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Where Are You, Samantha?

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Gone

"Why are you here?!" Samantha exclaimed, wiping sweats off her temples.

She watched Kathleen's lips thin into a cruel line and remembered that the both of them are not in good terms yet.

"Really now?" Kathleen said, almost grinning in sarcasm. "I am here to apologize and you do this?"

Now that Samantha has been forced to rethink what got between the two of them, she had found herself entirely guilty.

"I'm sorry," she said. "But, please, just this once, I really have to go. I promise, we'll talk later."

"Go to where?" Kathleen scowled horribly.

"Y-You don't have to know, not just yet."

Samantha continued walking towards her car but Kathleen blocked her way in.

"Kaiser told me about what happened between you and Scott, so have the rights to know where you are going," she groaned. "You're freakin' stupid sometimes and I won't let you do anything crazy, not without me."

It was inefficiently long conversation that Samantha started to feel tingles through her spines––a familiar sensation she'd felt when her sister, Agatha, disappeared.

"J-Just let me go, Kath!"

"NO! You're not going anywhere!"

"Come with me, child! Come... come... come!"

Samantha gasped when she heard the voice approaching in a fast pace.

"LISTEN TO ME!" Her voice rose. "ALL OF YOU WILL IF YOU WON'T STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!"

Samantha mustered all her strength to push Kathleen out of the way that she almost fell, but she was quick to get in the car first the moment Samantha had it opened.

She even slid herself beside the driver's seat.

"If you're leaving, you're taking me with you!" Kathleen did not wish to have an argument with Samantha.

She had done her best to suppress her impulsive character just for them to be okay, but Samantha isn't amused.

She held her head in rage. "WHY. ARE YOU NOT. LISTENING TO ME?!"

Samantha's anger was so fierce that Kathleen felt extremely uneasy when she entered the car.

The moment she closed the door, their voices rose to a shriek when a mysterious creature suddenly landed on top of the car.

Seems like long, sharp nails kept scratching the roof which will definitely tear it to pieces if they won't do anything.

Fortunately, Samantha has kept her sane and gathered up the courage to turn the engine on and sped away, leaving the unknown creature behind.

"Put your seatbelt on!" She yelled as she buckled herself.

She looked back in horror as its long, sharpened hair, surrounded its body in motions.

"W-What... on earth was that?!" Kathleen kept choking in her words. She hadn't seen the creature as the only person who could is Samantha alone.

"I told you to let me go, but you won't listen. Now look what you got yourself into!"

"L-let you go to where?!"

"Somewhere! Somewhere away from everybody––I don't know."

"S-Shane, I don't understand. Can you please talk a little c-clear?" Kathleen said between short breaths which is worrying Samantha.

She has been clinging on the seatbelt but has not put it on.

Samantha looked back at the road. She doesn't really have any idea where they were heading. She just has to get her away from there, from her, as much as possible.

When she has made sure the creature ain't following them, she turned to look at Kathleen.

"Kath, listen! I promise, I'll explain everything. But as of the moment, I need to drop you somewhere safe."

"I-I want an explanation right now, Shane, or I'd go crazy!" Kathleen argued, looking unsteadily on the road.

Samantha doesn't know what to say anymore. She knows for a fact that Kathleen won't let her go this time and the moment that she will, it might be too late.

"Kath, I just need you to understand that now's not the right time," she tried to talk calmly but her best friend's no longer in the right shape to go in a smooth sailing.

"No, I don't understand, because I can't! You've been pushing all of us away. Even Scott, your boyfriend. He loved you, Shane!"

Samantha bit her lower lip, tears started forming in the corners of her eyes.

"N-no, he didn't. He never did!" She muttered. "He's not the man I thought I knew, Kath. He's just in love with the idea of being in love."

Kathleen's eyes shifted to the crying face of her best friend.

"What a-are you talking about?"

Samantha sighed. "He's been seeing his ex-girlfriend behind my back for quite some time now," she cried.

"I made myself look stupid as I am certain he'd leave once he knew that I am already aware of what's happening."

Samantha swiftly wiped the creeping tears away. "I thought he'd feel sorry for me for what he did, but no. He even tried to shift the blame on me," her tongue folded on top of her mouth to stop herself from breaking into a loud cry.

"All of them knew: Kim, Junel, and Kaiser, but none of them said a thing. I have been fooled."

Kathleen could only watch her best friend succumb in pain. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I... I just can't acknowledge the fact that everyone I care for always ends up leaving me. I know he's a jerk and I won't mind making myself look stupid by staying with him after everything, but I don't have a choice. If I stay, he'll get hurt."

Samantha's voice cracked and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

She glanced at Kathleen who looks bewildered and she cannot blame her for that.

The next thing happened so fast, none of them was able to see it coming. The only thing they heard is the screeching wheels followed by loud crashes of metals.

Everything went black, however, despite being semi-unconscious, Samantha still felt the twinging pain on her stomach which forced her to open her eyes and focused her vision.

She looked down to see a piece of broken glass pierced in the right side of her abdomen.

Sprays of blood spattered up the orange ceiling of the wrecked car, feathering down from a thick red stream to a delicate pattern of crimson drops on the stirring wheel.

"Ughhh!"

She could only groan in stinging pain as she tried pulling out the shard. It's a lot bigger than she thought and blood came gushing out the moment she have it removed.

Samantha knew it's a horrible idea, but she do not considered having that thing inside her as well when she come face to face with the creature.

The car was in place, but all the windshields were shattered and everything's a mess as the turned upside-down and rolled for couple of times before it reached the position.

Samantha realized her wheels might have exploded and she knew who exactly did it.

Gasping, she turned towards Kathleen who's unconscious. She was just thankful she already had her seatbelt on, but the cut on her forehead is still worrying her.

It might not look deep, but it would still put her life in danger as blood kept on oozing out. Her hands were shaking as she reach to check her best friend's pulse and sighed in relief.

"Child..."

Samantha winced in sharp horror that started her heart thudding in her chest, trapping her breaths between her throat.

She bit her lip as she slowly pierced her eyes on the creature who was motionlessly standing before them.

"Fuck you!" Samantha groaned when a similar scene flashed into her mind––her parents' deaths.

She squeezed her eyes when she remembered everything and the situation she is in now is just the same as before.

She has no choice but to face him now before he could lay a hand on any of her friends. She could hear her own heartbeat and adrenaline singing in her ears as she looked at Kathleen for the last time.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered through soft sobs. "I'm sorry you have to go through this because of me. Please take care of him for me, o-okay?"

She winced in pain. "I-I love him so much––very much. But you have to remember this, I love you more than anyone else."

Samantha drew a deep and slowly removed her seatbelt, careful enough not to inflict more damage on her wound.

Limping, she slowly opened the door and stepped outside. She could feel her wound opening the moment she stood straight, but she didn't bother covering it up.

"If this monster would only take me," she thought. "I'd just rather die right now due to extreme blood loss."

The monster inclined its head and its features shifted with the movement as if it had no skull beneath the black miasma covering its skin, leaving dark marks on the road where there's nothing but sugarcanes planted on both sides.

The creature was tall with its hair moving into different directions. Its face is all black.

Only its red, glowing eyes can be seen, piercing through her soul and all more hideous for a plain sight.

Samantha breathes shallowly through her mouth when the monstrous figure stood in front of her.

"Should I take him now?" The voice echoed into a deep, husky tone.

The hole of its faded mouth didn't adapt the constant motion to utter the words.

"No," Samantha smiled faintly. "You're taking no one."

"He hurt you," its eyes glowed in different shades of red, pulling its fading lips into a sinister smile.

His sharp teeth showed. "I can easily kill them for you. Everyone who hurt and betrayed you and you will have your freedom."

"Don't make me laugh," Samantha winced. "You've taken a lot from me already but you're still here."

The monster went silent and its smile widened into a grin. "I can sense the hatred in your heart. You want them dead!!"

It bent over which brought them almost nose to nose. Samantha remained feisty, staring at its red, scalding eyes.

"Aren't you afraid, child?"