Prologue

It was a cold winter afternoon. Snow seemed to take on the appearance of a blanket as it lay across the ground and trees. Glittering and dancing in the moonlight, the powder fell from the sky, ghosting across red tinted faces and shivering bodies. It was hypnotizing to watch the snow fall. It was the picture of beauty, this setting; and had it not been for such ominous reasons for Elizabeth to be there, she might have actually enjoyed the sight of the snow covered forest. However, this was the site of a gruesome mass murder, and there was nothing to be found beautiful about it. She was here with her detectives for one reason and one reason only: to find the last survivor.

Behind Elizabeth stood the remains of a High School that once held three hundred and eighty-one students. An unbelievably, unrealistic thing had happened earlier that Wednesday morning to make the school and most of its inhabitants no longer exist. (Elizabeth was still having a hard time comprehending how it had happened, and she and been there for hours.) Presumably, a group of students, bypassed security (this particular school was known for having violent students) with bombs of some sort and detonated them in several different locations in the school building after the eight o'clock bell had rung. The explosion was massive, and it had taken out about half of the building, leaving the rest smoldering in flames. Dense ripples of smoke covered the area in a thick cloak-like cloud, draping all over the city of Nevaeh.

This had been a day that not one person could ever have imagined happening. This would also be a day that not a soul could forget. Parents had swarmed to the scene less than an hour after the explosion was felt. Fearing the worst, the parents rushed towards the school only to have their fears turned into a reality. The building was on fire. Thick orange-red flames licked at the building's walls and danced toward the sky. Dense blackish-gray clouds billowed from every direction as firefighters tried desperately to put the flames out. High pitched cries rang around the small area, bouncing off of the trees and the bodies of the people around, before fading into silent nothingness. Several of the firefighters rushed into the building trying to find any survivors.

Parents, after seeing the heroic actions of the firefighters, decided that they too should help search for their children and the children of the other parents. Not being able to bear waiting in suspense any longer, a group a mothers and fathers, albeit small, shoved passed the police officers; they rushed over to the burning building, all feelings of caring about their well-being shoved aside.

Earlier, before worried parents and citizens of the city alike, had rushed over to explosion site the police had taped off as much of the area as they could. The police were worried that parents may want to rush into the building looking for their children. Granted, this would be an off chance, considering how irrational that would be; however, the police did not want to take any chances at all. Only moving the tape of the firefighters, the police had successfully held back any non-rescue personnel. But, then however, a group of parents so distraught with pain and anguish shoved past the other people in the large crowd that had formed in less than an hour. Most parents were screaming in denial, crying horrible, pain filled tears far too void of strength or willpower to go against the authority of the police and firefighters holding them back. These parents, the ones who rushed over to the burning building, they only had the hope of saving one person. If one person could live, then just maybe, this would not be so horrible.

No matter how valiant their efforts were, the parents did not emerge from the burning building. Parts of the school building began to crack loudly before falling off into large chunks and ultimately crashing into the ground. Indenting the once lush grass, pieces of smoldering cement and foundation fell slowly setting fire to the now dry grass. Firefighters had to temporarily forget the building for a minute and focus on putting out the now spreading fire on the ground. Hysterical mothers began to scream louder than before. They ran away from the area; worried husbands chased after their wives in a panic, not wanting to be alone in the midst of this crisis. Police ushered the remaining people away deeming the place completely unsafe for civilians to be around any longer. Very slowly the crowd began to disperse into now late morning, heading home to either cry or pray for those who died on this tragic morning.

A few staff members, a security guard and a single student were the only ones to make it out of the explosion alive. The one student who lived evidently ran into the forest behind the high school building due to the fact that she was no longer around. That was why Elizabeth was called in along with the rest of her detective squad to help search for the girl in the now growing afternoon.

Why would you let the only student to make it out alive, run into a forest? And, just how was she the only one to survive when all of the other students had died? This girl seems to be the only who can answer these questions since the security guards will not talk. Which does nothing but make them look more suspicious than the girl who ran away, Elizabeth thought as she looked at the building again. She couldn't make any sense out of this whole thing. It was all so confusing to her how this whole situation could happen. She knew that if she dwelled on it, it would only confuse her more, so she put her focus on the forest in front of her and the search that was about to take place. She took a step toward the forest as one of her squad members said something stupid.

"It's getting dark." That's an obvious statement Elizabeth thought, rolling her eyes as she pulled out her flashlight and turned it on. She was the first to walk into the woods. They were looking for a teenage girl with short blonde hair who goes by the name of Julia. Apparently, a security guard had seen Julia run away before the blast went off. This left Elizabeth with a multitude of questions. Why did she run away before the blast went off? If she knew it was going to happen, why didn't she tell someone or call the police? Also, why didn't the security guard ask her where she was going? Is that not the job of a security personnel who guards a High School? Those were just a few of the questions that Elizabeth had asked the security guards, and, of course, did not answer a single one. The guard simply ignored her and her detectives. Not only does this sound far too suspicious for words, but Elizabeth was beginning to think that Julia and the guards had this whole thing planned out for awhile now.

Julia had never been too nice a girl, nor had she ever been very out going. She had very few friends and was picked on more than most kids her age. She was fifteen and slightly overweight. Julia always wore black cargo pants and a bright pink t-shirt that was fading due to being worn and washed so frequently. Her platinum blonde hair was always in a low braid that reached the center of her back. She wore lime green hipster glasses and gray converse. Julia was by no means physically ugly; however, she was rude, cynical, manic and just all around dark.

Julia used to be good friends with Elizabeth's daughter, Arlene. Arlene was one of the few people who was nice to Julia no matter how much crap Julia dished out at Arlene. Arlene would always smile and write it off as she was not one to judge others on their attitude. Arlene had even had her friends become friends with Julia. Even though Arlene and her friends went to different schools, Arlene's friends agreed to hang out with Arlene and Julia on the weekends at Arlene's house or the park. Elizabeth had to move due to Arlene growing and needing a room of her own. They had lived in a small studio apartment for a very long time.

All was going well until Julia decided that Arlene was just poking fun at Julia for not having any friends. Julia had never had any friends and she was not used to friendly teasing or people being nice to her. No matter how untrue it was, Julia would not stop thinking that way; thus their friendship ended since Julia no longer trusted Arlene.

Elizabeth sighed at the memory as she heard a few shouts in the air. She looked behind her and saw the newest of her team, James, yelling at the security guard and finally getting some sort of answers out of him. Elizabeth smiled to herself at how happy she was that her daughter was sick today.

A group of students walking in with bombs that didn't go off on the metal detectors, nor were they found in the student's bag search. Obviously, this had been a well thought out team effort. Some of the staff or the security personnel had to be in on this. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the thought, as she jumped over a tree, that had fallen over in the blast. She could not stop thinking about how obvious it was that Julia had done this. It just fit her personality so well. Julia had never like anyone. At all. Julia did not ever like her own father. Shaking her head, Elizabeth stopped as her teammates and boss caught up with her.

Elizabeth sighed as the search began. Unfortunately and yet fortunate, Elizabeth guessed, Julia happened to be the captain of the squad's daughter. David, the captain, had been the first on the scene. He had searched the forest in the morning, literally tearing branches and lifting stones, to find his daughter. He had been looking for her even before he had known for sure that she was alive. He had never given up hope. Nothing was going to stop him from searching, Elizabeth had decided that long ago.

Determined isn't a strong enough word to describe how David must be feeling. Considering Julia was all he had left in this world, it only made sense for him to feel as compelled as he was to find his daughter. Elizabeth wanted to point out the fact that his daughter had to have had something to do with this, but Elizabeth could not bring herself to do it. It would be too cruel. She would just have to wait until she found Julia to prove Elizabeth's point.

The snow began to fall harder and faster, feeling more like hail than powder. The wind sent a chilling howl through the silent afternoon as if, it too, were feeling the pain of the massive loss of life this morning. The trees groaned as the wind picked up its pace and roared past them. Their branches began to crack and splinter in the mid-afternoon air until they fell. One after another, they fell heavily to the ground with a thick crunch.

"Julia! Are you out there?!" David yelled in the darkening afternoon, mistaking a fallen branch for a person moving. There was no response other than the howling of the wind. Elizabeth's heart broke at the sight of David's desperation to find his only daughter. However, it did not change how she felt about Julia.

The snow beneath them became harder and slicker. With each step, a loud crunching noise could be heard and easily mistaken for a person coming toward them.

"Julia, can you hear me?" David yelled louder than before, thinking that Julia may be near. He was starting to panic. Elizabeth could see the anxiety crawling all over his face. He needed to keep his cool, but there was no way that he could. He sighed as a single tear slid down his chilled cheek. Yet again, there was no response. It was silent for the second time that afternoon.

David began to cry, in only what Elizabeth could imagine to be pain. Or maybe it was despair. Whatever it was, the sound of his crying was disheartening, and it caused the whole group gaze at him in pity. No one could begin to feel how he felt now. Elizabeth put a hand on his shoulder and thought of something that might cheer him up. Shoving away her feelings about his daughter, Elizabeth spoke some encouraging words.

"David, we're gonna find her. Julia's out here somewhere."

The wind's chilling howl roared one last time as it faded into silence. The snow ceased it's falling. A few members of the squad looked up to sky. It was then that they noticed how quiet it had become. The group began to look around in every direction anticipating the worst to happen as it always does in times like this, or at least in times like this in horror movies.

A girl's scream echoed off the trees.

"Who was that?" Elizabeth spoke, her hand falling from David's shoulder. She turned around looking for the person who had screamed. She wasn't sure if it had been one of the team or the girl they were looking for. Everyone seemed to be fine, and no one was missing from the group.

The sound became louder, closer. It was almost as if the girl was just to the left of David.

"Julia!" As if on cue, David turned and ran off to his left toward the girl who had screamed.

"It sounds like a girl screaming!" James yelled at Elizabeth.

"Really! You think? David, you can't go by yourself! We need to make a– " before Elizabeth could finish what she had been saying, everyone took off after David, leaving Elizabeth standing by herself. "Plan…" She had been hoping that they would come up with a plan before charging into the approaching darkness not knowing who or what was out there, but that was not possible. They were acting uncharacteristically reckless, and it was something that Elizabeth was not liking. Being the only person with common sense, Elizabeth thought of a plan of action before rushing after them.

"G-ah!" The girl's scream became distorted, sounding more like a gagging noise rather than a scream. It was also losing its femininity.

"David! David where are you?" Elizabeth ran towards the sound of the gurgled scream, fearing that it may be her boss, or one of her squad members.

Elizabeth ran. She ran hard. Each time her foot pressed into the snow covered earth, she seemed to soar. Everything around her became a blur, as she hurried to where the screams were coming from. Elizabeth shoved branches out of her face and dodged trees; the thought of anyone getting hurt sickened her.

The scream not only got louder, but it was no longer just one voice. There seemed to be more. They were no longer the screams of a girl. The screams sounded more masculine and more painful, than the girl's before. A tear slipped down Elizabeth's face,as she continued to run in the direction her squad had ran.

The scent of blood whipped across her face as she raced toward her squad's screaming voices. Elizabeth didn't have to take a guess of what was happening now. She knew that they were dying. She also knew that she would not be able to save them, but she had to do something. So she kept running. All of her hope went into wanting one of the members to be alive. To escape. To find her. Then, they could run to safety.

Elizabeth stopped. She stopped so suddenly that she almost fell. The screams had stopped. There was nothing but silence. The eerie silence seemed to etch its way around the forest. She gulped as she began to run again. The snow no longer seemed to crunch under Elizabeth's feet. The trees no longer creaked as the wind blew past them. The screaming seemed to have stopped, and that bothered Elizabeth the most.

There was nothing, but silence. It seemed to consume everything within the forest. It was consuming everything, but Elizabeth's racing heart, and her panicked thoughts of what could have happened to everyone. Elizabeth had begun to fear for the worse as she reached a clearing and saw no one.

Elizabeth stopped running. She turned around and looked back and forth. She could find nothing. The scent of blood had become persistently stronger as if she were standing in it, soaked in it even. She took a few steps forward and closed her eyes. She didn't know what to do. Yelling any further would give her position away to the killer if he had not already seen her flashlight, heard her screams or her running. There was a higher chance that he had already heard Elizabeth approaching. There was no way that he couldn't have.

Elizabeth took a shaky step backward as the sound of a twig snapping reached her ears.

"Brian! James! David! " Elizabeth yelled, her voice bouncing from tree to tree as it carried its way across the forest.

Nothing happened. No one screamed. No one came running to her. No one jumped at her or tried to kill her. There was nothing. There was nothing but the never ending silence.

Elizabeth sighed and lowered her flashlight and her head. She closed her eyes. She hadn't expected an answer even though she had hoped with all of her heart that someone was alive. She shook her head, trying to keep a clear mind. Elizabeth had to retrace her steps, and inform the station about what had a happened. She needed to get out of the forest.

Elizabeth took a step backwards, her shoe touching a particularly damp branch, as she opened her eyes. Her worst thoughts had become reality. There was blood all around her. Everywhere she turned she saw blood. It coated the trees, covered every inch of snow her flashlight gave away. Twitching and shaking from shock, Elizabeth dropped her flashlight and fell to her knees. She gasped, and held back tears bringing her hands to her mouth to keep from screaming.

A rather odd feeling placed itself on Elizabeth's skin that made her shake even more. A loud wet sound reverberated from the tree tops. The trees seemed to shake in fear, trembling at the sound. It became louder until the trees seemingly could not take it anymore. Branches splintered from the trees, crashing into the red stained earth. Some of them fell close enough to Elizabeth that she could almost touch them. One branch landed in her lap with a hard smack. Pain throbbed in her thighs as she looked at the branch that fallen on her lap.

"AH!" Elizabeth jumped back frightened as she dropped David's head onto the ground. She stood up and hurriedly, stepped back a few feet as she looked at it in horror. She was too in shock to hear the sound of someone running. The desperation in this person's voice caught her attention. She knew that voice.

"Elizabeth! Run, now!" James yelled as he rushed toward her. Elizabeth turned in his direction and gasped. His veins seemed to be illuminated in a vibrant blue light. As the seconds passed, is seemed to grow brighter until it was almost blinding.

"What are you doing?! You never should have followed us! R– " He would never be able to finish his sentence. His body imploded in an instant. Blood caked itself on Elizabeth's face, dripping down her body and onto the ground. The pieces that remained of his body caught fire and seared the ground.

"James? Wha-What? AHHHH!" The fire that had consumed the remains of James seemed to rush towards Elizabeth like someone had oiled the snow; it would consume her within seconds. She instinctively turned and ran just as James had told her too. She ran for her life, not looking back. She didn't need to. She could feel the heat of the fire, licking at her back.

Elizabeth ran strong dodging branches and trees, but she was no match for the oil fueled fire. She managed to reach the school remains, just before her body caught fire, for all to see. The faculty, the security guards, and the newly found Julia, saw Elizabeth cry out as she caught fire.

 

Firefighters rushed to Elizabeth’s side, putting out the fire as fast as they possibly could. All attention was on Elizabeth at this point. All wanted to know if she would be alright. The one thing that nobody saw, other than Elizabeth, was the sick smile on Julia's face. Nobody saw Julia's eyes change color. They just saw the firefighters put out the flames that charred Elizabeth’s body.

 

2: 01 Chapter

The alley was dark, save for the weak light a street lamp reflected on the damp brick walls of the surrounding buildings. Rain drizzled lazily from the sky, puddling neatly in cracks and holes in the neglected stone ground. Feet adorned in the highest of high-heeled shoes splashed their way through puddles, clicking ever so lightly against the hardness of the ground. Murmurs and a few half-hearted laughs echoed off the alleyway walls, in the rainy night.

"Maria!" Arlene Harper, giggled into her phone.

"What? If I had your body, which is great by the way, I'd love that job." Maria, Arlene's best friend, laughed on the other line.

"You. Are. Crazy." Speaking every word as if it were a sentence, Arlene rolled her eyes, but smiled. Her friend’s laughs grew louder, and Arlene couldn’t help but laugh again, too.

"Look, I know you would but that's not the point. I love the money I get, but I hate the reason for it!" Arlene spoke exasperatedly. Honestly, she really did hate that men would tip her, for how she looked. She hated how men would stare at her, and how women would glare at her. Sometimes, Arlene wanted to poke herself with a pin, in hopes that she might deflate. However impossible that is, Arlene still hoped for it at times.

Arlene clicked her way down the alleyway, in her usual black high-heeled booties. Her tan trench coat swayed ever-so-lightly, in the weak breeze that brushed against her. She was wearing her typical bar uniform that consisted of mid-thigh cargo shorts, with attached suspenders and a white t-shirt. She also wore a grey newsboy cap, which isn't part of the uniform, and normally, she gets into trouble for wearing it. Although, it has never stopped her before. 

Arlene sighed, as she looked up into the sky. The rain was beginning to pick up a bit. She shook her head, and began to quicken her lazy pace. She wanted get to home, as quickly as possible. Arlene shivered, in the cold rainy night, as Maria continued to speak. The once weak breeze became stronger, and Arlene's short, spiral, copper hair went into her jade eyes, causing her to stop and wince, as she pulled the hair away from her face.

"I know, but you can't blame 'em! I'd tip you extra. Look, you're all curves and smiles. Guys like you, 'cause you're five foot two, always happy, and have a forty, thirty-four, and thirty-eight." 

Arlene groaned loudly, while wondering for a moment how Maria knew Arlene's exact measurements.

"It's a winning hand. Just be thankful you get the money to pay your bills! I'm barely getting by."

"Well, I suppose you're right. Thanks to this job, I am a master now, at mixing drinks! Who would have know it could be so much fun?" Arlene raised her arm, as she punched the air. "I love it!"

"I thought you weren't allowed to work behind the bar, anymore, after what happened the last time! Arlene, please don't tell me you didn't listen to your boss, and did it again!" Maria practically screamed, into her cell phone. One time in particular, Arlene was working behind the bar, and, being as nice as she was, she couldn't say no, to the drinks she was offered. Needless to say, it was a very bad night. (There is a reason why Maria calls Arlene nice. The definition of nice is polite, but stupid. Needless to say, nice fits Arlene perfectly.) Arlene was lucky Maria had been visiting that weekend.

"Well, no! I didn't work behind the bar. I just like to make drinks is all." Arlene spoke lightly, as she smiled.

"Uh-huh...You are the worst liar I have ever heard. You know you break out in hives when you lie." Maria spoke, with a knowing smirk.

"... Okay. You caught me." Arlene smiled sheepishly, as her neck slowly turned an itchy red.
"I only did it for Natalie, because she got sick. You can't have a sick bartender working the bar. I didn't really mind. We didn't have too many customers tonight."

Arlene smiled, as she remembered a few very nice customers.

"Most of them were very sweet. One in particular reminded me of someone... I don't know who though." Arlene thought about who it could be, until Maria interrupted Arlene's thoughts.

"That's odd. I never pegged drunken fools to be sweet... but if that's what you're into..." Maria sang the last line, with an audible smile.

"Maria! You, my dear, know me far too well. I have such a weakness for rude, drunken fools." Arlene joked with a wink, and then stopped walking, to laugh with Maria at how silly they were sometimes.

Arlene emerged from the alley, and stood on the sidewalk, underneath a street lamp. She looked at the road in front of her, and then across it. There was another sidewalk, and another painfully dark alleyway. She eyed it cautiously. The problem with Arlene's job, was not the rude customers she had grown to deal with, or even her perverted boss, it was the hours. A single twenty-four-year-old woman, as small as she was, walking home at four in the morning, was a bit less than intelligent. It was borderline mental. But, with no car, no friends nearby, and no cabs to call, she had to get around somehow.

"You need to learn how to drive! I'm sick of only seeing you once a month, if that." Maria suddenly spoke, with a serious tone.

"Well, aren't you demanding? Those things are a death trap. I refuse." Arlene spoke in light tone, but there was no hinting at her changing her mind anytime soon.

"Fine. You win this time, Red."

"Whatever you say, Chestnut."

"I thought I told you to never call me that." Maria growled, in irritation.

"It takes two to tango, my love. You brought that upon yourself when you called me ‘Red’." Arlene grinned.

"What does the tango have to do with this?" Maria asked awkwardly, as she was utterly confused.

"Thats like asking why love is so complicated." Arlene giggled, hoping to confuse Maria more.

"...Yeah. But, you still need to get a car." Maria spoke the first part in a confused tone, altogether giving up on trying to understand Arlene.

"But, Maria!"

"No 'buts'! You are twenty-four-years-old! You. Need. A. Car." Maria spoke, harshly. "I don't want to turn on the news and find you killed. Or worse... raped!" Maria finished with genuine concern.

This had been the third month that Arlene had been doing this. Arlene hadn't had any problems in that short time; however, that did not stop her from being apprehensive. She felt a bit at ease, knowing that Maria was on the other line. At any sight of trouble -sound, really- Maria would speed dial the police. Arlene sighed, brushing a stray  curl out of her eyes. She didn't really like walking on nights like this. Especially since she was having a nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. Pushing that feeling aside, she darted across the road and sprinted through the alleyway.

"So, where are you now? Did you pass the remains of that school where your mother was attacked yet? They should put up a memorial for those who died there. Don’t you think? Speaking of your mother, how is she? Do you think she might wake up soon? When you last visited her, you said that she twitched her hand. That’s good, isn't it? We never really talked about it." Arlene continued sprinting, as she emerged from the dark alley. Arlene hated alleyways. They scared her more than anything else in the world. The only time she had ever found one tolerable, was when a street lamp was lit within it.

“Hello? Arlene? Did you hear me? About your mom?” Maria asked again, hoping to hear Arlene say something.

Once she was a good few meters from the alleyway, Arlene stopped. She bent down, and put her hands on her knees, breathing hard. It had been a while since she had run, let alone sprinted anywhere. She knew she wasn't in shape, but this was a bit ridiculous! Making a promise to exercise more, Arlene straightened up, and started walking again.

"Oi! Where are you? Damn it Arlene! Did you pass the remains of the school where your mom almost died or what?! Why wont you answer me? I’m worried, and you could be dead for all I know? Why were you breathing heavy? Arlene!" Maria half asked, half screamed trying to get Arlene's attention. Maria’s tone was laced with worry and irritation at Arlene, for not answering her phone. Maria worries so much about Arlene walking home at night, that sometimes she gets a bit rude when Arlene doesn’t respond.

Arlene walked a bit faster suddenly feeling angry. She wasn't about to run again, but that feeling of forgetting something suddenly turned to fear, and the last thing she needed to do was freak out. And her being angry did not help push the feeling away.

"Sometimes, you are so uncaringly rude." Arlene slowly in a barely audible whispered with an icy tone. There was a hint of sadness in her voice that she tried to cover up, but in the end, failed. Arlene could not handle being yelled at, and Maria knew it. Arlene never talked about why she hated people yelling at her, or just being over loud in general. Maria always wondered why that was. Suddenly, feeling a bit guilty, Maria spoke to Arlene in a much gentler tone.

"Ari, did you say something?" Maria used Arlene's nickname. Maria knew what Arlene had said.  

"Hello?" Maria tried again.

“I don’t know when she will wake up. She had a bad fit yesterday... They had to resuscitate her...Last week...” Arlene started choking up on her words. “Last week she was doing so well. She moved -sniff- her hand, and -sniff- she mumbled a little -sniff, sniff-.”

Arlene was crying heavily by the time she finished her sentence. Her mother being in the hospital, and doing so poorly, was really taking so much out of Arlene. Arlene would never admit it, but every now and then, she honestly wouldn’t care if she got hit by a bus. She was being stretched as far as possible with her mother being in a coma, and her new job. Half of the time, Arlene just wanted to end it. And, honestly, if it wasn’t for Maria, Arlene would have killed herself.

Maria has no knowledge of this, and never will. Maria also never knew about the times Arlene had cut herself, or had burnt herself. Arlene just wanted some control in her life. And, being in control of some sort of pain, was better than none; but, had, being that she used to self harm herself. She realized that hurting herself was not helping her, but before she had realized that, she understood that she would be found out, and lose her job, if she kept at it. So, she stopped, picked up another job, and tried to stay as busy as she can. The less she thinks about things, and bottles them up, the better off she is.

Shaking her head, and stopping the tears, like she had practiced so many times before, she smiled a little and tried to stay a bit mad. IT was better than feeling like an empty, bottomless pit. Arlene sighed.

“Ari, I’m sorry...”

Arlene didn't want to be out any longer than she needed to be, and it seemed like getting home was taking forever. It was starting to get a bit colder. It had been chilly before, but now the rain was feeling more like ice on her face. Arlene paused, for a moment too long. She stopped walking, to look at the remains of the school. Her mother had been called in unexpectedly on her day off, after hearing that a school had blown up. Arlene remembered feeling her house shake, minutes before her mother received the call, or maybe she had imagined it.

Arlene missed her mother deeply. Even though her mother wasn’t dead, it sure felt like it sometimes. She let a tear trail down her cheek, as she tore her face away from the remains. Thinking of her mother always made Arlene cry.

"And," Arlene shuddered a sigh. "I'm about to walk... past the school." Arlene started walking fast again, she was very close to being home. She just had a half a mile left to walk. Arlene glanced behind her for a second, looking at the remains one last time and the forest behind it that she used to play in as a child. That had been a long time ago...

"I'm on Grande St. I'm heading to the crossroads of Grande and Main." Arlene spoke again, before Maria could say anything about Arlene's suddenly dark attitude.

"Okay." Maria muttered.

Arlene ignored Maria's tone and her voice altogether, suddenly no longer wishing to speak with her. However, Arlene's fear of the night, and what may lurk in it, kept her on the phone with her friend. Arlene's heel's clicked hard against the concrete sidewalk. She was still so upset over what Maria had said, that Arlene did not notice the man and woman walk out of one of the many alleyways she passed on Grande.

"You know, I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry for yelling." Maria spoke softly, but the only response she got was the hum of the other line. Maria sighed. Sometimes, Arlene could hold something against a person for years. Maria was hoping that Arlene would forgive her, soon. Arlene is a good person, but she can be downright cruel to anyone who says, or does, anything that could potentially hurt her, even if it is small.

"Ari..." Maria stretched out Arlene's nickname, for as long as she could hold the 'e' sound, before needing to breath. Arlene smiled to herself at this. It was impossible to stay mad at Maria.

"I don't know what I'd do without my bestie!" Maria exclaimed in an attempt to get Arlene to respond.

"Maria, Hun. I love you. But sometimes, I just kinda wanna... you know..."

"Pinch your nose!" They both said, at the same time. They laughed for a good while, before Arlene realised she wasn't walking. Still smiling, she walked on.

They were both so childish at times. Maria and Arlene had always been that way, and that was something that would never change. Humming to herself, Arlene actually skipped for a minute before deciding to walk, again.

***

They were always behind her, but Arlene never noticed. Not at all, this entire time. They had followed her to work, that evening. They had actually went in the bar and ordered drinks, and some food. They had seemed innocent enough, as they ate and drank, as any couple would do. There was some laughter, some arguing. Leaving a good while, before the bar closed, they waited patiently outside, lurking in the shadows. And, once they saw her leave, they stayed in the shadows, slowly moving after her. Creeping up on her, as a lion would it's prey, they masterfully hid themselves, and were ready to pounce at any moment.

They walked out of the shadows, and walked behind her for a half a mile. Arlene still didn't notice them, even after they removed themselves for the shadows. As the followed her, they listened to Arlene's conversation on the phone. Listening to the ridiculous conversation, the man let out a chortle.

***

Arlene turned around as soon as they jumped back into the shadows of the evening. Arlene continued turning around, until she had made a complete circle. She was completely baffled. She thought that she had heard something behind her, something that sounded like laughter. And, as she walked again, she swore she heard something again, only this time it sounded almost like a person was walking behind her. She turned around again, even more confused, than she already was. Trying to make nothing of it, and writing it off as her mind playing tricks on her, she shrugged and kept walking, listening to the hum of the other line.

"That was weird…" Arlene mumbled, into her phone.

"What?" Maria asked, too quickly, panic hanging in her voice..

"I thought I heard… nothing." Arlene said the words, much too quickly. Maria heard the panicked tone in Arlene's voice, but said nothing, figuring that Arlene was just spooked by a shadow. That does happen, often.

"So what's with you and John lately, hm?" Arlene said, as she tried to focus on their conversation, more hoping that it would calm her nerves.

"Oh, well. You know. We've just been hanging out… He's just not…" Maria paused. Arlene knew that pause all too well.

In their early high school years, Maria had once had a relationship with Bradley Aulis, a very sarcastic, yet kind, boy who seriously loved Maria. He truly cared for her. Bradley was going to have dinner at Maria's house one night, but he never showed. Maria worriedly called his house and cell phone, but no one answered. Thinking she would see him the next day at school, she let it go.

However, she never did see him. His parents were found dead, brutally killed, the next day, and Bradley was gone. Almost like he vanished. There were no pictures of him. His clothes were gone. Nothing. It was almost like he never existed. Oddly enough, that was the same day that Julia suddenly decided that she and Arlene could not be friends. Julia came up  with the oddest reason and stormed off.  Something about Arlene being a liar or fake or something... Arlene was heartbroken over it. She never could take losing friends very well.
What made it even more odd was that people, fellow classmates, teachers, co-workers, everyone and anyone who should have known Bradley, couldn't even recall him the next day. Only Maria and Arlene seemed to remember the boy named Bradley Aulis who had messy brown hair and honest green eyes...​

Needless to say, this left Maria in a state of shock and with a broken heart. Determined he was alive, and that she could find him, every night for two months, Maria would walk around, and look for him. Arlene would willingly go with Maria, in fear that something might happen to her. Arlene knew that her own mother would advise against it, but because her mother worked so last most nights, Arlene’s mother never found out.

Finally, when Maria's parents had had enough of their daughter sneaking out, and looking for a person who did not exist, and very angry at Arlene for going along with it, they sent Maria to a therapist. It didn't help. Maria would still go out searching for him, calling his name in the night, dialing his cell phone number, doing everything she could. Maria’s parents sent her to three more therapists, before finally admitting her to a hospital for three months.

Maria seemed to be doing fine once she got out. Well, to anyone other than Arlene, that is. Arlene knew how depressed Maria was. So, one evening, Arlene went over to Maria's house and took her to search for Bradley. Arlene did not want to give up hope, and neither did Maria. They searched well into the early morning hours. Never finding him. After that, Maria and her family moved. Her parents called it a 'fresh start'; Maria thought of it more as torture.
It had been more than eight years, yet Maria had never stopped loving Bradley. The man could be dead, for all Arlene knew. But, Maria swore he was alive, and that something supernatural had to have happened, because of how horrible the deaths of his parents were. They were slashed open, and there was a message written in blood on the walls. However, no one would tell Maria what the message said, so she and Arlene never found out.
Arlene refused to believe that something supernatural had happened to Bradley, and his family. To Arlene, that stuff is for horror films and fanfiction, not real life. And, since they never saw the inside of the house, who is to say that the reporters got a bit carried away with their front page story? Reporters are known to exaggerate, but even they did not reveal what the message was. Regardless of how Arlene felt about it, she helped Maria anyway she could. If pretending to believe in the supernatural, for a moment, helped Maria cope, then so be it. Arlene may be rude, and a jerk sometimes, but she was a good friend.

"…I really miss him, Arlene. And now, I don't even get to see you anymore! This sucks." Maria spoke with audible tears. John, her 'boyfriend', if you wanted to call him that, purposefully wrecked her car last week, on a drunken dare. While he promised to pay for the damages, the car couldn't be fixed for a month.

"I know, Sweetie. I miss you too."

"I'm so sorry for being insensitive before. Maybe you could come visit next week? We could hang out and get our minds off of things." Maria asked hopefully.

Arlene felt tears etching their way out of her eyes for the third time that night. The desperation in Maria's voice was heartbreaking. Arlene wanted to. Oh, she wanted more than anything to go and spend time with Maria, but Arlene knew that she couldn't... She didn't have the money or the time. She looked up at her apartment on Main Street. It was only a few blocks away. It was dark, and unwelcoming, in the shadows, and the light of the moon.

"I'm sorry, Honey, I can't. I'm home now, so I'll call you tomorrow, okay?" Arlene heard Maria sniff, and Arlene swore her heart shattered.

"Yeah, alright. Night, Babe. I love you," she called.

"I love you too. G'night, Love."

Arlene hung up her phone. She tilted her head back as far as it could go, and sighed. Arlene shook her head, pulled at the handle of her silver striped purse, thrust her hand inside her purse, and began to dig for her apartment keys. After moving her hand around in her purse for a few moments, she soon became frustrated. Arlene considered herself to be the most unobservant, stupid person on the earth. She had left her keys on a bar stool after work to help a coworker clean up. She slapped her hand against her forehead, and grunted.

Arlene muttered a curse, as she stormed back in the direction of the bar, hoping and praying her boss would be there still. For once, she wished she had taken his number when he had offered it to her for the umpteenth time that month.

The night seemed to grow colder, and colder, with each passing second. Arlene began to curse herself for not wearing a thicker coat.. She was thinking about whether she had a thicker coat or not, when she heard a noise. Arlene spun around, and saw nothing. She glared in the sea of darkness, that the night had brought on, searching for the thing that had made the noise. When she saw, and heard, nothing, she decided her mind was messing with her, again, and then she turned back around, just in time to see two shadows shift back into the darkness. She was seeing shadow's moving in the night. Arlene turned around, quickly, and walked past the area where she had seen the shadow's move. More than anything, she was hoping her mind was playing tricks on her. Because, right now, Arlene Harper was terrified.

She had heard a cracking noise, off to her side, but she ignored it. At this point, Arlene just wanted to get home, and forget everything. At the very least, she could wake up a neighbour, and crash there for a night. She could ask the landlord for a spare key, until she could get hers. It was a wonderful idea.

A rock fell at her feet. Once again, she ignored it, and kept on walking, thinking of nothing more than a warm bed. And then more rocks began to roll at her feet. After the fifth time she saw rock rolling in front of her, Arlene took in a deep breath, stopped, and looked to her right side. She saw nothing. She looked to the building, at her left and saw more rocks falling. Arlene looked up, and as she looked up, she screamed. She screamed, as loud as she possibly could.

3: 02 Chapter

Arlene Harper felt her blood run cold as she looked up at the buildings wall. Deep crimson eyes stared back at her. A pig like face, which the eyes adorned, seemed to pull itself out from the wall. More and more rocks seemed to tumble out of the wall, as Arlene gasped.  Her breath hitched in her throat; her eyes widened to the point that they stung as tears began to freely fall. Arlene hastily stepped backwards, her hands reaching reaching for her purse. She took it off in an instant and threw it at the wall. The purse hit the wall with a thud, crashing into the sidewalk once it fell. Looking all over the wall for the pig like face, she sighed. She could not find it anywhere. Hoping it was nothing more than her overactive imagination and that she was not going insane, Arlene went over to pick up her purse. She felt the wall. Seeing as how it felt like cold, hard brick, she realised that, that was what it had to be. There were no sinister red eyes looking at her. There was no pig like face emerging from the wall.

Arlene leaned her head against the wall and laughed at herself. She was so foolish at times. Shaking her head and calming her heart, she sighed. Arlene bent down to pick up her purse, turning slightly so that she didn’t hit the wall. Once she had her purse, she laugh audibly and called herself a fool. She shook her head once more to kick the thought of the pigs face out of her head. She straightened up and looked ahead, fully prepared to annoy her neighbors until one of the opened their to door to let her sleep over.

She began to walk to her apartment complex, a smile on her face. She shivered as the air began to get colder, denser. Arlene took in a deep breath and began to cross the road over to her apartment complex. Feeling something stuck in her throat, Arlene coughed. Feeling the mucus, or whatever was stuck in her throat dislodge, she swallowed hard and took in a wheezy breath. She began to cough again, heaving over and holding her chest. It began to feel as if it was congested.

She slowly turned and walked back over to the sidewalk where she had been, still coughing and still wheezing. Coughing harder than before, she heaved over once more and spit out whatever was in her mouth. Wiping some tears from her eyes from coughing so hard, she looked down at what she spit up. Arlene squinted a little at it somewhat confused. Arlene thought she saw something moving in it.  She tried to suppress an on coming cough as she continued to look at the mucus filled spit on the cement. Failing miserably, she fell to her knees. Putting a hand to her mouth and the other to her chest, she coughed hard. Feeling something wet in her hand, she hoped that it was not blood. Once the fit ended, she pulled back her hand and looked at it under the the light of the streetlamp. She gasped.

There was a fly twitching in the phlegm onher hand. Naturally, she widened her eyes and wiped her hands on the concrete ground. She stood up abruptly. With her vision blurring slightly, she realized that that was not the best thing to do. She took a step back as her head felt light. She stood there for a moment with her eyes closed waiting for the feeling to pass before she opened her eyes. Coughing once more, she sighed. The congestion in her chest seemed to be easing. With that off her mind and a buzzing sound taking it’s place, she stared at the fly on the cement. It was twitching and moving it’s wings. She started to notice that most of the ground now was black as opposed to the grey color that cement normally was. As she bent down, she noticed that the now back cement was moving slightly and buzzing loudly. She looked back at the fly in the phlegm she coughed up and back at the cement. There wasn't just one fly any more. There had to be at least a thousand more buzzing next to it. She took a step back a twitched as she heard more buzzing, almost as if a swarm of flies was heading her way.

Sucking in a deep breath and praying she wouldn't swallow a fly, Arlene let her feet do the thinking as she sprinted away from there. However, she had only managed a few meager steps before she heard a loud crash behind her. Startled, she spun around fast. Arlene’s eyes widened in shock, copper curls lightly hitting her face. Her jaw slacked, parting her lips. She wanted more than anything to scream, but nothing came out. Tears fell down her face as she prayed that she was dreaming.

A few feet Arlene, with its back leaning against the brick wall, stood a very tall, very wide, and very piglike man. Flies flew around him, going around in circles, then stopping and falling dead to the ground. His hollow red eyes seemed to take hold if her soul. Frozen, she stood, eyes bulging out of their sockets. Fear seemed slither its way into her heart as it beated faster than it ever had. A loud cracking sound tore Arlene’s eyes away from the piglike monster’s hollow ones. She looked down and saw the cement below one of his hooves cracking under his enormous weight. She looked back up and flinched as his more human like hand tightened on the handle of a very large axe that seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

He shifted his body to face her directly as he took another cement cracking step. His grungy pink skin was the first detail she could make out from the weak light the streetlamp gave off. As he took another step towards her, she saw that he truly did have the face a pig. Menacing and grotesque, it held the true meaning of fear. Jagged, sharp, decaying teeth glistened in the street lamps light as his snout twitched upward in what could only be described as a smirk. Piercings of all kinds adorned his ears. A necklace of... human skulls hung loosely around his neck. Wide and yet muscular, his chest and stomach stood prominent. Ragged pants clung to his piglike legs, shackles dangling above his hooves. The clinked against the cement of the sidewalk, echoing in the silent night.

Another cashing sound reverberated around them as his hoof connected with the cement; Arlene took a step back. Another crack in the pavement, another step backwards. Another step toward Arlene, another step she took back. Misjudging the distance between the sidewalk and the road, Arlene took to hard of a step down and lost her balance. Landing hard on the ground, Alene stood up in horror as the piglike man glowered down at her. He shifted his hold on his axe. Swinging the axe, the jeweled top glittered in the light as he pointed it at her. All too soon it was gone, and the axe was coming down at her.

Arlene watched as he lifted the axe easily above his head, the handle enormously long. The back side of the double sided axe crashed into the building behind him. Arlene closed her eyes tightly and waited for impact. She sucked in a deep breath as she waited. Her fear turning her body numb as she waited. Cold blood raced through her veins, chilling her body even further. She waited. Nothing was happening.

The pain of a thousand needles dug into her left shoulder. She cried out in pain as the axe push downward, cutting through muscle and bone and digging far into her ribs. Arlene gasped for breath as she collapsed backward onto the ground. Pain surged through her body light lightning. Breathing fast, but never really sucking in air, she stared at the sky above. Each movement felt like she was being torn apart.

She looked down at her shoulder, curious, as pain continued it’s deadly assault on her body. There was a gaping line that reached her waist, and blood pooled out from it at every direction. She saw her hand laying crumpled, useless, on the ground. Looking at the wound, her vision blurred. Feeling the axe cut into her body again, she let out a hiss of pain. Finding herself unable too to cry out, she looked back at the face of the pigman with blurry vision. His eyes shine with a devilish delight. He licked his lips as he lifted up the axe again.

Arlene closed her eyes, not wanting to watch the satisfaction on his face as she died...

 

 

To her, this was feeling was like eternity as she lay there suffering, unable to move. Surely, he was going to strike soon. He was going to finish her off, and she would look like a coward as he did. But, if he was going to finish her off, why did her pain suddenly stop? Was she already dead? Did he strike her? Why was she no longer in pain? He had literally chopped her almost in two?! She should be screaming, crying! Yet, now she felt nothing. Ever since she closed her eyes, she felt nothing! Maybe she was dreaming. Yes! She just had to be dreaming! There was no other explanation. These things are not real, so there was no way that this had happened. Pig monsters don’t exist. A pig an animal and a man is a human. They could never mix into a monster. Man, she had a sick subconscious! Now, if she could only open her eyes, this nightmare could be over.

However, she couldn’t open her eyes. She couldn’t wake up. So, Arlene laid there, in the darkness, for who knows how long. She kept telling herself to wake up, that she was dreaming. It was no use though, she couldn't wake up. She couldn’t open her eyes. There was a part of her, albeit small, that knew that this was no dream. It knew that the pain she felt was real.

Arlene looked into the darkness, wondering if this was like to be dead. Was darkness it? No. She knew it wasn’t. It was then that she reasoned with the part of her that was telling her the pigman, the pain, the suffering... was real. Accepting this, she tried to feel something, and got nothing in return. Feeling overcome with despair, she stopped thinking and let the darkness consume her.

 

 

“Arlene,” she heard a voice call her name in the darkness. It was soft, yet hard all the same. It frightened her, yet it made her feel safe. Maybe she should open her eyes. Arlene wanted to see the face that matched the voice. “Arlene!” The voice spoke her name more urgently. She was wondering how this person had known her name. Arlene was trying with everything in her to open her eyes.  She just could not manage to do it and it was making her mad. She grunted slightly in frustration as she continued trying to move her eyelids.  

“Arlene Lee Harper!” The voice, clearly male, screamed this time. She could hear what sounded like metal clashing with metal. It reminded her of all those fight movies she used to watch. She could almost picture the fight that was going on. It must have been something, because she could hear both parties breathing hard. Someone rushed forward with heavy steps, smashing their feet into the ground and jumped, Arlene guessed, at the other person. Someone crashed into the ground as something wet and splashed across Arlene’s face. It draped across her cheeks and nose before finally touching her mouth. Arlene knew what it was. It was blood. She could taste it. She wanted to widen her eyes, to scream! But, nothing would come out.

Arlene wonder for a moment why did this seem so familiar? The blood... This had her wondering where she was. The last thing she remembered was walking to her apartment complex to crash at a neighbor’s apartment. Arlene though for a long moment trying hard to remember anything after that. She could remember nothing, and that scared her. Was she dead? Is that why she couldnt open her eyes? Or, was she dying? And, if so, how and why?

Arlene her some one heavily panting making their way towards her. She knew this because the closer the person got, the louder and shaggier their breaths were.

“Is she responding yet, sir?” A woman whom Arlene had not noticed before, inquired desperately. It was silent for a minute or so. Arlene had no sense of time or anything for that matter. Other than hearing, there was nothing to her. Was she truly dead? And, if she was, is this what happens when you die? People say your name and ask questions? Is death really pitch black, nothingness?

“No. She isn’t. But, I think we may have been too late.” The man’s spoke with a distinct tone of despair. Why was he so sad that she died or was dying? His voice, as smooth as honey, but as hard as ice, whispered,

“Her wound is horrible. Can you fix it?” The silence that followed left Arlene with a whole new set of questions. So, she was injured. Why didn't she feel anything? Was she dead... or not? Obviously not, but she was dying. Maybe? But, what bothered her the most was the hidden darkness that laced his tone. Just who was he?

“Sir, I can try.” The woman spoke with such determination that if Arlene could cry, she would have. The sound of pants scraping against concrete was loud in her ears. The woman had to be close to her.

“Sir!” The woman screamed.

“Behind you! Sir, the pig slave is still alive!” The woman moved, and as she did, Arlene felt something on her body throb with pain. A pain that was so intense that it burned. It stung. It felt like her body was tearing off a portion of its self. A thousand needles seemed to throw themselves into her body. Arlene was screaming in her mind. Her body throbbed so hard she swore she was moving. Arlene heard footsteps and the swing of a heavy object. The whoosh in the air was heavy and loud as it neared her. However, her pain did not increase. She heard the clanging noise of metal on metal and assumed the fight had continued from where it had left off.

“Sir!” The woman screeched. Her pants scratched the concrete as she shifted. She must be watching the fighting. Oh, Arlene wished she could open her eyes. She wished she was not lying in pain, literally. Wait... Lying, pain, she could feel! So, there was no way that she could be dead. But, she was dying, right? That didn’t matter. What did matter is why she couldn’t remember anything.

The clashing of weapons echoed again and again. Heavy breaths and grunts and yells mixed in with the clanking of the metal. Arlene assume they, the people fighting, were using swords. There was no doubt about that. But, who uses swords to fight nowadays? Disregarding the thought, Arlene focused on the noises and was slowly allowing her to forget about her pain. Anything that lessened the pain, she welcomed. Because when it hit her full force in little rushes, she swore her body might just give out.

With a heavy sigh and a loud grunt, there was a sickly, wet thud. Arlene could hear metal scraping against the hard ground that she must be on. The clank of metal was heard again, but this time, not from clashing with metal. Whatever weapon the person had, had fallen to the ground loudly.

“Sir,” the woman spoke with ease. “Arlene Harper is going to be fine.” Fine? Arlene thought this woman was mad! There was no way that feeling this level of pain was amounted to fine.

“It’s up to you now I’ll distract the pig slave. I can give you five minutes before we must leave.” Was that despair in her voice? After speaking, the woman rose to her feet and stepped lightly away. As the woman moved, Arlene wanted to know just what the heck the woman meant when she said ‘it’s up to you now’. Just what was going on?! Arlene was so confused that she was angry.

“Oi,” the male’s voice, while still sounding as amazing as before, was filled with irritation and impatience. It sort of resembled how Arlene was feeling. “Arlene. You’ve gotta wake up. Now. Ponto.  Wake the hell up you BRAT!” As the man screamed, Arlene got more and more irritated, and then... shocked. Forgetting her pain completely, she realized who this man was. She wanted nothing more that to grab him by his shirt and yell at him. If she could, she would say : “Bradley, shut up! How dare you yell at me! Do you know what you put us through? I should punch you and beat you senseless, you jerk!”

The sudden brightness of the streetlamp blurred her vision and stung her eyes. Tears fell freely from her eyes as she felt the pain once more. Her left shoulder down to her ribcage throbbed in pain. She could feel her right hand holding onto something. Arlene sucked in a deep breath as her eyes followed her right arm up to a shirt’s collar, and further to the face of Bradley Aulis, a man whom she never thought she would see again.

“ Whaa...What?! Bra- Bradley! Holy -” Arlene let go of his shirt and held her right hand to her head as it began to ache. She then immediately moved her hand to her mouth and began to cough. This sent new waves of pain through her body that she wished she would never experience. She winced as she looked at Bradley, trying to remember something. And then it dawned on her!  

“I can see!” She exclaimed to the smiling face of Bradley Aulis. Maria was going to be so happy that he is alive. Well, if he lives, Arlene added as an afterthought as she slowly sat up, wincing harshly as the whole left side of her body surged with pain, and looked at him closely. He was covered in grime. Splotches of blood coated his white shirt. His black jacket was ripped to shreds, half of it missing, and his pant’s were torn apart. There were rips everywhere in his khaki pants.  Every place there was a tear in clothing, it seemed that there was a bleeding wound.  His right arm was adorned with three deep looking gashes; the entire time Arlene stared at him, Bradley just grinned the same toothy grin he always used to grin. Arlene looked him in the eye and glared at him in amazement, wonder, and anger. Bradley sheepishly looked away as he ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair.

Something looked different about him, but she couldn’t quite place it. He seemed darker somehow. He seemed older than he should be. His eyes looked deeper and colder; there was no longer a smile in his eyes. The light that sparkled behind them was gone. It was almost as if he had gone to war and seen countless deaths and killed countless people. Bradley Aulis looked as if he were forcing himself to smile and act happy, when really he just wanted to not show emotion. Just what was he hiding?

“Gah! What happened to you?! I mean, I knew that there were people fighting - I’m assuming you were by the looks of things - but, where did you go? How were you fighting? What was that thing? Am I dreaming? These things don’t just happen! I AM dreaming. Supernatural things are fake stories that are used to scare kids. But, if you are here, what is going on? I’m scared! Wait! Do you still know that Mar--” He slammed his hand over Arlene’s mouth, stopping her mile-a-minute speaking and causing her to wince in pain, halting her from speaking. Bradley’s emerald eyes turned hard, pained. Somehow, Arlene thought that that was how they were supposed to look all along.

“Do not say her name. She died a long time ago...” Bradley hand slid down to the ground. He stared at it for a few moments before looking back up at Arlene and then to her left shoulder. Arlene looked down and gasped. How she had neglected to look at it amazed her. It was her source of pain, yet she was too focused on Bradley to look at it.  Her whole torso and left arm was covered in white, now stained with blood, bandages. Blood was still seeping through. Arlene felt as if she was going to pass out. How was she not dead? How was she still conscious? This was just weird. Unexplainably messed up.Surely she had lost too much blood... Arlene felt the color drain from her face as she gaped at her wound.

Bradley grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. His eyes softened as he looked at her pale face and wide, jade eyes. “You’re going to be fine, Arie. Believe me. This looks amazing compared to before.” Compared to before? Before what?! Arlene decided that she honestly didn't want to know. Everything was too complicated at this point. All she wanted to do was wake up from this nightmare.

“Bradley,” she used her right hand to touch his face. “I’m going to tell you something, and you won't like it... Based on what you said, anyway.” He raised an eyebrow at Arlene’s confused tone, but said nothing.

“... Look, Brad, I don’t know who lied to you or why they did, but Maria is alive. I talked to her when I left work. At least, that’s the last thing I remember before waking up here...” His eyes darkened. Grabbing something from the ground, Arlene saw that Bradley had pick up a sword. Bradley stood up, letting go of her face. His body was tense.  She had no idea who told him such a lie. Or, why he was so pissed off right now....

Arlene just watched him, her body shuddering in pain every now and then. It was all she could do. Moving would be much too difficult and she might bleed more or cause her self more pain. She watched as he walked into the road.

“Yo, Tori! Let ‘em go. Arie woke up.” Bradley spoke with with a sinister undertone. It scared Arlene more that not knowing why she was injured.

He tossed his sword into his left and sliced sharply to the left at the air. There was a gurgled choking sound, and Arlene squinted her eyes, trying to see what had happened. And then she remembered. The piglike monster swinging his axe at her. He must have sliced her left shoulder through her ribcage.... She shivered and winced in pain at the thought. Pushing away how impossible it was that she was still alive or how that monster was real when he shouldn’t be, Arlene thought about Bradley. The Bradley before and the Bradley who just sliced the head off of that pig monster. She didn’t know what to think nor what to do. But, she did know one thing. Bradley was alive, and he had to know that Maria was alive too.

The head of the pig came crashing down on the road with a thud, indenting the pavement. The familiar tune of one of Arlene’s favorite anime show’s theme song started to play. She felt something vibrating in her pocket. Her phone! Maybe it’s Maria! Arlene duge her phone out of her pocket just as the call ended. It was an unknown number. Arlene sighed.

She looked back to Bradley as he and a woman, Tori, looking as angry as possible, walked over to Arlene. Tori sent Arlene a bone chilling glare before turning to Bradley. Arlene shuddered at the glare and looked away. Surprisingly, the woman was not hurt. At. All... Arlene could only wonder how. She also wanted to know why Tori was glaring at Arlene... but, then again, she didn't want to know anyway.

“Oi,” Arlene looked back at Bradley. “Just so you know, all that stuff you don’t believe in. You should start believing’ in it. It’s real. And, it just tried to kill you.” Now, normally, Arlene would yell something smart back, or shrug it off. But, this time, there was no way she could. She shook her head and sighed. Feeling a surge of pain again, she stopped. Her cell phone rang again and she sighed, getting ready to answer when Bradley suddenly took her phone and threw it somewhere. He then proceeded to throw Arlene over his shoulder, ignoring her screams of pain and protest and ran. The ground was a blurr below them as he pounded his feet hard into it.

Arlene screamed in pain once more and Bradley put his hand over her mouth tightly. Her screams being muffled, she could hear mutters of what Bradley and the woman, whom Arlene could only assume to be ‘Tori’, were talking about. Arlene couldn't make out a word. Her hazy, pain filled mind, would not allow her to focus. Arlene saw Tori run in front of Bradley, putting some distance between them. Arlene swore she heard Tori yell something. But, Arlene couldn’t be sure. Everything got even hazier around then, and then the darkness came again.