I'm A Monster

Run Away, Lucas

He hits the ground and pain shoots up his knee, still running he heads down the path until his knee gives out. He's aware they must be after him so he jumps into the river and runs down the river. He runs until he can't run no more. Stopping a few miles away from his house he rests on the stump of a tree. 

Opening his bag, he checked what was inside of it; A water bottle that was halfway full, some clothes, his journal, and some pens. He leaned back on the tree, the supplies weren't a lot, he knew this. The water bottle was metal at least meaning he could boil water to drink. Besides the water he didn't have a clue how he was going to survive out here. He tightly packed up his things and ran forward. The deepness of the night made his situation even more freaky. Every rustle, every howl, every creak and snap, it all freaked him out. He fought the small urge which wanted him to curl up into a ball on the forest floor, he fought the small urge which wanted him to jump into the rushing river and die. He ran towards a hill and lost his footing, falling down the hill. 

When he finally came to, he heard shouting in the distance. Weakly sitting up and seeing the lights he realized that they caught up with him. He tried to stand up but his calf which was split open prevented him from doing so at first. He hid in a bush nearby, realizes he couldn't out run them like this. He watched from the bushes as the hunting squad came in, shinning their lights around looking for clues. One of them spotted his blood. 

"Give it up kid! We know you couldn't have made it far with an injury like that!" 

This made fear crawl up Lucas' spine, especially when they started looking in the bushes. One of the soldiers looked annoyed. 

"Roberts! Quit looking around in those bushes." 
The soldier looking around in the bushes stood up "How else are we supposed to find the brat!?" 
"Isn't it obvious, drag his mom out, if he's in the area he'll be sure as hell to appear." 

His mom, god lord. He nearly forgot about the situation his mom was in. The fear present in him became nearly overcoming. He wanted to go home, he wanted this to be over, he knew that would probably never happen. He nearly cried, he nearly shifted, but he stayed in place. His mom was dragged out. 

"Anything to say for your mommy, brat?!" Cried out the soldier, spit flying from his mouth. Lucas' fear was now combined with rage. Common sense stopped him from pouncing on the soldier holding his mom at gun point, there were at least 20 other soldiers in the hunting spot. His leg added to the terrifying equation, he needed to be smart about this. The soldier shot his mom in the leg, she cried out and fell to the forest floor, Lucas lost all attention on his own injuries at this point. 

"HOW ABOUT NOW?!" Lucas knew if he stepped out his mom would die anyways, but he didn't want her to suffer. Another soldier laughed, "Wait a minute, does the brat even know why we're here?" His mother's looked went from pained to terrified. 

"COME OUT MUTANT BRAT, YOUR MOTHER'S SECRET IS OVER!" 

Mutant brat, it made sense now, why this was happening. His mother is going to be killed for treason, maybe his father too. They lied to him, his whole life, he didn't know what to say. He had no idea why after all these years they thought he could keep it a secret. His mother's concern for his doctor now made even more sense. But he couldn't see any deviations on his body, why the hell was the deviation he had? He didn't think about that too much now. A million emotions ran through his body; fear, pain, betrayal, anger, sadness. He couldn't sort his emotions out, it hurt him way too much. 

He remained in place, determined not to get caught. 
"WE'LL FIND YOU...." The soldier laughs "....Will it be at your mommy's expense or not?" 

Lucas stays hidden, feeling the guilt seep in as he heard the soldier's laughs and shouts of anger. He closes his eyes and tears openly fell free from his eyes. He looked up at his mother's terrified face, he looked away. Seeing the fear in her eyes - no matter how furious he was at her - was too much to bear. The soldier's laughs and his mother crying made him want to go deaf, he never wanted to die and live so much at the same time. 

She whispers out, he could barely hear it, "I love you, Lucas." 

The soldier pulled the trigger and Lucas had to cover his mouth to stop the sobs from escaping. He leaned on the solid tree trunk, though it felt like a liquid. He was numb, but pain shot through his body at the same time, he couldn't understand the turmoil he was going through. He climbed deep in the bushes, hoping the soldiers would miss the pool of blood below where he once leaned. 

He would lie down in the deep and dark part of the bushes. He cried, from physical pain, from fear, from the emotional distraught he just went through, the tears flowed. He felt like he was floating in fire, soon the imaginary fire burnt him until he went numb. He felt the world slip away, as he cried himself to sleep. 

_________________

He woke up, coughing, looking down at his wound he could see that the bleeding had stopped, but if he didn't get medical attention soon he would probably die from infection. He weakly stood up and limped over to where he could see the scene that once took place. He walked into the field. He wished he could scream when he'd seen the scene the soldiers left. He found his mother naked, scorched from the neck down. Her head lay a few feet away, stuck in a pike, sticking out of the ground. Her eyes missing making it look like she was crying blood. Lucas looked, but he never did find her hands. 

He collected her head and her body and placed them in a pile as respectfully as he could, limping away from the clearing. 

Half a mile away from the clearing, he built a small shelter. He climbed into the shelter, he drank a small sip from his water bottle. He sat up and ripped away at his pajama bottoms, peeling them off of his sticky wound. He poured a little water on it and cried out in pain. 

With his survival instincts in place, Lucas didn't feel as much emotion for his mother as he did back in that field. He wouldn't give himself to the happiness of emotion out here, he couldn't. 

He found himself eating some berries because he didn't know how to hunt, he took one of his shirts in his bag and used it as a bandage after cleaning his leg in the river. He was doing what he could to prevent himself from getting an infection. 

The day ended quickly so he fell asleep in his shelter, unknowing of what the future holds. 

_________________

Lucas finds himself groggily waking up, more tired and sick feeling. He shoots up with panic, an infection must be settling in his leg. He got up and looked down at his leg, it was discolored and pale looking. He tried to stand up but the world started to spin. He stumbled his way through the trees and eventually found himself collapsing on the forest floor. 

To Be Continued