Aware

Trapped

Amber tripped over her own feet as she was concentrating on the scrap of paper. She landed heavily on the dirt floor but quickly picked herself back up. She looked at the page again.

It should be right here.

Amber stepped over a large flat bump. She shined her flashlight on it to reveal a grey rock.

The dirmigroths ran past the trees that were in their way. They struggled to get around and they tumbled over bushes. They jumped across the floor slicing thick tree trunks in half with their sharpened claws.

Amber panicked as she heard the creaking and tumbling of trees behind her falling to the ground.

Those tree trunks are large in diameter. How are they chopping those things down so fast?

Amber counted seconds in her head. She slowed her pace but didn't stop running.

Right, left, right.  Left, left right. Left left. Right. Right left.

"We can't let her get away." Said Negemi angrily.

They all ran ahead but Kai hesitated as he saw a light in the distance.

"You guys are going the wrong way," shouted Kai.

They all ignored him and continued to run forward.

"Fine, I'll kill her myself."

He followed the direction of the light which was getting closer and closer to him.

"Something slowing you down!" He jumped at the light, swinging in all directions.

A solar lamp dangled from a broken tree branch. Kai picked it up with his claws and crushed it in his palm.

"That little... great, now I'm lost."

"Where did Kai go?" Asked Tasha as she looked behind her shoulder.

"Doesn't matter. We can't lose track of her. Kai will catch up later." Skyler tugged on Tasha's arm to get her to move forward.

They ran over a pile of fallen leaves and felt the ground rumble below them.

"What's happening?" Asked Tasha.

Tasha and Skyler fell as the floor collapsed under their feet. They landed harshly and when the dust cleared, they were in a pit.

"It's a trap." Said Skyler.

Negemi and Emily paused to hear the weird noises behind them.

Emily hesitated to only stop in her tracks and wait for them to come.

"Not now Emily. We can't get distracted or we'll lose track of her. They can take care of themselves." Negemi got a head start as he continued to run.

"R-right." Emily followed after him.

Negemi paused and then pushed Emily away. A giant metal net swooped Negemi up, hanging him from two trees. He sliced at the metal chains under his body but it didn't cut through, unlike the tree trunks. His body was wrapped tightly like a fly in a spider's web.

"It's all up to you now." Said Negemi as he sternly looked at Emily.

"Don't let her getaway. You have my permission to kill her." Negemi soon afterward squirmed around, trying to find a way out.

Emily followed Amber's heavy breathing and footsteps. She was more determined to kill her and she continued to run, dodging every tree that came to her.

Suddenly, Emily could no longer hear Amber running. She paused to listen carefully and noticed she was in an empty area. There weren't any bushes and the trees created a wall that sectioned off a small area.

"Come on out you little brat!" Spit flew from her mouth and her stance was tense with anger.

Amber walked out of the shadows calmly. She grinned and walked forward to taunt Emily.

"Hello, Emily."

"How can you tell it's me?"

"You're the pig. Your face. That day, when you killed my best friend... I may have done nothing about it, but I did observe what was happening around me." Amber grew restless but tried to hide the fact that she was exhausted.

She continued to stall so she could catch her breath from all the running.

"Everything worked out perfectly."

"Everything, what do you mean."

"My plan. I didn't know that separating all of you would turn out so well. It's perfect that you're the one I get to kill first."

Amber held out her knife and arched her legs in a stance.

"You should be the first to die!" Amber ran forward and swung at Emily's legs.

Emily backflipped and landed on her toes. Her long legs inched forwards and her arm came slamming down towards Amber's head. Amber quickly dodged it by slightly moving to the left. Amber ducked as a claw swung at her neck.

"Look around you, Emily. It would be very difficult to find something beautiful here. It's dark, dirty, and there is nothing but dehydrated trees. There are no pretty rivers or flowers here. Not even the grass is pretty." Amber sliced at Emily's arm when she got distracted.

Amber successfully cut Emil's arm and aimed for her torso next. Emily grabbed Amber by the arm and flipped her over her back. Amber landed on her feet because of how tall Emily was.

"YOU KILLED HER!" Amber noticed that Emily was becoming less transparent. She surprisingly cut Emily's foot off and watched her stumble to the floor.

"YOU TOOK HER HAIR!" Amber gripped her knife and dug it through Emily's back. Emily jumped back, distancing herself from Amber.

"YOU, OUT OF EVERYONE DESERVES TO DIE!" Amber ran forwards and jumped on Emily's back, stabbing through her neck and across her spine.

Emily slammed Amber to the side and screeched with pain. Amber slid across the ground cutting her knee caps and bruising areas of her legs.

"Why. Where. Where is my beauty? What did you do!" Emily looked around in a panic.

"You won't find anything pretty here. Your stuff at home, it's being destroyed this very second." Amber watched Emily's body become more solid looking and less ghost-like.

Amber slid under Emily's legs and pulled her knife up Emily's stomach to her chest. Emily fell to the floor, clasping the area Amber cut. Amber stabbed her multiple times in the back. She did so in a slow but painful way. Amber kicked her horns off and started to stab Emily with her own horn.

"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM HER AND FELT NOTHING ABOUT IT! YOU TOOK HER LIFE, HER HAIR, EVERYONE'S MEMORIES ABOUT HER. I WANT YOU TO DIE A SLOW AND PAINFUL DEATH!" 

Emily slowly got up and with the small energy she had, sliced Amber on her Shoulder. Amber went flying into the trees and got the air knocked out of her when she hit a tree trunk.

Amber bled all over the trunk and roots of the tree. Her shoulder blade was gouged out revealing the flesh underneath. There were three claw marks that reached all the way up and around to her back towards her neck. She held her left arm over her right shoulder and teared up over the pain.

Emily inched her way forward, digging her claws in the ground and pulling her body forward.

"You did this on purpose. You led us here, separated us, and taunted us. You're not going to get away with this." She lifted up her head and looked Amber in the eye.

She collapsed in the dirt and her body went limp.

The other club members reached the area at the same time. They watched Emily's limp body and Angrily stared at Amber.

Amber sat at the base of the tree like a rat that got corned by predators. She held her knife close but shook uncontrollably as she lost a lot of blood.

They sharpened their claws and made a battle cry as they ran towards Amber.