"I can't go any farther," Nina panted, dropping to her knees as she stared around the never ending forest. Her eyes looked blank, tired, her pretty face sagging as she openly panted, staring at the back of her best friend's back, who didn't seem tired at all. "Kesi?"
"I'm thinking," Came the harsh reply, the girl plotting her hands on her waist. Kesi was impossibly tiny – some back at Frederick High School would dare to cross her and call her a midget – but tiny or not, she was one hell of a determined girl, her posture strong and strangely, lifting her friend's dying faith. Nina could have sworn that they would end up dying in the forest of Hell, considering that they had been running for hours already. Her stick, now that she gave it a good look, didn't seem to be out of ordinary. The fact that she had managed to fry one of the monster's asses with it still hadn't processed through her brain yet.
"How far are we?" Nina asked, looking up from the stick she decided to name Fryer for the hell of it, her eyes staring onto the back of her friend's dark brown curls. She knew that she was starting to test her patience, but it was an inevitable question. Nina knew she wouldn't make it any farther, especially if Kesi started to say something like 'a mile' or '30 minutes of walking'. She'd faint right there and then, and wasn't afraid to admit it.
"For fucks sake, Nina–" The girl hissed, anger obvious in her voice. "I don't fucking know!"
"Geez, sorry, dwarf." Nina snapped back, feeling her heart return back to its usual pace. She didn't like fighting with Kesi, considering how the girl seemed to have an entire arsenal of curse words hidden somewhere in her curly head. She had a talent of intimidating people.
"I'm sorry," Kesi's soft voice returned, turning her head to stare at her best friend. Nina didn't even bother to raise an eyebrow at her friend's unexpected apology, only closing her eyes as she let the sound of nature sway her. She was exhausted, and no matter how much crap Kesi spewed up, so was she. Besides, they were long far from those weird monster mutations; a small nap was more than needed. "I'm trying to think, and my heart is like, in my throat or something–"
"I would be worried if it weren't," Nina sighed, slapping her hand against her heart. "Mine is going crazy."
"Same here," Kesi's tone turned back into that girly, innocent and normal tone – the one that pissed Nina off for some reason. Nina's own voice was too mature for her age, and it annoyed her that Kesi's was too immature for her age. It's like God decided that she would bless her friend with the exact opposite personality for shits and giggles. Kesi was hardcore and tough; Nina was girly and cowardly, as much as she hated to admit it. She heard leaves rustle as Kesi took a seat next to her, taking her hand and holding it for dear life. "I don't know where that stupid camp is. We've been going at the same direction that little shit directed us for more than an hour, and we haven't seen anything. I'm starting to worry that this is some stupid Halloween trick or something."
"It can't be," Came Nina's assured response, blindly lifting up her stick. "Or else Fryer wouldn't have karate-chopped that monster's butt off."
"Fryer? Seriously?"
"It fits it," Nina said, shrugging. "Hey, think we can take a nap?"
"No way," Kesi's voice returned, waking her from nearly falling asleep right then and there. "We've got to make it to that camp before nightfall and this turns into a twisted, scarier version of Slender."
"You and your stupid video games," Nina grumbled, opening her eyes slowly. Sure enough, the sun was starting to set, a beautiful gradient settling on the sky. It seemed like it was years ago that those creatures interrupted the assembly back at FHS, nearly murdering Kesi and Nina. Sadly enough, it had been in the early hours of the morning – 9, or 10 – and she was pretty sure it was almost 7 in the afternoon. "Kesi, I need to pee."
"No one's stopping you," Kesi responded, a small giggle coming from her.
"I'm not about to pee in a forest when the sun is starting to set!" Nina nearly yelped, horrified at the thought. "Especially not in a forest. Oh God, when did my life come to this? Just a couple of hours ago I was crying and whining about Frederick's dirty bathrooms and now I just wish I was–"
"Nina, I have a pounding headache, and you're making it worse." Kesi said, her mood quickly changing as she glared at her. Nina quickly noticed that her friend's California tan looked much paler than it usually was, worrying her.
"You feeling okay, Kesi?"
"Peachy. You know, save the whole monster thing and we're stuck in a never ending forest."
"I'm scared." Nina finally admitted, watching the sun set as she held on tighter on her friend's tiny hand. "What do you think they're doing back at Frederick?"
"I don't know," Kesi said, her voice soft and hesitant. "No one else saw those monsters but us. Maybe they saw murderers, or something. Maybe the police are over there, trying to find out what went on and why the auditorium looks like a dump."
"D'you think they've noticed our absence?"
"Well, considering that you were openly fighting one of those things, I'm pretty sure they have."
Nina shook her head, willing it to ignore the returning images of her pathetic fight with the thing she can only refer to as a monster. This same morning, she had stumbled over a sturdy branch, and had tucked it into her backpack for safekeeping for a reason she couldn't remember, only to use it to fry a monster's ass. If she hadn't tripped over that branch…
She shook her head, ignoring the chant of voices in her mind that yelled, you'd be dead.
The whole fight was a blur in her head. All she knew was that her ADHD ass decided to bounce onto one of the things, rearing its attention from Kesi to her, and then everything went downhill from there. She was only watching out for her best friend, who was one trip to the principal's office from being officially expelled from the school. She was pretty sure that her delinquent act would go down on her record, ruining her near-perfect GPA. She almost felt the need to stab herself with Fryer at that very moment, but with a squeeze from Kesi, she realized that she didn't regret what she had done.
What she did regret, however, was to have the entire school witness her heroic and idiotic act of bravery.
She nearly shivered. Sam and his crew of jocks were sitting nearby Kesi and her, and he looked super good this morning – she'd never live it down. He was probably was laughing about her, calling her 'Tarzan-Woman', forever ruining her chances with him. Sure, save the fact that the entire auditorium was filled with panicked yells and running students, she was pretty sure a good couple watched her fight the stupid thing.
Kesi had been who had saved her from further humiliation, thank God. She had grabbed a nearby stick from the set behind the stage's curtains, smacked the living shit out of the monster that Nina had been hanging on for dear life, and from there, Nina had fried it with her magical stick. Kesi had stared at her in amusement and horror, but that was when Nina took her hand and they booked it. It was clear as water that the monsters were after both of them – all of those things, coming from different directions, were heading straight for the girls. It was survival instinct that kicked in.
They didn't get far, because it was obvious that someone upstairs had a vendetta against Nina. She was never the fastest runner, but Kesi was, and that obviously irritated both parties. Something had grabbed Kesi from where she was, which was far upfront, and Nina was faced with the task of finding her friend, fearing for her life, and also avoiding the monsters that were quickly catching up to them, all while still wrecking havoc in the high school. It was barely five minutes later that Kesi joined up once more, apparently with some sort of holy message telling them where they would be safe.
They had managed to make it out of the school and ran straight into the forest across it, never looking back.
Nina hadn't gotten the chance to contemplate on her life until now. She had left her father and her baby brother behind, without a clue of where she had gone, and she knew that her father was going to freak, just like he always did when she ran off with Kesi somewhere. But it was too late to worry about them, or at least, not the appropriate time. Her friend had started to stand up, brushing any dirt off her leggings as she helped her up, and both of them started their trek towards the north, once again.
Her white sundress and tan pumps were once comfortable and made her feel girly and pretty this morning, but at that very moment, all she wanted to do was rip the stupid dress of her body and throw the heels into a body of water and drag herself to their destination. Her hair was loose and was sticking to her face thanks to the stupid sweat that had started to accumulate all over. She was pretty sure she smelled like butt.
She glared at her best friend, who, in the opposite side, wore something that looked very comfortable. Black leggings, a matching corset top and also black Jordans. Her tight, stern-looking bun was the only thing that Nina had considered odd, but otherwise, it was same old Kesi. And she hated her at that moment, for being such a slouch and never caring about what others thought about her. She knew for a fact that Kesi's stern mother would have her head if she had seen the corset top she was wearing, but if she cared, she didn't show.
After this whole problem, Nina made a mental note to confront her on her mom issues.
Half an hour later, moonlight and cool air surrounding them and lighting the way, she watched her midget friend leap out of the blue and turn around, an unusual smile pressed to her face. "There's something over there!"
"What? An abandoned Wal-Mart truck?" Filled with mattresses, size 7 clothes, and flats?
"Don't be such an ass, Nina. I'm pretty sure those are wood pillars!"
"Oh no. What if you're leading me to a site where you'll offer me as a sacrifice?" Nina said playfully, nudging her friend who simply rolled her eyes, tugging her friend's hand. She slapped down her disappointment, but wherever they were going, there had to be clothing.
"Come on. I can feel it, we're close." Her excitement is audible and completely unlike her, but for some reason, it's infectious.
"Whatever you say, messenger of God."
"Shut up, Nina!"
First chapter! Not my best, and short, but I wanted to get a bit of their back story established before starting on the actual plot line. This chapter was done in Nina's perspective – 3rd person, but still her perspective – so the next one should be in Kesi's perspective. Wow, it's been a while since I've written, and since this is my first story, hopefully it doesn't disappoint. Canon characters will appear. The story takes place before HoO and after the last installment of PJATO, just to clarify. You'll find out more about Kesi and Nina in the upcoming chapters.
Started this to occupy myself for the summer, hopefully I can keep working on it at a good pace before school starts again. Don't forget to review or fave if you enjoyed this chapter! I'd love me some positive feedback. I'll be shedding some light on their situation on the next chapter. Thanks for reading!