The name prickled at a memory in my head and I mulled it over in silence until it dawned on me. Maureen had been the one to kill Isabelle, the one to murder the young woman Simon had loved so very dearly, the one to smother out a life that had once burnt so fiercely. I turned to Simon and urgently tugged at his arm, but he remained rooted to the spot.
"We have to get out of here now," I hissed, dread turning the hairs on my arms up.
"Oh no, I'm afraid not," Maureen giggled, an eerie tinkling noise that would have sounded warm had it not been for the sadistic and icy look in her eyes "You see, I've come for what's rightfully mine," I raised my eyebrow in incredulity and finally managed to get Simon to move away. I turned away from Maureen, and looped my arm through Simons.
As I made to walk away, I shouted over my shoulder at her "You do realise, by the way, that what you just said is...cliché, right?" already my immense dislike for this girl- a girl that I barely knew- was taking possession of my actions "Be a bit more original, next time," when I turned to face the front again I let out a gasp of surprise to see Maureen was there with only an inch of space between us.
"You little bitch," she seethed "Sebastian said I couldn't touch you, but you know what?" I didn't say anything, shocked into silence to find out this girl worked with Sebastian. I certainly didn't let it show on my face though, which was determinedly fixed into a scowl.
"What he doesn't know can't hurt him," she finished with a sneer and before I could do or say anything she backhanded me with such force I was sent flying into the air. For a few moments, time slowed and I was suspended in the air, watching the stars spin around above me, littered around like someone had scattered a handful of glistening crystals across the night sky. Then I hit the ground with a crack, ripping all of the air out of my lungs. I tried to lift my head but it was slammed back down onto the ground, sending shots of pain down my neck. I tasted dirt and blood, a gritty and bitter tasting concoction. I received another heavy blow to my side and a sickening shattering sound resonated through the night. A shrill scream regurgitated itself from my throat and I started to gag, spitting out blood.
"Simon," I managed to croak out, trying to blink away the darkness invading my vision that was blotting all else out. I felt cold hands hook themselves beneath my armpits and haul me to the side, to safety. I fluttered my gaze upwards and was met with Simon's cool, steady stare. I groaned and clutched my side which was searing with a white hot agony that made all other senses in my body feel dull and unresponsive.
"Simon, stay with me okay?" I said, my voice tinged with strain "I should be able get up soon, just be with me until I can,"
"Always," Simon said softly, a look of reminiscence etched upon his features, as if he were echoing something he'd said to someone else once. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Maureen swooped down and grabbed Simon by the shoulders. I let out a yelp of dismay as she lifted Simon up as if he were weightless and hurled him through the air. He twisted and writhed in mid-air until he collided with a tree with a blood-curdling crack. He toppled to the ground and remained there, completely still and unmoving. Maureen cackled with chilling delight, as if she were a cruel, spoilt child cracking the limbs of an already long-broken plastic toy. I screamed out Simons name and icy fury washed over me. An instinct that ran deeper than blood inside of me suddenly took over and without a second thought I dug my nails into the soil beneath my hands and pushed down at it. Maureen gave me a quizzical look and moved to reach for my throat when suddenly the earth underneath her feet blasted apart. She flailed in the air for a few moments, before landing clumsily on her feet. She staggered around for a few moments then let out a guttural wail of rage before charging towards me at blindingly fast pace. Alarmed, I instinctively threw my arms up to shield myself, my body bracing for impact. Instead of the attack I had expected, I heard a hideous screech and saw Maureen once again thrown to the side by a hulk of elevated earth. I scrambled to my feet, pushing off the ground with shaking hands and pelted my way over to Simon. I didn't dare look over my shoulder and instead pumped my arms and legs as fast as could, until they were burning with exertion. But Maureen was faster than me. A blow from behind sent me sprawling to the ground and from the snapping sound that reverberated through the night I could tell I wasn't getting up again. An inhuman, gravelly cry raked its way out of my mouth and a hot, sticky fluid spilled down my forehead. I tried crawling towards Simon but a foot came down, hard, on my arm. I watched in revulsion as blood began to weep out in copious amounts from the flesh. I could see one of my bones jutting out. This time, I couldn't conjure the energy to make a noise. My mouth just fell open in a soundless scream of agony. I watched helplessly as Maureen sauntered over to Simon, bent down and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. Every inch of my body shuddered in excruciating pain, as if I was being tortured until each exquisite drop of agony had been extracted from me. My vision kept blinking in and out of focus, like I was watching the world through the lens of a camera taking snapshots. No oxygen was coming into my lungs, I couldn't breathe. I needed to breathe, I needed air. Please, please help me. I didn't want to die. There was a sharp, tingling sensation in my fingertips as they went numb. Acid began to spread rapidly through my veins, leaving them dry and aching, leeching them of my life. I let a soft, pained moan slip from my lips, allowing even more oxygen to spill from my lungs. It was suffocating, terrifying. I almost wanted to feel deaths embrace now, to feel its silken cloak caress my skin and take me to a place of bliss and nothingness. My eyelids fluttered shut and there was pain, so much pain. Pain, coursing its way through my body, draining me of will and spirit. Please, no more. There is no more. I am gone. I am just an empty shell, hollow through and through, soul vacant. Now I am simply an old and used toy of Maureen's now. There is nothing left to torture out of me. I am broken, forgotten. A cold hand press against my neck and I was unwillingly dragged back into reality. I blinked up at the face looming above me with bleary eyes.
"I still have much worse to do with to with you yet," Maureen told me with a perverted smile twisting her lips "So I won't let you die, not for now anyway,"
"Leave...Simon... alone," I wheezed, my voice bitter in spite of my agony. Maureen simply shook her head, her eyes twinkling with malice. Then the pressure on my neck was gone. My head dropped back and hit the hard earth with a thump. I felt my grip on reality begin to lessen and the darkness that had been beckoning to come started to close over me. All I wanted to feel was Simon's arms around me, rocking me back and forth until I fell into the dark. But I would never see him again. My eyes fell shut and on the backs of my eyelids I found Simon's kind brown eyes, imprinted there. The last thing in my mind was a single thought. A single thought which swirled through my head over and over again until finally I succumbed to sleep. The thought that I had failed Simon; the thought that I had given up on him. I felt my body slump. And then I was lost to the night.