The Book of Death by Alexis Sapp (most read books txt) 📕

giant forest, the forest covered about five acres of land. I ran as fast as I could. Ducking under low branches and hurdling over fallen trees. I didn't feel I was being followed, but I kept running just in case. I couldn't feel my legs, yet I kept going. I didn't feel I had a choice. I heard a sound that brought me to a stop. I recognized the sound instantly and it sent a chill down my spine.
It was my mother, screaming.
Running

I knew I was alone now. My mom was dead, my sister was dead, my dad sure to follow. I had nothing left to do but run. My only relief being that now, I had nobody to tell me what to do. I was slowing down now. I had only run about a mile. I was so thankful that I has taken up track the year before. I thought about how hard the journey ahead must be when all of a sudden, a voice popped into my head. 'May, run until you can't run anymore, then keep running.' I stopped dead in my tracks.

The voice in my head, it wasn't my voice. Or anyone I knew for that matter. Great, just great. I'm alone, running for my life, AND there's a voice in my head. This day couldn't get any better.

'May I said run. Listen to me and I'll help you survive.' Okay mysterious voice in my head, whatever you say. I started running again. Going faster now than I ever had before.

So let me sum this up for you. A 14 year old girl. Her family is all dead or soon to be. She has an evil book that she must figure out what to do with and a voice in her head. Do you think this gets any better? No? Yeah, neither did I. So, I'm running really fast and what happens? That's right, I trip. A time when I don't really have time, and I trip. Typical me. I got up quickly only to fall back to the ground. Great, now my ankle is hurt. That's just wonderful. So lets look at my options here. Lets see, I can lay here and die, I can get up and run despite the pain, or i can haul myself into a tree for a bit. Hmm.. They all just sound so tempting. Chime in any time now voice. No? Did anyone else besides me see that coming? Of course.

So I lay down and watched birds flying above me. Looking at the patterns and the way they fly, I realized just how graceful they are. Like a ballet in the sky. 'May get in a tree. Now.' Mkay voice, whatever you say. So I pulled myself up into the nearest tree. It wasn't until this point that I realized just how much pain I was in. My head throbbed, my knees ached and I could barely walk. I got about thirty feet up and decided to stop. 'Go higher.' You have got to be kidding me. 'I don't kid. Higher and closer to the trunk.The leaves are thicker there.' Who are you? 'It will all be answered in time.' Why are you keeping me alive? 'We will talk about this later.Get higher now.' You're the boss I guess.
I got back to my feet and scaled the tree once more. Slowly making my way closer to the trunk as I went. This time the voice spoke with a sense of urgency. 'Get down, NOW!' I ducked just in time to see it. A strange and unfamiliar creature flew overhead. It had the mane and head of a lion, the body of a panther and a wingspan of about eight feet across. I had never seen one before. All I could do was watch. Looking closer I noticed it's eyes scanning the forest floor. My breath came up short. I realized the creature, (which I decided to call a Lanther until I knew what it really was), in fact was looking for something. It was looking for me. I found myself frozen in place. I watched as the Lanther flew overhead. I was almost sure it would see me. It stopped for a minute directly above me. I held my breath. The Lanther shook it's head, causing it's fiery mane to go in all directions. The beast moved on. Not looking back at all, just scanning the ground as it was before.

Although I was sure I was safe, I stayed completely still until the Lanther was out of sight. once it was out of sight, I sat up. My ankle had almost stopped hurting now. I decided to rest for a while and drop all the extra weight of my school work. Not like I was ever going back. Nobody who could make me was left alive, and I certainly wasn't going voluntarily. Not with this stupid cursed book. I unzipped the small pocket in my backpack. The contents included my gum, pens, pencils and some other miscellaneous things. I decided to keep the gum. Nothing else in that pocket I really needed. I took the pocket knife from my jeans pocket, where I has stashed it in my hurry to get out of the house, and put it into the small pocket in my backpack. Next I unzipped the main pocket of my backpack. I took out my folders and papers and set them in the pile next to me that already included my pens, pencils and other misc. things from the small pocket. Left in my backpack I had my planner, my knife,my calculator and the book. Lets see, I don't really think that my day planner is that important anymore and I don't think that I'll need my calculator where I'm headed, wherever that may be. So, I added my planner and calculator to the pile now. Only question left is what to do with the pile? Chime in any time now voice. No? Of course not.

I checked my phone. The clock read 10:45. Approximately four hours since I found Abby. My phone was also showing that I had a new text from Jake. Jake has lived five houses down from me for about four years. We were pretty close friends. His text said 'Hey, heard the commotion at ur house this morning and now cops r there. What's going on?' How sweet, he noticed something was up. Wait, the police were there? UUHHHGG!!! How did they find out so quickly? Voice? Great, the stupid voice helps when I might've been fine on my own, yet when I'm completely stuck, with no idea what to do next and the voice remains quiet in whatever corner of my mind it's coming from. Yeah, love you too voice. So, I decided I'll respond to Jake and tell him to meet me at our secret hideaway.

About a year ago my parents started arguing, a lot and I was afraid they were going to get a divorce. They just kept yelling and yelling. I had asked them to stop to no avail. Part of the reason I loathe authority. So, when all this trouble at home was going on, Jake was there to comfort me. We started hanging out in a little area of the forest about a mile and a half into the forest. It had many trees that were easy to climb, so we could sit at the bottom together, or in our separate trees up high. It was a nice isolated little place. We`went there a lot. We would talk a lot, but some days we would just sit in silence. It was nice and helped me forget my troubles from home.

I texted Jake back. 'Hey, a whole lot happened to much to type just meet me at the hideaway ASAP. It's kinda life or death. (Mine in specific.) Just please HURRY.'

I put my phone back into the front pocket on my jeans. I put my chap stick in the small pocket of my backpack, zipped it up and started to climb down the tree. My ankle was feeling fine at this point so climbing down was no problem. It took me about two minutes to reach the bottom. Right when I had gotten on my feet I got a text from Jake. 'Kk meet ya there in 20 min. Sit tight.' I put my phone in the small pocket of my backpack. Taking a breath, I put one foot forward and got ready to run. Breathing out I took off running. The wind blew through my hair. Once again I was running, jumping over fallen trees and ducking under branches.

I ran for the two miles it took to get back to the hideaway in about twenty-five minutes. When I got there Jake was waiting for me, leaning up against a tree. It filled me with joy to see something familiar. I had been on my own no more than five hours and already felt too alone. i ran up to Jake and threw my arms around him. The force of my hug had knocked Jake off balance and he stumbled back a few steps before returning my hug. For a minute nobody spoke.

The Hide Away

My eyes were beginning to fog from the tears building up so I let go to wipe my eyes. When I did Jake let go and sat down. Still not saying a word he patted the ground next to him, signalling for me to sit down. I did and he wrapped his arms around me, in a comforting way. At this point I was crying my eyes out. My face was red and splotchy and I could barely breathe. Jake rubbed my back in an attempt to get me to calm down. The tears came a little slower now. I managed to breathe normally now and my throat opened up again. I could speak now, but I couldn't figure out what to say.

We sat in silence for a few more moments, and finally Jake broke the silence." So, what's going on?" My voice shook as I tried to gather a response that didn't sound insane. "Well this morning I went in to wake Abby and found her laying still in her bed. A book was open next to her.