Scratches| A SFWX001 Story

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         Nobody moved. The five teenagers held their breath as objects were heard being destroyed beneath them. Vickie was silently sobbing in Jack's arms as Clara swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. Levi violently trembled next to the door, shear terror flashing in his eyes. Toby was wedging open the large window above them, slowly sliding it open so no sound could be heard. Another wave of panic shot through Clara as the intruder could be heard coming up the old wooden stairs. Toby stopped for a moment, only to hear the girls' room being roughly swung open across from them. The fear was soon replaced by panic when the sound of splintering wood and shattering glass echoed in the other room.
Toby, now rushed with adrenaline, started to pull up the window as fast as the old panel would allow him. Clara quickly joined him in the task, determined to escape.

         The window was about half way open, just enough for Clara to squeeze through when the door knob of their room started to rattle violently. A snarl of annoyance soon followed the door rattling, making Jack slap his hand over Vickie's mouth as she tried to scream out in terror. The door started to slam against the bed frame in the doorway as both Toby and Clara struggled to get the old window open. Vickie and Jack both let out a scream, making Clara turn her head for a split second to the door in terror. The door that separated them and the intruder was now broken in half vertically, allowing her to see the looming figure standing in the blue moonlight.

         It was terrifying. Behind the broken door stood a tall, human like female figure. She wore a green hoodie and a pair of black gray jeans. Short, dark brown, almost black hair spilled out of her hood. A gray mask resembling a wolf and a skull covered the intruder's face. The eyes of the mask were massive holes as black as the void itself. On both sides of the scratched up mask was a joint, a simple mechanism seemingly allowing it to open a single mouth piece.

         Clara only got a couple seconds to look at the hooded figure before Levi swung his pan into it's face and Toby grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. Toby shoved Clara through the partially opened window, the frame taking out clumps of her brown hair as she tumbled to the frosty forest floor below. "Get help Clair!" Toby's wail was more than enough for Clara to pull her aching body off the cold floor.

         Clara practically flew down the dirt path. She heard snarling and screaming fade away as she tore through the road. Although being an athlete, the eighteen-year-old senior had never run as fast as this in her life. Rocks and thorns tore into the flesh her bare feet as tears whipped off her face. She felt like a wimp, running away instead of trying to save her friends. Part of her wanted to keep running while another part wanted to go back. Clara was just about to turn around when a bright, white light blinded her teary eyes. She let out a cry of relief and hope as her eyes focused on a small building.

         Clara burst through the double glass doors of the store, crashing into a small shelf stocked up with snacks. The man behind the counter looked up in surprise. Clara's face was streaked with smudges of blood and dirt as she whipped her head up to the man. "Y-you gotta help me!" she wailed, picking herself up off the floor. "My friends- its going kill them, th-they're gonna die!"

         The man behind the counter got up in alarm, jogging over to Clara's aid as she collapsed again. Another man, slightly younger than the first man popped his head out of the small room behind the counter, Uncertainty and alarm glittering in his narrowed eyes. "Hol' on little lady, what's this your talking about? Why are your feet cut? Is something wrong?" The first man said in concern, sympathy shining in his dark eyes.

         "Yes! You gotta help me, they are gonna die! Please, sir, please help me." Clara moaned as the shock wore off into pain.

"Aye, David! What's wrong out there?" The second man asked in a gruff voice.
The first man, his name supposedly David, did not answer immediately. Instead, he whipped out his cellphone to call the police. "Hol' on young lady, I'm calling help. Jacob! Go get the first aid! This kid is losing a lot of blood!" David snapped urgently at the younger man who nodded and popped his head back inside, quickly jogged out with a white and red box a few moments later.

         Clara struggled to keep consciousness as her head started to cloud with pain and shock. She could feel her feet being dressed and wrapped with the panicked voices employees around her. Yet, they seemed a million miles away. The girl let out another croaky moan before letting herself sink into the darkness.