Prey.

40.

"Neela, please open the door," Ryan spoke with tears streaming down his face. He had been pounding on the door for about two hours after he finished training. "I want n-n-nothing to do with any of you!" Neela yelled, "Please, Austin," she whispered to herself. Austin was the only person she knew who done nothing wrong to her. He was only a boy who passed away before his time.

"Neela," Ryan tried to sound happier, "Sean got all of the medicine you need! It'll make you feel a little bit better!"

"Go!" Neela screeched, which had actually hurt Ryan's ears.

After not hearing anyone for about ten minutes, Neela's breath begun to even. As she laid on her bed that was pressed against the wall, her eyes shifted back and forth; from the door, to the window. Despite her room being on the second floor, it could be a quick and easy escape.

Neela stood on her knees and faced the window, she could do this, but she needed to prepare herself. She thought it looked to be February by how cold and snowy it was outside. Did they even have dates in this world? All day in school, no teachers or students even mentioned a date. There were no clocks, let alone calendars.

Slowly, trying to not make any noise, Neela made her way to her closet.

She would probably be out for a little bit before they could even realize she was gone, so she needed to dress warm. She grabbed a light pink, yet very thick sweater and slipped it on top of her white button-down shirt. Next, two pairs of black fleece leggings that were in her dresser drawers, she stripped herself of her skirt and quickly jumped into warmer material.

Now, Neela sat upright on her bed with a pair of knee-high socks in her hand. Once she shifted her weight from one side, the bed squeaked, causing Neela to jump and fall on the floor. "Oh, screw it," Neela hissed to herself when she realized all of her shoes were downstairs.

The window sharply squeaked when Neela pushed it up, it has never been opened. When you have supernatural hearing, it doesn't matter if a room is sound proof or not, you're still going to hear it. "Neela! What are you doing?" Sean yelled from downstairs. When he didn't receive and answer is when he became worried and threw his oven mitts on the sofa and jogged upstairs.

Neela's heartbeat was ecstatic, she couldn't believe she was about to jump. She took one last deep breath and lifted her butt from the windowsill and fell onto the snowy ground of the Soptic estate. Before she could even see if she was hurt anywhere, her head told her to run and fast.

Sean looked out Neela's room and saw her wildly running. "She ran! Let's get her!" Sean yelled to the rest of the house. Once Ryan heard that, he felt betrayed.

They told her the truth! She knew about their world! She knew it was dangerous and still decided to make the stupid decision of running away?

The numbing snow feels like little needles are pricking at the bottoms of Neela's covered feet. Her tear-stained cheeks are also feeling the needle pricks while her mind and body was screaming for some type of rest. After running for a bit longer, she noticed she was about four yards from the estate, Neela braced herself against a tree.

Angel, please. This isn't like you. Just trust us.

Her breaths came out uneven and harsh. Some breaths were quiet, some breaths were staggered yells. Her lungs and legs weren't burning anymore-only that mattered.

Neela, sleep.

Neela felt her knees buckle at Sean's commands in her head, but she didn't succumb to his words. Instead she kept running with blurring vision and a jello-like body.

Neela, if you sleep now, nothing bad will happen.

The more Sean said the specific word, the weaker Neela felt. She had to hold herself up from tree-to-tree just to keep upright.

Succumb to my words and sleep, Neela.

Knowing that no one was able to see her, she still shook her head as more staggered yells escaped her throat. "C'mon, Ryan!" Neela yelled into the, what seemed like, nothingness.

Neela, stop this! I have my gloves, come to me. I can finally hug you! Nothing bad will happen if you come now!

Ryan tried to sound cheery and inviting to coax Neela to the safety. The damage is already done, Neela thought.

It wouldn't matter if she went back or not, they still don't care about her, they're all still waiting for her to die. And the only reason they want her back at the estate is so she doesn't die by anyone else's hand, but Ryan's.

"Come kill me! This whole game is over! My dad's dead!" Neela yelled to the whole world, "I've no hope, no reason for living. Let's get this over with, Ryan!"

The twilight sky wasn't helping with her blurring and darkening vision, Neela could barely see in front of her and her whole body was numb from being cold, from Sean's words, and from her own exhaustion at this point. She had tried to squint her eyes while holding onto a tree to see if there was anything, anyone nearby.

Neela saw movement in the distance, it was rapid, it was...inhuman. It looked to be fighting with something else? Neela craned her neck further to see if she could even make out what it was, but to no avail.

Neela coughed, which caught the creatures attention very quickly. Whatever the creature was fighting, it had a new prey. Once the creature snapped its head up, all Neela could see was glowing red.

After seeing that glowing red, she saw the glowing red everywhere she looked in the woods. The red kept getting more intense, almost like it was getting closer.

And closer,

And closer.

Suddenly, Neela felt as if she were floating. She wasn't in pain anymore, she wasn't tired, she was just floating.