Chapter 7 - Separation
Wanda-
The glass from behind me shattered. I gripped Ian and Mel's hands so tight they ached. "Get down!" Jared yelled from Ian's side, as a second window smashed. Ian forcefully knocked me to the ground, and I hit my head- hard. Everything in the darkness was blurring.
Something smashed once more and Jared called out, "We got to get out of here! Now, get moving!"
"Get them!" The snide female called, and out of the darkness, hands started to grope and pull at me. Ian was trying really hard to hold on, but he was slipping….
"Wanda!!" He yelled as his attacker pulled him into the crowd. I was groping at the carpet, kicking at whoever was holding onto my legs, pulling myself forwards….
Another window smashed, and then a sudden "ARGH!" from a man…but this time everything ended when I heard that earth shattering scream. It broke through the dark hallway like a siren.
"MELANIE!" Jared's cry broke the silence, and my hold on the fraying carpet got loose…
It was over… It was all over, we had lost.
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Melanie- (10 minutes earlier)
"Going somewhere?" The old man's voice asked from the crowd.
We were silent.
"Steve, cut the lights." The familiar female voice said from behind me. And just as suddenly, they flickered off again.
Someone knocked into me and smash! The windows on the side the hallway broke.
Wanda gripped my hand really hard into the dark, and Jared pulled me behind him. Everything was silent, and we could all hear each other breathing, waiting for someone to make a move.
My chest ached; I had a feeling my heart's loud beating was going to give us away. Please, please God, not now, just not now! But I knew it was hopeless. God doesn't listen, if he did, me parents wouldn't have bought the Seekers on me and Jamie…. Jamie…
Oh, Jamie! I promise you I'll get out! But my silent plea was interrupted by another smash- it sounded very close too.
Jared squeezed my hand even tighter and suddenly, taking me by surprise, knocked me to the floor. "Get down!" He called, and I could just see his faint silhouette ram into the next window, smashing it to smithereens.
"We got to get out of here! Now, get moving!" He screamed, leaning down and lifting me off the ground and into his arms just as I felt someone grab my ankle.
"No, no, Jared I'm slipping!" I screamed, wrapping my arm around his waist, kicking the soul by my leg.
"Get off her!" He yelled, swinging his arm out in my direction, but when he did that my grip cam loose and I hit the floor with a solid thump!
Argh no! I thought, frantically pulling at the carpet on the floor, trying to desperately get away from my attacker, but they were strong, and a with heavy yank, I was clean off the floor again, but this time I slammed into the wall.
Pain struck from somewhere on my back, and it rapidly spread down to my face and shoulders to the rest of my limbs.
"Wanda!" Ian called from down the hall, but I didn't get to trace his voice, because just then, hard, rough hands grabbed my thigh and pulled me in the opposite direction.
"Get off me!" I screeched, grabbing onto anything. The hallway was so packed I managed to grab another person's leg.
"ARRGHH! Get off me!" someone who sounded like Kyle grunted, kicking off my grip.
"Kyle, Kyle!" I screamed desperately, withering and kicking against my attacker, who was pulling me further and further down the hallway.
"Melanie?" Kyle replied, slightly far away now. He was blocked with figures of other people, trying to pin him down.
"Kyle!" I called desperately, watching his shadow in the moonlight being swarmed by a mass of souls. Still grabbing air, I waved my arms about, trying to grab anything.
My luck must be coming in because I managed to grab something long, slender and metal with my hand. The further my attacker was dragging me, I pulled the heavy metal pole thing too, until it got caught and temporarily restricted him from pulling me anymore. With that sudden change he accidently let go of my leg.
"Argh, come back here! Get back you -!" He didn't have time to finish. As he was saying that, I crept back up, balled my fist and slammed it as hard as I can towards the lump in the darkness I hoped to be his head.
"ARGH!" He yelled, angry now. He lurched in my direction with arms opened wide, hunting his prey.
Crap! I thought and turned to quickly run in the opposite direction, but my runners got caught on that long metal thing, which turned out to be a floor lamp that was still plugged in- and I landed with a thud. Strong arms wrapped themselves around my torso and lifted me off the ground. He tried to lift me over his shoulder, but he couldn't see how tall I was and accidently whipped himself in that face with my knees. Taking advantage of his momentary lack of attention I punched him as hard as I could and bit him just as hard somewhere between the neck and shoulders.
"I"LL SHOW YOU!" He screamed and threw me. Too bad he couldn't see the window covered by scratchy dark curtains. Everything around me smashed. …
It even sounded really beautiful, like crystals falling into a wet floor… And then the ground from underneath me dropped, I screamed.
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Wanda-
"MELANIE!" Jared's cry broke the silence. The hustle and bustle around me stopped insanely.
All of a sudden the lights turned on again, making me go temporarily blind. I blinked against the white glow and searched desperately for Melanie.
"Jeremy?! What did you do?"
"What happened?"
"Grab the prisoners!!"
The person holding onto me gripped so hard it hurt. Someone was also kneeing me to the ground. It made my back ache, and I tried to shift under it, but whoever it was just kneed harder. And I couldn't help it. "Ow! Get off my back!"
"Wanda? Wanda? Where are you? Jared??" Ian's voice was muffled from all the way down the hallway. I couldn't see him, and I shifted and thrusted even harder.
"Ian? Ian?" Kyle replied from down the other side of the hallway.
"Oh, for crying out loud shut the up!" The voice of one of the brothers called.
Instantly a thick, pale hand covered my mouth, with much force too. From all around the hallway I could hear more grunting, probably of my family resisting order. I slumped, my little body was worn out to the core, it had never had as much excitement and fear as it has faced tonight.
How weird, this person's hands smell like hokkein noddles.. Cherry sauce… and fresh strawberries.. Must be the chef, I thought. All I could see were the backs of people's shoes… like someone's traditional high cut black converses, aqua green pumps… I've never seen these shoes before… Maybe Pet has. And crocs. Pet's memory showed certain distaste at crocs, she called them... Un-look-at-able's. Something about being really comfortable, yet disgusting.
"Jeremy, what the hell happened?" The voice of the other brother demanded. He sounded close, like he was just behind me.
"She was just this crazy little woman… and, and… I didn't see where I chucked her-" the deep male voice didn't finish because-
"OW!" -came the voice of a female somewhere down the hall.
"OH, YOU SON OF A-!!" Jared's voice was loud, angry and really scared at the same time. And he was never scared, except when it comes to Melanie. His voice was once again muffled.
"Shut up!" the female hissed at him. "He bit me Mark!" Her voice was falsely hurt and sweet. Even I didn't need to be human to realize she was sucking up to whoever Mark was. She stage sniffled a little bit too. Even though I couldn't see her, I bet she's looking at Mark with wide eyes, probably holding out her hand…
"Let me see that…" The first brother said softly. Footsteps headed down the hall. Silence.
"What about the other one? The female?" I froze. It was the snidely obnoxious woman.
Quick footsteps ran in the direction of the fire stairs if my memory served correct. Something loud, crinkly and sharp sounded through the silent hallway. I tried to look up, but my silvery blonde hair created a shadowy veil between me and the world. Through the light I could see from far away, a lone figure standing at a funny misshaped window. All the edges were pointing in different directions.
"WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?" The voice of the second brother called from the window. His shadow was now leaning out, swaying and turning, as if he was an eagle hunting his mice.
"Dunno, Ice!" The voice of the deep male voce called back.
"Well you lost her! You better find her- oh so be it Damon will be very MAD!"
Damon? How come that sounds familiar….?
I took a deep breath and tried to blow out some of the blonde hair from my face. It worked. I squinted out, and saw that nearly all the souls were at the broken window now. Some were still hunched over figures on the floor.
"Nothing! We've got nothing!" Another female voice called from outside the window.
The second brother sighed desperately, kicking the motel wall in disgust.
"All right," he boomed loudly as he turned around. "Let's book 'em."
I struggled against my captives roughly. Book 'em? Pet's memory provided me with a bounded stack of paper with writing in it, and another memory told me that they were going to transport us. Transport??...
The big hand covering my mouth quickly moved up to my eyes, and the knee in my back dug in harder.
"Shh, shh, don't fight now…" A taunting male voice whispered at me as a weird fluffy thing covered my mouth. It smelt strangely of raspberries.
Oh.
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Melanie-
The winds rushed in a different direction from me… It was headed up. My stomach was all funny, I wanted to scream but then I couldn't… It was like I had no more stomach or guts.
Out of nowhere, something slender, cold and hard hit me in all different places.
"A-Arghh!" I screamed as the pain shot through my limbs, back around then burned away my body. My head stung and made me feel dizzy.
Everything ached so much. I slowly pushed myself up through my arms, they were screaming in protest though.
I couldn't see much because something long and sticky was covering my eyes. Then I realized it was my hair. Pulling myself into a sitting position, I numbly tried to wipe the hair from my eyes, but that sticky thing keeping the hair to my face was warm.
Shaking, I moved my arm into the direction of the closest car park lamp. Something dark and kind of purple-ish and red-ish was tricking down my arm. Slowly reaching my for my head with the other arm I realized that the whole back of my head was all sticky.
"Ohh..my," I whispered, taking deep breaths, staring at my broken body in the light of the car park lamps. My clothes were all cut off and torn. Through the rips I could see blood oozing slowly out, coloring my jeans a weird purple. Looking down at my chest I realized that the whole front of my white tee was no longer white. It had red coming down from the cuts in my head, and was outlined with yellow and brown. Sweat and dirt.
My arms were no better, everything was scratched, and I think I might have seriously cut out a piece of my right elbow, it was bleeding so much.
Looking around, I noticed that I had managed to land on someone else's car. Someone's white Camry.
Someone's white Camry with familiar plates and dent on the left side.
Looking up, I noticed that the hallway lights from the second floor were back on again.
Better get myself outta here, was my first reaction. Shifting slightly, a huge jolt of pain and heat ran through my right ankle.
I couldn't help myself- so I screamed silently off into the night, with my fist in my mouth. Looking down, I noticed that it was twisted kind of funny.
Wsssh.
My head snapped around. On the other side of the car park, I noticed that the doors from the lobby have swung open. Quickly, pressing myself down onto the car, I shifted to the dark side, trying not to move my ankle. I noticed that there were five of them, all wielding torches.
Sliding off the Camry quietly- my back and torso ached, they were just getting used to the rest. Everything burned again. Shoving my fist in my mouth, I moaned in pain. Slowly sliding my right foot off the no longer white Camry, I hopped to the darkness side of the car park, grunting in pain with each move. Every muscle that I moved ached and stung in protest. My right elbow was giving me so much pain, not to mention my ankle.
"WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?" That voice came out of nowhere, and gave me such a surprise, I tripped. My ankle screamed in pain as I landed on it, and the rough gravel of the floor jabbed me and teased my many deep cuts.
That was the voice of one of the brothers. Feeling the urgency I slowly pulled myself by my arms as I could no longer feel my ankle. Luckily just five more meters ahead was the bushes that separated the Inn from a convenience store and the main road.
I pulled, and pulled and pulled- "Where is she?" A female voice asked from just three cars down. My body iced over, and my arms acted on their own accord, pulling me forwards even faster, letting the rest of my body trail behind. I. Couldn't. Get. Caught.
"She can't have gone far. Look at the mess she left on Mark's car." A male voice replied. I froze. They were really close now. Turning my head slowly, I saw the glow of the torches on Mark's car. Then one of the torches shone in my direction. I was freezing cold with fear.
Thankfully, the side mirror blocked them from seeing my bloody face.
"Nothing. Can't see her…" Replied the deep male voice that I'd now recognize from anywhere; he was the man who threw me.
I sighed silently, pulling myself again, now even faster. They couldn't see me from behind the car.
"Dunno, Ice!" That male voice called back towards the man by the window.
Yes, my arms had nearly reached the bushes… Just a little bit more….
"Hey wait a minute," the female voice cut through my little moment of relief. "Look at that, it's a trail, see? She slid off the car here…" The light shone perilously close to me.
Quickly I pulled myself into the bushes just in time to have five flashlights shone in the position that I was in just ten seconds ago.
"Well you lost her! You better find her- oh so be it Damon will be very MAD!" The voice of Ice, the brother boomed again from the window. Shaking, I quietly pushed myself further into the bushes.
Crack! I had sat on a crinkly dry leaf. The sound boomed into the silent car park.
"Did you hear that?" The female voice said quietly, ignoring Ice. The glow of five flashlights shone right onto my eyes. They stepped closer, and closer, until I could swear they could hear me breathe.
Pulling myself together really, really slowly, ignoring the pain from my ankle, I wrapped an arm around myself, hoping they wouldn't see me in the darkness.
The man who smashed me through the window stepped through the bushes, "Here, I wouldn't need it; the light will scare it away if it's still here." He said, turning around and handing the woman his flashlight.
Covering my mouth with one hand, and holding myself together with the other, I shook in fear as he stepped just three feet away from me. The leaves and twigs crunched underneath his feet.
He stepped further in the bushes, waving his arms about calling "Here kitty, kitty, kitty, here now.." I shook slightly in the darkness, breathing quickly through my covered mouth. He suddenly turned a full ninety degrees and faced my direction, walking towards me with his arms outstretched- I thought I was going to die. He got closer and closer until he stopped right in front of me, his shoes barely an inch from the tips of mine.
Frozen in fear, I shook quietly, and realized that I was silently crying. Tears were running down my face. My hand was shaking, and my ankle was throbbing in protest of actually having to be used.
He stood in front of me, staring over the top of my head in silence. Quickly, he waved his hands around and found nothing. Then he stooped to my level and searched again, I was staring him in the eyes, and yet he still couldn't see me. His hands missed my neck by less than three cm.
Just go. Just go, please, I pleaded to him from inside my head as he just stooped there. Sighing quietly, he stood up, shaking his head at the others from behind him.
"Not here, you should go with Fallen Springs and check the convenience store. Go! We don't want Damon to find out that we lost a human on our turf. I said GO!" He boomed, leaving the bushes.
I shook in relief, but still remained silent. A young woman and a tall man nodded at him, and quickly jogged through the bushes, right past me- headed for the convenience store.
Who was this Damon, and why are they so scared? I didn't have time to think much though as another female called back up to Ice, "Nothing! We've got nothing!"
I peeked from under my hair at his reflection in the second building, he wasn't the only one there now- there was much more shadows. He got really angry and I think he kicked the walls. He turned around, said something then the lights flashed off again.
Waiting quietly, I watched the three remaining souls walk back towards the Inn. I still just sat there, waiting. My ankle and elbows hurt so much now, I think it might be seriously infected from all the dirt and grime.
Soon after, the tall man and the young woman walked back again, right through the bushes, narrowly missing me.
"What the hell are we going to tell Ice?" The woman said. "That we lost her?"
"No, Jeremy lost her." The man replied. "But the bigger question is 'what is Ice going to say to Damon?"
They were getting far away now, and the last thing I heard was the female say, "I'd hate to be Ice, after those disappearances in this area, Damon has been running on a thin line…"
I watched them walk over towards the Inn again.
Damon. Funny, he sounds kind of familiar, but I don't know why. I know I have definitely heard of him… But my thoughts were cut short as the lobby doors swung open again just as the two souls reached it.
A mass of people walked out, some holding something over there shoulders. I squinted hard at one, Ohmigod, Jared? They were carrying my family away..
I stared as the souls walked past the cars, three people were holding the boys each, and only on person was holding the frail body of Wanda. They were all limp.
I turned ice cold. They… they… aren't, are they?
Tears started to flow again as I watched a black pickup truck drive into the lot. Someone hopped out and opened the back doors. The first couple of them just threw the boys in. I felt anger, is that how they treated all the bodies? I had a sudden urge to run forwards and fight, fight to release them, but I realized that in the condition I was in, I can't run. Let alone fight. I'd just get caught, and then no one would be able to save them.
But I knew deep down that weren't dead, who ever this Damon is he'll need the bodies to track out the rest of my family.
I watched as the last person put Wanda's body in gently before slamming the doors shut. Some men hopped into different cars, while some headed back for the Inn.
Ice and his brother walked back to their car, staring at the damage.
Ice's brother shook his head at him, said something that sounded like 'Damon' and 'car wash' before opening his side door. Ice said nothing as he took the drivers seat.
Soon, the black pick up truck was leaving the car park, followed by the other cars. As the white Camry drove through the light I finally saw all the blood I had smeared on it, not to mention the dent of where I had landed.
I shivered quietly in the cold night. The car park was empty.
My friends were gone… It had hit me really hard just now. And I don't even know where they were heading. I was badly injured, and I'm the only human for what I think is to be miles worth of soul inhabited land. Taking a deep breath, I let my limbs roll loose. I just sat there.
Finally I knew what had to be done. They were my friends and I was going to save them anyways. I just needed a plan. I was a one-woman rebel human now. But first I needed to find a Clinic, fast.
Sighing quietly, I stood up, grabbing a long thick stick, and using it as a walking stick, slowly hopped out of the bushes. Grunting in pain with my every move.
Good luck guys, I thought about Aaron, Andy and Brandt, hope you had better luck than us tonight.
Yay! My Chapter 7 is now finito! :)
Last 2 weeks of school for this term starts tomorrow, yipee! Lol.
Anywho, I hoped you guys like this story aye?
Haha, yes, if you're probably wondering I did take a part of Stephenie Meyers original peice from the Host about when Mel jumped off the elevator shaft, poor girl now she's been thrown off a building- sorta.
If no-one reviews then I'll assume no one's readin and I'll stop, so yeah, if you like/hate/whatever review.
xx Kate
