Blood and Bone | 1

3 | 4

I didn't look back as I followed my one remaining teammate through the woods. I didn't know what I would find. Hopefully, the Crepuscule Club had fallen into the temporary trap Jake had set, but from what I had seen, they were clever. They would be tailing us again in no time.

I was no longer running, as the threat behind us didn't seem immediate. Even if it was, I wouldn't have been able to run; my leg burned with so much pain that I could hardly pick it up off the ground. So when my hands shook and my black pants were slick with blood, I finally stopped in my path.

Ripping a strip of cloth from the bottom of my shirt, I tied a tight bandage around my wound. I watched the dark fabric absorb the blood that was oozing from the hole in my leg.

After I was satisfied with my adequate first aid, I began following Jake's retreating back again. I had seen that he'd gotten a few injuries from the gang members' weapons, but apparently none of them had been bad enough to require immediate medical help. That, or he was just as stoic as he seemed.

I surveyed the forest around me as I limped onward. The sun was beginning to set in the distance, making exaggerated tilts of fiery sunlight appear through the treetops. Birds chirped overhead as I walked through the grassy meadows underneath. The place was very beautiful, but there was no time to admire it. My head swiveled towards each sound of a branch being broken or the whisper of wind in the trees, as I imagined the Club members hiding in the deepening shadows.

Though as wary as I was being, stalking through the woods with suspicious eyes looking into every possible hiding spot, I did not let Jake disappear from my vision. I trusted him much too little to feel comfortable around him. He was also highly unpredictable; I didn't know what he was going to do next, and if his plan had something to do with harming me.

The shadows cast by the tree trunks became longer and the sky became darker as the sun continued its decent to the horizon. I wondered what we were going to do next, especially in such an unfamiliar place; we needed food and water eventually, not to mention sleep and medical supplies.

The forest tapered off as the spaces between trees began wider and the dark blue sky slowly became visible again. My boots hit asphalt as I reached a road that cut through the wilderness.

As I looked down the street, I could see a city far away on the horizon. Jake and I began making the long trek towards it in silence as the world around us became completely dark. The only real source of light besides the moon was the flash of headlights from the occasional car that passed by. The inky darkness only served to make me feel even more vulnerable to attack from anyone who was still following. I hated not knowing exactly who was after the two of us.

Finally, in what I could only guess were the late hours of the night, Jake and I reached the town. By that time, I was about ready to collapse. Weariness and pain blurred my vision, and I knew that I needed more than just a bandage for my leg now. The two of us stood in front of a gas station on the outskirts of the town. It looked abandoned, but the lights were on, so I slowly made my way inside.

A bell jingled as I pushed the door open, making me jump slightly at the sudden noise. A heavyset woman sat at the counter, half-asleep, but she appeared to be the only one in the place. I slowly took my eyes from her to glance around the store, and I promptly noticed that all the signs were in a language that I didn't understand.

"Where are we?" I muttered under my breath, as we were clearly not in a country with a language I was familiar with.

I turned to Jake, who was standing to my right, inspecting the store. "This isn't America. Where else would Hundsen take us?"