I run as hard and fast as I can. My breath comes in short, shallow gasps as fear grips my heart. I run for my life because whatever's chasing me will kill me if it catches me.
I yelp as a huge axe slams into the tree right next to me. I have to get away from here now! I keep running even though I feel like I'm about to pass out. I see the lights of the closest town a mile away and feel my energy drain even farther.
How in the world am I supposed to run that far at a full sprint when I'm already out of breath. All I want to do is stop running and be able to catch my breath. I want to escape and feel safe. Wait! I haven't even had my first kiss yet! I can't die here! There's still so much I want to do!
Another axe is thrown and it embeds in the tree I was about to run into. I quickly veer to the right to avoid it and keep running. Forcing myself faster and harder than I ever thought I could go.
Melyssia, a voice whispers in my head, come to me. You'll be safe with me. Just let the beast catch you. Another voice starts screaming in my head Don't Listen to him! He just wants to use you! I feel like I should trust the second voice but I don't know why. Well, all I can focus on is the thing chasing me. If I don't find a way to get it off my tail I won't make it to the city. The second voice screams again Don't go to the city! It's a trap that he set!
I veer to go the opposite direction of the city. No! Trust me, you want to go to the city! Don't you want to know about your family? Don't you want to know what you can't remember?.
I run past the border of the treeline not realizing that it is where I have the least amount of cover. I run right next to the road hoping that I can outrun what's chasing me. A rumble runs deep underground and keeps building until I can't run anymore.
I fall to the ground and the axe whizzes past my head and lands with a thud on the ground in front of me. I reach over and grab it then huck it back at the beast that's been chasing me.
Black dots start speckling my vision but I wasn't ready to give up the fight yet. I stand up when hands clamp over my mouth and pull me into the darkness.
⬖⬘⬗
I sit up with a start and see what Richard calls "positivity posters!" plastered on the wall of my bedroom. I breathe a sigh of relief and place my head in my hands. I jump when I hear someone clear their throat.
"Did I scare you?"
I look over to see Chance standing in my doorway. I grab one of my pillows and Huck it at him, but he walks away laughing as he leaves. I get up and go to the bathroom (which is across the hall).
"Gack!" I yelp when I see myself in the mirror.
My face looks like it's seen a ghost. Or ran through the forest while being chased by a horrible creature. I smell the shirt I'm wearing and now wish I hadn't done that. My eyes start watering, as I walk back to my room to change out of the oversized t-shirt I wore to bed.
I open my closet to see Chance pulling a shirt over his head. I then realize that I walked into Chance's room instead of my room. I quickly shut the door and turn and run into my room and start shutting the door when Chance's arm stops it from closing all the way.
My face is really warm and am sure I am red all over. He keeps his arm on the door until I finally step back to let him in. I hurry up and run to my closet and lock myself in before he can see me. I slip on jeans and a t-shirt by the time he knocks on my closet door.
I spray some perfume on and rub on some lotion before I open the door. I open the door slowly until I can poke my head through the door. Chance stands there with his usual rock hard expression.
"Open the door."
"What no! I'm getting dressed!"
"Your dressed."
"How do you know?!"
"First I can smell your lotion. Second, I can see your shirt."
I grumble but open the door anyways. I try to squeeze past him, but he blocks me and traps me in my closet. I look down at the floor and patiently wait for him to move. "Melyssia, look at me." I keep my eyes on the floor. Melyssia, you can't evade me forever, no matter how hard you try, it won't stop me from falling in love with you. Chance's hand rests under my chin. He gently pushes my chin up, but I still won't look him in the eye.
"Melyssia, look at me. Look at me!"
I jump a little when he becomes stern. I slowly bring my eyes up from the floor to his eyes.
When he finally sees that I'm looking him in the eye he asks:
"Are you okay?"
I feel my face form into a face of shock. Typically, Chance just picks on me and teases me. It's weird to think he's concerned about me. I've only seen this side of him once, and that was when he rescued me. I've lived with Chance since I was eight. It's been almost eight years since I've been here. I can't remember much from when I was rescued, I only remember that I've been with Chance this whole time.
Without even thinking about it, I pull Chance into a hug. Which is hard since he is almost a foot taller than me. What surprises me more is that he actually hugged me back
We hear someone yell in a singsong voice, "Breakfast is ready!"
We hear another voice yell, "So that means get your happy butt's down here. I'm hungry!"
Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I was not the only kid that Chance has rescued. By what Chance has told me, he's been on his own since he was fourteen. His parents abandoned him on a snowy roadside hoping he would freeze to death so no one would have to deal with him.
He walked along the road until he found a gas station where he worked every day to buy the house we're in now. Chance rescued me not long after he bought this house. He was fifteen when he bought it. The gas station owner, Richard, comes and checks on us every once in a while.
Chance was only able to buy the house with Richard's consent. He never tells us when he will stop by, so it's always random.
Anyways, Chance pulled back a little to look at my face and we both stood like that until someone came running into my room. Catching Chance and I just staring at each other for no apparent reason. "You guys are taking forever, hurry up already!" Adeline says.
Adeline is the only kid Chance and I ever rescued together. She normally calls us mom and dad, but that's because she was really young when we took her in. I don't mind it, but when she calls Chance dad… He becomes livid.
Before he can get to maximum mad level I normally come along and scoop her up. Whenever he's left alone for a couple minutes he normally calms down.
There's only been one time when we found the room completely destroyed and that was before Chance figured out running calmed him down more instead of breaking things.
Chance and I walk to the stairs, but before we start going down he grabs my hand and kisses my cheek when I turn back to face him, I freeze while he just lets go and heads downstairs to the kitchen table for breakfast.
The weird thing is, neither Chance or I can cook anything. It wasn't until Maverick was rescued that we actually had home-cooked meals. My brain was still partially fried when I walked down to breakfast.
It's a Saturday in June so none of us have anything to do. When the gas station started getting really stable, Richard opened a little ice cream shack and souvenir shop. Since the shops are all doing well, and the winter's here are really harsh, Richard started helping by covering the bills and food when we couldn't work.
Then, in summer, we worked to pay the bills and keep the mouths fed. Uh! I'm starting to sound like a middle-aged, over protective mother. Since the summer's are so short, Richard takes care of almost everything.
Richard is single and doesn't have any kids, so we're basically the only family he's got. Since it's hard to drive from where we live in the middle of winter, the only time we can work without getting frostbite or hypothermia is in the summer.
Here's the thing, we live in Montana, where we only get four months of sunshine per year before it snows. I know it's dreadful for most of you to give up your summer for work and to pay bills and feed people. Here's the thing, we only have each other to rely on because we don't have any friends, but we have our own little family.
I just didn't realize that our little family was about to be ripped apart.