31-Day MCSM One Shot Challenge - February Edition 2019

A Birthday Wish

Biting her lip, Petra walked out into the main, open-concept area of the tree-house. There was an odd smell hanging in the air that Petra couldn't quite place. Rotten eggs maybe? Had Axel pelted somebody?

But there was no sign of the aftermath of a possible food fight. Nobody were making breakfast in the kitchen, nobody were talking around the dining table.

She was completely alone.

Petra inhaled slowly, feeling her breath shake slightly. Where were the others? If they needed to get food or something from town, usually just Jesse or Olivia goes out? Not all of them together?

Stop trying to make up excuses to them. They made other plans and didn't bother to wake you and take you along.

Petra shook her head, refusing to believe the thought that had come to mind. They wouldn't just bail on her too, would they? Especially not on her birthday?

You actually thought they'd be around forever? You should know better. Nobody ever sticks around.

Petra gulped thickly, all of sudden feeling a lump in her throat. A familiar burning sensation in her eyes, one that she couldn't stand for more than one reason.

Still not wanting to believe that her friends would just leave her, Petra left the room and stepped outside. Climbing down the tree's ladder until she was standing on the soggy ground.

The mud squelched beneath Petra's feet as she walked out from underneath the protection of the tree, shivering slightly as the misty rain effortlessly began to soak into her clothes.

There were no signs of her friends outside or in the stables. Out of place to search, Petra leaned back against one of the horses' stall doors, pulling off her bandanna and raking her fingers through her hair.

The nightmare she had was becoming a reality.

They were leaving her.

She was going to be alone again.

In a burst of frustration and even anger, Petra threw her bandanna across the barn. She gnawed on her bottom lip as she kept back the tears that wanted the come, the tears she refused to let out.

She couldn't cry. She should've known. Nobody ever sticks around... not even the order.

"I need to clear my head." Petra muttered, hearing her voice crack.

She pulled open the stall door she had been leaning against, taking the horse's bridle off the wall. Not even bothering with a saddle, Petra lead the horse outside and pulled herself onto it, bareback.

The horse tossed its head excitedly when it felt Petra's feet against its sides, obeying her orders as it broke into an energetic trot into the forest.

Petra didn't know where she was going. She wasn't even properly dressed for the weather, and she had no items on her. All she wanted to do, was get away from the place she had started to call home.

Petra closed her eyes, tightening her grip on the reins when she felt something warm roll down her face. As if things couldn't get any worse, she was starting to allow her emotions to get the best of her as well. Just perfect.

If only Petra knew that things could in fact get worse. Much, much worse.

But she didn't see the skeleton in the shadows, until she heard it's bowstring snap back into place.

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Jesse was jogging through the trees, her raincoat's hood pulled over her head. She was clutching a brown paper bag beneath her left arm, trying her best to keep it dry from the rain with her jacket.