Run

Prologue

*Two Years Ago*

The sound of water dripping slowly into the water woke him up from his unconscious state. But when a drop hit his ear, his eyes shot open. A bright light from directly overhead blinded him, causing his head to pound. He wondered if he was being held captive somewhere or if he was laying in a bathtub. But Nathan couldn't even remember why his head hurt and it bugged him.

When he tried to push himself up off the cold wet rocks pain shot up his arms, into his back, and down to the middle of his back and stomach. Nathan fell back down and looked around at his surroundings. He studied them well; rocks to his left and right that were covered in a luscious green moss, an inch of water on the floor, and a hole in the roof of the mysterious rocky and black dome. Nathan studied the water and noticed how it had a faint red color in some spots. Maybe he was going crazy for thinking he had blood coming out of a wound somewhere in his body, or maybe he wasn't.

Nathan's left hand slowly made its way up to his face. It felt around to make sure there were no serious cuts and then...jackpot. Above his right eye and along his cheek was a nasty cut. While the one above the eye wasn't deep, it still had blood slowly pouring out. But the one along his cheek was deep. It had small rock particles buried in the cut making it hard to touch without wincing in pain.

Why does this hurt so much?

Better yet, who am I?

A thousand and one questions went racing through Nathan's head when he heard feet and a strong muscular voice, "Clarkson, west. Anderson, east. Radio in if you find anything. Or him." The man sounded no older than fifty-five and no younger than fifty. Why would they be out on a stormy day looking for someone? Particularly a him. Nathan didn't comprehend why, but struggled to get up all because his mind screamed one word at him.

Run.

Once Nathan was up he noticed a red circular stain on his damp white shirt. He lifted it up carefully to see a big gash and a chunk of skin missing from his left side just above the hipbone with a black grooved handle sticking out. "Oh, come on," he whispered, "you've got to be kidding me." Nathan let the shirt fall down as he stumbled over to the wall of the dome and struggled to grab onto the slippery rocks. He knew he had to pull whatever it was out of his side, but he didn't want to give his location away, just in case it was him that those men were looking for. But he also didn't want to pass out again and make it worse. "I cannot believe I'm about to do this," he whispered as he shifted from his right foot to his left and closed his eye lids

As his hand gripped the knife an image popped up from the darkness. It was of a girl with dirty blondish hair and bright shining blue eyes. She stood there in the picture looking all serious with her hand on a sword that looked to be pretty heavy. She wore a leather belt that contained a sheathed knife. Her boots that only came midway up her calf were covered in dried mud. Her shirt was a shade between medium and dark blue and it was tucked into her shorts that seemed to be high-waisted. The girl was beautiful with her hair that hung down just below the middle of her back.

"Sir, there's blood over here but there's not a trail." Leaves were crushed to pieces as combat boots stomped over to right above Nathan, knocking him out of the trance he was in. Nathan looked down and noticed he had the knife in his hand but there wasn't any pain coming from the hole, just blood. He knew he had to get out soon because the men were on his trail and getting hotter by the second. The boy knew if he were to run he'd fall down instantly. His ankle was sprained, and for some reason he just knew it'd end badly.

I can't just stay here, the boy thought to himself. But I also can't just leave.

"Sir, we've found a campsite. Smoke still rising from the rubble of the fire. Over." That got the men's attention.

"Anderson, what's your location? Over."

"Just past the creek to the east. Over," Anderson answered.

"Ten four." There was a clicking noise and boots walking around. "Well boys. Today's our lucky day. We're gunna catch ourselves a Gremlin." A few chuckles came from smiling lips and more stomping came from above causing some water to drip.

Nathan waited a few minutes after they left to escape the dome type thing he was in. Once he saw the outside world all he saw were trees. Trees, trees, trees and more trees. He didn't know where he was, or even where he was going for that fact. Although, he did know one thing. He couldn't go east or west. But what if that girl was at the camp? Nathan didn't know and it irritated him.

Just then the boy heard a twig snap and he froze like Ender in his special suit he wore into games. The sound of metal unsheathing made Nathan's heart drop. "You look hurt. Let me help." Nathan didn't move. He feared if he did he'd be dead. "I won't hurt you, but please. Just let me help. You're pale; you're losing too much blood."

Nathan turned around slowly, using the strength of a tree to lean on. The man wore a black jumpsuit with a white band around the upper arm. He had black combat boots on along with a black belt that had a place where you could hold a sword. Unfortunately, the sword was pointing at Nathan. He raised an eyebrow as the strange man dropped it and sheathed it. His goatee was the same color as his hair, only his goatee had grey hair in random places. The mans hair was slicked back like he was official and his eyes showed something dark in them, only Nathan couldn't decipher what it was.

"Please, come." The man held out his hand but Nathan backed away slowly.

"I don't know you. How can I trust you?" He grabbed his side in pain. Now the pain hits?

"I used to be a doctor. Plus Olvidar Institution's ejército are out looking for their next Gremlin." He rested his left hand on the sword handle and studied Nathan.

"And you think I'm this 'Gremlin' of theirs?" The man looked taken aback. The man opened his mouth but did not speak. Instead he drew his sword and walked slowly to Nathan. "That's far enough," spat Nathan. The man stopped just as a knife flew in between both of the two men. Nathan turned his head to notice that there was a man dressed in the same uniform only with a red band around his arm standing about twenty feet away.

Run, you idiot!

With those three words, Nathan took off limping through the woods. He passed tree after tree yet he still didn't find a way out. "Get back here, Gremlin! You're mine!" Men flanked in like they were in a wolf pack; barking orders at each other. This was it. Nathan knew he'd be this Gremlin they spoke of and he couldn't do anything about it.

Keep running. And don't stop, Nathan's mind screamed. His feet pounded the ground and he ignored the pain that came from his ankle. "Don't be a wuss," he muttered under his breath.

There was a log straight ahead of him. Nathan knew he'd have to jump, but he was scared of falling and getting caught. "Boy, you can't escape us," the man hollered. "Stop running and we won't hurt you." Don't listen to him. Nathan knew he shouldn't have stopped, but he did and he turned around slowly. The man smirked and nodded at him. Four men that stood behind him walked forward but Nathan didn't take his eyes off of that man. His hair was short like his mustache. They were both grey in color with dark spots. The mans face was tan and wrinkly. Nathan noticed he looked familiar, but he couldn't place a finger on where he's seen him before.

"Welcome to your worst nightmare, Gremlin," said one of the guards that walked over to Nathan. The guard hit him in the back of his head with a gun and it caused Nathan to fall to the ground and black out.

The grey-haired man stood there while the rest of his men walked back. There on the ground laid a picture of a girl. She had blonde hair and wore a blue tank-top with high waisted shorts. But she was carrying something very peculiar; a medieval like sword. The man bent down and picked up the photograph. "You're next, little girl," he whispered as he stood up and followed his sodiers.

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