The Next to be Taken

Chapter Twenty-Four

Yet again, another night. I headed down the hall for my room while all the other children were finishing up with brushing their teeth and going to bed. I tried to ask Dash today what happened with the cut, but he avoided to go into much detail. I wonder why, was it that bad?

"Goodnight, Mavis." Maddie hugged my side.

"Goodnight." I patted her back, kinda giving a half hug back.

She ran off to her room, some of the other kids running down behind her.
"Night, Mavis!" Elijah waved.

"Night!" Timothy ran with Elijah.

"Goodnight." I responded to them while they ran off.

I heard giggling, turning my head to look behind me and having to get out of the way, the twins came by me, tackling each other on their way to their room.

"Hey hey! Ease up before you break something." I held my hand out to signal them to stop.

They both tumbled to the floor, Carter pinning Dylan down while he struggled.

"We'll be fine, we do this all the time." Carter put his hand on Dylan's neck, looking up to me with his knee on his chest.

I folded my arms. "Oh really..?" I looked down, seeing Dylan now struggling uncomfortably. Seemingly to be having a hard time breathing with Carter's hand on his throat, Carter doesn't even realize he's basically strangling him.
"Move your hand, you're hurting him." I turned away from them.

Carter looked down, then yanked his hand off of him. Dylan got up, coughing and holding his throat. They all finally made it into their rooms as I made it to mine. I heard all the bedroom doors shut and a couple of last 'goodnight' calls to each other. I stood in front of my door, looking over my room. I pulled my hair back, seeing the light from the hall dimming. Then I heard talking. I turned back to the door, curiosity getting me. Peeking out the door, I saw Dash about to leave. Kent coming into view.

"So you need me to go with you? Think the kids will be fine?"

"Yes, they'll be fine. Not the first time we left them alone like this and, we shouldn't be too long. It's one cannibal, and there's two of us. We can take care of this one easily." Dash fixed his jacket.

"So where is he at? How far out?" Kent grabbed his jacket, pulling it on.

"Not far, this one is hiding somewhere in the Forrest in the human world. It's ridiculous how far they go to feed their additions." Dash headed for the door.

This is my chance! Probably the stupidest thing I've ever done but, I need to see for myself how this works. I should be fine, as long as I keep my distance and don't get seen.
I snuck out the door, trying to be quiet but quickly get to the door before it shuts.
Crap! I forgot about the stairs!
As fast as I could, I sat down on the first step and pushed myself to the next, going at a decent pace. Until the door was about to shut, instead of sitting down to get to the next step, I started to hop down from step to step.

I lost balance and hit the edge of the last step, throwing myself to the floor. I tumbled, rubbing the arm I landed on and that would surely bruise. I pushed myself back up to my feet, almost limping at first until the pain finally subsided. I caught the door in time, squeezing myself through it. I have to try to not be seen, if they see me, they will send me back. I have to be quiet, and careful.

Getting through, I faced forward, sighing.
Looking down I realized...... I had to go through more stairs...
Is it really worth it? I could follow them to see what happens, or on the other hand I could go to bed. I visibly weighed my options with my hands like I was debating. After coming up with a conclusion, I dropped my hands by my sides, puffing out my cheeks, staring the stairs down. It's only three steps, I'll survive. I rolled my eyes, trying to get myself to the bottom as fast as I could since I was now gaining too much distance between me and the giants.

I already knew, I was going to get such a work out tonight. I rushed after them, finally catching up.
The grass ruffled a little as I pushed through it, the light sound caused Dash and Kent to both turn around.
Without thinking, I quickly dropped to the ground to avoid their gaze. Air was knocked out of me from the quick impact of the ground, I hid in the blades of grass.
Ugh, their hearing. Sometimes I forget how good it is.

"Did you hear something?" Dash looked over the yard.

Kent scanned the area as well, then shrugged. "Yeah, but it's probably just a squirrel or something." He turned away, walking up to the light pole.

Dash stood there for a moment longer before he finally followed Kent.
I slowly lifted my head up, looking over the tall grass. Sitting on my knees, I looked down at myself, brushing the dirt off my chest and stomach. Bringing myself up to my feet, I slowly creeped up to them, being very mindful of the noise level I could be making. They clicked the button and opened the portal.

Oh my God... I don't know if I can do this. I can't do it. Is it really worth it? There's no turning back now, the door is shut. Unless I feel like sitting out on the porch with the possibility of predators getting me. But I kind of run the risk of getting killed either way. I'm gonna end up getting myself killed..