Our Separate Ways (Rewritten)

Chapter 1: And Dark things Silent Crept

Macca 

We ran like hell.

It was so cold that the tears froze on my face before they could fly off in the wind. But run anyway we did. Frostbite would have been a preferable death to the nightmare behind us.

The monsters under my bed a child seemed to come to life. Boggling yellow eyes with muddy gray skin to match the hellish look; I wish I could say the appearance of the beasts behind us was the scariest part, but the poorly assembled barrage of weapons took that title. Clubs, blades, spears, axes, and even pitchforks were our motivation for hightailing it through the woods.

River works at a dojo. And one of the sayings there that I always found amusing was Martial Arts, because we don't run well. It's not so amusing now that I realize just how true it is. Too bad a round kick won't take care of an army of nightmares.

"I'm going to pass out!" The adrenaline zipping through my body was loud enough in my ears that I barely caught what Kira yelled. She was not that far from me. I would have been holding her hand if there weren't trees to weave in and out of. The blur of trees and made it hard to see her, but Kira looked about ready to collapse. Her long legs attached to a long torso were great for distance but not so great for running for a long time. She was lagging dangerously behind with River only slightly further ahead than her. Zaffy was nearly out of sight in front of us.

"Don't waste breath, Kira! Keep running!" She probably never heard me. The gurgling voices of the shadowy creatures blended with mine and added to the nausea becoming a resident in my gut. Kira passing out and falling victim to the pursuers would unleash the vomiting and then our group of four would become a group of two.

It had been a normal day before this. Most of us were at work. River at the dojo, Kaila at the school, Zaffy at the studio. I had just finished my shift at the restaurant... Completely normal. We all got to our apartments happy and looking forward to a fun weekend shared together. Horseback riding I believe we had planned.

Then the headaches started.

"Can't sleep?" I asked Kaila over the phone. She lives three doors down, but she said she was feeling too crummy to come over and to be honest so was I.

"Yeah. I have a headache the size of Texas and I was having some really disturbing dreams."

"Like I was married to my chemistry teacher disturbing?" I knew she really wasn't well when she didn't laugh. Kaila could barely keep the smile off her face most of the time. It wasn't hard to make her laugh.

"No, more like, something was really wrong, but you can't remember what."

I knew what she meant. I hadn't fallen asleep yet, but I had dozed off while reading and when I snapped back to reality something felt off. Hair standing on end and mind buzzing, I remember peeking around corners and tiptoeing through my house even though I kept telling myself everything was okay.

"Hey, listen, I'm going over to River's to grab some painkillers and ask her what to do if someone breaks into my apartment."

"What?" Kaila is inaudibly delirious now. "Painkillers I get but why ask her about burglars?" I didn't feel like mentioning the imaginary robber I kept hearing in my living space that was only a few doors down from her.

"Read something in a book, I just wanted to check the validity." Kaila chuckled.

"Of course. Alright then, I'll let you do that. Drop some Advil over here when you get back."

"Will do." Kaila yawns and I hang up before suiting up to leave the house. It's too warm out for a coat but a thin layer of cold sweat coats my forehead and makes my ball cap cling to my head. The apartment complex is only a three-minute walk away from River's, so it won't be horrible if I turn up and she isn't there. River spends most of her time either at my place or at her gym or pretty much anywhere but her living space. That being said it would be a miracle if I actually found her.