Free Warrior Beautiful by Wendy Knight Page B

Before she could change her mind, Scout clambered out of the window, sliding a bit on the shingles before her boot caught.
    One thing she hadn’t considered in her brilliant plan was the fact that when she used to jump off this roof, she hadn’t had a serious, life-altering injury. Now just the thought of the jump made her back ache. She bit her lip, but there was no other way down and if she went back inside and out the door, she’d have to explain herself. And she didn’t need Trey being sympathetic that she’d lost her mind.
    She inched closer to the edge. It wasn’t that far. A hill rose in her backyard, so it wasn’t too awful far to drop. “Ugh.” She sat backward and slid over the edge, hanging by her hands until her fingers throbbed. With a surge of will she didn’t know she had, she let go and dropped to the ground. Pain instantly shot up her back and she squealed, rolling on the ground for several seconds, sure the agony would kill her.
    It didn’t, although for a few seconds she kind of wished it would have. She knelt on her hands and knees, trying to breathe normally before she could push herself to her feet. “Holy Hannah. That was less fun than I was expecting,” she groaned.
    On the horizon, the sun sank below the trees. She’d wasted too much time trying to escape out her window. Staggering away from the house like the zombies she’d been visualizing earlier, she headed for the forest. If that was the way Lil Bit had run, it seemed the smartest place for Scout to start. “How, exactly, does one find unicorns that one isn’t positive even exist?” Scout asked aloud, because the eerie silence was creeping her out.
    “ Believe .”
    Scout froze, whirling in a circle, nearly decapitating herself on a tree branch. She was positive she’d just heard a voice, but there was no one there. Confused and frightened, she slowly started again, walking in silence, listening, shaking, trying to pretend she was brave and not in pain all at the same time.
    She felt the rush of dark, frightening power slide past her — the same thing she’d felt at the hospital. “Hello?” She spun again, but in the quickly fading light everything looked ominous. It hit her again, swirling around her. Her ponytail whipped her face and the leaves exploded into a mini tornado. She heard herself screech, but it was from a distance.
    And then a different feeling, one more hopeless, more full of pain and evil, surrounded her, closing around her heart. The darkness was crushing her. She fell to her knees, only aware that she was still screaming because her throat scratched and tore. Blood seemed to fill her mouth. She crawled, blind, trying to escape. The breeze, like something big brushing by her, nearly blew her over, and all at once she was free. Shoving herself to her feet, she ran.
    Soul stealers. They ’ re here. They ’ re here. Her panicked mind froze on repeat as she sprinted through the forest, dodging trees, feeling the power, the darkness, two separate terrors right behind her. She leaped over a gnarled root, landing on one foot as pain shot up her leg and through her back. She fell, her screams dying in her throat, crashing like a wounded bird through the undergrowth. She felt the branches tearing at her hair and face, her hands uselessly trying to protect her.
    “ Believe. ”
    She finally came to a stop, and the entire world seemed to stop with her. There was no sound, no movement. She moaned, tried to move, failed. Her body felt like she’d been hit by the semi all over again. “Where are you?” she gasped. “She said you’d help. She said you were here. But you’re not here. You abandoned her.” Scout lay on the ground, staring at the stars through the trees. “You abandoned me.” She forced herself up, her back protesting against the agony. She only made it to a sitting position before it refused to cooperate again. “ Where are you ?” she screamed at the sky. “Where are you, you stupid