Page 12 of Cruel Cravings

I’m no longer alone. I’ve never really been alone. My shadow goes where I go.

He’s here.

I can feel him. Hear every slow, ragged drag of air into his lungs.

“It’s you,” I whisper, my voice trembling, barely audible. “You’re there, aren’t you?”

4.Brontë

Arsonist’s Lullaby - Hozier

The forest was cold that night. The ground smelled like rain-soaked earth and rot. Animals lurked out of sight, living in the darkness, howling at the silver moon hanging in the sky.

None of us should have been there. It was against the rules.

If any of the instructors or administrators were to catch us, it would mean expulsion.

But I was fourteen. Angry. Proud. Too stupid to think straight.

I shifted my weight on the log I was sitting on, the wood creaking beneath me. Archer Hurst and the others were late.

It seemed like they weren’t going to show up at all until they emerged from between the trees.

We were about to finish what we had started.

No one to stop us. No one to break us apart.

Our rivalry was going to be settled once and for all.

The others formed a semicircle around me and Hurst.

Raskova, Klein, and Nolan were spectators to our brutal fistfight.

We taunted each other. Threw our fists at whatever piece of each other we could.

It wasn’t long before the fight became messy. We both grew desperate. Hurst kicked dirt in my eyes. I pulled a switchblade on him.

Our blood decorated the woodland floor. Our grunts filled the night air.

The other three closed in on us, like hound dogs that had picked up the scent of what was coming.

One of us was about to win. Another was about to lose.

We rolled across the jagged rocks and sharp sticks on the ground and tore at each other. My knuckles collided with Hurst’s jaw and I pushed myself to a shaky stand. I fought to breathe, panting and dripping sweat.

Hurst scrambled to his feet and then charged at me. He shoved me in the chest, the push hard enough to make me stumble.

My body jerked backward. The ground disappeared from under me.

The whole world tilted.

Everything went upside down, air rushing my ears.

The fall was forever, but the impact was instant.

I screamed into what seemed like a void that quickly swallowed up the sound.

There was no way to cushion the fall. I was dropping dozens of feet off a cliff. The pain was blinding.

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