"I called in a favour but it won't be here until Monday. We have to make it through the rest of the weekend" Luke whispered, trying not to wake me.
"She deserves to know what's happening" Aleecia insisted in an equally hushed tone.
It was Saturday night. We were in the cottage Caleb had built in the middle of the woods. Apparently, it was the only place we could stay. We'd been here for a little over two weeks feeding on birds, insects and snakes. It was starting to get annoying. To make things worse, I couldn't find my ring. I'd lost it back at the house but for some reason, I wasn't allowed to go back and look for it. It didn't matter what they thought however, I was just waiting for the right moment to sneak out and get it. It was the only thing I had left of him and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me from retrieving it.
"That's not your decision to make"
"Don't talk to me like that, you piece of undeserving, ungrateful…" she mumbled hitting him after every 'un' word she could find. He tried not to make a sound as she showered him with punches but he wasn't doing a very good job.
I let a weary tear fall, I was so over this island and everyone on it. All I wanted to do was disappear or die but all I was required to do was sleep, sit, eat and 'feel my feelings'.
I didn't want to feel anything.
The pain was unbearable and it didn't get better with time like people said. It only became more excruciating and overwhelming as the days crawled by.
Almost immediately a wave of nausea engulfed my insides. I sat up from the small hammock Luke had created for me to sleep on, locking a hand over my mouth as I struggled to keep my insides in. It was the fifth time since the morning and the feeling never really went away. It just got worse throughout the day.
Luke and Aleecia stopped to look at me as I rushed past them and through the door, emptying the contents of my stomach on the decomposing leaves. I grunted, feeling irritated and queasy. The night was cool and inert. The moon illuminated our surroundings but it looked so sad and lonely in the middle of the sky. The trees stood still and the air was thin, breathable but glum. The forest was lifeless. No melodious chirping, no enthusiastic crickets, no eager bugs. I turned around to face a suspicious Aleecia and a disgusted Luke.
"Tell me you're not late" Aleecia crossed her arms, her question snapping me out of my somewhat stifling headspace.
"Late?" I questioned and she gave me the weird 'you should know' girl look.
I giggled. She was talking about my period. My period!
"I'm not pregnant" I replied nervously. I was late by approximately a week. I winced.
"Are your breast sore?"
"What are you guys talking about?" Luke butted confusedly
"A little but it's probably because my period's close" I stressed, shrugging her off.
"Cramping, Bloating, Fatigue" she insisted
"Period" I yelled in irritation
"Mood swings" she added pointedly
"I'm depress…"
They froze, a look of horror creeping across Aleecia's face. Her mouth dropped and her face became pale and lifeless like the moon. I eyed her worriedly.
"Mia. Don't turn around. Run to me now." Luke whispered warningly and I had the slightest urge to look but remembered Ray's words 'Always listen to Luke'. I ran to him as fast as I could and he pulled me behind him immediately.
I squirmed as a man in a black suit stopped meters away from the cottage.
"Tell me he's just here to say hi" I whispered hopefully and almost immediately he pulled out a Glock-17, pointing it at us. I grunted in distress and Aleecia stepped back icily.
"I shut. You duck" Luke mumbled and before I could comprehend he pulled the door shut and Aleecia tackled me to the floor. Gun shots rang throughout the cottage, making small peek holes in the wooden wall. I covered my head and screamed for my dear life. Aleecia used her body as a shield to protect me and although it confused me, I didn't try to fight her. I had no idea why I was even in this situation. How did my simple little life become this catastrophe?
She clasped a hand over my mouth, shutting me up as the shots slowed then ceased. I held my breath as everything became silent once more.
So maybe, I didn't want to die after all.
Luke pulled two identical guns from behind his jacket, an excited grin splattered across his lips. He kissed them both.
"Meet, Shelly and Shantel" he wiggled his eyebrows playfully and Aleecia rolled off me, pulling a ratchet from a strap on her ankle. I eyed them with astonishment. Who were these people?!
"Just stay behind him" Aleecia whispered, rolling her eyes. We heard footsteps approaching and Luke got up hastily, pressing himself to one side of the door. Aleecia crawled to the other side, staying in a crunched position. I winced. Something about this seemed normal for them. The door swung open and I screamed realizing that I was still in the middle of the room, right in his view. Before he could point the gun at me, Aleecia rolled to Luke's side, slicing the man's ankle joint perfectly, without hesitation.
Wild shots circled the ceiling as the man fell in agony and I watched as Luke pulled his trigger, shooting him in the head. His body came tumbling infront of me. I couldn't scream or move. I just laid there looking into his cold, lifeless eyes as thick red blood pooled around his paled face. Luke pulled me from the floor, bracing me up using a shoulder. My stomach became a soft, sour, queasy porridge and I ran to the door to empty the uneasy feeling.
"She's pregnant, I just know it" Aleecia argued nervously and I shook my head as my body wasted good food once more. We heard a bunch of leaves crumble in the distance and I straightened myself becoming as still as a rock.
"We'll deal with that later. We need to get out of here now" Luke urged, putting his guns back into their straps under his dirt stained white jacket, which he refuse to remove. I grunted. I wasn't mentally prepared for all this trouble. He looked at me distastefully and I eyed him accordingly.
"Don't slow us down" he warned, rushing in the opposite direction of the noise. I felt my anger boil.
"Don't let him get to you" Aleecia smiled warmly before pulling me along with her.
"Who was that and why did he shoot at us?" I whispered to Aleecia as we tagged closely behind Luke, struggling to find my footing on the mix of smooth and sharp edged rocks. Despite of my current situation though, I was skillfully holding my own, snatching unto twigs and lower branches to maintain my stability.
"Shut up and walk faster" Luke snapped and all I wanted to do was rip his skinny little head off.
"Going on a berry hunt" I started to sing instead and he stopped in irritation to look at me.
"Gonna get some juicy ones" I stepped past him with a smug look and Aleecia laughed patting him on the shoulder. She caught up to me once more and I sighed. Where the hell were we going?
I scanned my environment. I knew this place.
"Stop" I whispered, air clogging my throat and adding pressure, threatening to bust. It was the exact place Ray saved my life from that horrid little creature the day I got lost in the forest.
"Don't tell me you're going to cry again?" Luke muttered in annoyance "Or worse, barf"
I looked at him, swallowing all my emotions- pain, sadness and anger. He was an asshole but he was right. I needed to get my head in the game.
"Keep up Stupid" I scoffed, running off in the direction I supposed would take us to Ray's house.
"Mia no!" Luke yelled after me but I needed my ring. I needed something to remember Ray by. They followed closely behind, trying to keep up but the closer I got the faster I ran. Branches swatted my face, the wind tried holding me back, rocks and twigs hindered my path but I didn't care. I ran. Just inches away from the road and Luke grabbed my shirt and pulled me back into the trees, covering my mouth and twirling me around so I was facing the opposite direction of the road. I yelled beneath him as his strong arms hindered my movement. I hated this guy. Honestly.
"Shut up" he whispered into my ear as Aleecia pulled up beside us and I begged my anger to fall asleep.
"Luke" Aleecia mumbled urgently and I felt his muscles tense "Luke!?" she emphasized and he exhaled heavily before letting me loose and turning around.
"What's going on?" Aleecia questioned fretfully and I turned to face them, my breath halting in my throat. I covered my mouth in complete horror. Everything was either on fire or already burnt. Smoke penned the air above us, as far as my eyes could see, making the sky a shade darker than the night actually was. Men dressed in black, strapped with guns, scurried the roads in pairs. They resembled the man that tried to kill us earlier and were everywhere.
"We have to go" Luke urged pulling us back into the woods. Something told me that this weekend was going to be a very long, entertaining one.