AN: This is a preface/intro. to this story. And I kind of hate my muse for not letting it go because I have unfinished work. Meet you at the bottom!
She clutched her stomach as she walked through the slightly wooded area. The many trees caused the darkness of the night to be that much more frightening. She leaned heavily against a large tree as she looked forward hoping that she was going in the right way. The warm wetness against her hand reminding her that if she did not keep moving there would be know way for her to survive.
Her eyes filled with tears as she took her next step causing pain to shoot straight up her leg and her gut to twinge in almost unbearable pain. Her jaw clenched as she fought off the scream wanting to come out as she took a few more unsteady steps. A steady throbbing pain originating from her ankle reminded her that it, too, did not suffer her fall unscathed and she was not sure if she had broken it or merely sprained it. She seriously hoped for the latter.
Her movements began to become more sluggish as her strength slowly dwindled to barely registering, but she had to keep moving. She had to keep fighting he was depending on her and so was his mother. God, she promised to care for him, give him the life that was not in the capability of his mother to offer. She would not fail her baby sister nor would she fail the boy she raised as her own.
With renewed vigor, she continued on, her hand steadily keeping pressure on her wounded stomach as her legs carried her forward. A small cry of joy left her lips as she viewed the bench at the edge of the park near the trees; the taste of victory was sweet on her tongue if not short lived. Town was probably the worst place for her to be, but she knew navigating around though the woods and outskirts would waste valuable time that she did not have.
Biting back a wince, the blonde began to move forward eyes watering when she stepped wrong on her hurt ankle. She shook it off and continued to walk through the darkened town; it reminded her of a ghost town as dark and empty as it was. The hand not clutching to her stomach used the sturdy store fronts she was walking by to keep her steadily standing upright as she continued to stagger forward.
It felt like a lifetime and she was only halfway down the road; her chest was heaving with the efforts of her movements as a constant torrent of tears seeped from her eyes at the pain that originated from her damaged abdomen. Her fingers gripped onto the brick of the building next to her as her knees began to weaken; she let her body lean heavily against the store front, exhaustion pouring out of her body in waves. Blue eyes felt tired as they slowly began to droop, she just needed to sleep and if she did she was sure that she would feel better.
For a brief moment her eyelids dropped encasing her in a calm blackness that she was familiar with. A beautiful boy with brown hair and a smiling face greeted her filling her heart with warmth and happiness; playful shrieks and laughter filled warm walls as she watched the young boy dance around as he stared out a large front window. A squealing eight year old ran around the house in front of her in a flash as another blonde head rounded the corner huge smile dancing on features so similar to her own as she gave chase to the boy.
The blonde’s smiling face took up her minds eye as she spoke animatedly about some new hobby and dream playfully punching her shoulder when she asked if it was even going to stick. The young woman introducing her first love and being nervous as the door opened to reveal a gorgeous young woman with brown short hair and baby blue eyes as she stood confidently and determinedly as she admitted to being gay the laughter and punch when the teasing if it would stick came out naturally lifting any heaviness from the moment.
Those familiar eyes filled with tears and so much confusion and hurt clutching her stomach and pleading a why to her. Desperate to make since of it all. And with that image everything shifted. Her beautiful and strong baby sister lying on a bed unable to move feeling betrayed and broken as she tried to hide from the cruel words. The clicks the begging words. The desperate pleas. The trust and promise. It all swirled through her mind blending together in a big jumbled mess and she fought her way out of it opening her determined blue eyes to the darkness once again.
Gritting her teeth she shuffled forward again, new determination flowing through her veins. Her movements were sluggish, but her sense of accomplishment was so large she could practically see the end of the town and the beginning of trees where she knew a quiet lane lead through and a dirt road drifted off to he own cozy home in the wilderness.
A small hopeful smile lifter her lips as she walked, maybe luck was on her side and her since of hope doubled at the thought. Her eyes so focused on what was ahead of her she paid little attention to what was around her. Senses were dulled due to large amounts of blood loss, but the loud haunting groan from behind her clearly filtered through to her mind and her heart stopped for a second. Gritting her teeth she turned finally letting her eyes to take in her surroundings a loud sob escaping her at the cluster just a few lagging feet behind her. A gruesome, stumbling body licking a wall that she knew she had to lean against as blood seeped out of her wound.
A bight pink dress caught her attention as the smallest in the group moved to the front and another sob escaped her as she stared at what used to be little Molly Platt dressed in her Sunday best, but now was nothing short of a monster as black soulless eyes looked unblinkingly forward as sickly grey skin surrounded them once beautiful black hair seemed to be shedding and missing in clumps. Then the smell hit. It made her stomach heave.
Blue eyes once again looked forward to where her salvation would be, but death and destruction would only follow her to and she gave a sharp right stumbling along and moving away, as far away as she could get and as quickly as her weakening limbs could carry her. She got a half a block away when she stumbled the groans behind her growing louder by the second and she cried wishing she could scream. Her eyes took in a slightly ajar door ahead and she moved to it as quick as her remaining strength would allow her.
Her hand closed around the cold knob never happier to have an inanimate object in her hand before when a tug on her leg made her look down only to release a horrified scream as the horrendous figure in pink held her leg trying to pull her towards herself as gnarly black teeth gnashed wanting, needing to bite. She pulled her leg trying to free herself, but it seemed all her strength was already done. Tears fell in torrents as she tried desperately to free herself the shuffling and symphony of groans seemingly right on her now.
Her eyes looked up staring into a beautiful sky that she once fell in love with and stared directly into a bright moon standing witness to her struggle. And finally the sobs left her lips. She pushed the girl her hand sinking into rotting flesh through the pink material as her hand made contact. But doing nothing to get the girl away.
Another sob left her as she finally spoke hoping that in some way they would carry her apologies to the ones she loved and promised to always be there for.
“I am so sorry Emma, Henry. Please, be safe.”
End Note! Well I hope you at least assumed for a second it was Emma, but I don’t think she has blue eyes…I can’t remember at the moment.
Comments/reviews are love and my passion…actually writing is my passion but you know.
I have like a character analysis for this story already, but my outline is crap as of now with just basic milestones in it. And I can tell you this is not going to be a happy gumdrops and rainbow story (already)…at all. But it will be Swan Queen with some other pairings in there.
If you are interested in being my beta I’d love it! It comes with the perks of knowing stuff!