Into The Woods

Chapter 30

Lark:

She's gone.

The pain in my chest was unbearable. I could barely breathe, it was like a part of me was ripped away.

After I had stepped through the cave I found Suzette hanging on for her dear life. I tried to help her but in the end I could do nothing. I watched her as she let go of my hands, the fear and love in her eyes. And then she was gone, tumbling and falling into the darkness where I would never see her again.

I would never be with her the way I wanted to be. No getting married, no kids running around in the back yard. There wouldn't be a dog that slept in our room every night, that would chase the kids around the house. I would be experiencing that with someone else or maybe never.

A hand is on my shoulder and I flinch away. Stumbling away, I turn and look into the eyes of Marin. Her blue eyes are wide, her skin is burnt and scabbed. Her hands are twisting a piece of her mahogany hair around her finger.

She looks around the room as if she is nervous. "I- I just woke up by a tree. And I heard someone screaming, I assume that was you. But I don't know what's going on, Lark. Help me." She pleads with her eyes.

I take a step towards her so that I am right in front of her now. I see that she is shaking. I feel the guilt when my eyes land on the burns on her arms. I caused that, I didn't know how I did but I was the one who hurt her.

"We're going to get out of here, Marin. Okay? I'll take you to a hospital. Do you think you can walk a far distance?" I ask her?

She nods.

I hold out my arms, and she rushes into them, snuggling into my chest. Wet stains are now appearing on my t-shirt but I could care less.

I start to walk with her still holding onto me. We take a few steps until we come face to face with Chasity. She is smiling, her blue eyes clear and happy.

How could she be happy when she was causing so much pain? How could she be happy when her supposed best friend just died, but that friendship was fake. Chasity had never cared about Suze? God, just thinking her name hurt.

"Hello Lark." She giggles.

Insane. That's what she is. She's insane.

"Chasity, we need to leave." I say. "So let us go."

She cocks her head to the side, her smile disappearing and a thoughtful look is now on her face.

"Now Lark, you've never known me to be easy. I'm not going to just let you go." She says. "I'm going to kill her, and then debate on whether I should kill you."

Marin trembles next to me, burying her face into my shoulder.

"Why? Why are you doing this? Don't lie and say you're doing this for your family because you're not. Maybe you just like hurting people, but that would make sense since your insane." I growl, pulling Marin behind me to block her from Chasity's glare.

More giggles escape her lips and she smiles. "You're right. Maybe I'm doing this because I want complete and utter power. If I had killed Suzette then I would have been so powerful that you can't even imagine. I want our people to return Lark. I want everything to be back to the way it was before James Carrier destroyed it all. I want to be the leader of our new home and I want you standing next to me."

"No." I say, not even giving it a moments hesitation. "I don't want to be standing next to you for any reason. When will you get it through your head that I don't want to be with you."

Chasity's lip wobbles as if she would cry. But she ended up laughing once more. "You may feel that way now, Lark but we are meant to be together. Like Tyson and Faith. It's fate that I'm supposed to be with the other Woods boy."

I wanted her to stop talking. I couldn't even think about being with someone else when the girl I loved most just died let alone ever think about being with Chasity. Chasity was crazy, I didn't know what happened to her to make her act like this. I didn't know if she had been like this since a child, (I make a note in my mind to ask Faith if we ever got out of this), or if it only happened after her father died. But something was desperately wrong with her and for some reason I wanted to help her.

"No." I say. "I don't know what's wrong with you but I can never be with you."

She growls. "You would be with me if only you hadn't ever met Suzette or Marin. So now they both have to be gone."

Behind me Marin whimpers, her hold on my arm getting tighter as she dug her nails into my skin. When I look back at her, her eyes roll back into her head and she falls to the ground. I glance back at Chasity prepared to yell at her but I see her eyes are black and staring intently at Marin's crumpled body. I don't know how she had gotten powerful enough to do this. I didn't even know what she was doing exactly.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?" I scream, rushing forward and shaking her shoulders.

She gazes up at me, her eyes clouded over with hate. "Now I don't have to worry about you being with anyone else." And then she leans back.

I'm confused, and then I realize she's gone. There's nothing for her to fall on to. She falls down exactly the chasm that Suzette falls down. But Chasity doesn't scream, she looks up at me with wide eyes and then the darkness takes ahold of her.

What just happened?

I didn't know what just happened. Everything is a blur, did Chasity just kill herself? Did that just happen?

I blink a few times and then back away from the edge of the chasm. Then I rush towards Marin, her eyes are still closed and she looks downright terrible.

Her body is still covered in burns, and she is shaking so bad that it looks like she's seizing. I scoop her up in my arms, making sure that her head is resting on my chest so that her head doesn't flop over my arm. I start to walk out of the cave.

I try not to look back but I can't help it. I look back at the last place I saw her. Her warm brown eyes so full of love and pain. I didn't want to leave her behind. Some part of me still felt her there within the air, she wasn't gone, she was still in my memories where I would never forget her.

I finally walk fully out of the cave and out to where the fresh air hits me like a wave.

I continue into the woods...