The Night Children

Chapter 49

My legs folded up under themselves as I rolled forwards, using the movement of my roll to cushion any bones from snapping. The breath escaped my lungs as I fumbled to a stand. I wheezed and shakily rebalanced myself, looking down to see several scratches begin to brim with crimson up and down my legs and arms. I swallowed and ignored the gathering ache in my limbs before glancing back to the broken window. People were peering down at me with looks of pure horror, while the police unknowing, bolted through the main entrance.

I stiffened a sob and quickly blinked against the spilt down my mind. I couldn't think straight. I had nowhere to go, nowhere to be. There was nothing in this town for me. Everything was a mess, everything I believed in was twisted. I didn't know who Aaron or Isaac were. I didn't even know my own mother. I didn't understand Pincel or Miss Anderson or the Forsaken or Parade. I didn't understand anything. So I ran away from it.

Bitumen roads blurred under my feet, street lights brightening in the gathering night as I sprinted. My heart rose into my neck, thumping against it as I gasped for breath.

Who killed the children? Were the Forsaken even the killers? Who was Isaac? Why did he lie to me? What was the darkness that surrounded Aaron?

Don't think that the reason why I've saved you so many times is because I care about you.

I tripped over a rock but regained my footing as I narrowly missed a car that was backing out of the drive way. The driver honked but the noise was nothing in comparison to the ringing in my head. I couldn't control what I felt, despair drenched my thoughts instead.

It would have been for the best if he bled out in the woods Renee.

I rounded a corner, buildings fading into undergrowth, bitumen roads crumbling away into dirt ones. My lungs burned for oxygen but I didn't stop. I had to get away. I had to find the answers myself.

I burst through the snow, sliding under an overhanging branch as I entered the edge of the forest. Spruce trees lined the edge of my vision, scattered like tomb stones. I didn't stop when I jumped clumsily over a fallen log. I didn't stop when my shirt snagged on a branch. I didn't stop when I tumbled down a small valley. I only stopped when I reached the clearing. I skidded to a halt, leaving the shadows of the trees to stand in the middle of the wide clearing, acknowledging the growing snowflakes that continued to trial through the sky. I wheezed for breath, taking in great gulps of air as I tried to sort out my thoughts. The wolves would come soon. They would finally come and finish me off. They would think I was a corrupted Forsaken. Just another girl that was lost in the woods shadows.

But then a figure appeared from the edge of the trees ringing the clearing and I spun to see Aaron.

"How did you find me?" I asked in shock, my words a whisper from lack of oxygen. He only walked towards me, sinking ankle deep in the snow as he did so. He only spoke when he was standing a few feet away from me. The snow brought the golden flecks out in his eyes. The cold weather made his cheeks a rosy pink, touching the edge of his nose and making his lips a deeper colour. I looked away to focus on his face. He looked genuinely worried, his eyebrows drawn with anxiety.

"Renee I am so sorry." He breathed, his voice the softest I had ever heard. "I shouldn't have reacted like that earlier."

But I only frowned, grappling for something to say. "What's done is done. I know what you feel about Isaac now."

But Aaron ducked his head, clearly ashamed. "Please believe me when I say I am sorry."

I regarded him, his pleading look and widened eyes. I saw the boy I grew to like. The boy who kissed me so gently, who cradled me under the stars and whispered his feelings in my ear. It was hard not to imagine the feel of his lips against mine again but then reality kicked back in.