They Keep Secrets

T H I R T E E N

I attempted to catch my breath, lying low in a tangle of leaves and roots.

"Laurelle!" Darkness's mocking tone carried through the trees. "Laurelle! Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

I realized I couldn't hide forever, but I knew I had to do the best I could to survive Darkness's wrath. My chest heaved and a cough tickled the back of my throat. Clamping my lips together, I held my breath, waiting.

Through the brambles, I could see Darkness kicking up a spray of pine needles in frustration. "You know I will find you. You're not very good at hiding."

My heart pounded in my chest, exploding with pressure. As I crept deeper into the thorns, I could feel the fabric on my shirt ripping away, exposing my shoulder. 

"Laurelle, it would be so much easier for both of us if you just come out now. A lot less painful too..." Her voice hung in the air, testing me. 

I swallowed hard, not daring to let myself breathe. The emerald leaves glistened above me, shiny with the morning dew.  

A sharp sound jolted me out of my trance. I looked up to see Darkness hacking at the branches with a rotten stick she had found. "Laurelle," she muttered between grunts. "I'm going to find you. I'm going to kill you!"

A pit formed in my chest. What had turned my former friend into such a maniac? I hadn't even really done anything wrong, I had just made a simple mistake.

Darkness brought the stick up behind her head and whipped it at the bushes, directly at my head. I dropped down, my stomach against the moist forest floor. Twigs cracked above me as berries came hurtling down from the space my head was seconds ago. Had she seen me? Is that why she had thrown the stick or was that just out of pure frustration?

A cold fear gripped my heart, enabling me to breathe properly. Darkness stepped toward me, crushing several pinecones as she did. "Laurelle? Are you in there?" As soon as those words left her mouth, the branches are pulled out from above me, exposing me to her intense gaze.

"I knew it. You were never very good at hiding," A smirk plays at the corners of her crimson-stained lips. Darkness's eyes follow mine. "Wondering about this, sweet Laurelle? The blood?" She gestured to her mouth. "You'll find out soon enough." Her stone-cold fingers snaked around my wrist, cutting off my circulation.

I tried to pull away. "You're hurting me!"

"Does it look like I care?" Darkness snickered. "I have things to do, people to see, and you're only slowing me down."

The sun filtered through the greenery, casting shadows across our faces. Darkness lead me through trails covered in moss, rock-covered divets, and rotting logs. Eventually, we were in a part of the forest I didn't recognize. Nothing seemed familiar. No squirrels scampering from tree to tree, no trickling sound of a rushing stream, no robins perched above.

My arm felt as if it was being pulled out of its socket as Darkness yanked me along. "Hurry up, Laurelle. We don't want to be late!"

"Late for what?" 

I never got an answer.