*** in the Dark

I sniffled quietly to myself as Marty and I headed seemingly deeper into woods. I wished we had of gone in the other direction because the way we were heading now seemed so ominous. I constantly glanced up at the sky, looking for the glittery sparkles of fireworks, but so far there had been none. Marty kept telling me we would hear them before we saw them but it made no difference. Just walking made me frightened. The way our footsteps crunched, almost loud enough to wake the dead.

My torch began to flicker for at least the seventh time. With a shrill cry I hurled it at a nearby tree. It hit it with a thud and dropped to the ground. Its beam of light shone bright then guttered out completely. Holding back tears, I went to pick it up but instead dropped to my knees and began to sob. The choking cries ripped through my chest and exploded out of my mouth in hitching breaths. I put my head in my hands and let my long bright red hair fall over my face. I felt my face dampen as more and more tears fell from my eyes and into the cupped palms of my hands. I shuddered as an icy wind whipped through the trees with a sudden ferocity. Just then I felt warmth spread over me as Marty wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I turned to him and curled into his chest, letting my tears soak into his jumper. He gently rocked me, stroking my wild tresses of hair, not saying a word.

When I had calmed down he pushed me slightly away from him and looked into my eyes.

“I ruined our torch.” I whispered, not meeting his gaze.

“You know that’s not what this is about.” He replied, his tone gentle.

“I...I know.” I said, sighing.

“We’ll find who did it Jada and I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He said earnestly, “I can’t lose you...”

With that I burst into a fresh round of tears and I clung to him as if I let him go I would never be able to get him back. He wrapped his arms soothingly around me and we sat there, locked in each other’s embrace, both knowing our time could be up.

For about twenty minutes we sat, saying nothing, just looking into the sky waiting for the sparks of home. None came.

I continued playing the scene over and over in my head. Running through the trees, branches scratching at my arms and legs, leaves crunching, torch beam swinging hypnotically, the scream ringing in my ears. It was just like being put in fast forward than hitting pause. As soon as we reached everybody, everything stopped. All I could see was Ray, his face pale, drained. The pool of blood glimmered in the dim moonlight and I could faintly hear someone screaming. I could feel my hands balled into tight fists by my sides and all my clothes suddenly felt too tight, choking me. Then I felt Marty grab me and tell me to stop screaming and I realised it was myself I could hear and quickly shut my mouth with a click of my teeth. In doing so I bit my tongue and I winced as hot blood ran into my mouth. Then Belle and Jason came bolting in and everything sped up. Accusations here, sobbing there; all swirling so fast it was all I could do not to throw up.

I shook my head, wafting away the memory. I felt it puff from my head like an inconvenient cloud, but I knew it would be back, the sounds more real, the colours more vibrant, the smell of death hanging even more putrid in the air. I tried squish closer to Marty, which was impossible seeing I was as close as possible without actually being on top of him. He looked down at me, his eyes frightened and worried. I tried to show him I was feeling better, but I couldn’t, I felt so drained of life.

Just then we heard a crunching from behind us. I felt my eyes tear up and overspill, sending little salty rivers twisting down my cheeks. I felt Marty’s arms tighten around me and I squeezed my eyes shut, burrowing my head into his chest, feeling happy that I could at least die in his arms.