The Immortal Children

Sweet Poison

Chris woke up just minutes later. He looked at me in confusion before jumping from my arms. He landed neatly on his feet. He looked down, unable to believe that he hadn't stumbled. He was never the most graceful child.

He began to explore the room. Honestly, I wanted to do the same. Everything seemed incredibly detailed and clear. And, as if things were not already weird enough, Chris jumped in to the air. WAAAYYY in to the air. The kid hit at least 20 feet.Alarmed by the height, he reached over to grab the railing... only to have it break off in his hand. As he landed on his feet, he looked down, as shocked as Ashlynne and I to see sawdust pouring from his hand.

After a few seconds of silence, Ashlynne spoke up. "My throat hurts." she told me. Chris nodded. "I'm sick" he agreed. "I want momma." At his words, Ashlynne gasped, and I closed my eyes, trying to push the hazy memory of my mother's last moments out of my head. The room was completely silent until I opened my eyes and said, "Let's go."

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We learned quickly to avoid the sun. We decided to go through the woods. Well, no, not exactly. I alone decided that, and Ash followed, while Chris simply clung to my back. As we walked, I came across a smell that made the burning in my throat spike sharply. The smell called to me, a sweet, sweet poison. I took off towards it, not noticing Chris getting thrown off my back. The only thing that mattered was finding that excruciatingly delicious smell.

I arrived at the edge of a clearing. A man and woman were sitting on a blanket towards the middle, surrounded by food.Even though I knew I hadn't eaten in at least 2 days, it was not the small sandwiches and fruit that called to me. It was them. Those people. Those prey. I was the predator. I would not be stopped.

Until...

"You're going to make a great mommy" The man smiled, putting his hand on the woman's stomach. I jerked to a stop. Looking down, I noticed a small bump in the woman's stomach.

I threw out my arm, stopping my sister from advancing. Ashlynne let out a low growl, glaring at me furiously. She's pregnant, oh god, no, what are we doing??? My mind screamed at me. Ashlynne's face became one of shock, then pain, as if she had heard me, as if she understood. I could see my sister struggling to fight this thirst, this burning hunger. Just as I was. She had pure agony written on her face. Staring longingly at the couple, she let out a small whimper.

Hearing the sound, the woman turned around and saw us. She stood up and walked in our direction. I winced. As her smell got closer to us, her life got closer to ending, as did her unborn child's. "Are you alright?" she asked, clearly concerned. "Where are your parents?" We just stared at her, terrified of what she was doing to us, of what we could do to her.

When we didn't answer, she took another step forward. "Is there someone I can call for you or..." she trailed off, uncertain of her next move. By now, her fiance had come up behind her. He glanced at us, both concern and suspicion on his face. He wrapped his arm around the woman, sighing heavily.

At this breath, Ash let out a cry and clamped both hands over her mouth and nose. Then, before they could even try to understand what was wrong with her, she took off, running full force in to the deep woods.

The couple had clear shock written all over their faces. Ashlynne had run too fast for them to see. I'm ashamed to say (though not very ashamed... or even a little bit) that I was slightly amused by their expressions. The man's mouth had literally dropped.

With a pained smile, I took off after my sister, holding my breath. The man and woman continued to stare at the spot we had been in until I could no longer see them.