them. She was in the dark now, with no light around her.
Her light was gone.
It had gone out completely that day.
Or, maybe it had gone a long time ago.
No…She could not embrace human life anymore. She couldn’t bring herself to forgive what those monsters had done to her.
What she had done to her.
She made her lose everything. Everything she cared about. Made her point arrows at her friends or complete, absolute strangers. Made her lose her family, her friends, everything she owned. She had made her into a completely different person. Made her into a monster, just like her.
A dog.
Her dog
A puppet.
Her puppet
It was over.
She had lost everything.
Avalon looked back at Booker, her eyes pleading as she whispered in desperation, “What’s happening to me, Mr. DuLoc?”
He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped himself. There were two reasons for this. The first was the water falling from her face. Not from the rain-From her eyes. The second was the shaking.
The trio looked all around. The earth was shaking, just slightly. The ground was trembling beneath their feet, the force growing stronger by the second. They began to hear something far-off, like an echo, or a voice slowly nearing them.
And then, at the same time, they all saw it. They stood, side-by-side, their eyes wide. The only thing they could do was watch with horror.
Filling the horizon.
Hundreds.
Running straight at them.
At first, they were nothing but silhouettes, which gradually changed as they neared into something else entirely.
Wolves.
All different shapes and pelts.
Different ages.
Male and female.
But they had a couple things in common.
A crazed look in the eye.
Most were snarling or showing their teeth, but some had their tongues sticking out from the side of their mouths.
Laughing crazily.
Foaming from the mouth.
The whites of their eyes showing.
Pupils small, tiny black dots.
Blood streaming from the eyes or mouth.
It was happening again.
“The epidemic,” Iris managed to speak, her voice barely a whisper. She looked like she might faint from fear. She began to walk backwards, her hands searching for someone’s-Anyone’s. They found Avalon’s, but her hands were trembling so terribly she just let go again. Not to mention the nearing chaos.
She blindly took her wand out, still walking back. “Run,” Iris ordered them, her voice filled with terror. She shook Avalon’s shoulder, who was still watching, too horrified to react. ”Run!”
Booker dared himself to look away, to Avalon, still unmoving, mouth gaping. She was like a statue, frozen by fear’s icy grip. He grabbed her hand, trying to keep his voice firm. “Avalon, run.“ The pack of wolves were nearing, their howls and snarls filling the silence around them, the ground shaking like an earthquake from their paws, begging to taste their blood.
Finally, he grabbed her arm, pulling her backwards.
“Run, NOW!”
- F A L L E N -
THE END
Katie Ashley
Sherri Browning Erwin
Kenneth Harding
Karen Jones
Jon Sharpe
Diane Greenwood Muir
Erin McCarthy
C.L. Scholey
Tim O’Brien
Janet Ruth Young