Gone

Emma’s heart was thumping hard as she ran through the thick forest, the tall trees casting a shade over her. She had been searching for her boyfriend Tommy Sanders since morning. He had taken a walk after breakfast and not returned. Tommy occasionally took lone walks in the forest, but he had never taken that long to return. The sun was setting and he was still nowhere to be seen. Emma had a very bad feeling about it but decided to stay strong.

Emma called out Tommy’s name repeatedly, but there was no response. The dense forest was silent as a grave. All that could be heard was her and Richard’s steps as they ran through the woods. As Emma neared a clearing, her worst fears began to take shape. She smelled his blood at a distance, and noticed a shape of a human on the ground as she ran towards that direction. Emma increased her spread and was soon at the spot.

Tommy was lying still on the leafy ground, his eyes closed with dried blood all over his hair and chest. Emma felt to her knees beside the body and let out a bloodcurdling scream that echoed through the forest. Tears cascaded down her face as she tried to wake him, despite knowing the efforts were useless. She pulled out the sharp stake that had been buried into his chest and sat down, wailing. Richard started looking around the place while Emma stared at Tommy’s lifeless body.

He had been the only family she had left, and now he was gone. Emma’s parents had been killed by vampires five years ago and Tommy’s pack had taken her in before it was conquered by a rival alpha who ruled with an iron fist. Two years ago, the two had run away from the pack because of their love for freedom and hatred for authoritarianism. In the past two years, they had lived as rogues, moving from place to place, enjoying life one day at a time.

For the first time in years, Emma felt truly alone. She had met up with other rogues and they had formed a small group of eight. She liked the other members but the relationships with all of them were nothing like what she had with Tommy. He had been her world.

Her heart broke when she thought of all the plans they had made together. It was hard for her to believe that he was really gone, never to be seen again. She leaned down and kissed his bruised lips. The lips that had been warm and soft were now cold and hard. She straightened up and touched his skin.

“What am I going to do without you, Tommy?”

Richard went and crouched next to her. “I’m so sorry, Emma.”

Emma leaned on him and he placed a hand around her. “I have lost everything, Richard. How am I supposed to live now?”

“I know it’s not the same but you have us,” Richard said. “We will always be here for you.”

Emma stayed silent. The other members of the group arrived and expressed their shock after seeing the body. Alison, a girl who had been trying to seduce Tommy at every turn went and knelt beside his body while wailing. 

Seeing that made Emma angry but she didn’t want to cause a scene so she stood up and went to sit on a tree trunk, a few meters away. She sat down and placed her head on her lap, sobbing the whole time.

Ten minutes later, Richard went where she was.

“We have to bury him,” he said. “Whoever killed him must be near. We must bury him as soon as possible and leave this place before they come for us.”

“We can’t just leave him here,” Emma said. “We have to go with his body to wherever we are going.”

“It’s really heavy and it may be too risky. We can’t.”

“I’ll carry him. I can’t leave him here. I can’t bury him right now. If you want, you can leave but I’m not going anywhere. I will kill the person who did this to him.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Richard said.

“I don’t care. You guys can leave.”

“You’re not the only one who loved him, you know.” Alison said, approaching them. “We all loved and cared for Tommy. We are very sad that he is gone, but there’s nothing we can do now. I wish we could bring him back to life but we can’t. We have to bury him and leave before it’s too late.”

“Really?” Emma said, standing up. 

She walked up to Alison and slapped her hard, across the face. Alison gasped and touched her cheek. Seething, she charged at Emma who didn’t hesitate to fight back. Richard grabbed her body and pulled her back while Dylan did the same to Alison.

“What’s wrong with you two?” Richard asked. “This is not the time to fight.”

“You have no idea what Tommy and I have been through. You have known him for only three months, but I’ve known him for five years. For five years, Tommy and I have been inseparable so you have no right to tell me how I should react to his death. If you’re all scared, you are free to leave. I’m staying right here with him, and I will bury him wherever I feel like. I don’t need your help.”

“Emma, I know-

“Shut up, Richard. All of you leave me alone.”

“Well, I’m not going to stay where I’m not needed,” Alison said, starting to walk away. “Are you guys coming or not?”

The other guys started following her. 

“I’m going to get your belongings from the camp,” Richard said. “I’ll bring them to you.”

“Thank you so much, Richard. Could you bring his stuff too?”

Richard nodded before following the others. Emma went and sat next to her boyfriend and continued sobbing while asking herself what she was going to do without him. 

Suddenly, she heard a movement. She looked around quickly.

“Richard, is that you?”

Silence reigned. Panicked, Emma slowly stood up.