The Right Choice
Shana's lungs felt as if they were about to burst from the rapid but painful intake of cold air. Looking over her shoulder, she saw a black van swerve around a corner and slow to look for her. She snapped her head back around, her brown hair blocking her sight, and put in a final burst of speed; she did not want to see the men in the van locate her and speed up. She swallowed painfully, struggling to keep running quickly. As she pushed her legs harder, she felt a small trickle of fresh blood run down her arm. Her eyes widened in fear. Lunging for a large bush in the middle of the front lawn of a stranger, she looked back to see that the van had lost her again.
Shana looked up to the sky, gasping in pain as she pulled up her long-sleeved shirt. Looking at the bite mark, she felt like she was about to cry. She quickly hid it with her sleeve, too scared to look at it and shuddering with the memory of the huge dog leaping at her. If she hadn't put her arm in front of her throat... She shuddered again, not wanting to think about it. Thinking back to just a few minutes ago, she wondered what she had done to alert The Gang that wandered about the park after dark. She had been careful, but they had seen her lurking in the shadows below the slide. They had sent their evil Great Dane that was trained to kill, Biter, after her to keep her from escaping while they got into the van.
Looking around the bush, she saw that the leader, well-known to be nicknamed Lion, was chopping at bushes and lunging into shadows with his knife. She gulped and licked her dry lips. Then, three things hit her mind. That The Gang would look for her until they avenged her entry into camp. That Biter was with Loin. And that Loin was about fifteen, while she was only thirteen. She shook her head impatiently. That was not important! As Loin got nearer, her breath got shorter. Then, she started shivering from cold and fear. She raised her sore arm to look at her purple watch. It was nine-thirty, and twenty degrees. Her eyes widened in terror. Her mom would be worried out of her mind! And, she couldn't survive much longer in this weather with only a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, soaked in drying blood.
Leaning against the wall, she savored her last seconds before having to charge again. She heard Loin strike at the bush in the next yard, the sound surprisingly loud. She heaved a breath of the freezing air and burst out of the bush. Why had she forgotten her cell-phone? Loin spotted her just as she turned another corner in the windy neighborhood. He growled something to Biter and Biter panted happily, and then took off after her. Loin followed behind, his boots drumming on the concrete and his black coat, which abnormally flowed down to his ankles, flapping behind him.
Shana heard this and finally broke. Tears flowed down her cheek, and then stopped. She reached up to wipe them away, but found only a small coating of ice. It really was cold! She swallowed the rest of the tears, ignoring the pain on her arm and in her lungs from the cold, and now the sting of ice on her cheeks. But the pain on her arm seemed to be far away, as if in a dream or dampened by cotton. She knew that she was slowly freezing. Claws scratched on the sidewalk close behind her. She looked back to see Biter with Loin struggling to keep up. Swallowing back more tears, she forcer her brain to work. Her brain, which never seemed to function when she needed it to, suddenly spat out an idea. She looked to the houses on her left, choosing her pick. Gritting her teeth, she darted to a nice-looking house with a young girl's tricycle in the driveway. She slammed into the door and twisted the knob hard. It popped open, luckily, as she looked behind her to see Biter turning into the yard. She leaped in and slammed the door shut, then locked it. Hearing Biter slam into the door, barking angrily, she swayed with fatigue and dizziness from the lost of blood. She turned around, now thinking about the fact that people might live here. She heard footsteps, obviously from a young person. A boy that looked about Lion's age walked into the hallway and stared. She smiled sheepishly. He screamed. Shana kept her smile and said, "Hi. I'm Shana. Mind if I stay here for a bit?" Then, with those words, everything went fuzzy, then dark, then black. She thumped to the floor, cold out.
Lion roared with frustration. He whistled sharply to Biter and whipped around. Biter had to jump back to avoid getting knocked over by Lion's coat. Lion grabbed a flat box from his belt and snapped into it, "She got away into her house."
There was a pause, then, a female voice came through the walkie-talkie,"Where?"
Lion smiled evilly and replied in a whisper, "2200 Wolfbane Street. Bring me the Miniature cam. We'll watch her."
There was only an evil laugh from the other end, acknowledging her agreement.
