Guardian

**************Author's Note***********

I know what you are thinking...OMG ANOTHER CHAPTER>>>NO WAY!

I feel the same way, haha :)

Anyway, I'll keep this brief in the interest of lag. Starting now, all review answers will be completed in the forum here -->>>http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=15118.

Much love and enjoy! XD




Chapter 17

I’m still alive? No…I’m dying.

I swallowed, choking on the gummy mass clogging my throat. It tasted like salt and copper. I tried to breathe through my nose, but stopped as the pressure pulsed through my head and stung my eyes.

Somewhere in my stomach a rock had grown, replacing the space where my intestines had once been.

Everything else was numb…blissfully, terrifyingly numb…

I had to be dying, I thought as I opened my eyes. There was no way I was going to survive that.

From where I lay on the rocky dirt, I could see my Nova, just feet away…or what was left of it, at least. The overturned mass of crushed steel would never make it out of the dry creek bed where it had landed…

Had I crawled out?

Or was I thrown?

Did it matter? Either way I was still just as dead.

I blinked, coughing, warm salty blood filling my mouth.

Cold was seeping into me from the ground. If I was shivering I couldn’t feel it…

I was going to die alone…in the dark…

How long would it take? Would I be laying here for hours? Days?

Would someone come looking for me?

Poor Daisy.

Maybe I wouldn’t be found for months…or years. Not until some hunting dog sniffed out my bones.

Damn…

I didn’t want to die here. I had to get help…

But…my spine might be broken…

Would I do more damage if I tried to move?

But I couldn’t just lay there. If I didn’t move, no one was going to find me. Not until I had become a pathetic bag of bones.

I could start small…with a finger. I was going to move my fingers.

With my eyes closed I took a breath, feeling the air slide over my tongue and catch in my chest. It tasted like dirt, and metal…and blood. I swallowed down the grit, focusing on my hands, on where they were supposed to be.

Maybe it was the blood loss, or maybe I hit my head in the crash, but it took a few panicky moments before my brain could register where my limbs were attached.

My right arm was somewhere crushed beneath my side. The left was curled next to my face. I could just see the blurry outline of my pale hand. The pinky was twisted at a disturbing angle.

I had to swallow again as my stomach churned. I didn’t want to look at it…but…

I sucked in some air, hoping the oxygen would dispel some of the stars and nausea, but I ended up choking as it caught in my throat.

As the fit subsided, I opened my watery eyes again, squinting determinedly at my hand. It’s not hard, I told myself. Just move the fucking thing…

My thumb twitched. I blinked, surprised. A little relief let some of the tension slip out of me. Okay…

I lifted my hand, astonished at how it could weigh so much, and tried to bend my wrist, flexing it back and-I cried out in agony as pain shot up my arm. More gray stars tried to overtake my vision. Hastily I blinked them away.

There was no time to be unconscious now. I was hurt (and bleeding) in the middle of the woods. While I was pretty sure I wasn’t near the wolves’ hunting ground, they weren’t the only things that roamed the forest at night.

That thought was enough to stifle my pain filled groan. I shut my lips, pressing them together between my teeth.

If I wanted to survive I had to be strong. I had to think.

My best bet would be to find a road and try to hitch a ride. If I could walk, that is.

No….

It didn’t matter.

I would crawl if I had to.

First step: Sit up.

I bit down on my lips as I pushed myself up from the ground. The pain made my stomach roll anew. My brains felt like they would start falling out of my ears at any moment.

I choked, coughing and gagging as a large quantity of blood began to drain down the back of my throat. My nose pulsed in time to my throbbing heart. Automatically my fingers reached up to inspect the damage. I immediately regretted that action as the area exploded into fresh agony.

I cursed, hacking up a gob of the thick sludge.

My rough pants were loud in the silence.

I need to be quiet!

I made my breaths shallower and swayed where I sat. The arm that had been beneath me had gone from numb to prickling like a thousand needles jabbing repeatedly up and down its length. The shoulder ached dully from a position it was not meant to be in.

It took a long while before I was brave enough to reach out to the tree beside me and try to stand. My legs trembled and cramped as I gathered them beneath me and pushed up. I almost tottered forward on my face and had to hug rough bark for support.

But I was standing. I could make it. I could do this.

My vision blurred as I set my sight on the closest tree. From one tree to another. That would be my goal. I had to hit a road or a stream at some point. If worse came to worse I would meet the ward and I would be able to follow that to the highway.

I refused to calculate the odds of how long that would take compared to how long my body would last.

Just one step at a time.

Those words echoed in my head, repeating in an increasingly irritating rhythm as I shuffled along the uneven forest floor, tripping over roots and weeds. Not that it really mattered. I stumbled over my own two feet more often than not.

For hours I wandered. Was it hours? Maybe…I couldn’t tell. Time seemed to slip and drag incomprehensibly. The sun had to come up some time, didn’t it?

And…I had to stop…

To just sit and rest…for only a minute…a few seconds…

I’d be able to get back up again. I knew it…

My butt hit the ground before the decision had even been made. The sound of my teeth clicking together with the jolt made my head ache.

My hand hurt. My nose hurt…god, was there somewhere that didn’t?

I was tired.

And cold.

And sick…

I was just about to close my eyes when I saw it-a flash of light.

I blinked. It had to be an illusion, no…a hallucination.

No! There it was again!

My breath caught as I watched the light zip behind the trees. Was it a road? The highway?

Dear heaven…please!

I stood, feeling a fresh burst of energy pulse through me. It wasn’t far now. Salvation was almost here. Just a hundred yards or so ahead.

I dragged my stumbling feet as I hobbled forward, panting roughly in the cold night air. My breath ghosted in front of me as I searched for the light…but everything was dark now.

It had to be in this direction.

With a desperate growl I pushed on, throat and lungs on fire.

It had to be here! I wasn’t imagining it!

Frustrated tears threatened to well and run down my cheeks.

“Come on, please!” I hissed, swinging my head wildly from side to side, eyes open wide to catch even the barest hint of a headlight.

Was it this far?

“Please!” I shouted, nearly sobbing. “Help me.”

Unnatural silence followed my outburst. I swallowed, suddenly alert, the nape of my neck prickling at my vulnerability.

Why had I done that?

Stupid!-

I jumped as something to my right thrashed in the brambles. My heart pounded like it was going to explode out of my chest. I stood perfectly still, breath bated, and waited. Whatever it was didn’t move again.

I swallowed, thick saliva suddenly filling my mouth. The sound was too loud as my spine tingled, like eyes were on me.

It shouldn’t be this quiet. There should be something…wind, birds…something!

The light!

I barely caught it out of the corner of my eye, but I didn’t hesitate, bursting into motion-and stopped.

The weeds behind me shuddered into silence.

Oh. My. God.

Something was hunting me.

Ohmygod.

I picked my feet up like there was no tomorrow. Maybe there wouldn’t be if I didn’t go faster.

Why wasn’t the light getting closer?

Always the same distance…

Please don’t be a hallucination!

I couldn’t breath. My sides and stomach were on fire. Each leg felt like lead, and with each stride more weight was added. But the adrenaline let me ignore it. It exploded into my veins turning my nerves to acid. It said I couldn’t stop. I had to keep going. If I stopped, I died.

Keep going!

A strange chittering laughter followed me as I ran. It swung above me, slithered on the ground, and rode on swift-footed claws. It shook the grass and caught the weeds. It doubled. And tripled. Multiplying so that I felt like I was being chased by a horde of demons through the obstructed dark.

And there was the light, dancing just out of reach.

Wait-dancing?

My eyes widened in horror as the terrifying realization hit me. It wasn’t headlights, it was--

THUNK!

Sharp pain exploded in the back of my head and I dropped like a rock. I didn’t have time to scream as they fell on me. Little hands, tipped in razor-sharp claws dug into my back, into my hips, my legs. Tiny serrated teeth bit into my skin as I thrashed…but there were too many.

I struggled as I was flipped on my back, their little bodies weighing heavy on my stomach and chest, making oxygen hard to get.

I stared at one of them, conquering my neck, standing there with its twisted little limbs and leathery skin. It’s head was large for its body, dominated by large glittery black eyes and a long thin mouth filled with rows of small, pointy teeth. My eyes followed one of its arms as it rose, hefting a rock the size of a baseball.

Understanding dawned and I tried to avoid the blow. It fell on my temple, pain and darkness spreading like sweet buttery acid…

Were they going to eat me?

I blinked, trying to clear the fog.

I could hear their strange, guttural clicking, and odd high pitched screeches. I could have cried out when I felt their little hands pull on the hem of my jeans. Were they going to strip me before they fed?

They pulled, hissing and spitting, and I felt my body slide across the dirt, my jacket and shirt riding up my spine. They stopped as more screeching ensued. It all made my aching head swim…I could feel it leaking on the back of my neck.

My breath gusted out of me as one of them pounced on my chest, screaming louder than the others, pounding one of his fists on my ribcage. He straddled my chest, spitting and swatting at one of the others.

A tense silence followed.

Then needle claws dug into my calves as they pulled.

Roots and dirt scraped my back as they dragged me. Hobgoblins…

My limbs trembled weakly as the last of the adrenaline left me. Shock and anemia now made their home there.

Couldn’t unconsciousness make an appearance as well? It had never missed the party before…