"This—This can't be."
I was completely surrounded by trees and greenery. Even in the light of day, there was hardly a visible path I could even decide to follow in order to escape the forest. Feeling tired and utterly hopeless, my legs gradually began to give out. Finally I fell to my knees, squeezing the dead, withered leaves and dirt beneath my hands with spite.
I should've known it wasn't going to be easy.
Nathan'd have to be absolutely idiotic to bring me back to where he was currently living at...
I took a moment to sturdy the intake of oxygen in my lungs, once again pushing myself back onto my feet, forwarding my gaze ahead.
I couldn't help but notice the way the trees parted, as if it held their own natural trail.
"... Maybe if I just walk in a straight path." Trailing off mid-sentence, I began to walk, ignoring all the possibilities of danger that may occur in punishments of not turning back.
~~~
~~~
Nathan's POV
...
...?
Something... Isn't right.
That beautiful aroma is gone... but why?
(Y/N)'s scent is—...
Suddenly, Nathan's—once resting—body shot up from the bed, his head whipping from side to side in hopes to spot his one and only soul mate...
The emotion in Nathan's eyes seemed to have almost gone absent, the temperature in the room dropping crucially.
"Ah, So that's how it is..." he muttered to himself, the tone in his voice unmakeable.
Slowly, Nathan slid himself off of the comfort of his bed and proceeded to drag himself to his bedroom. It wasn't long before the petite male was in his room, shaky hands digging away in a rather large brunette chest.
The loud sounds of items being thrown across the room echoed through the corridors of the underground structure, until suddenly coming to a halt.
"I understand you don't want to stay but, Oh, (Y/N)..." Nathan sluggishly lifted himself onto his feet, his eyes seeming to gleam at the long and jagged machete he held in his cold grasp, tender finger tips grazing calmly above the perilous metal, "—Where else will you go?"
With none other than his soon to be lover's name repeating in Nathan's mind, he started through the long hallway.
(Y/N)'s POV
~~~
• Three hours have passed •
~~~
At this point the sun was already beginning to set. I'd been walking down the same path for hours, and things haven't seemed to have changed for the better; My legs are aching, but I can't stop moving now because he's most likely already found out I'm gone. I'm starving, but there's no food around, and last but not least, I think it's safe to say I'm utterly lost.
Soon it's going to get dark, and when it does there's a high chance I'll accidentally stray off my path. Just the thought of how little time I had left was enough to send my mind into a minor state of panic. What if I die here?
I began to stumble lightly with every step I took, twigs and dead leaves crunching beneath my worn out shoes.
What do I do? Turn back?
No.
I can't do that.
I want to see my family.
I want to go back to school and sit back in my old desk, and stare out the window until lunch comes around.
I want to lay in my own bed, enjoy my mother's cooking.
I want to graduate.
I want to see Leon.
... I don't want to die in this god forsaken forest.
With the remaining amount of energy and will power I possessed, I would push myself to move at a faster pace through the trees. A good sign was the trees' distance from one another had gradually parted from each other... That means I'll be out of this hellhole soon enough.
Tiredly, I rose my head to the sky. The Sun was now partially hidden beyond the trees. Minute by minute the forest began to dim, until finally it was dark.
My heart was pounding so hard in my chest, I was even afraid I'd have a heart attack. I proceeded to drag myself through the wilderness. The darker it got, the faster I moved. At this point on, I was feeling and pushing passed trees in order to have some sense of where I was going.
My vision began to blur due to lack of food intake, fatigue entering my muscles at rapid rate. It was a challenge even keep my eyes open. It was as if my brain were screaming and crying at me to just give out, but I didn't want to. Not now—God, please, not here.
My breaths were shaky, and my body began to buckle with each and every stride I took. Just when it seemed that I wouldn't make it, I spotted a silhouette in the distance ahead. There was a bright, white light, in which I assumed to be a flashlight.
Instant relief washed over me just as if someone poured a barrel of cool water over my head.
"F-Finally... A per..son..." I heaved out in between my chapped lips. As I drew in closer to the figure, the flashlight darted straight to me, momentarily blinding my eyesight, shielding my eyes in response to the person's action.
"Who's there? I'm armed, so you better come out slow!"
It was a man. From what I could tell, he was also a policeman. I could tell by the way he held his firearm and the flashlight in a dual-like manner, and the typical hat that was firmly hugging his around head.
I proceeded to stumble in the lawman's direction, my hands raised above my shoulders.
"Please, don't shoot... I n...eed help..."
My voice was hoarse and dry due to cottonmouth. My head had began to spin as I realized how dehydrated I had become in the last couple of hours.
As the two of us drew closer to each other, the man finally ordered me to stop moving, in which I obeyed. The policeman closed the distance between us, firearm still pointed directly at me in between my eyes. As he examined my facial features with his flashlight his eyes seemed to have almost bulged out of his sockets. "... Holy shit!" He hooted, dropping his flashlight.
The man wasted no time in order to holste his pistol. Bending down to my height, he grabbed me by my shoulders and stared into my face, disbelief written all over his face.
"There's no mistaking it... You're (Y/N) (L/N)."
I stood almost limp in his rather tight grip, a blink my only reaction to the policeman's antics. I'd open my mouth to say something, but all that came out was a heavy rumble of coughs.
The policeman shook his head with a hearty chuckle. "Save your breath, kid; You look pretty wasted already... My unit was told to come and camp out here around this area in hopes to find you. I thought the order was absurd, but look where we are now! Anyhow, how's about I get you the hell outta here? My car ain't too far."
At this point, all I could do was force a smile in response to his many words I barely even caught onto. All I was able to capture was the last part, and boy was I happy...
Suddenly, the hair on the back of my neck shot up almost instantaneously. A brutally unpleasant chill climbed my spine, forcing my gaze in the direction I believed the threat to have come from.
It all happened too fast. An all too familiar figure dashed passed me, in addition to a gust of wind as well.
Slash.