"Get back here!"
Tears welled in my eyes as I ran through the house to my bedroom. I slammed the door shut, quickly realising that I was going to pay for doing just that. My guardian yelled something at me from the other side of the house, and I could hear their hurried footsteps approaching. I panicked and looked wildly around my bedroom for something to defend myself with. My guardian's noisy footsteps came closer until they were right outside my door. I practically threw myself towards it, leaning my small body against the wood. They screamed and hollered, throwing their fists into the door. They were way stronger than me and began to push my door open. I wasted no time. I ran away from it and started for the window. My guardian tore it open and stood in the doorway, enraged.
"You fucking brat!" They screeched.
I looked back at them one last time before ripping the window open and leaping out into the night. I hit the ground below with a sickening thud. I cried out in pain when I landed on my arm a funny way. My guardian roared in anger and ran over to the window to see me crawling away from the house.
"And stay out, you little shit!"
I wobbled to my feet, clutching my sore arm. I took off running, tears flowing from my eyes. I didn't want them to find me, so I looked frantically for a good hiding spot. My teary eyes lit up with hope when I saw the forest up ahead. They would never find me there. I darted towards the leafy entrance and scampered on into the greenery. I gazed about the trees in wonder, finally feeling some sort of peace. Life at home had never been easy. So it was nice to finally escape, even if it was just for a little while. I trudged through the foggy forest, slowly loosing myself. Getting lost in the forest was surely better than going back home. I was very scared to know what was waiting for me back there.
As I wandered further into the forest, the fog only thickened. A chilly breeze hit me and caused a shiver to run down my spine. I cradled my arm as the fog swirled around me. It seemed to talk to me. I was frightened, the old tears on my cheeks felt cold against the night air. Soon the murkiness was all I could see. The fog engulfed my small form, dragging me down into the dark.
The Entity's realm
I was rudely awoken by a man shaking my shoulders. My eyes fluttered open groggily as a sleepy groan left me. I carefully tried to get up from the ground where I laid uncomfortably. A large campfire roared and crackled by me.
"Hey, kid. Are you alright?"
I snapped my gaze up at the man in front of me. He wore sunglasses and a blue button down shirt. More grownups were here too, cautiously creeping over to us.
"Where am I?" I croaked.
The man dusted off my clothes before gently helping me to my feet. I hissed in pain at my arm, clutching it weakly. His eyes from behind the sunglasses widened, and he gestured to another grownup to grab him something. The grownup nodded and set off somewhere behind the campfire. The man crouched down to my level, placing his hand on his chest.
"My name's Jonah, kid. What's yours?" He said.
I tearfully sputtered out my name to Jonah. I bowed my head and began to cry softly.
"Hey, hey, hey. Don't worry. It's alright. We're gonna help you." He cooed.
Jonah hesitantly wrapped his arms around me into a hug. I flinched slightly before melting into the warm touch. I closed my eyes and buried my face in his chest. It felt so nice for a grownup to be caring for once. I had no idea it was like this. Jonah lifted me up into his hold with a grunt and took me over to the others. I kept a firm grip on his neck as I shyly looked to each grownup. A woman in a suit with her dark hair in a bun held out a red box for Jonah.
"Thanks." He said importantly before carefully setting me down by the campfire.
The grownups crowded around me. Nervous murmurs rippled through the small crowd as Jonah opened the red box. The lid revealed medical supplies and bandages inside. A look of fear met my face.
"Here, give me your arm." Jonah said.
I grabbed my arm and moved it away from him. The other grownups shared concerned looks.
"It's alright, kid. It won't hurt. I'm gonna help you. Trust me." Jonah reassured.
I cringed but gave him my sore arm nevertheless. He was right, it didn't hurt. I watched in awe as the man patched me up so gently and delicately. It definitely wasn't something I was used to. When Jonah finished fixing up my arm, I rested in his by the fire. The grownups around us took great concern in me and talked to each other about things how they thought 'it wasn't fair I was here'. I had no idea where I was. Nobody really gave me a concrete answer as if they were afraid for me to know the truth. But I didn't care. This place didn't seem so bad.
I had never felt more safe and at home.
My eyes fluttered shut as I felt myself drifting away against Jonah's chest.
The sun never came back up here. It was eternal night. The talking fog took me away again along with three of the grownups. Jonah was here with me, along with the woman in the suit who said her name was Jane. Then there was Ash, who had a robot hand! It was pretty cool. We all set off in a big dusty area that looked like a boneyard or something. There were old graves littered about along with big structures I was unfamiliar with. It was a very strange place that I had never seen before. I was frightened when Jonah demanded that I ran away and hid somewhere.
"Why?" I sputtered.
"There's someone bad. Very, very bad. You let us take care of it, okay? When they're gone, one of us will come get you, okay? Just go hide." Jonah explained.
Tears welled in my eyes but I forced them back down. I turned away from him and ran off to find a safe place. I hid behind a large cluster of rocks, nestling down onto the ground. I hugged my knees to my chest and tried to calm myself down. What was going on?
I was hiding here for a long, long time. I heard distant screams, but desperately tried to block them out. After a while, everything went silent. I grew worried, thinking that they had left me.
"Jonah?" I called.
I peeked over the large rocks and scanned the area for him. I gasped in shock when I spotted a woman in a long red dress up ahead. I quickly ducked back down behind the rock, but she saw me anyway. I hid in my knees and cowered on ground. The woman approached the rocks and walked around them to face me. I cautiously peeped up from my knees to look at her. She had dark eyes and blood spilling from her lips. I screamed in terror when I saw her arms. Her hands looked as if they had been severed off. All that was left were inky black appendages.
The woman crouched down to my level, shushing me. Tears ran down as I shielded my face with my hands. She set her strange inhuman hand on my shoulder, that I quickly recoiled from.
"Shh, shh." The woman cooed.
My chest heaved as I sobbed. I moved my hands from my tearstained face to gaze into the woman's dark eyes. She gave me a small smile, placing her arms behind her back. I didn't say anything, only did I tremble before her fearfully. She moved from her crouched position to sit next to me against the rocks. The woman looked down at me with that same smile on her face. I sniffled and wiped my tears away with my arms.
"Are you gonna hurt me?" I asked quietly.
The woman closed her eyes and shook her head furiously. My tense posture relaxed a little after that.
"Who are you?" I squeaked.
She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. She hesitantly dragged an inky hand out from behind her back. She pointed to the dirt and began to write in it with a black claw.
Carmina.
"Car... Carmina?" I tested.
Carmina smiled again and nodded. A small smile tugged at my own lips. I shyly told her my own name, which she beamed at. We gazed at one another for a very long time, trying to figure each other out. I had never seen anyone like her before. She looked scary, and didn't speak.
But still, she was one of the nicest grownups I knew.
A crow fluttered over and set down next to Carmina. I jolted up in surprise at the bird's bravery. It cawed and jumped up onto her leg. I gasped in wonder and gawked at it. Carmina's shoulders shook as she chuckled at my reaction. Another crow flew down, then another. One waddled over and stood right next to me, staring up at me curiously. I stared back at it wide eyed before carefully holding my hand out for it. The crow cawed and jumped up onto my arm.
Carmina laughed again, guiding a crow onto her own arm. I looked up at her before laughing too. We laughed together as a murder of crows cawed around us. They crawled all over her, nuzzling into her and cooing.
"They really like you." I said.
Carmina smiled warmly down at me. My smile matched hers perfectly. I moved to lean my head on her shoulder, nestling next to her like the crows. I felt her rest her own head on top of mine fondly.
When I explained to Carmina that I needed to go back to Jonah and the others, she guided me through the boneyard. She lead me over to what looked like a big hatch in the ground. I furrowed my brow at it and looked up at her questionably. She pointed at it with a black talon before opening it with her foot. When I still didn't understand, she crouched down to write something in the dirt.
Go.
"Go?"
Carmina nodded her head.
"Where?"
She wrote something else.
It will take you to them.
"It will?"
Another nod.
"Okay." I whimpered nervously.
Carmina didn't move from her crouched position, only opening her arms wide. I leaped into them, burying into her chest. She wrapped her arms around my small body and laid her head on the top of mine again.
"Thank you, Carmina." I mumbled against her.
She gave me a firm squeeze in response. I looked up at her with a frown on my face.
"Will I get to see you again?" I asked glumly.
Carmina smiled and nodded, breaking away to write something else in the dirt.
See you soon.
I beamed at the words scribbled out in front of me. She stood to her feet and gestured to the open hatch. I latched onto her legs for a final hug. Carmina chuckled again and pet my hair lovingly. I pulled myself off of her and shakily approached the hatch. With a deep breath, I jumped in. All around me was darkness, but I knew that I would be back with the grownups soon. I knew that I would finally be safe.
Just like Carmina said.
"See you soon." I whispered.