HELP ME

THE LAST RUN

George carried Kimberley; Charlotte got the bag and the flashlight. This time, the two of them walked side by side. They hadn't walked far enough for them to conclude that they were safe. It was because they were still under the territory of the creature. When Charlotte pointed the flashlight to the trees; she saw scratches.

Just then, they heard a loud growl. It came from behind them. The growl was very loud like the creature was right behind them. They stopped walking and turned around slowly. Up in a tree on a long branch; they saw white glowing eyes. The eyes were very big and scary. The creature jumped from the branch it was standing to another branch and another branch until it landed on the ground about five meters away from Charlotte and George.

They were frightened. They began walking slowly backwards while their eyes where focused on the eyes of the creature.

Charlotte pointed the flashlight in the creature’s glowing eyes. She did this unintentionally. The creature, however, disliked what Charlotte did. It growled and leaped up majestically onto a branch. Like a frog.

“Run!” Charlotte yelled.

Charlotte ran in front of George while George ran behind Charlotte with Kimberley on her back.

Kimberley was now conscious because of Charlotte’s yelling. Although she was conscious; she was too hurt for her to run on her own. She had scars on both her legs. She was bleeding and she was in pain.

The creature was following them, not on the ground, but by jumping from tree to tree like a monkey.

Charlotte and George ran as fast as they possibly could but, the creature was faster than them.

The creature jumped from the tree onto the ground. It was now running on four legs behind Charlotte and George. It was getting closer and closer.

In a blink of an eye, the creature raised its paw and sliced George’s leg with its sharp claws. He fell down and bumped his head on Charlotte’s leg. By doing this; Charlotte also fell down. She rolled towards a big rock and bumped her head slightly.

George was on the ground bleeding, Kimberley was also on the ground bleeding and Charlotte was beside a rock. Her forehead was cut slightly were blood was streaming out. The creature walked to Kimberley and dragged her away while her leg was in its mouth, like a wolf carrying its cubs. It walked on four legs as it continued to growl. Kimberley was in pain because her leg was in the mouth of the creature. She looked at Charlotte and yelled on top of her voice, “Help me! Help Me!”

Charlotte opened her eyes. She saw Kimberley being dragged away by the creature whilst screaming and shouting. Charlotte was hurt, she had tears in her eyes.

She said to herself, “I'm not going to let you die on my watch, Kimberley.”

Charlotte began crawling towards her bag. On reaching her bag and searching for any kind of tool; out fell a wooden box. She looked at it carefully.

Charlotte had a flashback on what Mrs. Robinson said to her:

“I'm giving this wooden box to you because of your character. Only open it when you need it the most.”

“Your freedom. My freedom. Our freedom. Everyone’s freedom.” The flashback ended.

She got the box and started looking for the key inside the bag. Unfortunately, there was no key of any kind. She was helpless. She didn't know what to do. It was like everything she cared was slowly falling apart.

When it seemed as if all hope was lost; she recalled Mrs. Robinson’s words. “You have the key.”

She began to wonder to herself what key Mrs. Robinson was talking about. Just then, she remembered that she always has a hair pin in her hair. She removed it. Tried opening the box with the pin. The box was tough to open but Charlotte was determined to open it.

Finally, as if the hair pin was designed for the lock. She opened it. Inside of the box was a dagger. Its blades were sharp. So sharp that Charlotte was cut after touching them. The handle of the dagger was brown in colour.

Charlotte got the dagger from the box and stood up though she was in great pain. She walked while limping towards the creature with the dagger in her right hand.

When the creature sensed that someone was walking towards it; it turned swiftly and left Kimberley's leg. It then began to run on its four legs in the direction of Charlotte. Its eyes turned red, it growled persistently and ran swiftly past the trees. It was running as if someone had taken its cub. It was very angry. Angrier than before.

Charlotte saw the creature’s red eyes and stood firm. She watched as it ran and jumped over the rocks with all its might. She held the dagger firmly and began running in its direction. She began having flashbacks of her friends who died because of it. She thought of how Martin and Raymond were killed. She thought of how Kimberley and George were hurt.

She ran as fast as she could, she no longer felt the pain in her legs nor her stomach.

The creature jumped with all its might. Charlotte stopped running and dodged the creature. At this point; she was very swift in her acts. She was very determined to end the creature’s life. When she dodged the creature; it fell down; it was about to get up on its feet when Charlotte saw a chance to stab it; she ran towards it and stabbed it continuously in the stomach. It was in great pain; it growled loudly. It raised its paw in anger and scratched Charlotte’s face. Although she was in pain; she did not stop stabbing it. Scratching her only made her to stab it in even more in different parts of its body.

Charlotte had stabbed the creature many times that it was slowly losing its energy. Then suddenly, the creature transformed into Mrs. Robinson.

Charlotte moved away quickly and said, “Mrs. Robinson!”

Mrs. Robinson with a dagger in her stomach replied slowly, “My brave girl. You have finally freed me from this prison.”

“What!” Charlotte exclaimed.

Mrs. Robinson was having trouble talking because she was slowly dying. She asked with her smile on her face, “Do you like stories?”

Charlotte moved closer to Mrs. Robinson, there were tears in both their eyes.

“Yes I do,” replied Charlotte in tears.

“Once upon a time, there were two sisters. Me and Rebecca. We were very strong together. No one could separate us. But fate had something installed for us.

“One day, I accidentally took something valuable from her which made us to separate. I accidentally killed her only son. We were in the forest with my husband and her son , Timothy. He was only ten years old. We had taken him with us because he loved coming in the forest. I accidentally shot him as I was aiming for an impala. He ran in front of the gun.

“Rebecca was so hurt that she cursed me. She said, ‘I will take away everything valuable from you until you become dust. I will turn you into a hideous creature that will take away everyone, just like the way you took away my son. This I promise you!'

“I thought she was joking. Until one day, my curse killed my husband. It also killed Rebecca. It then killed Martin and also killed Raymond. It was going to kill Kimberley and then George and then, you. I had to do something, I decided to send you away so that my curse doesn't reach you.

“But again, I figured that it was not going to be possible. So I had given you the dagger so that you can free me, free Kimberley, free the others and free yourself by the only way possible. By killing me.

“The curse was only to be broken by those who are dear to me. And you came along. Thank you Charlotte. Thank you for helping me.” Then Mrs. Robinson passed away. Charlotte was in tears.

Charlotte stood up and began to burry Mrs. Robinson under tree branches, one after the other, until her body was no longer visible.

She bowed down and said softly, “May your soul rest in peace.”

She quickly walked limping to Kimberley to check on her. Kimberley was still in pain. She couldn't walk because her leg was wounded badly.

Charlotte then rushed to George. She shook him until he woke up.

He looked up and asked, “I'm I dead?”

“No," replied Charlotte.

George's entire body was in pain. From his toes to the head. His stomach wounds were bleeding. With difficulty, he got up. Walked to Kimberley and carried her. They began walking back to the car slowly and carefully.

At this point, George saw Charlotte face. He asked, “Did the creature do that to you?”

“Yes,” she agreed.

“Where is it?” George asked Charlotte curiously.

“It's dead,” Charlotte replied.

After walking for few minutes, they heard voices and saw flashlights in front of them.

Charlotte yelled, “Help us! Over here!”

The flashlights were getting closer and closer to them. There were about fifteen people with flashlights running towards Charlotte, Kimberley and George.

When they got closer, Charlotte was surprised to see the one who was leading the people. It was the driver Joshua. He had a gun and a flashlight. His clothes were not of that of a civilian, but of that of a soldier going to war. He wore big black boots on his feet.

“Are you alright?” Joshua asked them.

“Get Kimberley she's bleeding,” George instructed.

Joshua got Kimberley and carried her.

“There is an ambulance at the road. You will all be given first aid shortly,” Joshua spoke. “Where is the monster?” he asked.

“It is dead,” George replied.

“What? It's dead? Who killed it? “ Joshua inquired curiously.

“Charlotte killed it,” George replied gladly.

Joshua was shocked. He looked at Charlotte and asked, “You killed it?”

“Yes I did,” she answered bravely.

“Are you sure it's dead?” Joshua persisted.

“By the way,” Charlotte looked in Joshua’s eyes, “Where were you?”

Joshua hesitated to answer. He had a shy expression on his face.

“To get backup. As you can see; I have come with backup.”

George scoffed, “And you had to wear a uniform like you are fighting an army of soldiers?”

“That was a beast. It was equal to five thousand men. And I had no weapon to fight it,” Joshua defended himself.

Kimberley and Charlotte laughed.

George continued to tease Joshua, “Charlotte was not wearing any special uniform but she managed to kill the most dangerous creature that I have ever seen. Just look at her face,” George pointed at Charlotte’s scar. “She has something to show for her braveness, And you Mr. Driver, you just had to run for a day to who knows where and get an army uniform, and come back later only to find that the battle is over.”

They all laughed.

Charlotte then spoke, “We are very grateful that you came back. And that you are still alive.” She had a sweet smile on her face.

“I'm only doing my job. I was asked to deliver you to your destination by Mrs. Robinson.”

Charlotte had a more sweet smile on her face and said, “She's a very caring woman.” She then said in her heart, “Continue resting in peace Mrs. Robinson.”

END... THANK YOU FOR READING.