The Shadow Sisters

[E2] Chapter 3 - Marie Shadow

Everything had melted away.

That was the only way that Marie could describe it. When she'd first left the cabin, her headache had built and built like the pounding of a war drum. The pain had started as a pin prick and escalated until it felt like someone had driven a hot spike right up through her eye.

She screamed.

And at that exact moment, the trees melted away, like ice cubes fallen into a cup of tea. The grass faded next, then the shrubs, and finally even the moon and the stars. It all became a grey nothing, surrounding her on all sides in an endless expanse. It felt like she was walking across a sheet of grubby paper.

She yelled into the grey, pleading for help, but it was akin to being under water, in that her words wouldn't carry.

So she did the only thing that she could.

She ran.

She kept running, even as the pain in her knees, her shins, and her feet flared, because it gave her something to focus on amid that awful nothing.

Panicked sobs had completely overtaken her until the world erupted before her again, like a video game rendering a new section of the map.

In her momentum, she'd almost slammed into a tree.

When she realised that she'd returned to the forest, she felt assaulted by the array of colour. She had never realised that even in the pitch black of night, how much colour that ordinary life contained. There were hundreds and thousands of subtle variations. It was almost too much when one added the endless smells and sounds on top of all that.

For fear that she might be caught in that grey trap again, she called out for Riley, her friend, and was relieved to hear that her words had sound once again.

After running through the rough, she eventually emerged onto the trail and continued along, still calling out as loudly and as frequently as she could possibly manage.

At first, she heard a voice, Riley's voice, calling out her name, so she sped towards it and was glad to hear it become louder and louder.

When she spied her friend further along the trail, she was thankful to see her sprinting.

They met in the middle of the path and collapsed to their knees as they locked into a tight embrace.

Marie had never hugged anyone so tightly in her entire life.

When Riley pulled back, her face was ashen. "Oh my God, Marie, you're completely freezing. Are you okay?"

Marie shook her head.

"What's wrong?" Riley asked. "What's happened?"

And because Marie could not speak about the Grey, could not even think about it anymore, she told her friend of what had transpired back at the cabin, how Ryan attempted to coax her inside and once they were sheltered, had told her the story about the Pearson's, which resulted in a cruel ambush that was orchestrated by Katie Burke and her friends.

"Ryan did that?" Riley said, aghast. "That absolute bastard."

The reaction was so unexpected that Marie almost laughed out of sheer surprise. It was a relief to know that she could still find things funny after what she'd experienced in that murk.

Riley held her hands over her mouth, as if not knowing what had come over her.

Deja and Curtis arrived along the pathway a short while later.

Deja was red in the face and gasping for air. "Now I know how all those poor runners up feel competing against you in the cross country, Riley."

Curtis's face shone with sweat. "She's half cheetah," he said between gulps. "I swear, it's not natural or healthy."

"Sorry," Riley said. "I just wanted to see if she was okay."

Deja leaned against a tree and observed Marie. "Well, are you?"

"We heard you calling out for help," Curtis said.

"I am now." Marie rose to a stand, albeit on rather shaky legs. She was just so glad, so grateful to see their faces, when part of her had believed that she'd never escape that fog.

And because Marie was incapable, Riley swiftly went on to explain what had happened back at the cabin.

"What an absolute loser," Deja said, "And to think that I gave him the rest of my sticky toffee pudding at lunch."

"You know what? I never really liked him that much," Curtis said. "I just didn't want to hurt your feelings by questioning your judgement."

"Yeah, alright, Curtis," Deja said.

Now Marie really did laugh, but just a little bit. She couldn't help herself.

Riley draped an arm over her shoulders. "Come on. Let's get you out of here."