Arthur ran as fast as he could, but no matter how fast he ran the steps just got closer and closer. He could feel the sticks stabbing and scratching at his legs as he ran through the tall grass towards the river and away from the hotel, he knew that if he managed to pass to the other side he would be safe, but his attempts where in vain for he had tripped on something and landed hard on the ground. He winced in pain and staggered back up to his feet but was pushed back down by something. He could feel his tears of fear as they escaped his eyes and strolled down his cheek. He could see with the corner of his eyes how it licked its lips and smiled at him revealing a row of blood stained teeth from its previous victims. There was no question he was next in line.
5 days ago:
Arthur yawned as he leaned back in his chair and stared out of the window, he wasn't a huge fan of Monday mornings, and in fact he wasn't a fan of mornings at all. He rested his head on the table but was soon disturbed as a loud American began to brag about how awesome his birthday party was soon followed by the voices of a shy Japanese, a naive Italian, a cheerful Spaniard, a stern German and a grouchy Italian that seemed to curse whenever he had the chance to. He looked up and glared at them.
Meet Alfred F. Jones, a loud American that has a long life dream of becoming a 'hero', when he was little he thought of Arthur as an older brother, for he protected him, but as the years passed by, their relationship changed.
Second in list was Kiku Honda the shy Japanese guy who finds it hard to speak his mind and is constantly getting himself in trouble because of that. He enjoys the company of others and tends to hang out with Veneciano and Ludwig.
Of course the naïve idiot never failed to exist in these groups, Veneciano Vargas, twin brother to Lovino Vargas. Veneciano has never failed to surprise people for he was Italian and was naturally gifted in cooking and art. He liked to stick close to Ludwig for he was a coward when it came to certain subjects, like fighting.
Antonio Hernandez Carriedo an oblivious Spaniard who, like Alfred could not read the mood in the atmosphere and almost always ended up ruining it. He is very protective over Lovino the oldest of the brothers. He loves to cook and make paella.
Ludwig is the only serious one from the group apart from Arthur; he is constantly helping Veneciano whenever he was in trouble which was in fact very often.
And Last but not least Lovino Vargas, an eternally irritated kid who finds Ludwig infuriating and hates the fact that his brother hangs around him. Used to hang out with Antonio when they were little and depend on him whenever he was in trouble.
"Hey Artie, how come you didn't come to my birthday party?" Alfred asked, he knew the answer to that question, everyone did, but Alfred refused to give up and kept trying to persuade Arthur in vain.
Arthur's eye twitched at the nickname and didn't answer hoping that he would leave him alone, only to get poked in the cheek. "You mind?"
"No. not at all"
Arthur restricted himself from punching the other and took deep breaths; it was amazing he was able to tolerate Alfred after all he had made him go through.
Suddenly the classroom door opened and a blond walked into the room holding a stash of papers and settled them on the table. He had a small name tag on his lab coat that said Mathew Williams; he scanned the room and found that nobody was aware of his presence, and continued to roam about the room like flies.
"Okay, now settle down everyone! I have an important announcement to make" he said but no one was listening but a few had begun to go back to their seats. "Okay guys, com-" he was met by a paper airplane that hit his head and fell to the ground by his feet, obviously this wasn't going to work.
"WOULD EVERYONE PLEASE SIT DOWN, RIGHT NOW!"
Everyone stared in shock and hurried back to their seats, Mathew never raised his voice but when he did, he was scarier than Natalya the headmaster's possessive little sister.
"Thank you, now, as you all know, the school has organised a trip to the forest for a week where you will study wildlife"
The students exchanged glances and looked back at Mathew who waited.
"We will be staying in a local hotel just a few minutes' walk from there to the forest" Mathew smiled "If you have any questions about time and date, don't worry letter's will be sent out" and with that he finished, said goodbye and left leaving a classroom of confused yet excited students.
"Isn't that great?" Alfred yelled in excitement receiving an eye roll from Arthur.
"Great, just great."