Unchained

Chapter Thirty Eight

I was dead.

I woke up, shaking the sleepiness and darkness from my mind. I looked around frantically, panicking as I tried to remember what...

What?

I was leaning against a tree, wearing a black dress, and it was very cold. My hands felt bound behind my back and so were my ankles. I looked around and I was in a dark forest, and night was surrounding us. I saw a wrecked car a few yards away.

And then I remembered.

The prom. Sean. Crashing. I couldn't see through his body. And then... I blacked out.

I started to breath heavily as I tried to use my strength to bash through my bindings. But when I looked at them, they looked like metal. Or steel. Something hard that I wasn't able to break. And that was what scared me.

"Sean?" I squeaked out, my voice trembling with terror. "Sean, where are you?" What if some crazy man did this to me? And killed Sean? Or what if, instead of a crazy man, he was some psycho murderer? Who was going to kill Sean, then me, or even worse, do something horrible to us?

And how come I couldn't break free of whatever I was tied up in?

I heard a thump behind me. I jumped and tried to turn around but the tree was too thick and all I saw was slimy bark with bugs crawling around. I squirmed around in my predicament but I was stuck, cold, and wearing a dress, of all things to be wearing. 

"Sean?" I whispered.

I turned around to try and calm myself but I screamed, because someone was standing in front of me.

Sean.

"Sean!" I cried. "Are you okay? I think I'm stuck, it's - " I shut up when I got a better look at him.

He had some nasty, bloody gashes and his suit and tie were all dirty and rumpled. But in his hand, he held something. It looked like a blade, some kind of dagger or sword, but it was a lot more different than the swords I'd seen before in my life. The hilt was a dark greenish color, with several engravings in gold. The blade was short yet pointy, curving down with writings in a strange form in red and black all over it. It was beautiful to look at, but it sent chills down my spine.

"Sean?" I asked, my voice trembling. "What... What is that?"

And then a smile appeared on Sean's face, and this time, it was a smile I had never seen before.

"I think you know what this is, Avaley," he said in a dark voice that I couldn't imagine him saying. 

"I don't," I said honestly. "Sean, what's going on?"

And then Sean let out a loud shout and ran towards me, holding the blade up in the air. I screamed, and quickly threw myself to the side as Sean buried the sword in the tree, barely missing me. I tried to get up but my arms and legs were bound. Sean cursed as he pulled the blade from the tree. I watched as it glowed in the darkness, and heard a loud crack as suddenly the tree toppled over.

Sean looked at me, panting, and smiled pleasantly. "You can't escape from this, Avaley." he told me in a calm manner. "No matter how hard you try."

"W-w-what the c-crap?" I said slowly. "Is this some kind of game, or - "

Sean yelled again and held up the blade, bringing it down on me. Quickly, I brought up both of my legs and pulled myself backwards, as if doing a somersault except starting on my back. Both of my feet hit Sean's wrist and the blade went flying and with a clink, it landed on the ground away from me. Sean growled at me and shoved my feet away. He stared at me, a hatred look brewing in his eyes. This wasn't the Sean I knew. Something was horribly, terribly wrong.