~Chapter 5~

“Where am I?” I asked in a hoarse voice as I rubbed my eyes, the way my brother Noël did whenever he was sleepy. Trying to get up on my feet I asked again, irritated that I wasn't getting an answer.

“ RUN!” Someone bursted in, trying to catch his breath.

“ RUN!” he repeated and left as quickly as he had come.

His words triggered emotions and everyone dispersed. Not having time to think anything through, I followed suit. A stab of pain, from my lower abdomen, caused me to falter in my steps. Nobody seemed to care, so I held on to my side and used up the strength in me.

   It seemed like we were on our heels for hours, passing through turns and corners as swiftly as possible. My weak self, was behind the rest of the crew, trying to catch up to them. This is ridiculous, running with some bunch of strangers. Away from or towards heavens knows what. Where am I? What I am doing here? Why does my body hurt so much? And what the hell are we running from? I was too busy, frustrated to notice the stone in front of me. Tripping, I fell with my front hitting the ground. The loud thud, alerted the others as they halted in their tracks all at the same time.

“ What are you doing on the floor?” The informant from earlier asked as he scrunched up his nose.

“ Taking a short nap” I shot at him, rolling my eyes.

“ Get up and keep moving, we don't have much time” 

“ Much time! What are we running from? Where are we going? Who are you, people? And what am I doing here?” I let out a frustrated sigh, as I ran my hand through my hair, wanting to pull it out. 

“ You talk too much” The older one spoke, for the first time. He seemed to be the reserved one, not that that I knew him well. 

“ Of course I talk too much. Don't you think it's necessary in this situation?”

“ SHUT UP!” He yelled at me, before throwing me over his shoulders like a sack of potatoes.

“ PUT ME DOWN!” I yelled back, feeling uneasy over his shoulders. My protests fell to deaf ears. He simply motioned to the rest of them to keep walking, falling behind. If I thought we looked ridiculous before then I was mistaken. At least, then they were only running from unseen forces. Now, they had a crazy-looking tanned skin girl, squirming to be put down. 

  Abruptly, they stopped in their tracks again. What's with the synchronized movements? At the top of a cliff, some tents were arranged in a row. Some logs of woods in a circle and a bonfire in the middle was the highlight. He dropped me like the sack of potatoes he thought I was. My back was the one to hit the ground this time.

“ Ouch” I whispered, whimpering.

“ Get into that tent, and try to shut up.” He pointed to the last tent on the row before walking into one of the arranged tents. 

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The tears I had been holding, streamed down my cheeks. Breaking down into gentle sobs. Mother once told me that bottling up your feelings won't do you any good. This was so surreal, I was heading back home from school and the next thing I know, I'm running. Everybody I knew was nowhere to be found, what I'll give to see Melissa's stupid face again. I needed answers but no one seems to be providing me with answers.

Not even having enough time to look around. Suddenly, anger flared up inside of me. How dare they treat me with contempt! “ I live to please myself” I chanted in my head, as I unzipped my tent and snuck away stealthily. Nobody was outside, I assumed everyone was snuggling inside the not so cozy tents. I just walked by without causing much noise, I had questions that they'll not be able to answer.

    Despite it been the dead of the night, there was no need for me to worry about it being too dark. The stars in the sky glistened brightly, complimenting the illuminating full moon. I wanted to be on top of the roof and stare at the sky as I gently fall asleep. Picking up pebbles from the ground, I threw them on the ground one after the other. I desperately wanted all of this to make sense. This place is unusual, really unusual.

One of the many pebbles I threw, hit a tree. I stopped under the tree, resting my head on the trunk. If Stacey could see me now, she'll flip. Partly because of my fashion sense right now and also because I look like a deranged woman. The blue ripped jeans I wore this morning, was stained with dirt. It looked more like blue and brown dyed jeans. A bird's nest was better looking than my hair. For some strange reason, my body hurts, was it from tripping in the cafeteria? I hadn't remembered hurting this much, I barely hit the ground then. I remember going home, pissed but...... how did I get here? I can't remember. Allowing my emotions to overwhelm me, the warm tears spilled down my face. My head was still pounding. I need a pain reliever of some sort and sleep too. Good sleep! It didn't look like I'll be getting any of that soon. Despite my worry for myself, I couldn't help but wonder about what these people are running from. It was more than strange. Although the group seemed close and had an understanding of themselves. I hadn't had enough time or patience to take a good look at their faces. I hadn't even had time to take a good look at where I was. The roads we ran through were filled with houses. It was like we ran from block to block{ Being carried also counts} and magically appeared on the top of a cliff. 

  Maybe I was taking this too far anyway. Maybe I fell asleep in the middle of the park {as illogical as that sounds.} and now I'm dreaming. Telling myself I fell asleep in a park was way better than saying than trying to explain how I got here. 

“ Yes, that's what it is! It's a dream!” I said aloud, convincing myself.