Young Writers Society

As I walk, the trees loomed over me. The cold damp air freezing my bear arms. The bushes rustle from the breeze, the moon just bright enough to light my path. Not knowing where to go, I keep walking. I can’t go back. I just can’t. A faint glow at the end of path is the only thing in sight. Running at the sound of my name being yelled behind me. Looking around for someone anyone to be here. I just hope it’s not THEM. Painting, running, so many voices, so many thoughts, so much just racing through my head. Then silence. The light goes out and all of the voices stop. I see a large building. I timidly walk toward it. The sign reads ‘New Brook Asylum for the Mentally Ill’. The doors swing open as a girl runs out, four men chasing after her. She is running straight towards me. I grab her arm and bolt through the woods with her directly behind me, turning left and right until we’re at a tree and at the very top a small wooden play house. We climb to the top as fast as we could go. We finally reach the top, and fall over, panting and overheated. “Where is she?” the tall slender man asked. “Find her! She couldn’t have gotten far.” We sit there being quiet and still holding our breaths, scared that if we even breathe that they would find us. A bush rustles in the distance. “Over there!” the shortest of the four men called. As the voices slowly fade I am no longer intimidated to hold my breath. Turning towards the strange girl, hair covering her face. “What’s your name? Why did you leave that place?” full of questions, but not trying to be rude. “I’m pretty sure you would run to if you were stuck in that place as well. As for my name I am Aryana Jade Devore but most people just call me AJ.” She says gasping to catch her breath. “Oh. Well I am Nichole Ashley.” I say reluctantly knowing I had already escaped in a way. “I’m trying to run from home I sort of know how you feel.” “You?” she slightly laughs “you have no idea how It feels, to be left at birth never knowing anything, never had anyone. I raised myself; I took care of myself since I could walk. My only friends were the voices in my head and then to be sent to a home were you don’t even know if you are going to live another day. I didn’t think so.” Tears filled her eyes as she turns away. “I’m so sorry Aryana.” I almost whisper to her “I guess I don’t know how you feel.” I turn my head away. “So why would you run from your home? You probably had a perfect life a mum and a dad.” “I wouldn’t say perfect, and I ran because of problems with my family”. “O that’s always fun.” she says sarcastically. “So what are we going to do we have no food, no water, not even a place to stay?” she asks me. “I don’t know, I guess just walk till we find someone to help us and we will have to be on the run from security and the police.” “The police? Are you freaking kidding! What did you do?” she looks at me annoyed. “Yeah I kinda stabbed my step-mother before running, and my father decided to call the police. We can go to Zack’s house.” Ummm……….. Who is Zack?” “Zack is my best friend Devyn’s brother. I practically grew up with them. I stayed at their house more than my own.” I explain to her. “They live in town, not too far from here.” ”Alright… I guess.” AJ and I walked for what seemed like miles till we came across a small broken down home. The only sounds were the whimpers of a small pup. “Squishy!” I scream as I run to the front door. As AJ rounds the corner, she looked as clueless as an infant. “This is Devyn’s dog.” I explain to her. I pick up squishy and knock on the door. The door creaks open, I step inside. “Zack?” I call as I step over rubble from the house and broken objects. I walk around the corner and up the stairs to Zack’s room. As I push Zack’s door open. I wince at the sight of him lying in bed with a bullet hole to the cranium and his sheets soaked in blood. I drop squishy, and run to Devyn’s room. Devyn is not in her bed like her brother, but lying on the floor with her throat slit. Blood dripping off her corps staining the carpet. I pick squishy up off the floor and run down stairs. “Aryana!” I scream to her. “They’re dead. They’re all dead.” I say screaming while tears run down my cheeks. The thing that hurt the most was they were practically family to me. I was over here as much as I could be. That was my home my family and now it’s gone all I have left is Squishy. “We have to take him with us AJ.” I cry. “Alright, but for now I need you to get a grip.” Stuttering and at loss for words I barley make out a sound over my own hyperventilating. Then suddenly the right side of my face stung. It was only then I realized AJ had smacked some sense into me. “Go to the kitchen and get what food you can.” She says firmly. She walked back to the bedrooms as I turn into the kitchen. Memories fill my head. The jokes, the songs all the laughing. A salty warm tear trickles down my face. I quickly wipe it away and move to the pantry. There were many cans, so I put what I could fit in a bag. I also grabbed water and Gatorade. And there on the shelf right at face height was a large box of just add water pancakes. I quickly grabbed them and hurried to find AJ. I stand in the den for a few minutes just reminiscing on all the fun laughs and giggles that we had. AJ then comes around the corner. Quickly snapping back to reality and ask. “Do you have all the supplies we need?” AJ thinks for a moment. “We have everything I can think of but a gun would be nice.” Still to daze to ask questions I walk to the stand by the door. Under the mirror connected to the stand was a table with three drawers. I slowly open the middle drawer and pull a twenty two gauge hand gun with a few extra bullets. I hand it to AJ cautiously. “Thanks.” I start to walk away from her to squishy. “Wait why do we need a gun?” I ask finally turning to her.” I have no intentions on killing anybody.” “Look.” She says with a bit of an attitude. “There are people trying to kill us so if you don’t mind I am going to try to continue to save our asses. Ok I have what we need let’s go. With squishy on the leash I walk out of the front door with AJ directly behind me. ”So where to?” I ask hoping not to offend ‘princess Aryana’. “We need to get as far from here as we can.” She says now walking ahead of me. As we walk deeper and deeper into the dark woods I look back on the things I had done and said to my step-mum and my father. ‘Maybe I should go back.’ I think to myself. “Hey my step-mum should be at work and dads never home we should run by my place and pick up some supplies.” I say moving off of the path that AJ was pushing me to go. A slight anger grew in her voice. “We need to stay on the path and go to the wa….” A rustle comes from the bushes behind us. A chill runs up my spine as I move to the bushes. Move into the first bush to hear a giggle. As I move around the bushes I see a small boy as he crawls out and runs in the opposite direction. “Wait!” I call after him but he refuses to stop or even take recollection that I was speaking to him. I run after him dodging braches and tree stumps. Then the boy was gone and there was I face I could never forget. A face I fell for way to many times. “Zack?” I say so surprised to even speak. “You were just dead. A gunshot to the head. How did you survive?” I say breathlessly. “You always did have an active imagination.” He laughs. Losing myself in his emerald green eyes. “Oh silly Nicky.” AJ says as she comes out from behind a tree. “I’m not a normal guy….. I am a demon and I love you. Now kiss me because were so I love. How sweet.” She says mockingly. Now doing kissy faces. I back hand AJ. “Shut up.” I tell her. “Oh so you do like him. “Awwwww kissy kissy kissy.” She laughs. “Ughhhhh” I scream as I storm off toward him. I punch Zack in the arm. “Why would you not tell me something like this? You’re my best friend why wouldn’t you tell me?” AJ laughs again “Awwwww ya’ll are so cute together.” Zack looks at me and looks at AJ “Do you think were cute together Nicky?” Nicky is the name he has always called me ever since we were little…..unless he was mad then it was my full name. Devyn’s ghost attacks her brother. With a stick. “WTF is going on here? “OK let me get this straight.” AJ turns to me. “Your boyfriend, the boy with the bullet through his skull is alive because he is immortal. Devyn is dead, yet is beating her brother with a stick. Right… Right?” “Umm… AJ” I say looking at her like she is out of her mind. “Devyn is dead.” I say having the memory of her with her throat slit on her bedroom floor, wincing at the image back in my head and looking away. “Oh that is just wonderful, I see dead people to.” AJ says rolling her eyes “YAY more fun for me.” She says as sarcastically as her voice will let her.” “UGH!! First of all… Zack is not my boyfriend!” I say getting pissed off because Zack won’t say anything to AJ on the subject. “Zack” I say looking at him worriedly “Is… is Devyn an immortal too?” Zack slowly lifts up his head from looking at the ground and looks me in the eyes. “No Nicky, Devyn is not immortal like me, but she is here, hitting me, with a stick.” “Oh well isn’t this just brilliant.” AJ says with a laugh. “Come on we need to keep moving.” AJ starts to turn walking the different than my house. “Where are you going exactly?” I say watching her as she walks away “My house is this way.” I say as Zack stands so close to me, our hands are directly beside each other. “Exactly we need to get to the water in the East.” Pointing in the eastwardly direction. “Let’s just follow her.” I say looking at Zack still pissed at him. “Nicky” he says grabbing my arm before I can walk after her. “Who is that girl, and what does she mean by get to the water?” He is whispering to me his face so close to mine that I feel his hot breath at my ear. “Do you love me, Nicky?” he asks. All I want to do is kiss him. I’m too excited yet scared to answer. Her name is Aryana, but we can call her AJ. I helped her escape from the New Brook Asylum.” I say my lips just inches from his. “I don’t know what she’s talking about getting to the water.” I look into his emerald green eyes. “Do you love me, Zack? He looks to where Aryana is running “we should probably go, I think we are being left behind.” I roll my eyes as I turn away from Zack I take off running to where Aryana is running ahead of us trying to catch up “screw you” I whisper as I run fast and all that I hear behind me is “Wait what?” I turn around, stop running, and yell “Damn straight.” And turn around and take off again. I run to catch up with AJ. While hearing Zack’s footsteps come up behind me. I look at AJ as I ask. “So where to my chick.” AJ looks at me and says “The westward waters off the shore of Ademius until we reach Damien’s Peek.” I look at her “well, you know where to go, so Zack and I will follow you.” I look at Zack as I say it. “We need weapons” Zack says not to me but to Aryana. He walks up to her and pushes the hair that has fallen into her face away. They have a conversation I tune out but with every word, I die a little on the inside. Why does he choose her? I grew up with him. Just wtf? Grrrrr…. “Hello, love birds, let’s go before I die!!” I say with every bit of anger shown on my facial expression and in my voice. “Chill out Nicky.” “Don’t call me that.” I say with anger in my tone. “We will leave in the morning for now we will make camp here.” AJ explains to Zack because she is too pissed at me. “OK” Zack looks at me “Nicky hand me the food” I drop the bag on the ground and look at him “Get it yourself.” I sit next to the bag and start to feed Squishy. When Squishy starts to whimper I look at her and assure her that everything is going to be okay, maybe I’m assuring myself though. I make eye contact with Zack as I force a smile to cover up the tears. I look up as AJ pushes up her sleeves and reveals a strange sort of writing. “AJ, what is that?” I ask pointedly to her arms. It’s just writing she says as she quickly pulls her sleeve back down. “OK” I say as I cover up Squishy with my jacket. I stand up and pull up AJ’s sleeve trying to determine the meaning. “Rape?” she asks me fighting me to pull her sleeve back over the foreign language. “Just let me see it AJ.” I say looking into her eyes “why do you want to see it so bad Nicky” I look at her and don’t call me Nicky!” I finally let her pull her sleeve down “I just want to know what they mean.” I look at her seeing tears fill her eyes as she say’s “does it matter?” Then she turns away from me holding her knees to her chest. I move closer to her and whisper, “I’m so sorry. I….. I was just curious.” I say looking not at her but off behind her no longer able to look in to her eyes. She looks at me directly, her silvery grey filled with water as she pulls off her hoodie reveling a camo tank to match her pants and combat boots. The markings were so unusual. All I know was in Latin. I couldn’t identify them. I walk towards Zack rolling my eyes at him as I pass I hear him sigh I walk to the bag of food and bring some spaghettio’s and a fork to her, while grabbing some for Zack and me. I sit beside Zack to eat, its quiet and I accidently bump his leg “sorry” I mumble “don’t be” he whispers and smiles at me, I smile back at him. AJ hardly ate; she made a camp fire, but stayed off in the corner for the entire night, barley ever moving. I walk over to her and ask. “Are you ok? Look I’m sorry if I upset you AJ.” I say with a smile. “You didn’t upset me. Just so many memories. People I’ve lost, people I never knew. It just got the better of me. I’m fine though.” She tries to assure me but I see right through her lie. “This is going to make me sound like an even bigger bitch, but can you tell me what they mean? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” I say still to get her to smile. “Why are you so happy all the time? Don’t you see the worlds falling to shit all around us yet you keep smiling. Why the fuck do you keep smiling?” she says to me in a very serious tone. ” I can’t believe you dropped my puppy you bitch! I hate all of you, but I also love yah that’s why we’re all going to burn in hell, while I marry the devil!!” called a voice. “Devyn?” I ask. AJ ask her “Can I be bridesmaid?” “Yes you can be… mwahahaha!” She answers back. “Yay!” AJ calls. “Devyn, you’re alive? And I do to.’ “Yes you can to and no bitch I’m a ghost.” ”Oh ok.” I get up and walk over to Zack. “Can I talk to you?” “I guess so.” He replies. I grab his hand and walk away from everybody else. I turn towards him still holding his hand. “What the hell are you doing?” I say trying to push back the tears. “What do you mean?” He asks me. Confusion in his voice. Aggravated I practically scream. “I don’t answer you when you asked if…if I loved you.” My voice shrunk with the words. But I pushed it down and turned my attention more towards my anger. “And then you go flirt with AJ!” “He laughs and he anger in my eyes fell as he said. “Flirting really Nicky, we weren’t flirting." He seemed surprised by the accusation. "I was just acting like I do when I’m hanging with you." tears fill my eyes as he protested. "You weren’t flirting with her.... or me?" he rolls his eyes and walks away. "Come on let’s get some sleep." He says to me, not even glancing my way. I walk with him back to camp. The silence slowly killing me. I lay next to Squishy as the small pup shivers in the cold of the December night. I look over to Zack. His back to me. I stand with Squishy in my hands and sit by the fire. Ever so quietly the words fell from my lips. "What happened to us?" Doing everything in my power not to cry again as he says softly. "What us?" I look over at AJ shivering and walk over to place a small blanket over her. I walk away from her from them both and sit by a large oak tree and bury my hands into my face. I sit there for hours praying to the gods to kill me and release me from this hell. Falling tears are drying, disappearing but the true pain I feel won't be as easy to hide.

Chapter 2

The bright warm light of the rising sun catches my eye as I sit up still groggy from sleep. I look over at Zack still faced away from me. Then over to AJ. But she was GONE! "AJ!" I call out her. "Aryana!" I scream again louder this time. There was no response. The only thing I could hear is the howling of wolves and the wind against the trees. I walked over to Zack and kicked him hard mostly because I was angry and also because I was worried about AJ. "Why the hell would you kick me Nicky?" He yelled at me. Growing angrier with every moment of realizing he was awake. “We have to find AJ!" I screamed at him trying to be bigger and bader but failing as I tried. "Then why did you wake me up?" He protested. “You have to help me find her if you like it or not!" I say as I start to put Squish on a leash. He sits up looking at me with those handsome green eyes still filled with sleep. "Oh, so I 'flirt' with Aryana and now you want me to help find her?" He says in a mocking tone. "Just enough, Zack!" I say holding everything I could back. Tears burning in my eyes as I turn away from him. "Enough." I whisper to myself. I walk away from him unable to look at him. Screaming for AJ to come back. A howl echoes from the woods ahead followed by a girlish scream. I run towards the sound as Zack follows behind me. I finally reach the wolf as it corners a guy. “Oh my gods! It’s a guy!” I say louder than expected. “More like a fat ass.” Zack snickers. I elbow him hard in the stomach. “Stop being rude.” I say to him. “You’re the one who thought he was a chick!” He said defensively. “Well she…I mean he sounded like a girl.”I said to Zack. “What’s your name” I call to him. “Fatt Matt!” He screams his face red and sweaty. “Have you seen my friend Aryana?” I ask hopefully. “Please. No Time save me!!!!” He pleads. I feel a hand on my shoulder as Zack steps between me and the dark black wolf. Its eyes silvery grey. The wolf moves toward me and rubs up against my leg. Looking back over at Matt growling. Then back to me as if asking permission. I watch as Zack kicks her way from me. “Zack stop!” I scream as loud as I could. The thought of losing him killing me inside. “AJ.” I whisper. “What?” Zack asks me. “It’s AJ.” I say louder this time. I run to her and pet her head. “It’s ok.” I tell her. AJ lunges forward jumping on matt biting and clawing. His girlish screams deafening. She howls when she’s finished with him his bloodied throat lay in the grass next to him, as he lay still. A few moments later a smaller wolf appears behind AJ. He is much smaller and grey with a large black symbol on his back. He stands there next to AJ as she nudges him toward the bloodied body. The small pup runs to the corps gnawing at flesh and bone. I look at Zack. “I swear I had no idea.” Shock all over his face.”Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask her. She turns to me and growls slightly. Then looks at the marks on her arm again but it was no longer a tattoo it was burns in her skin. Words in Latin that held a curse to her that could never be reversed. I stand there still shocked about the attack. AJ pushes us back to camp and I sit by the fire, and slowly drift asleep. I awake the next morning and look over at AJ she’s human again, sprawled out all over the grass. And using the other wolf as a pillow. I slowly sat up against a tree my eyes still heavy with sleep. I hear footsteps in the woods, and become still. AJ lies there still without even tacking any recollection of the footsteps. I hold Squishy tight in my arms as I stand and look towards the woods. A hand moves around my waist and to my stomach while the other rests over my mouth. I try to scream but his hand muffles the sound. I bite down hard on him hand and I hear Zack cry out. "Chill Nicky." he says holding his hand against his chest. "That hurt Nick!" He cries. "Well don't scare me like that and I wont bite you again!" I say matter-of-factly. "I was only trying to freak you out." He says with a boyish grin. I giggle and walk towards AJ shaking her till she woke. "So is there something you would like to tell me?" I asked anoyed when I had gotten no responce. "Aryana?" I shake her again only getting anoyed 'grrr's and threats to get hit if I didn't stop. "Nevermind." I say slightly annoyed that she won't tell me anything. I walkover to the fire and stat to go through the bag of food remebering the pancakes, and I started to make them. "Hey Zack, You wanna come help me?" I ask sweetly. He walks up putting a hand around my waist. "Ugh! Look this isn't playtime. There is a war out there. People dieing, by murder, homicide, or even suicide. This is not the time to start a relationship we may or maynot live through. Hell we may not even livethrough lunch today!" AJ practicly screams at us. I trun away from her and start to sing "Making pancakes." Zack covers my mouth. " Don't upset her!" He whispers. His emerald green eyes staring into my bright blue ones. "I...I just don't want you to get hurt.