X-Marks: Hiding Shadows

Wave

I looked at the others and waited for their response. They were all here, but Ocean was nowhere to be found.

Evee's eyes no longer look passed me, they were twitching, glazed over and focused so closely on me I could feel them pierce my skin.

"I told you to stop," Evee said, more clear than I had heard her speak in weeks.

It spilled from me again, slower, with more precision for than before, "You're such a lying -,"

But before I could say the next word, Evee's legs picked up off the ground . Her stare was turned down through her bandages, and her arms were stretched out towards me with fingers curled like claws. Her sharp fingers locked into my shoulder and twisted me around on the way down to the hardened forest floor.

She clawed at my scalp, tangling clumps of hair between her fingers as she pulled her arms back and my hair with them.

"Get off of me!" I shouted and writhed under her against the slippery leaves.

Evee's claws followed me wherever I turned and dug into my bones.

"Why won't you go away!" Evee shouted back with her rabid mouth dangled over mine.

I clutched my hands on her shoulder and spun her under me.

"You're crazy!" I said and forced my elbow on her shoulder to keep her down.

A pair of hands gripped me away from on top of her, as she continued to claw at me even when I was too far for her reach.

"What's wrong with you two?" Mat said and threw my hand out of his.

"With me?" I said and pointed to Evee, "She's the crazy one!"

Evee stood far away from us with a hand on her head and stooped against a tree.

"I-I'm not," Evee said and looked onto Nate with longing eyes.

Nate stood far from us between a pair of tall pine trees, the hood of his sweater pulled to the top of his head and his feet rocked against the floor as if he wanted to move but he was not sure if he should.

"You - you hurt me," I said and watched a thick stream of blood trickled down up from my elbow up to my fingers.

"You're not real," Evee said and staggered around the tree.

"Not real?" I let out a loud laugh and turned to Mat, "Do you hear this?"

Mat was not paying attention. His focus was on the tops of the trees that swayed with a forceful wind I had not noticed until now.

"Are you even listening to -"

"Sssssh" Mat said and hushed me.

"Fine then," I said and walked away from him.

With blood rushing through my pulsing wound I rummaged through my suede bag. It was tangled with scraps of food wrappers and the other supplies I had collected on the way. I balanced on the tips of my toes and knelt into the bag to reach deeper for the tracker. I felt a quake in the dirt of the forest. It almost knocked me off my balance.

I looked at the others. Nate still stood far from Evee, his hood was still on top his head and his arms crossed. Mat was pacing around the bottoms of trees, putting his ears up against their bark. Before I could ask, I looked for Ocean, but she was still nowhere to be found. I craned my neck in many directions, but I could not see her.

"Hey, Mat?" I said and continued rummage through my tangled bag, "Have you seen Oce-"

"Valen, would you shut up for one minute!," Mat said, his voice worn.

"Shut up?" I shouted back and extended my arms, "You never ask her to -"

"Ocean?" Nate said with his head between a gap of trees, "It's okay, you-you should come back."

I saw Ocean and felt relieved. There between the trees, Oceans willowy figure looked small under the tall closely gathered trees. Even from this distance, I could see her shoulders and how they were slouched under her sweater, and the sadness in her pigeon-toed stance. I'd have never thought this would upset her so much.

I had to go over there, let her know everything was okay even if it wasn't. But first I needed to find -

Inside my suede bag, a flashing red light blinked its blood colors. I rummaged quicker to recover the tracker, my heart thumped against the hardened case of my chest as another quake repeated.

Thump, began the first wave.

Thump, thump, came the second, more rooted in its force.

"M-m-mat," I stuttered with my eyes fixed on the red light.