Ruby's Island (Watty awards 2011) (complete)

Hallowed Ground

P O V Kade:-

We knew we didn't have much time, so we picked up our speed and ran as fast as we could. I pushed away the pain that raged through my body, especially the one in my chest. I'm sure I had some broken ribs, but I wasn't about to tell Ruby that, as I didn't want to worry her even more, she was scared enough as it was.

There were less trees the further inland we went, and I couldn't help but groan inwardly, knowing that without the trees, there were less places for us to hide. Everything seemed to get more barren, even the moss was starting to disappear below our feet, making it more difficult and more painful to run across the now stony floor.

Ruby stumbled, and fell, then yelped as her knees slid across the stones, her eyes filled with pain, her knees beginning to bleed from the large grazes that spread across them. Helping her to her feet, we began to run again, Ruby limping alongside me. If I could have picked her up and carried her then I would have done, but I knew it would have slowed us down too much.

As it was, the voices and running from behind us was getting much louder, and I knew it would only be a matter of time before they caught up with us.

I decided to change direction, hoping that we could find somewhere a little more dense, and prayed that we didn't come face to face with Hugo, Hicks, and god know who else, especially if they had managed to get extra help from the boat.

That was my first mistake, changing direction, the second was not noticing the tall stones that were placed round in a large circle, that was until we ran into the centre of it, then froze at the sight.

The circle was about forty or fifty feet in diameter, the edges defined with tall black stones stood around five feet apart, and the ground was covered in a lush green moss. In the centre a large wooden pole rose up about eight feet in the air, a human skull and feathers sat on top.

Ruby let out a cry of alarm when she noticed the skull, and I drew her into my chest, she trembled with shock as I held her close.

“W...what do y...you think it is?” she asked nervously, peering out from my chest and looking back at the skull.

“It looks like some sort of sacred circle,” I replied, letting the air escape from my mouth in a whoosh of awe.

If this was here, then we most certainly weren't alone on this Island, I thought looking around for any signs of life.

I heard something move, and spun round quickly, keeping Ruby pressed close to my side, I thought I saw a figure run behind a tree, but couldn't be too sure, maybe it was just my imagination.

But it wasn't, it happened again and again. Soon the area was surrounded with figures darting from one tree to the next.

Panic started to well up inside me, and Ruby kept letting out small cries of alarm. I was starting to feel dizzy with moving around in circles, trying to see who these figures were, but they were too quick for me.

I heard a couple of loud whooshes, then felt a sharp prick in the side of my neck, my head started to get woozy and darkness began to close in around me, eventually taking over my body completely.

The last thing I remember was falling to the ground.

Ruby:-