Running from the Darkness (ON HOLD)

Chapter 1

Aliya's POV

It is dark, so very dark.  The sun has hidden behind the clouds, leaving the forest in shadows.  I stumble blindly through the trees, cursing as I look for the stream.  Finally, I spot it.  I run the other direction to confuse the man, and then sprint back home as soon as I hear him.  I run into the clearing and the giant oak tree I call home.  I scale it quickly, the rough wood biting into my palms, and enter the small wooden house hidden in the branches.

“They’re coming, Aiden.” I am having trouble breathing.  Aiden’s sapphire eyes widen in surprise.

“What?” He is as panicked as I am.

“There’s a man… right behind me, following me!”  I yell between breaths.  Aiden springs into action, grabbing our meager belongings and stuffing them into backpacks.  I say a silent goodbye to our small home, knowing we may never see it again.  With that, we are off once again, running through the trees, careful to be quick and quiet. 

My mind flashes back to that terrible day fourteen years ago, when Mama and Daddy were taken, led away in handcuffs by the men in black.  Mama was crying, telling us she loved us before yelling for us to run.  At least Jacob made it back inside the mountain… Jacob.  My stomach flutters at the thought of him… but I quickly snap myself back into reality.  Now is not the time to dwell over the unfortunate events of the past.

In front of me, Aiden screeches to a halt.  We have reached the edge of the forest.  We carefully slide down the tree, and my ankle screams in pain as I hit the ground.  I wince, rubbing it lightly, before looking ahead of me.  The mountains loom ominously in the distance, but something seems wrong… I gasp.  Where there was more forest two years ago, there is now nothing but flat, barren land. 

“What do we do?  We have no place to hide or build shelter,” Aiden says, reading my mind. 

“We do what we have always done, Aiden; we run.”

He sighs quietly.  “So we go back to the mountains.  We have no other choice.”

I nod in agreement.  “Back to the mountains.”

                                                              ***************************

Jacob's POV

I wake with a start as the small radio next to me buzzes to life.  I groan and roll over as the person on the other side calls my name, getting more and more insistent.

“What, man?  I’m trying to sleep.”

“We found them, Jacob!”  He practically yells at me.  That gets my attention.  I am up and out of bed in seconds, already pulling on my clothes.

“Where are you?  I’m coming out there!”  I shout.

“No.  You will do no such thing.  You stay put… but there is a small problem.”

“What do you mean by problem?”

“Well, as soon as the girl saw me, she bolted.  I lost them, but I will find them again.  I promise.  I’ve got to go.”

I switch the radio off with a sigh.  All I want is to see Aliya again… but at least I know she is safe.  At least now I have a chance.  It was almost unbearable to lose her in the first place.  I smile sadly as I think of the last time I saw her, eyes lit with determination as she led me and Aiden to find our parents.  Maybe we should have just stayed where they told us to. 

I was born only days before Aliya, and our parents were already friends, almost like family.  All I really know is that something bad happened to the world, so they decided to hide in the mountains to raise us in peace.  Aiden was born two years later.  By then, though, Aliya and I were already inseparable.

  We lived there for fourteen years in peace, before bad things started happening.  My parents were always paranoid.  They had good reason.  One day, shortly after Aliya and I both turned fourteen, our parents planted us in the mountain with food and other supplies and told us not to come out.  They left us alone, without even saying goodbye.

Aliya couldn’t accept it.  She convinced us to follow them, taking the supplies with us.  We should have stayed in the mountain.  When we reached the outside, Aliya’s parents were being led away.  I couldn’t see my parents, but Aliya’s mom saw her.  A gasp was all it took to get the attention of the men in black. 

The next few minutes were a blur.  All I remember is seeing Aliya and Aiden run the other direction as I was forced to run back into the mountain.  Luckily, the men didn’t appear to see me.  I hid in the mountain for a very long time, until the supplies ran out and I had to leave.  That is when things really started getting weird.