Part Two
She woke to the sounds of birds. That was strange. She didn't think she would be waking today. She remembered only some things. She remembered anger, fear, and then pain. There was pain, she remembered that most vividly.
But now there were birds, and they were singing rather happily. It was like they didn't know she had been in pain. And you know the funny thing? That was probably because she didn't feel any pain anymore. It was gone, like it had never been there. But she remembered it.
She clenched her fingers as she came into consciousness. It was like a reflex or something, just grasping at the floor underneath her. Imagine her surprise when she felt the dirt between her fingers.
Erin raised her head, very so slightly, eyes blinking in the sudden sunlight. She was laying on her back, looking directly up into the sky. She could see the sun in between the wavering branches of the trees. Wait a minute. Trees?
She jerked upright, her head protesting that action greatly. She placed a hand to her temple, shutting her eyes and willing the dizziness to go away. She attempted to get to her feet, using one hand to brace herself from behind. She failed in her first attempt, only succeeding in pushing herself backwards instead of upwards. That's when she fell on someone.
The someone gave a loud oomph when she fell on them, a sound that was entirely male. She slid off, turning herself around to look at her companion. Hunter was groaning, clutching at his stomach where she had landed. She frowned at the sight of the man. The events of the previous night came back to her and she couldn't help but sneer at him.
"Nice driving jackass," she muttered, before climbing to her feet at last. He opened his eyes at that, hazel orbs shooting her a murderous glare at her remark. She ignored him, scanning the immediate area for Jenn.
Her sister lay not far from Hunter, a few yards to the right of him, and she was slowly rousing herself. Both sister and boyfriend made it to her side, helping the woman to her feet.
"What happened?" Jenn asked, her voice groggy.
"Your boyfriend demonstrated why the police have taken his license away on two previous occasions," Erin muttered darkly, glaring at the man in question. But Hunter took no notice of her, eyes roaming over the large wooded area around them.
"Where's the car?" were the first words out of his mouth. Erin rolled her eyes, annoyed that his first thought had been of his car not his girlfriend. But she closed her mouth before she could get a word out. Her eyes followed his, taking in the undisturbed forest around them. There was no sight of the car, not even a shard of glass from the windshield.
There was in fact nothing to indicate that they had been in a car accident the night before. Erin squinted off into the distance, not even seeing a clear pathway to the road.
"Are we dead?" was Jenn's question. Erin shrugged, turning to pinch her on the arm rather roughly. Jenn gave an outrage yelp, hand going to her arm immediately.
"Guess not," Erin mused. Jenn continued to glare at her younger sister darkly.
"You do that when people ask if they're dreaming," she reprimanded her sister, hand still rubbing her arm. "Not when they asked if they died."
"We're not dead," Hunter scoffed. He had a puzzled look on his face as he looked around them. "I'm not sure what happened, but we're not dead."
"Though not for your lack of trying," Erin sneered at him. Hunter turned on his heel, eyes flashing dangerously as he towered over her.
"Excuse me?" he snarled.
"Guys, let's not-"
"You heard me," Erin interjected, cutting off her sister rather quickly. "I've put up with a lot of your shit over the past two years Hunter, and last night was the final draw. You could have killed us you idiot!"
"I do not have to take lip from you right now," Hunter growled, advancing on Erin menacingly. "I'm not in the mood right now."
"Oh, and like I care," Erin shot back. "You're an ass Hunter. You nearly got us killed and you're acting all indignant. Why don't you just drop dead already?"
He opened his mouth to speak, he did. But he never got a word out. Erin heard the weird whizzing sound just seconds before she felt saw something suddenly protrude out of Hunter's chest. There was a spray of blood right into her face, causing her to flinch and not see right away. But when she recovered, she saw it. There was an arrow going through Hunter's chest.
He made a weird gurgling sound, looking at Erin in confusion. Erin just felt a numbness start to take over her. She watched as he tried to raise his hand and then just fell over at her feet. Jenn let out an alarmed cry, rushing to his side immediately. But as her sister cried over him, trying to stop the bleeding of the wound, Erin knew it was pointless. The light had faded from Hunter's eyes. He was gone.
Jenn was screaming in rage and pain now, moaning over her fallen lover. But Erin didn't really hear it. Her hand went up to her face, smudging at the blood there. She brought her fingers in front of her eyes, as if verifying that it was blood on her face. Hunter's blood on her face. Hunter was dead.
The shock of the incident wore off when she heard the slight growling coming from in front of her. She raised dumbfounded eyes to the new arrival, mind going at once paralyzed with fear. It wasn't human, whatever it was. It was blue with yellow eyes and bad teeth. It smelled, she could smell it before it was too close to her. And it made the scariest growling noise inside his throat.
She took a step back, noting that Jenn had stopped crying for the moment. The thing just glared at her. Erin's eyes went to the bow in his hand, then to the arrow in Hunter's chest. She felt an insane amount of fear in her heart at that moment. She reached out with a shaky hand for Jenn, her sister clasping it tightly. As one, both sisters sidled away from the large monster in front of them.
It let out a snarl, bringing its hands to the bow once more. That was all the encouragement Erin needed.
"Run," she managed to gasp out. She wasn't sure at first if Jenn heard her, but then she felt the tugging on her hand. Turning at once, both sisters fled deeper into the woods and away from the creature.
*****
It was still behind them. She could hear it, hear them. There were many of these things running around them. Erin didn't want to know how many exactly. There was only one thing that she registered at this point in time.
Run.
And she did run, Jenn's hand firmly clasped in her. They dodged frantically around trees and bushes, the things bearing down on them from behind. Erin sent a silent prayer up to God for giving her the common sense to wear pants to the dinner instead of a skirt. She could not have managed this in a mini.
She ran, Jenn dragging along beside her. She ran for a very long time, never once stopping to take a look behind her. Never once stopping to spare her sister a glance, not even a word. She just ran. Her lungs were burning from the force of it and she wondered if she would make it out of this alive. Her legs felt like rubber, there was a searing pain in her sides, and her hand felt slightly cramped from the force of Jenn's grip. She didn't have much energry left, she shouldn't have been able to carry it on for much longer.
But still she ran. Never stopping in the least, never slowing down to catch her breath. Branches snagged at both the sisters as they flew through the forest. Erin felt all the scratches on her arm and sides, feeling the slight blood dripping from them. There was a lot of blood today. She still had Hunter's blood smudged on her face. Hunter, who was dead, and whose body they had been forced to leave behind. Hunter who was suck a total prick the entire time she knew and she had actually told to drop dead before he dropped dead. She hadn't really meant it. She hated him that's for sure, but she hadn't actually wanted him dead. She had just wanted him gone. Well, he was gone now, gone for good. And his blood was on her face. Her thoughts were coming quite circular.
She heard Jenn cry out, giving her own cry of outrage when her sister slammed into her from behind. They both tumbled to the forest floor, rolling for a bit until they came to a stop. Erin scrambled to her feet immediately, trying to pull Jenn up with her. Then she saw the arrow in Jenn's arm. They had shot her sister.
"Jenn get up," she pleaded, eyes intent on her sister. "Get up they're coming."
But Jenn couldn't see through the pain. Her eyes were glazing over and she stared up at her sister with remorseful eyes.
"I can't," was the whispered reply.
The things caught up to them at that moment. Erin felt the tears sting her eyes at once, standing in front of her sister protectively. The one who had initially confronted her stepped up once more. It had an arrow to his bow, aimed right at her. She wanted to fall back and cry, but she stood her ground.
More of them emerged from the trees, just wakling right out of the leaves. They were all so hideous and snarling. Erin never felt so alone in all her life.
Arrows rained down on them from nowhere. She jerked around, eyes going to the trees behind her. She couldn't figure out which way was what and she couldn't tell where anything was coming from. Jenn lay bleeding at her feet, there were monsters all around her, and arrows coming from nowhere. She spun around, hopelessly lost and confused.
She heard snarling in her ear, jerking around to face one of the things right in the face. She barely registered the hand it raised to her before she felt in on the side of her head. She went down, falling on top of her sister, head spinning.
She heard a hissing sort of cry, and hearing a thump near seconds later. She squinted, looking forward, and making out the shape of the thing laying in front of her. It had an arrow in its chest, and it looked as dead as Hunter.
Good.
Jenn was crying underneath her. Erin tried to focus on her sister, but her vision was swimming still. She wrapped her arms around Jenn haphazardly, hands brushing the arrow in her sister's arm. Erin blinked rapidly, trying to make her vision come back into focus, but it didn't happen.
She heard voices in some sort of strange language. It could have been English, but she was too out of it to understand anything. She felt hands on her, trying to lift her up. Erin tried struggling, wanting to stay with her sister. But they pulled her away.
She looked up, seeing bits of blonde hair and blue eyes. They kind of ran together and her head hurt too much to make much of it. Things kept swimming around and around, all falling into one another. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to make everything stop.
And eventually it did. Things stopped running and Erin fell into sleep.
She woke to the sounds of birds. That was strange. She didn't think she would be waking today. She remembered only some things. She remembered anger, fear, and then pain. There was pain, she remembered that most vividly.
But now there were birds, and they were singing rather happily. It was like they didn't know she had been in pain. And you know the funny thing? That was probably because she didn't feel any pain anymore. It was gone, like it had never been there. But she remembered it.
She clenched her fingers as she came into consciousness. It was like a reflex or something, just grasping at the floor underneath her. Imagine her surprise when she felt the dirt between her fingers.
Erin raised her head, very so slightly, eyes blinking in the sudden sunlight. She was laying on her back, looking directly up into the sky. She could see the sun in between the wavering branches of the trees. Wait a minute. Trees?
She jerked upright, her head protesting that action greatly. She placed a hand to her temple, shutting her eyes and willing the dizziness to go away. She attempted to get to her feet, using one hand to brace herself from behind. She failed in her first attempt, only succeeding in pushing herself backwards instead of upwards. That's when she fell on someone.
The someone gave a loud oomph when she fell on them, a sound that was entirely male. She slid off, turning herself around to look at her companion. Hunter was groaning, clutching at his stomach where she had landed. She frowned at the sight of the man. The events of the previous night came back to her and she couldn't help but sneer at him.
"Nice driving jackass," she muttered, before climbing to her feet at last. He opened his eyes at that, hazel orbs shooting her a murderous glare at her remark. She ignored him, scanning the immediate area for Jenn.
Her sister lay not far from Hunter, a few yards to the right of him, and she was slowly rousing herself. Both sister and boyfriend made it to her side, helping the woman to her feet.
"What happened?" Jenn asked, her voice groggy.
"Your boyfriend demonstrated why the police have taken his license away on two previous occasions," Erin muttered darkly, glaring at the man in question. But Hunter took no notice of her, eyes roaming over the large wooded area around them.
"Where's the car?" were the first words out of his mouth. Erin rolled her eyes, annoyed that his first thought had been of his car not his girlfriend. But she closed her mouth before she could get a word out. Her eyes followed his, taking in the undisturbed forest around them. There was no sight of the car, not even a shard of glass from the windshield.
There was in fact nothing to indicate that they had been in a car accident the night before. Erin squinted off into the distance, not even seeing a clear pathway to the road.
"Are we dead?" was Jenn's question. Erin shrugged, turning to pinch her on the arm rather roughly. Jenn gave an outrage yelp, hand going to her arm immediately.
"Guess not," Erin mused. Jenn continued to glare at her younger sister darkly.
"You do that when people ask if they're dreaming," she reprimanded her sister, hand still rubbing her arm. "Not when they asked if they died."
"We're not dead," Hunter scoffed. He had a puzzled look on his face as he looked around them. "I'm not sure what happened, but we're not dead."
"Though not for your lack of trying," Erin sneered at him. Hunter turned on his heel, eyes flashing dangerously as he towered over her.
"Excuse me?" he snarled.
"Guys, let's not-"
"You heard me," Erin interjected, cutting off her sister rather quickly. "I've put up with a lot of your shit over the past two years Hunter, and last night was the final draw. You could have killed us you idiot!"
"I do not have to take lip from you right now," Hunter growled, advancing on Erin menacingly. "I'm not in the mood right now."
"Oh, and like I care," Erin shot back. "You're an ass Hunter. You nearly got us killed and you're acting all indignant. Why don't you just drop dead already?"
He opened his mouth to speak, he did. But he never got a word out. Erin heard the weird whizzing sound just seconds before she felt saw something suddenly protrude out of Hunter's chest. There was a spray of blood right into her face, causing her to flinch and not see right away. But when she recovered, she saw it. There was an arrow going through Hunter's chest.
He made a weird gurgling sound, looking at Erin in confusion. Erin just felt a numbness start to take over her. She watched as he tried to raise his hand and then just fell over at her feet. Jenn let out an alarmed cry, rushing to his side immediately. But as her sister cried over him, trying to stop the bleeding of the wound, Erin knew it was pointless. The light had faded from Hunter's eyes. He was gone.
Jenn was screaming in rage and pain now, moaning over her fallen lover. But Erin didn't really hear it. Her hand went up to her face, smudging at the blood there. She brought her fingers in front of her eyes, as if verifying that it was blood on her face. Hunter's blood on her face. Hunter was dead.
The shock of the incident wore off when she heard the slight growling coming from in front of her. She raised dumbfounded eyes to the new arrival, mind going at once paralyzed with fear. It wasn't human, whatever it was. It was blue with yellow eyes and bad teeth. It smelled, she could smell it before it was too close to her. And it made the scariest growling noise inside his throat.
She took a step back, noting that Jenn had stopped crying for the moment. The thing just glared at her. Erin's eyes went to the bow in his hand, then to the arrow in Hunter's chest. She felt an insane amount of fear in her heart at that moment. She reached out with a shaky hand for Jenn, her sister clasping it tightly. As one, both sisters sidled away from the large monster in front of them.
It let out a snarl, bringing its hands to the bow once more. That was all the encouragement Erin needed.
"Run," she managed to gasp out. She wasn't sure at first if Jenn heard her, but then she felt the tugging on her hand. Turning at once, both sisters fled deeper into the woods and away from the creature.
*****
It was still behind them. She could hear it, hear them. There were many of these things running around them. Erin didn't want to know how many exactly. There was only one thing that she registered at this point in time.
Run.
And she did run, Jenn's hand firmly clasped in her. They dodged frantically around trees and bushes, the things bearing down on them from behind. Erin sent a silent prayer up to God for giving her the common sense to wear pants to the dinner instead of a skirt. She could not have managed this in a mini.
She ran, Jenn dragging along beside her. She ran for a very long time, never once stopping to take a look behind her. Never once stopping to spare her sister a glance, not even a word. She just ran. Her lungs were burning from the force of it and she wondered if she would make it out of this alive. Her legs felt like rubber, there was a searing pain in her sides, and her hand felt slightly cramped from the force of Jenn's grip. She didn't have much energry left, she shouldn't have been able to carry it on for much longer.
But still she ran. Never stopping in the least, never slowing down to catch her breath. Branches snagged at both the sisters as they flew through the forest. Erin felt all the scratches on her arm and sides, feeling the slight blood dripping from them. There was a lot of blood today. She still had Hunter's blood smudged on her face. Hunter, who was dead, and whose body they had been forced to leave behind. Hunter who was suck a total prick the entire time she knew and she had actually told to drop dead before he dropped dead. She hadn't really meant it. She hated him that's for sure, but she hadn't actually wanted him dead. She had just wanted him gone. Well, he was gone now, gone for good. And his blood was on her face. Her thoughts were coming quite circular.
She heard Jenn cry out, giving her own cry of outrage when her sister slammed into her from behind. They both tumbled to the forest floor, rolling for a bit until they came to a stop. Erin scrambled to her feet immediately, trying to pull Jenn up with her. Then she saw the arrow in Jenn's arm. They had shot her sister.
"Jenn get up," she pleaded, eyes intent on her sister. "Get up they're coming."
But Jenn couldn't see through the pain. Her eyes were glazing over and she stared up at her sister with remorseful eyes.
"I can't," was the whispered reply.
The things caught up to them at that moment. Erin felt the tears sting her eyes at once, standing in front of her sister protectively. The one who had initially confronted her stepped up once more. It had an arrow to his bow, aimed right at her. She wanted to fall back and cry, but she stood her ground.
More of them emerged from the trees, just wakling right out of the leaves. They were all so hideous and snarling. Erin never felt so alone in all her life.
Arrows rained down on them from nowhere. She jerked around, eyes going to the trees behind her. She couldn't figure out which way was what and she couldn't tell where anything was coming from. Jenn lay bleeding at her feet, there were monsters all around her, and arrows coming from nowhere. She spun around, hopelessly lost and confused.
She heard snarling in her ear, jerking around to face one of the things right in the face. She barely registered the hand it raised to her before she felt in on the side of her head. She went down, falling on top of her sister, head spinning.
She heard a hissing sort of cry, and hearing a thump near seconds later. She squinted, looking forward, and making out the shape of the thing laying in front of her. It had an arrow in its chest, and it looked as dead as Hunter.
Good.
Jenn was crying underneath her. Erin tried to focus on her sister, but her vision was swimming still. She wrapped her arms around Jenn haphazardly, hands brushing the arrow in her sister's arm. Erin blinked rapidly, trying to make her vision come back into focus, but it didn't happen.
She heard voices in some sort of strange language. It could have been English, but she was too out of it to understand anything. She felt hands on her, trying to lift her up. Erin tried struggling, wanting to stay with her sister. But they pulled her away.
She looked up, seeing bits of blonde hair and blue eyes. They kind of ran together and her head hurt too much to make much of it. Things kept swimming around and around, all falling into one another. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to make everything stop.
And eventually it did. Things stopped running and Erin fell into sleep.