Strangers of the Forsaken.

Chapter Two: Part Three.

Chapter Two: Part Three.

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Unanticipatedly, Carsten then felt a sudden, hard tugging sensation on his arm, the source of which seemed to be coming from just beneath the water's surface.

"Stefan, Stefan please help me!"

The quickly rising panic from deep within Carsten, was rapidly beginning to completely take over his entire being. The more he attempted to pull himself back from the water, the stronger the tugging became and the more of the young boy was being violently pulled beneath the surface. Stefan, despite his best efforts, was simply unable to physically pull his friend out from the unforgiving depths, of the darkened pond. Whatever it was that currently had hold of Carsten, it surely had rather a good grip on him and it was winning this game of tug of war by a sweeping landslide.

"I... I can't... I can't breathe!"

The increasingly desperate pleas of the panicked boy soon became more and more terrifying, as he continued to make the most hopeless attempts to keep his head above the rippling surface.

"Carsten; please don't give up, I've got you, please stay with me!"

But alas, there was simply no use in the boy's feeble attempts, no matter how much panicked effort he put into trying to rescue his friend.

"I will not let you be taken from me, by those... Those things!"

Before he could ask what Stefan meant by those words, one final tug was felt on Carsten's arm and he was ripped callously from the very hands of his most dear friend. Stefan could only watch in utter horror, as Carsten was then taken deep below the mysterious waters of the pond. Stefan was only just able to save himself from also being dragged under, by pulling himself back at the very last moment.

Upon realizing that he had now truly lost the one person who had mattered most in his life, Stefan then suddenly dropped down to his knees and wept uncontrollably.

"Carsten..."

Even the sound of his friend's name leaving Stefan's mouth was now just too much for the young boy to bare. There was absolutely no saving him now and this was certainly something that Stefan knew all too well, thanks to the overbearing feeling of complete dread that was now washing itself over him.

"I... I have failed him..."

Tears were now rapidly making their way down Stefan's cheeks, his arms were trembling and he was barely able to keep his balance, despite his current knelt down position. As he stared intensely into the waters in front of him, his tear-stained, stinging eyes then pinpointed the exact spot where his dear friend had just been taken under.

"If only... If only I had taken more notice of the screams I had heard earlier..."

He was full to the brim with regret, but no amount of looking back would ever reverse what had just happened and Stefan knew it. Carsten was now gone forever and there was no changing that.

Feeling utterly worthless, the one thing that Stefan knew for sure was that he most definitely did not want to go on without his friend. Such a thought caused Stefan's already pained heart to send shockwaves throughout his entire body. Carsten was all that Stefan had in this world, his one true and loyal friend, the one person he knew he could always rely on. All of that had now been so cruelly snatched right out of Stefan's very hands, right before his helplessly shocked eyes.

"What have I done?" He spoke aloud, addressing nobody in particular. "How could I have just let him die like that? My only friend..."

Slowly getting himself up into a gradual standing position, Stefan now knew just what he had to do. He knew full well that it wasn't going to be at all pretty, but what other options did he have? There was simply no feasible way that he was going to be able to carry on, not now. Now that the only thing that truly mattered to Stefan had been so mercilessly stolen away from this wretched world. The more he thought about it, the more attached Stefan became to the idea that was now so actively concocting itself inside his head. He could tell that his thoughts right now were simply not rational in the slightest, but at this point, he quite frankly couldn't muster up the energy to care. Steadying his balance, Stefan then slowly but surely inched himself closer to the water's edge, not allowing his frightful eyes to leave the threatening ripples. As his eyes then closed to the peaceful sounds of the night's pure stillness, Stefan began to take deep, controlled breaths in an attempt to slow his rapidly increasing heartbeat. Up above him; the charcoal, atramentous sky seemed to be almost mocking him as the miniature, trifling stars were twinkling in the most childlike delight.