Guardian

Chapter 8

Dark has been acting wierd ever since he told his story 2 nights ago. I'll be honest, it scared me a little. To think that Dark was treated so horribly!

I've been seeing him a lot more often since I don't have school and spend most of my time in the woods. At night though, sometimes he spaces out and jumps at little noises. When I ask him about it he just waves me off and changes the subject. I try not to worry about him though, thinking that maybe he's just remembering his past.

I never should have asked about it in the first place.

Tomorrow is Monday so I have to go to school again. I really hate it! I mean I know I need an education and all that, but...I'm the shy kid in the class so other kids either tease me or just ignore me. I can talk easily with Dark and even vent about stuff to him. He doesn't always know what I'm talking about, but he at least hears me and listens!

Mr. and Mrs. Keistone take us to church every other Sunday and make us wear black pants, a shirt, and ties that almost choke us to death! As soon as we get back to the house, all of us run to our rooms to change! Some boys just start tearing off thier tight fitting clothes as soon as they step in the door.

After I struggled through the stampede of pre-teen boys and grabbed a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and my favorite red jacket. I quickly changed in the bathroom and tossed my church clothes in the laundry room. Then, I grabbed a water and picked a package from our quickly shrinking supply of peanut butter crackers and slipped outside.

I walked down the path, humming a church song that got stuck in my head. Soon, I was at the tree that we always meet at.

Usually, Dark sleeps at this time of day and I wait for him to wake up. This time, I found him pacing back and forth a little ways off, mumbling to himself and running his claws through his navy blue hair.

"Uh, Dark," I called, "you okay?"

He flinched and stopped pacing, then sighed when he saw it was me. He slowly walked over to me and ran a hand through his hair again.

"Jason," he looked away, "we need to talk."

"Sure." I sat down and offered him the crackers.

He crouched down next to me and glanced at the crackers before looking away again. "No thanks. I'm not hungry."

I gasped. Something was definetly wrong! He would never turn down his favorite snack! "Who are you and what have you done with Dark?!" I exclaimed.

The imposter chuckled like Dark and shook his head. "I'm still me," he said, "I just don't have much of an appetite right now."

"Okay," I replied, "I believe your story, but I'm watching you!"

He laughed some more and I smiled to myself, glad to have lightened the mood. Sadly, though, it didn't last.

"So, Jason, you know that my injuries have pretty much healed."

"Which is amazing!" I added as I opened my water bottle.

"Yeah, it is. Well...I-I was thinking...and..." he sighed and looked down, "I need to leave."

I almost choked on the water and started coughing. When my little coughing fit was through, I looked up at him with wide eyes. "What?!" I rasped, "Why? Why do you have to leave?"

Dark flinched at my tone, "I-I'm not far enough away. Every day I stay here they could be closer to finding me. I need to leave and keep moving."

It was silent for a while, until I made a decision. "Then I'm going with you."

"What?"

I looked him in the eyes, "I'm going with you."

Dark was about to argue, but I stopped him. "There's nothing here for me, Dark! The only person who'd notice I was gone would be Mrs. Keistone, and she'd soon forget about me because of all the other boys she has to take care of!"

Dark sighed, "Jason, you can't."

I quickly stood up so I was eye level with him. "But I am!" I exclaimed, "We're all each other has and I am not about to let my best friend go on alone!"

I stared into Dark's wide white eyes, and the forest was silent.

Then, he sighed in defeat and stood up. "Fine," he said, "you win. We'll talk more about where we should head tonight."

I grinned in triumph and started jumping up and down in anticipation. A small smile was on Dark's face as he picked me up and swung me around. We were both laughing and smiling as though the conversation moments ago never happened.

I had later gone back to the house for lunch. Over the course of the day, I sneaked some snacks and drinks and other essentials into my pockets to then stuff in my backpack. The whole time, I had a small smile on my face because I was leaving the place where everyone hated me to travel with a person who actually cared about me!

When night fell and it was time to go to bed, I pretended to fall asleep and waited until I heard the snores of a sleeping Nick. As quietly as I could, I changed out of my pjs and grabbed another set of clothes before sneaking out of the room. I sneaked downstairs and past Mr. and Mrs. Keistone's room to the back door.

I stuffed the extra clothes in my backpack and slid out the door. I ran into the forest and down the path, smiling as my eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness of the forest.

I soon made it to our spot and looked around for soft glow of Dark's eyes.

"Dark?" I called, "I packed all my stuff! I was thinking that we could start by heading towards the river a few miles from here."

When I didn't hear an answer, I started to panic and walked around the tree. "Dark? Dark!" I called again and again.

"Dark? Where are you?" My voice started to crack.

"Dark? You said we'd meet tonight! Y-you said we'd leave t-together!" Tears were starting to blurr my vision as I kept calling with no response.

Then, I got angry.

I threw my stuff down, tears streaming down my red face. "You promised, Dark!" I shouted, "You promised I'd never be alone again! You said you'd always be here!"

I broke down and curled up against the tree. "Y-you p-promised."

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I'm so evil, aren't I? *insert evil laugh*
Is it bad that I've been waiting forever to get to this part?
Next chapter is Dark's p.o.v.
Get ready because the feels are just gonna keep coming! So please Comment, Vote, and Share!