Chapter One
Justin held his side as he ran through the trees that surrounded St. Jones Mental Institution. The night air was cold, biting into his skin, the thin white shirt and pajama pants giving almost no protection.Clouds of white steamed puffed out as he ran. Rocks and sticks cut into his feet as he ran, but he didn't care. He needed to get away from this place; he needed to find her. Once he felt he was far enough away, he paused in his tracks, letting his breath catch up to him. Justin winced. There was a large glass shard that stuck out from his side. He probed the glass wondering how deep it was. The sound of police sirens screamed in the night, and Justin knew it was time to move on once again. Justin pushed off from the tree and started to run once more.
Lighting flashed across the sky lighting the area around him then there was a loud crack of thunder. Justin moved quickly, knowing that he had to find shelter from the storm that was to come, he headed towards the street to his freedom. The shadows of the trees swaying in the wind seemed to be clawing at him as he rushed past. The wind was starting to pick up and then there was a flash of lightning so bright that Justin found himself temporarily blinded by it. He raised his hand trying to see beyond the lightning but stopped when there was a very loud crack of thunder near by that sounded like a gun shot ringing out into the night. Justin quickly dropped on his left side on the ground heart pounding in his chest as he listened waiting for foot steps that never came.
When he was sure that he was alone still, he struggled up onto his knees and winced with the pain. When he had dropped to the ground he had caused the glass to dig deeper into his right side, making the open wound bleed again. When he was back on his feet he brought his hands in front of his face to look at the blood smeared over his pale fingers. He began to sway, feeling a little dizzy. Everything that had happened in the hospital started to flood his brain. It was like he was in the backseat, being forced to watch as someone else did all of those horrible things. He could hear the screams, the begging to not be hurt, the sickening crack of a skull being slammed into the wall.
Justin’s eyes snapped open and he had to catch his breath once again. He could feel his stomach roll and he gagged, feeling as if he was going to be sick.Leaning forward, putting his hands on his knees he began to take deeps breaths to steady himself.
As he was checking his wound the air around him started to grow cooler making him shiver a little bit. “Justin.”
He snapped to attention, and froze listening hard, certain he had heard his name being called. Justin turned, looking for the source of the sound and saw nothing. He quickly got to his feet then caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he quickly turned his head. Seeing the outline of a person that melted back into the shadows. Justin's heart started to beat fast pounding against his rib cage so much so he could hear the pounding of his heart in his ears. He scanned the area and saw nothing, yet he was sure he had heard the sound of someone calling his name and had seen something or someone. He closed his eyes to clam his heart and when he reopened them a small yelp escape him, and he jumped back.
A girl with short, raven hair and bright green eyes leaned forward invading Justin's personal space. The girl blinked and then turned away from him walking off she only turned once to wave her hand. Then she spoke. “Follow me.” Justin blinked staring at the girl in amazement and then whispered her name. "Alice." Justin saw the ghostly outline of the girl, and he quickly followed after her.
It wasn't long before Justin was standing behind large bushes by the highway. He looked across the rode at a wooden gate one the other side was a gated community. There was a hole in the fence that he was sure he could squeeze himself through easily enough, and there on the other side stood Alice's ghost.
He looked to his left then he right and was just in time to see a cop car with its bright light pointed his way looking into the trees. Justin quickly lowered his head down behind the bush as the light washed over the trees and grass behind him.
He held his breath as the cop car slowly drove by, his jaw tightened he hoped they wouldn't stop to check the bushes. Luck was on his side as the cop drove on down the street checking the woods. After a few moments, Justin slowly rose to his full height his head sticking out of the top of the bushes a little as he checked the street. He saw nothing and quickly moved around the bush jogging across the street. A car horn blared as it passed by behind him it came so close that he could feel the wind off the passing car. Headlights flashed in his eyes they were bright as a vehicle came towards him.
He picked up speed from a jog to a run making it quickly to the center divider were large oleander bushes grew. He felt like the limbs were closing in on him, heightening his sense of claustrophobia. He clawed his way out from the branches, his shirt getting caught. There were a few scratches and scrapes, but he got out relatively alright.Justin’s breathing was bit ragged and he had started to sweat a little more. He looked down at were the glass was sticking out he needed to see about his wound soon what all the movement he was making the glass cut deeper. If he didn’t do something soon he might bleed to death.
After resting for just another moment he decided to brave crossing the second side. There were no cars coming as far as he could tell, but as he was about half way across he heard the unmistakable blaring of rap music approaching him quickly. The car was suddenly upon him and he knew that he was about to die, just before the car swerved.
"Get out of the ******** street, a*****e!" Called the the driver as he sped away. Justin rushed to the other side, stopping as soon as he was in the clear to recover from his ordeal. Once he had his breathing under control he walked over to the opening in the fence and slipped through. Alice stood by the fence separating one yard from the next.
"Follow me." Her voice merely a whisper on the wind.
"Do you know where we are?"
Alice gave no response to Justin's question, merely turned away and motioned for Justin to follow. She vanished, leaving in the direction beyond the fence. He looked at it, knowing that climbing wasn't an option with the glass still in his side, but eventually noticing a gate.
He rushed to it and got in as quickly and quietly as he could. He saw Alice again once the gate was closed behind him, she was by the next fence he'd have to get through. Before going over to the fence, Justin went over to a clothesline that was hanging in this yard. After he pulled the glass from his side he'd surely need a change of shirt and with the weather the way it was his pants weren't suitable either. Luckily there was a teenager living in the house, and the clothesline held jeans in what appeared to be his size, along with a red hoody and a plain T-shirt. He pulled the jeans off first, they were still a little damp but to his great relief they fit him. He pulled the shirt and the hoody down, bundling them up in his arms as he went over to the gate, careful to close it behind him as well.
No sooner had he latched the fence than he heard a low growl. He swallowed hard, turning around to face his fate. A border collie was upon him, it's teeth bared and saliva dripping from it's growling mouth, it's eyes glinting maliciously.
"Easy boy," Justin said, his voice as steady as he could make it through his fear. He slowly stepped away from the dog, who began to advance toward him. Without thinking Justin took off, the dog hot on his heels as he ran, adrenaline coursing thickly through his veins. The fence for the next yard was approaching fast, and Justin didn't have the time to think about what he was doing or what it could possibly mean for his side, he just leaped over the fence, using his arms to swing him over the top.
He landed hard on his side, his left shoulder grinding hard into the earth. Gritting his teeth with the pain he forced himself to sit up and look back at the other side of the fence where the dog was trying to jump over the fence to continue it's pursuit. The collie was scrambling up the fence and getting closer to him all the while, the scratching sound it made sending shivers down his spine. He prayed it wouldn't be able to get over the fence, he wasn't sure he'd be able to run again in his condition. One look at the beast's face, the red eyes, the pointed teeth, the foam spilling from it's mouth, was all he needed to change his mind. He scrambled to his feet and took off running again across the yard.
At first he could hear nothing above the sound of his racing heart, but then he did hear it. A thump sound that undoubtedly meant the collie had landed on this side of the fence, and he heard the growling as it began to close in on him. Knowing that scaling another fence would likely kill him he rushed to the gate, fumbling with the latch in the darkness. He pulled it open and slipped through, but not quite quickly enough, because before he could close the gate behind him the dog had his pant leg between it's teeth, shaking it's head back and forth, spittle flying in every direction.
Justin tried with minimal success to pull his leg free, and the most he could manage was not falling to the ground as the dog pulled him backwards. He knew that if he fell, he would never be getting up again. All he could see of the dog was the glowing red eyes and the glint of sharp teeth that wanted to dig mercilessly into his flesh. In a last, ditch effort at survival, Justin grabbed a hold of the wooden fence, and kicked at the dog with his free foot. It yelped, falling back and releasing his foot. Justin watched as the dog ran off turned back into a normal dog. Justin slipped back through the gate, closing and locking it behind him before the dog could follow once more.
He was still trying to catch his breath when he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He spun quickly to see what it was, images of the dog still racing through his mind, but it was only Alice. The ghostly figure stood by the chain link fence that would lead him back to the street and he begrudgingly went over, praying that the cops were far enough away at this point he wouldn't be found.
He looked at the fence, not sure how he was supposed to get through it. There was not break in it for him to get through. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure this out, trying to see if he had missed anything. He pulled at the fence but found no sort of give in it at all. After a few minutes he kicked at in frustration, sending a sharp wave of pain through his side.
"How do I get through this?" He asked in desperation.
"Follow," Alice said, and drifted to a spot by the fence where she vanished.
"Wait," he called but she was already gone. He went over to where she had disappeared from and saw what he had been missing. There was a slit in the fence, and he was able to pry apart the two sides wide enough to slide through.
He walked along next to the street, the full extent of his injuries starting to catch up with him. Now that the immediate dangers had passed he could no longer rely on adrenaline to keep him standing and with every step the pain grew and his eyelids got heavier. He kept repeating Alice's address over and over again to himself to try and stay awake. She had told him where she lived, and he had done his best to locate the house with the maps he had taken from the library. Every night for three months after she left he had traced his finger over the path that he would take and focusing on that was all that was keeping him going.
As he was passing a convenience store, a man stepped in front of his path. "Hey, you got some money?"
Justin moved around the person, ignoring him and muttering to himself. "Hey, did you hear me?" The man asked, following Justin around the corner. Both men froze at what they saw. Three cop cars were there, lights flashing. A few people were lined up, hands cuffed behind them while their cars were searched.
"Oh s**t." Muttered the man who had followed Justin before turning around and heading back. Justin felt quite the same and his mind quickly kicked back into gear. He needed to hide, his eyes darted from place to place looking for a spot. He settled on dumpster, rushing over to crouch behind it, ducking quickly out of sight. He stayed that way for less than a minute before the blackness of sleep started to fill his vision. He blinked it off as best he could, knowing he could not afford to rest just yet, but the tiredness paired with the blood loss quickly overcame him, and before he knew it he was out.
He woke to the roaring sound of thunder. He tried to find his bearings with little success at first. He felt weary, and aside from pain in his side from the glass, in his leg from the dog and in his shoulder from hitting the ground so hard his legs burned with cramps from the crouching position he had fallen asleep in. He got to his feet, trying to alleviate the pain in his muscles. Working through the pins and needles sensation in his legs, he began to recall the horrific events of the night before. Tentatively he peered around the dumpster and saw that the cops had left. It was lucky for him that he hadn't been spotted.
As tired as he still was he continued to move as soon as his legs were able to carry him. He had to keep going, or all of this would have been for nothing. In no time at all he found himself standing in front of Alice's house. It might have been beautiful once, he thought as he looked at the run down two-story building in front of him, but it was old, and had clearly not been cared for. It could use a paint job, and some renovation, but all the same it was like salvation to him to see.
He found himself nervous as he made his way up to the door and knocked. He was met by Alice's bright green eyes. She gasped. "Justin, is that you?"
"Found you," he said, a small half smile playing across his lips before he collapsed, his energy spent. She half caught him, breaking his fall before lowering him to the floor and pulling him inside.
