Chapter Nineteen


    “ALFRED!” I screamed.

    His face froze. His whole body did. “Zana.....”

    “Alfred?!” I ran over to him.

    “You should be way more careful.....” He choked. An arrow stuck straight out of his chest, rising and falling with his breathing as it slowed.

    I killed him. My own brother. Just out of my stupidity. God, why was I such an idiot?! No, how could this happen? HOW?! NO! I dropped down beside him as he fell to the ground. “Alfred? Alfred stay with me!” I slapped his cheek a little.

    “Heh. You shot me with a crossbow, and now your slapping me? What a bitch...” He laughed weakly. His head started to turn to the side and his eyelids lowered slowly.

    “Come on, stay with me!” With all the effort I could muster, I picked him up. He was like lead, what with all the cheeseburger's he's eaten. Carrying him in my arms, I made the short trip back to the camp.

    “Oh my god!” Lovino exclaimed.

    “Help him.” I whimpered. I lay Alfred down in the grass and look up at them all. His breathing was getting shallower.

    Kiku and Gilbert ran up knelt beside my brother. Kiku eased the arrow out of his rib cage, and Alfred groaned. Feliciano ran over with cloth to clean the wound, and a bottle of water. I watched them work, heavy with guilt. I did this to him. I did. No one else was involved. I shot him. I shot my brother.

    That's when I ran. It would've been best if I had never come along. All I do is cause problems! All I do is get people killed! Running and running, not even bothering to look back at the people who where screaming at me. I'm sure they're glad I'm going away. I bet they're yelling to never come back.

    I ran for what seemed like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. I broke through the tree line and scampered up the nearest one. Curling up, I hugged my knees and began to cry.

    “Why so down?”

    I fell out of the tree. Reaching for my gun, and turned to face the mystery person. “Who are you? SHOW YOURSELF!” I aimed the gun at the tree.

    “Easy. It's me, Matthew.” A face poked out from the leaves. Blonde hair fell to his chin, a single strand sticking out and ending in a weird curl. Of course it was him. I would've recognized that soft, scared voice anywhere. Poor Matthew. He always gets ignored. I try to say hi to hi when I can, but sometimes I can't even find him. I know he's there, but it's like he has this ability to disappear.

    “Hey Matty. What're you doing here?” I rubbed my eye. Stupid. Crying in front of another person. I don't even know what he's been through.

    “I've been following you guys this whole time. I'm not a stalker, don't worry, but I figured I'd be safer if I stuck with you. People always ignore me anyway, so I thought I could be your shadow.” He smiled slightly. “You didn't answer my question. Why are you so sad?”

    I gave up. He was so easy to talk to. I told him everything. Well, at least the things he missed. Daisy going crazy, Dennis walking off. The dreams. I told him about every nightmare I'd had. The shape-shifting creature, the falling, the flames. I told him about the crossbow, and what happened to Alfred. He kept a straight face and nodded, not wanting to say anything until I was done. We were both sitting cross-legged on the ground.

    Finally, when I finished, he started asking questions. I answered the best I could, until he asked about Dennis.

    “So, do you know what happened to him after he left?” Matthew asked. I froze. Cheeks burning, I turned away, disgusted.

    “I have no idea.” I spat bitterly. He stopped the interrogation after that.

    I heard a scream in the distance.

    “What was that?!” Matt hopped up, as well as me.

    “Better question, who was that?” I ran toward the field.

    Creeps. Everywhere. All swarming around our camp.