The End of The Beginning

Chapter 8

Chapter 8  

         Human. Instinct. I am so scared. What is going on? One person walked right through me, not even acknowledging me. Definitely not robots. This is a ghost town…what if there are actual ghosts? Oh god what if all the people from the orphanage who die end up here?

            No. They can’t. Most of the people here are adults, anyway. Still, I am paranoid that one of them will reach out, grab me, and drag me back to the orphanage. What is wrong with me? I need to look casual. I walked straight forward, as ghost like as possible, careful not to bump into…go through…anyone. People rushed past without even a glance towards my direction. Maybe I was sill dreaming. Yeah, this was all a dream. My parents dying: a dream, my sister, a ghost: dead, me in a ghost town: alive. Maybe all of this is a dream. Yeah, only a dream. No need to be afraid. I swear the ghosts can hear me think.

            I keep walking, determined to get out of this place. The town only goes on for about a mile, nothing major. However, I need to get out of here ASAP (as soon as possible). I break into a run. The sweat on my back is gone now replaced with goose bumps. It is nightfall. The moon is full and I see the planet Venus right next to it. I see constellations such as Orion’s Belt and the Big Dipper. I take a moment to gaze up at them. Still walking and looking up I feel a cool rush brush through my body. A ghost, ugh.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” it seemed to say. Its voice was carried by the wind. Only thoughts filled my brain. So this is how they communicate. I heard a coyote in the distance and speckled toads croaking. There were crickets chirping and mosquitos dancing in the moonlight. The animals were awake. The ghosts had dispersed into small cottages in the town. I am alone.

I finally get to act like a human again. I run through the woods, careful not to disturb the peace.  I feel the wind rush through my messy blonde hair and through my tattered T-Shirt. I feel free. My eyes are tearing from the wind and I have to blink long and hard. In that exact moment where it takes me approximately one second to blink, a tree trunk decides to pop out of nowhere and I stumble and try to regain my balance. It doesn’t work. I fall hard on my hands.

My hands are now covered in dirt and blood as well as my nose. Thick streams of blood rush out of my nose and mouth. It tastes sour, like candy, only not as sweet. For that split second that I’m down on the ground and that small thump that was barely audible, a wolf decides to wake up and come towards me. As I get up and brush myself off I realize my dilemma. I could stay and pray it doesn’t kill me or I could run. Maybe I can outrun it. Good idea. Bye Wolfy!

Sprinting. Running. Running. Sprinting. Panting. Dying. Oh god. The wolf. It’s catching up. It’s next to me. I’m gonna die. Why did I run? Oh please help me! Running. Sprinting. Panting. Running. Dying. Kill me. Don’t. Help me. Running. Running. Running. Dead.  

I’m alive. It bit me. My arm is bleeding and the skin beneath my eyebrow is bleeding from when I fell. I probably have a black eye guessing from the way my eye hurts. My whole body feels numb and swollen. I still have all of my fingers and toes. All my limbs seem to be in place. I’m only bleeding and beaten. I have a pounding headache.

I could feel blood pouring down my face. It felt like sweat. But it wasn’t. I knew that it wasn’t sweat. I stumbled upon a wolf. A stupid wolf. I couldn’t tell what it was thinking. My instinct was to run. My instincts led me to this. I am now hiding behind an oak tree. Who knows what could be hiding in here. To my little luck, there was not a wolf in there.

I’m so tired. Maybe I can find a nice patch of grass to sleep on. As long as the wolf doesn’t come back I should be okay. I should be.