The Beast Inside Me

Can things get any more confusing?

     I journied deep into the woods to a familiar spot. " NEPTUNE?! " I yelled but there was no response. I yelled three more times and then finally she appeared out of thin air. " What? " Neptune said with a look of disgust on her face. " Look, I'm not going to be able to do this for you. I'm not the only one after those crystals or whatever they are, some guys already have one so how am I supposed to get all eight of them? " I asked Neptune. " Well, if you really treasure your life you will do whatever you can to get them. And no matter what you say I am still taking your soul" Neptune said. " Neptune? Please, all I really want now are answers. I'm so confused, I don't know what's going on anymore, just explain this all to me. Why do you need those crystals so much? What are they?! " I asked Neptune. " Fine. I'll tell you something. Those crysals are really powerful and I need them. If you don't get them for me this whole planet is at risk of extinction! " Neptune yelled. " Well if you need them so badly why don't you get them yourself! " I yelled back. " You won't understand, now get out of here and find my crystals! " Neptune said with an angrier tone. " You're a goddess after all, why don't you just do this yourself? Think about my family, don't you have any feelings? How do you think my mom is going to react when I just magically disappear? She's gonna look for me forever and will never be able to find me! Haven't you ever considered that?! " I yelled with a tear dropping from my eye. " YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND, NOW GET OUT! " Neptune yelled and she snapped her fingers and I magically appeared back in my dorm.
     " Mara! " Sophie and Lauren yelled at the same time. " Where have you like been? " Lauren asked. I had no. Idea how to explain all the drama that had happened in one night, I didn't even know where to start and they could obviously tell that I was in distress so they were really curious. Firstly I apologized for just leaving like that because they had been looking for me to the extent that they wanted to inform some college officials, then I started to explain. When I was done with my explanation they were both speechless, they didn't know how to react or what to say, all they could say was wow. But even through all of this Sophie and Lauren still encouraged me not to give up and that they knew there was a way without a doubt. That's why I love them both so much because they have always been there to motivate me all the time and their words really meant a lot to me and inspired me. I was going to continue my search for the crystals no matter how long, stressful or time consuming it was. I freshened up and had something to eat just before we were about to leave for our first lectures, but then the girls told me some shocking news. They told me that last night Lance was found unconscious not far from his hostel. He was apparently beaten up and nobody was a suspect yet. He was admitted to the school's hospital so I ditched class to go check on him. I know it feels like I should not be doing this, but even though we were not together anymore I still cared about him for some reason.
     When I saw Lance, my heart skipped a beat. He looked terrible, it was so bad that I was even surprised he was alive. The school said his condition was too severe and that he had to be transferred to an actual hospital. I expected to see his parents or somebody with him but then I remembered that Lance told me a long time ago that he didn't have any parents and that they were killed in a fire years ago. Lance lived with his uncle and from my understanding his uncle didn't really care about him so I wasn't surprised he didn't show up. I stared at Lance on the bed, I tried to prevent my tears from escaping but the emotions were too wild that I couldn't control. I cried uncontrollably and I couldn't understand why, we weren't related or anything so I didn't know why it hurt so bad. " Who did this to you? " I asked but he didn't respond, the machine said he was still alive but I didn't believe it. I was lost in thought but then Lance held my hand,  I couldn't believe it, the first thing he said to me was " shh ". " Who did this to you " I asked him again, " no-one can know...and even if they did, ( coughs)  they wouldn't...understand or believe " Lance managed to say. I didn't understand what he was saying but I tried not to ask too many questions because he was not in good shape and I didn't want to stress him in anyway. I examined the injuries with my eyes and they just seemed quite unexplainable. Sure there were bruises and cuts everywhere, but the most noticeable injury was the about a foot long scar across his chest. What kind of object would cause an injury like that? I knew it was obviously not a human so it had to be an object, or something else? It had to be an extremely sharp object and probably long. At first I thought it would be something like a sword but when I examined it more it looked like a claw? Maybe I wasn't the only one who had encountered the creepy stuff in this creepy town. But if it was a claw it would be more than one mark so I removed that thought from my mind. Lance managed to say another thing, " Mara, you gotta.... You gotta be careful. This place isn't safe... Don't go out at night, I think people are out to... To get you. Stay safe, please Mara. I'm sorry for how I acted... It was for your.... Your own safety, we couldn't be together, I wish... I wish there was a way I could explain to you better. I deserve this Mara, I deserve to die. But... Even if I don't, I can't stay here, please I gotta leave here now, help me". " But no Lance, you gotta stay here and get better" I told him as I tried to comfort him but then the nurse came in and told me that I needed to go so that he would get some rest.
     I was still confused about what Lance was saying. I felt like it was really important but I still didn't understand. The next morning when I woke up, not long after I got the news that Lance had somehow escaped from the hospital and was nowhere to be found. I rushed there as fast as I could. I had a word with the nurse and she told me that at 11: 56 pm she went in to check on him and give him some  medicine, but when she went in to check on him by 12: 03 am he was already gone. The cameras at his room had been working ever since but for some reason just before he disappeared they stopped working. The entire school was searching for him, even students and the whole community. He had been gone for a week and nobody had a clue of where he was or how he even went missing.  I was really worried for him because I knew he already wasn't in good shape and he could possibly be in serious trouble. I went to sleep one night and for some reason I woke up at about 1: 30 am. I didn't know why but I just did, and then all of a sudden I heard a voice in my head calling " Mara" I didn't know where it was coming from but I listened to it and followed it. I quietly passed through the window and locked it back and then I followed the voice deep into the woods until it said " I'm here, turn around " and when I did my jaw literally dropped.