf, its eyes almost glowing.
Absorbing as much details of the monster as I could with such dim light, I worked myself up to be prepared to fight back. Running from this would be pointless; its legs were one of the more muscular areas of the body. Fighting with a stick would be idiotic; clearly it could reach me easily with those talons. Running at it sounded like a very moronic approach but it may just confuse it long enough for me to knock it over and potentially gouge out its eyes. Without its eyes it wouldn’t be able to see my next move and it would be in so much pain it couldn’t focus clearly.
With a final gulp, I charged. I didn’t want to yell a battle cry it might cause the creature to catch on. Instead I just sprinted into the monster’s chest. Ow. It felt as though I had run head on into a rock. Before I could recover from the initial slam, a large hand swung and soon I was flying backward into a tree. Stars flickered everywhere I looked. Finally, my vision cleared just in time to see the beast crouch on all fours and dash over to me.
I screamed.
A gun fired.
Stillness.
