Jonathan

Chapter 2

There were sirens in the distance, a lot of them, and Jonathan struggled to get a hold of himself. He quickly made his way to the shoulder of the west bound side of the road, dipping down into the deep ravine that ran alongside it and out of sight into the darkness.

He knew that the police would look for him, there would be a man hunt, and he had no choice but to get out of town as soon as possible.

Did he even dare to complete the task he'd come back for? He didn't want to put anybody else in danger, but he just missed his old life so much, he missed its plainness, its boringness. He hated what his life had become. There was never a moment now when Jonathan felt comfortable. At any second he could lose control, he could say the wrong thing, act out, pick a fight or worse.

He stopped moving and placed his hand against a sturdy tree trunk, clutching his stomach with his other hand he vomited again and cried tears that burned his eyes and face.

Why does this keep happening to me? Jonathan asked himself. His head was spinning, thoughts bounced around relentlessly inside his brain and his hand moved from his stomach to his temple. The pressure built, causing such great pain he thought it would split his skull in two.

He took another step and fell to his knees, vomiting again and again. He fell over sideways and wrapped his arms around his body, holding back agonized screams of pain.

"What did I do to deserve this!" Jonothan yelled out loud, his vision began to fade. Darkness crept in, he gasped for breath and suddenly fell limp, completely unconscious.

---

The next morning Jonathan woke to the sounds of birds singing around him in the high tree tops. He felt hung over, slowed down and groggy. His head was pounding, but not nearly as bad as last night. His eyes were sensitive to the little bit of light that filtered in through the green leaves above.

"Jesus." He held on to his head, eyes squinted closed.

"You know he can't help you now."

Jonathan's head move quickly from left to right, he sprang to his feet and spun around, frantically looking for the source of the voice. There was nobody there, not a soul, and he started to run. Skinny tree branches slashed his face and arms but he didn't care, a squirrel started screeching from somewhere above him but Jonathan didn't take notice.

Where am I going? Jonathan thought quickly to himself but didn't stop. He didn't care where he was as long as he could get away from this place that reeked of vomit and dirt. He could even still smell gasoline and smoke off of his clothes and he tried not to think about what had happened the night before.

He came out of the trees and saw a wide paved road with several squat suburban houses along it. He recognized them and still didn't stop running.