Savage Kingdom

Clara was in worse shape than she thought she was.

The rain continues to pour after they had walked as far as they did. She could see the town sign as she was leaving it behind with her little brother still holding her hand by her side. Although she tried to remain strong she could feel the heaviness of the bag on her shoulder weighing her body down, it made her bruised leg burn and shaky, and the rest of her body exhausted. The rain-soaked her clothes that it was weighing clinging uncomfortably against her skin.

Everything had changed too fast for her to comprehend, but it was the beating rain and the grass they walked on beside the road mingled with the terrible pain that helped her realize the awful cards she was dealt and didn’t know how she was going to turn this into her favor.

Hopefully make it to a hospital. She needed one. It didn’t help that she lived far away from one. She should have taken Richard’s truck but she didn’t know how to drive a stick shift. She didn’t also want to be charged with grand theft auto if the murder wasn’t bad enough.

What can she do in this situation? Should she have stayed? Maybe, just maybe, she could convince the police that she didn’t kill him. Would that be obvious at the crime scene?

These wounds and bruises should be enough to prove self-defense.

She was scared. She wasn’t sure if that would even work now that she ran away.

She finally pushes herself too much and her injured leg begins to fail her. The heaviness of the bag dragged her to the ground quickly. Kane screamed once she hit the ground hard. He falls to his knees and grabs the back of her shirt, “Sissy, are you okay? You’re hurt, aren’t you? You’re bleeding. Are we going somewhere that you will get better?”

She wishes she knew where she was going. Was this even the right way to the hospital? How could she be so stupid? Wasn’t this supposed to be the right way? She raises herself to remove the strap from her shoulder and took a moment to breathe. She was in so much pain right now that she didn’t know how she was going to get up and start walking again. She needs to find the strength to do it for Kane. It wasn’t an option to just sit here.

While she was tried to give her body a mental pep talk Kane turned his head to the woods beside them. Something soft and calm like a feather in the breeze, a very soft whisper, caught his young ears. The sound of that faded hum and the voice that came next into the darkness of the woods.

The murmur was soft, the voice of a young girl who spoke in a way that entranced him with echoes enveloping it. His fists tightened on Clara’s shirt even more as he looked on, the voices spoke to him. For a second he wondered if Clara could hear it. She didn’t. She was looking up at the rain and letting it fall on her face.

He answers back.

“Who are you...? Okay....” More rain fell, but the voice was audible through the rain.

“Where?” He asks while his head tilts. Clara looks at him when she mistakes him speaking to her. His mind seems to be enchanted by something else. He stares intently into the woods with caution and his ongoing fear of this situation they were put in. He worried about his hurt Clara. He didn’t like it when she tries to hide her pain from him.

He spoke again with his voice a bit shaky from the cold. The voice promised enticing things. It swore peace, an escape, in the form of a little girl’s whispers. He was helpless when falling into its alluring vows, “Okay... If you think it will help...”

He let go of Clara’s shirt and dashed into the dark woods.

Clara let out a sudden panicked cry, the discomfort in her body instantly forgotten so she can reach out to grab him. He was out of reach too quickly or she was too slow. “Kane. Kane! What are doing!? Come back! Don’t go in there!”

She chases him without a second thought and uses what was left of her stamina to enter the woods and leave the large bag of her belongings behind. Her things were forgotten.

She even pushes aside her fear about being in the woods at night, the same fate Janice succumbed to. Her main priority was Kane, he couldn’t have run too far within. She could catch him and give him a stern scolding for leaving like that and running blindly in these dark woods alone.

“Kane!” Her screams fill the air, it also increases her terror as she ran further into the forest without any sight of the little boy. Deeper and deeper inside with the rain pounding her she screams out his name louder, resembling the same feminine cry of a damsel in a black and white slasher film. “Kane!!”

There was no answer from him. Only the sound of the water hitting the earth filling her ears. She was fully panicking now at the thought of him hurt by a wild animal or trapped somewhere without her help. Hunters could have set traps in these woods that he could stumble in.

She has to find him. She needed to find him. He was the only one she had left. He is only five.

She hit a couple of trees with her shoulders. She truly underestimated how dark the forest could get, and the pounding of the rain on her already soaked body made it all worse. It made the ground mushier. If forest grounds can get mushy, She wouldn’t know. She once stayed out of them. She always stayed out of it. She hit another tree against her shoulder and spun.

She falls on her knee when her leg couldn’t keep forcing itself to aid her through the hard terrain. She was crying heavily as her hands touch the wet mud on the ground and instantly felt it squeeze between her fingers. That was the least of her worries.

Through the darkness, she notices the small hint of illuminating blue light. A blue light drew her vision forward, then amazement filled her eyes when she noticed the raindrops falling from the sky in front of her and disappearing in the soil.

Each drop was bright, a glowing light blue that made her reach out to grab one of the droplets in her hand. The blue liquid slid from her palm like it had a mind of its own and fell to the surface, a long drip to show it was thicker than water. Similar to liquid blue glowing mercury, yet not.

“What is this?” She whispers and struggles to sit up, using a nearby tree to hold herself on her feet. The blue liquid was falling on her now, and when she looks up at the environment she finds herself gazing at the clouded night sky filled with stars. Bright, flickering stars.

And three brilliant moons.