Author's Note: And I was a bit disappointed in the lack of 'OMG' from the last chapter. Hopefully, this chapter'll pull some, but not too many...and oh wait and see what...darn no spoiling well haha enjoy! And if you're reading this, I sincerely hope you read the two that came before, elsewise you'll be very confused by some statements. And keep in mind he's not in the best shape in anyway possible.
Guest: Ahaha, there's a reason I didn't go into the torture this chapter, it comes later, in some unexpected and quite damaging -both self and others, but the other really only takes affect once, but HAHA NO SPOILERS- anyway, thanks for coming back and oh the feels train kinda rams into him. Expect character changes, and note the wording, as I tried to be clever and go into a deeper state, so certain words that may not entirely make sense are intentional. And I read your review in the morning and it made my day so thanks! :)
TheBritishWannaBe: No idea how to do the Mexican hat dance, but I am a she-demon and I destroy all feelings. :)
Chase wouldn't make it much farther. And after that, he wasn't sure how much longer he could live. The light of the full moon shone upon the forest, bathing everything in light. A beautiful place to die. Chase was weak due to his torture, and the smell of fresh blood would only attract predators. He stumbled over a branch and tumbled down a slope, and barely got back up. Everything seemed too fast, and at the same time too slow. Even in the cool of night, he felt as if fire were smothering him from all sides. Fire. Bree and Leo and I were in a fire...Bree and I almost died afterwards... Chase tripped again, and did not rise. What's the point? I'll never make it out of this forest alive. Even if I do, and that's a colossal if, should I return? They've moved on most likely, living happy lives, and me...I'm pretty much a victim of all that's wrong in the world. We've seen things most teens haven't, but even so they have a naiveté of the world that should never be broken. Sooner or later, they'd find out something from me. How could I ruin their lives for them? My life will never be the way it used to be, but theirs can be...The world began swirling and shifting and Chase closed his eyes and let it all go.
He knew he was dead or out of it because his saw his mother. His mother, looking as vibrant as she had in life, softly glowing with angelic light. For the first time in what seemed like forever, Chase felt secure. But he knew it was false. He knew he wasn't in a warm place of light, he was probably bleeding to death in a cold, forest, to be eaten by bears, unable to bring down Lagos, and his family would never know he'd lived. He forced it all away, deluding himself in the illusion his subconscious dreamed in his delusion, he still couldn't rise from the ground.
His mother knelt beside him, and put his head in her lap. It was warmth and sun and security and serene and...everything he'd dreamed of as a child, everything he'd lost over the past few months. And yet what right is given to us to follow our childhood dreams? Yep, trust me to have negative thoughts when I should be relaxing. But the relaxation is more foreign to me than the negativity...Chase knew the illusion was pointless, for all it did was sweeten up life until reality came crashing down and it became that much harder to accept reality.
Wait, am I seriously going to lie down and die? No way! I know more about these creeps more than anyone! I have more reason to go after them than anyone! I deserve to be part of this fight, more than my siblings! Sorry, Mom, but I have to go! With that, the illusion faded. Chase had a feeling his bionic chip in his brain had helped him out, but that didn't matter so much as getting up and paying back those people every second he'd spent under them, every second away from his family, every second of his life taken from him. They're going to pay. Unfortunately, he didn't magically get a reserve of strength -wish I had that bionic, or a healing one, or a regeneration one- but he did remember his bionics didn't rely on physical strength. So as he lay there, he summoned the biggest rainstorm he'd ever made and just let it fall, flooding over him in waves of droplets. It feel so blissfully cool against his fiery skin, so different from the icy dark waters he'd been held under to the point of almost drowning. No, don't think about that. Let it all wash away. If that's possible.
After lying there for about half an hour, he managed to shakily struggle to his feet. The rain had managed to tone down the heat, but Chase knew it meant infection. Infection, in his state, meant death. I have no intention of dying today. He probed for any nearby minds, and found two campers, a father and a daughter, a mile away. A mile he'd never be able to walk. But they probably can. He picked the tallest tree between them, and, in a half second, a bolt of lightning arced and struck the tree, successfully setting it ablaze. Chase struck the tree again with the lightning, making the rain avoid the tree so as to not put the fire out, but not catch any other trees afire. I don't need the park rangers on me, he joked to himself. He slowly made his way to the tree, stopping more frequently than he'd liked, but he got there before they did. He sensed them coming, and felt relief. He was going to drop soon, from sheer exhaustion and infection and...here they are.
He entered their minds, and made sure that they would take him to their house, and not call the cops or police or anyone. Once those instructions were clear in their minds, he pormptly collapsed, the ground rising up to meet him.
Author's Note: Anyone notice how he rejected the paradise of where his mother was for the fate on earth? He just rejected childhood innocence and safety. Symbolic, guys. Keep an eye out, I said. Feel free to re-read, as we're going somewhere for Easter and therefore I will not get much writing time, sorry. Happy Easter!