S.T.A.G.S. Before the End

Chapter 6

I'm lying down on somethin soft. My ears don't pick up anny sound and my eyes are shut. Still, I have the feeling I'm not allone. It feels so peacefull to be just quiet for a minute, not doing a thing. But I should probably open my eyes. What if the person in my room is going to hurt me? I don't really believe that, but it does scare me. Okay, fine, I'll open my eyes.

Cursing at the bright light comming form the window, my eyelids open. For a moment, the only thing I can see is the light blinding me, almost immediately causing a headache. "Hey, you're awake!" As soon as my are adjusted to the room, I see Willow and James sitting at both sides of my bed. "Hey." My voice cracks at the simple word. "How are you feeling?" I chuckle "Better than I probably look." James and Willow start laughing. "For how long was I out?" Their faces get serious again. "Almost eight hours. It's already evening. You just missed dinner." Eight hours?!

Willow carefully askes: "Gemma, what happened?" The events of that morning start flashing before my eyes. "Esme asked me to go back to get het water bottle and I got lost. Then, sudenly, I was surrounded by four angry, agressive hounds that started to attack me. I threw one unconscious against a rock and I shot one through the head. By then I was already bit in the schoulder. One of the beasts grabed my gun and the other attacked me, biting in my arm and eventually breaking it. I ran away, fell down and sprankeled my ankle. Then I climbed in a tree. witch eventually led to me throwing the jacket of Henry away as an distraction and then running away. I screamed for help and that's when James found me. I guess I blacked out after that." Silent tears are streaming down my cheak and I quickly try to wipe them away.

"Why did they attack you?" I only shrug my schoulders. "Don't worry, we'll talk to Henry about it tomorrow. Afer all, it were his dogs." Of course it were his dogs, how could I forget that? They had probably gone crazy by the hunt of the stag. "Wait, what's happening tomorrow?" "Oh yeah, we are going to go shooting tomorrow. You don't have to come though. We get it if you want to rest." I shake my head. "No, I'll come watch. There's no way I'm going to schoot myself, but it will be fun watching." They both smile at me.

The two friends left a couple of minutes later, leaving me to rest. That was half an hour before. I've been staring at the staghead above the fireplace ever since. This day has haunted me. Even the taught of a dog, hound or other wolf like creature gives me chilles. I need to clear my head, and I can't do that whilst sitting still. So, with my remaining good arm, I fling off the blanket and hoist myself out of bed. I take my time to walk to the bathroom, since the earth still isn't straight looking, and eventually reach te bathroom.

And now I'm standing in the batroom, staring to a mirror instead of a stags head. The girl I'm looking at has a haunted, dead look in her eyes. Het skin has drained it's color and is now looking grey and dead like. Even her brown hair, which usually has allot of volume and an dark brown shine, has gone dull and the roots are starting to lose it's color. Her arm is wraped into a thick cast and rests in a mitella. That girl is supposed to be me, but it isn't. Well, of course it is me, but it isn't the normal me. This is the new version of me, the version I'm going to have to live with if I'm not going to do annything about it. No! I will not become a girl that let this accident change her! So I straighten my back, reach for the tube of foundation and start applying a thin layer of the make-up on my skin.