003 I run, You Run

Mason:

He pulled the trigger, but it was only green smoke that came out. The heck?

"What happened you jerk?" The man with the bat turned and scolded the one with the gun. "I thought you had it loaded." He yelled.

We were all equally as confused as they were.

I whispered to the girl, "I run, you run." She nodded. While the thugs were distracted, I took to my heels, holding her hand firmly in mine. She followed my lead, running where I ran.

"Hey!" One man shouted at us. "They're getting away!"

"Imbeciles!" The man with the bat screamed. "Chase them!"

We slipped behind a wall, running behind houses and over tree stumps. The girl was slow, and she was dragging me behind.

"Don't lag." I told her. "Keep going." I understood that she was wounded, so I didn't want to put so much pressure on her. We couldn't go to the place I had in mind. They would find us there since it was so close to where they were. Not many people were around, fortunately, so we didn't get any stares or 'additional chasers'.

We came upon two paths, not knowing where each of them led to. There was a rusted brick ladder right infront of us, and I had a plan. The men were still far behind us, so I could execute my plan. On the left path was a metal bin. I kicked the bin over and it fell, sending its contents scattering over the ground. I made sure to make the place a mess so that when the men came, they'd think we went that way. "Come. We're going up the ladder." I said.

"Up?" She asked, looking agitated.

"We don't have much time." I helped her up. "Hurry." She struggled to keep her hands and feet on the rungs, gradually slipping with every step. I followed behind, looking at my back to see if the men had spotted us. They hadn't. We got to the roof top of the building and laid on our backs, staying low so they didn't see us. This seemed a little too easy, to be honest. I expected more of what I witnessed earlier with Piper...stunts, leaps, shooting...but it was all so simple now.

I looked over at her. She said nothing, only breathing heavily and rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. A tear fell from her eyes.

"You are crying." I said. Piper never cried. Seeing the tears fall on this face was so new to me. What could I do?

"I hate this life." She sniffed. On a normal circumstance, I would grab Piper's face and kiss her passionately with all of me, making her feel comforted in the best way possible. I couldn't do that now. This wasn't Piper. "I want to go back." She said. "So much trouble in just one night! I hate this life."

Maybe she wasn't the kind of girl to be exposed to so much of the outside world. From my observation, she was shy and naive, not the street smart kind of girl. I felt she would be that sweet girl that everyone admired...polite, danger-free and innocent.

From below us I heard the men curse and yell at us. What took them so long?

"Those cursed thieves!" One yelled. "How could you lose them so easily? What are you called men for?" Their voices died down. "Search the area!" Footsteps were heard receding into nothingness.

"I think they're gone." I said, when I was sure they had left our tails. We couldn't stay here forever. We had to move and find a better hiding place. "Let's go." I sat up. She sighed depressingly, hesitantly sitting up. I saw how drained and tired she looked.

I reached out my hand to her, waiting for her to take it. She hesitated again, but bashfully slipped her hand in mine. It felt different. It was the same hand, but the way she meekly held onto it sent a warm feeling through me. I helped her up, and we walked across the roof.

Then strangely, from a distance, among the tall trees, there was a flashing purple light. It looked mystical and out of the world.

"Do you see that?" My eyes were stuck to the mysterious light that had appeared out of nowhere. She turned towards the light.

"Uh-huh. It's almost like..." she paused. "Like it's calling us."

I strained my eyes...then I remembered. My mother knew a voodoo witch who lived around. Her house was exactly in the direction of the light. The light was coming from her place. Maybe she could help us. She knew my mother, so she might favour us and help us.

"We're going to the light." I said.

She looked at me, "You do know what you're doing, don't you?"

"Trust me." I replied. I had to keep her close so she didn't falter.

We descended the wall on the brick ladder at the other side of the building. We couldn't afford to walk, so we took quick steps, trailing between houses, past old abandoned cars, by rusted dog kennels and across a narrow pond.

Then the house came in view...looking lost among the trees...the light began to fade as we approached it. The house was deep in the bayou, and we could have missed it if the light had not led us.

"We're here." I said. There was no reply. I turned to the girl. Her eyes were partly closed, and she took heavy breaths. "Hey?" No response. Her body became unstable, and she had to lean over for support.

"I'm tired." Came her breathless reply that could barely be heard.

"Hang on. We're here." We walked carefully to the crooked porch of the crooked house.

Before I lifted my hand to knock on the door, it slided open by itself.

Inside was dark and smoky, and a woman sat, rocking back and forth. She was staring at us...motionless. Her eyes were like clouded glass.

She smiled...not kindly. The one that made your skin crawl and sent shivers running down your spine.

Her voice rustled through the wind, "You're too soft for this skin, baby girl." Her smile widened. "It's already peeling you open."