Touch

Chloe

What do I do? She's coming. And fast.

Why? Somebody please answer me that. Why? Why her?

The ground behind me begins to break where I had previously stepped. There's only one thing that could possibly make her come after me like this. It looks like she's brought a 'friend' along with her and I don't like it. I already have her on my tail, now I've got another one gaining on me. He's now joined the party.

I can deal with small numbers but if it reaches more than four, I'm going to be in trouble. I need him here. I know he's coming but I need him here now. Wait, I know what to do. I've been training for this for 3 years now. I've done this before. Come on Chloe, we can do this.

I know I shouldn't have come out here alone because this is what happens when you go into a forest alone in the middle of the day Chloe. They chase you. You know this. There is no escape, you must end them, or they will end you. Just like they did to Ella. They've taken her away from me, from the world, the real her and have left us all with this. The thing that's coming for me. It's not my friend, not anymore.

There's no set time that they come out and you don't have to be alone, they always come out. Any time. Any place. It doesn't matter to them. It never does and it never will. But now that you know that they're here and that they are real, you could be in danger too. You're only in danger if you don't know what to do. So, my advice? Train.

"Run. Move faster, move faster." I say aloud as if anyone could hear me here in this deserted forest.

Why don't I hide you ask? Because I am trained to fight them. I just need the room to be able to do what I have to do. I have to be able to move my motions in a fluid way so that I can do my job properly. I can't leave anything out of place because then we just have to do this dance all over again. Better to be safe than sorry.

When I've gained enough ground to be able to pause and do what I need to do, I stop dead in my tracks and pivot on my heel to see the horror slumped before me. I should be used to their appearance by now, but I'm not. No matter how many times you see it, you will never get used to it. Never! There are no two the same. The only thing that they all have in common is that they're horrifying to look at, have a ragged, horrible smell and they want to attack me. They want to attack us. All of us. Including you. You're going to be a target now because you know.

My first thought: daggers. It's always weapons first. My weapon choice is daggers, they flow a lot better with my movements. With two graceful moments it's done. One, grab daggers. Two, stab it. Checkmate. He's now out of the picture. Not going to lie I enjoy doing that every time but I'm not going to enjoy it this time. Not to her. It may seem weird that I enjoy it, but it makes life better.

It's just me and her now. I can't doubt my skills now. I know how to do this; I just have to find the courage to do it. But how can I do it to her? Of all people? Why her?

"Please don't make me do this. Please," I call out. The Trackers won't respond with full sentences, they only remember certain things and so she won't listen to my pleas and will continue her mission – to destroy me.

The odor they possess used to make me gag but it was beaten out of me in training. Literally.

I was asked "you're not just going to simply ask them to pause the attack whilst you gag, are you?"

My response: "No Sir!" with a mock salute.

He enjoyed my sarcasm during training. But he still doesn't ease out though. I'm allowed to be sarcastic if I stayed focused. Distraction can get you killed in an instant, so I need to stay focused right now.

I suppose that it's a good thing that he's tough on me, it makes me a better fighter. But no amount of training will be able to prepare me for this. I can't do this to her. She is...was...was.... No. I can't think about that right now. Distraction can get you killed. Focus Chloe.

Anyway, back to the story. I know he'll be here any second to help me. I just need it to be right now. I really can't do this alone. I'm trying to hold it off as long as I can. It'll be over soon. He'll be here soon. I'm correct. He's here. My knight in shining armor.

Swipe! Twang! He lets one of his arrows go. Bullseye!

The arrow is about a centimeter away from my face, but I don't move an inch. Do you know why? Because I trust him, and he trusts me. We've practiced this so many times and I know not to move. I'm more likely to be injured if I move.

The arrow sinks straight into her chest. I never could've done that, not to her anyway. She meant too much to me. She drops to her knees and face-plants the floor. There's a gash of pain across her face before she catches fire and explodes. As they die, they become who they once were. The pain she showed me, that was her, the real Ella.

I drop to my knees and start to cry. She's gone. She felt the pain of the arrow and I didn't help her, again. She suffered because I couldn't protect her. And I just let him kill her. My friend. Gone. She's....dead. She's dead.

"I'm so sorry but it wasn't her. You know that." he says.

He's right and they will pay but part of me is still mad that I couldn't save her. I promised I would.

"Goodbye Ella" I whisper quietly. I pause for a couple of minutes. "Hunter? Why her? I didn't help her. I just let them have her. And now I've just let her die in front of me. What kind of a person does that? Let's their friend be attacked and die in front of her? Why not me? Why didn't I save her? I should've saved her."

He bends down slightly and reaches out for my hand. He lifts me from the cold, damp floor. He doesn't say anything but begins to direct me back towards the way he came from. Away from Ella. The Ella that I will never see again. Because she's gone. I promised to save her, and I broke my promise. I caused this. I should've protected her, and I didn't.

We weave in and out of trees and bushes. His beat up, light blue truck comes into my line of sight. We stop just before his truck. He lets my hand go and goes to grab the brown, fuzzy blanket from the passenger side seat. He lays it out in the back of his truck.

He comes back over to me, takes my hand once again and leads me towards the back of the truck. He puts his hands on either side of my waist and forcefully, but gently, makes me sit on the blanket. He assumes the same position next to me.

"When you go into a field of flowers," he begins, "and you pick a flower, which one do you pick?"

I already know where this conversation is going, we've heard it all before. It happens that often. We've all had this conversation before at one point or another, but it doesn't make me feel any better about this.

"The one that stands out. The best one." I reply quietly.

"Exactly." He says. "They picked Ella because she was the one that stood out to them. She was their chosen flower. Don't blame yourself for it. It wasn't your fault that it happened."

"I promised to protect her, and I didn't. Of course, it's my fault. I should've protected her. A lot of things that have happened were my fault..." I reply looking down to the ground.

"What do you mean?" he asks. He puts his hand on my knee and rubs his hand up my thigh.

Hands. My thigh. Pain. Memories. Suffering. James.

I have to leave. I get up and run. I don't know where I'm going but I run. It begins to rain, and I can hear footsteps behind me, but I don't slow. He's coming after me. I need to go faster. I need to get away. He can't be allowed to get to me again.

I run faster and to my right there is a bunch of trees. My ticket out of here. I make a mad dash for the trees and pick the perfect spot to stop. I crouch on the floor and panic. I need to get out of here. What can I do?

"Go away! Just go away!" I scream. "Leave me alone James! Don't hurt me! Please!" Tears start to flow.

Why is he here now? Why is he coming back? I told him to leave me alone. I told him. I told him. And now he's back. Why?

Black.