Melissa cried hard, curled up against me with her hands covering her face, her knees to her forehead, her black hood pulled down over her head, hacking loudly.

I wrapped my arms around her body even tighter and she gasped at my grasp. A glob of saliva went down my tight throat as I sadly watched the sobbing form of my sister, Melissa, a painful wave of confusion and fear crashing continuously within me. My eyes blinked repeatedly to clear my vision of the tears that continued to fill them, forcing the tears to run down my face or fall from them.

June silently stood gazing at us, her face displaying immense shock, confusion, and disbelief.

Darkness was all around us, along with the sounds of crickets calling out for mates. A warm breeze blew, rustling the grass and the leaves above us gently.

“Melissa,” I spoke slowly. “Melissa. I’ve got you.”

Melissa’s arms wrapped around her shoulders and she lowered her head even further as she continued to cry, heaving loud gasps, her cries coming out shakily, pained, mixed with choking coughs.

My heart felt as if it were being grasped by a pair of freezing cold hands and torn apart continuously at the sound of my sister’s anguish. “Melissa.” The amount of time that had passed was unknown, but it didn’t matter how many minutes, how many hours, or how many days it could have turned into. Despite knowing that my sister, who I hadn’t seen in over three years, was right here in my arms, I found myself struggling to ignore the feeling of disbelief causing my heart to throb painfully. This is her, I told myself. This is my sister. This is Melissa. I found her. I found my sister, Melissa. This is amazing! Despite the happiness I felt inside of me, I couldn’t manage to crack even the tiniest smile, and I wrapped my arms around her even tighter in an attempt to calm my trembling body.

Melissa gasped as my arms tightened around her, and she moaned weakly.

“Melissa.” I rubbed her back, pressing my hand hard against her black hoodie. It was like a dream to be touching my sister. A scary, wonderful dream. The feeling of fear running around inside of me was barely explainable, but I knew what I was feeling was definitely fear. What was there to be afraid of? I had found my sister. And yet, something about this moment was terrifying to me, to a certain extent. Deep down inside of me, I truly couldn’t believe that my sister was in my arms right now, crying. It didn’t make any sense. My arms tightened around her, my body bubbling over with excitement, fear, happiness, and other feelings I couldn’t quite put into words.

Melissa suddenly struggled from my grip, trying to break away from me!

“NO!” I shouted at her, wrapping my arms around her even tighter, and she screamed out. “Melissa?” I gasped at her, not letting go.

“You’re hurting me!” my sister’s whiny voice complained as she continued to struggle in my grasp. “Please! Stop it!”

I refused to let go of her. There was no way I’d ever release her from my grasp, and to ensure that, my arms tightened around her even more.

Melissa screamed, her voice rising even higher as she shrieked and cried.

“Melissa!” I loosened my grip, staring at her in shock.

She looked up at me, her light blue eyes shimmering behind tears, mucus running down her nose. “Please!” she begged me, her pale, thin, dry lips quivering.

Wait a minute, I thought, squinting into her face, staring at the red veins and red dots all over it. My sister never had freckles. What are those?

“Gary, let go of me! Why are you hurting me?” She continued struggling in my arms.

“Melissa, don’t go!” I pleaded, tightening my hands on her shoulders. “What’s wrong? I’m not even holding you tight!”

Tears were running down the exhausted face of my sister as she continued to try and free herself from my hold, her eyes closed tight in pain, her body twitching. “Get off of me! Why are you doing this to me? Please! This hurts, Gary! Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!!”

“I won’t!” I insisted. “I won’t let you get away from me again!” My hands tightened around her shoulders as my fingers dug into her hoodie.

Her voice burst out, her cry echoing painfully in my head and throughout the woods.

“Gary, what are you doing? Let go of her! You’re hurting her!” June kneeled down next to me and placed her hand on my shoulder, giving me a gentle push back.

“I’m not! I’m not hurting her at all!” I yelled angrily at June, keeping my hold on Melissa. “I’m not even gripping her that tightly! Stay out of this!”

“Gary, please, she’s crying!” June had both of her hands on my shoulders now, gently pushing at me, trying to get me to let go of my sister.

“Back off, June! This has nothing to do with you!!” I was ready to send a swift kick towards June, my words to her a severe warning that she had better back off before she gets hurt. How dare she try to make me let go of my sister I hadn’t seen in years! What nerve to try and get in between this moment between the two of us! This was a family matter. June had no business here, whatsoever.

Melissa’s face dripped tears as she struggled to her feet, but I kept her down on the ground, anger filling my body. There was no way she was getting away. My face scowled at her as I easily forced her onto her back and held her down.

She struggled to move her arms, but I made that impossible, and she started swinging her head from side to side. Her feet kicked at me, hitting me in the stomach and sides, kicking me with all of her might, but her attempts were surprisingly weak and helpless, and I maintained myself over her. She helplessly flailed at me, crying, hacking as if trying to force something up from inside of her, mucus running down the sides of her face and into her mouth.

“Get off of her!”

Something strong hit me in the side and I was forced off of Melissa, landing on my other side in the grass. “YO!” I glared up at June, who glared right back at me, having kicked me off of Melissa.

“I said to cut it out, Gary!” June demanded.

I’ve had enough of her, I thought furiously as rage began to take over my mind and body.

Melissa scrambled on the ground, backing away from me, her petrified eyes moving from me, to June, and then back to me again.

I jumped to my feet and took a couple of steps forward, deciding whether I needed to throw June into a tree, or continue to restrain my sister from getting away. The answer was obvious, and I jumped at Melissa, forcing her onto her back again, positioning myself on top of her as she shrieked out. My hands pinned her shoulders to the ground, my legs around her, at her sides, my breathing coming out heavily, angrily, glaring at Melissa, my head shaking. “Not... again...” I breathed, and then swallowed saliva for my dry throat.

“Gary, I said to get off of her!” June shoved me again, but while her angry push moved me, it didn’t get me off of Melissa.

My hand shot out and I grasped June’s shoulder, though my eyes were for her neck. I pulled her down to the ground and close to my face, baring my teeth at her, giving June’s shoulder the tightest squeeze I possibly could.

“Ow! Gary, sstop!” June begged, struggling in my hold.

“This hurts,” I growled at June, shaking her roughly, making her whine out in pain. “I am not doing this to her, June!” I shook her shoulder again, digging my fingers into her, the feeling of dissatisfaction within me as she struggled and complained. I wanted to hurt her much more than her groaning would result in. I felt nothing but hatred for June right now. Shoving her way into such a personal matter as this was way beyond the line to ever be crossed. “Stay out of this!! I am not losing my sister again!! Don’t you understand that?!” I dug into her shoulder even tighter, causing her to grab my hand with both of hers as she shouted painfully before I forced June back as hard as I could.

She dropped easily onto her back and stayed there for a moment.

A loud shriek rang out, and a pair of hands grasped my face.

“Whoa!” I turned around to see Melissa’s long, dirty nails clawing weakly at my face. “Stop it!” I slammed her effortlessly back down and she collapsed, remaining still, her eyes closed. “Melissa?” My eyes widened when Melissa didn’t move from her spot. June stirred from where I had shoved her, but I didn’t turn to face her, my eyes glued on Melissa. My hands reached out and gently shook her shoulders. “Melissa, wake up! Wake up!” I shook her harder.

Melissa remained motionless.

“What did I do?” I uttered in a panic. “Melissa!”

“You idiot…”

I turned to June, fear on my face over concern for my sister.

June was sitting up on the ground, glaring down at Melissa. “Something is wrong with her. Couldn’t you tell?” She looked into my eyes angrily, shaking her head. “She’s hurt or something. You were grabbing her and hurting her, and you just didn’t care.”

“But, I wasn’t hurting her!” I insisted. “I wasn’t even grabbing her that tightly!”

“Says who? The guy who hasn’t seen his sister in several years?” June inquired angrily. “How surprised are you to see her, Gary? How excited do you feel? Are you even aware enough to answer accurately? Are you able to tell how that is transcending in how you are grabbing and shaking and throwing people around right now? Huh?? Well, Gary?! Answer me!!”

My mouth refused to give an answer, or even open, as June’s words sunk in, and I turned back to Melissa. I slowly reached out and placed a hand against the side of her face. Freckles, I thought as my hand rubbed against her face tenderly. No, not freckles. What are those? My finger traced a long, red vein. What happened to you? Why is your face like this? Why do you look so malnourished? “She’s weak,” I said in a low voice, unsure if June could even hear me. “When I held her, she felt so thin. And she looks just a little bit… different. But there’s no way this isn’t my sister. This is definitely Melissa.”

“We should get her to a hospital,” June told me solemnly, and pulled the Town Map from her pocket, grabbing a Poke Ball in the other hand. “Galvantula, go!” She extended her hand with the Poke Ball in it and Galvantula was sent out, waving her feelers in the air. “Flash!”

Galvantula’s body lit up and illuminated the darkness around us.

June leaned forward towards her Bug Pokemon, holding her Town Map between her hands, and she looked over it. “Well, I guess we didn’t take this route, so we must be here,” June muttered. “According to this map, there’s a place called Spart Town nearby, but it’s over a mountain. Our best bet is to just go back and take the path to Mistralton City. It should be a lot less dangerous than climbing a mountain.”

“Fine, we’re going to Mistralton City,” I nodded, turning to Melissa. No time to think about Ella and her crap, I told myself seriously. I need to save my sister.

“Thank you, Galvantula. You can come back now.” June retreated her Pokemon.

Melissa suddenly groaned, and her eyes tightened.

I gasped.

“Gary, give her some room! Please!” June pleaded with me.

Nodding, I got to my feet and took a couple of steps away from her, ready to grab her if she tried to run.

Melissa’s head turned to the side, and then to the other side, and she groaned again, her eyes opening. She raised a hand slowly to her head and rubbed it, using her other hand to try and sit up, and her hoodie fell off, revealing her head that was covered in a black stocking cap. Our eyes locked, and she froze with a gasp. Her mouth hung open in shock, her eyes wide, disbelief within them. She scrambled backwards, trying to get to her feet.

My heart beat painfully at my big sister’s reaction to her only little brother. “Melissa, why?” I walked after her carefully, giving her space. “Melissa, why are you running away from me? Why are you so afraid of me?”

“Please, don’t!” She jumped to her feet and turned away, pulling her hood back over her head, and she ran.

I took off like a bullet, catching her almost instantly as I wrapped my arms around her waist.

She struggled and stomped at the ground, swinging her arms around frantically, screaming as if I were going to kill her. “You’re hurting me!! Get off of me! Leave me alone! Leave me alone! Get away from me!”

“Melissa!” My heart was in pain at her words. “Why are you saying this to me? It’s me! Gary! Your little brother! Don’t you remember me?”

“Yes! That’s why I’m running away from you! Go away!” Melissa slapped at me, trying to get me off of her.

Her words not only confused and hurt me, but weakened me, catching me off guard, and my hold loosened.

With a cry, she broke free from me and ran deeper into the woods.

No! I shouted in my head, and took off after her again. No! No! No! No! I can’t just let her get away like that! What is wrong with her? Why would she say those things to me? What about me scares her so much? Why is she so fearful of me, her little brother? Why??!

Melissa’s shoulder slammed into a tree trunk and she stumbled back hard, colliding into me, and I grabbed her shoulders and roughly turned her around. “Melissa, we’re going to Mistralton City to get you some help! Do you understand me?” I said strongly. “Enough of this!” Melissa struggled in my hands, but I shook her determinedly. “NO! Why are you acting like this? What did I do to you? You’re acting like you hate me, Melissa! I’ve looked for you for over three damn years, just to have you running away from me like this? This is complete bull, Melissa!! Why are you hurting me like this??”

Melissa looked like a frightened little animal, her eyes filled with tears and terror, her hands by her chin, looking up at me, just a few inches shorter than I was.

I could hear June’s footsteps as she got closer to us, running through the woods, and it wasn’t much longer before they stopped near us, her breathing the only sound between the three of us.

“Three?” Melissa whispered.

“Huh?” I asked, desperate to understand what she was saying.

“You said, three years…” Melissa told me in light voice. “Three… Years…”

“Yeah! I’ve been looking for you for over three years, Melissa!” I screamed at her. “Don’t you know how long you’ve been gone? Why haven’t you called mommy? Why haven’t you kept in touch with any of us? You drove mom mad, Melissa. She’s ruined! A ruined mess! Don’t you care? You haven’t seen the family in over three years, and when you finally see your little brother, you run away? Melissa, why?!”

Melissa whimpered, shivering in my hands, more mucus running from her nose. “Ow… Please, Gary. My shoulders. They hurt.” Her voice was so little, and so pained.

“No! I can’t, Melissa,” I told her, shaking my head. “I can’t trust that you won’t run away again. I can’t let you get away from me. You need help. You’re so thin, and you look unhealthy. Have you eaten?”

Melissa whimpered softly and shook her head, looking away from me, closing her eyes.

“Melissa, we have food,” I told her. “Eat, please! June, grab something for her! Give her a bottle of water!”

“No! I can’t!” Melissa struggled.

June dropped her bag to the ground and opened it quickly, digging inside of it and coming back up with a bottle of water in one hand, a bag of grapes in her other hand.

“Melissa, take it!” I said angrily, and grabbed her by the wrist, keeping my other hand on her shoulder, and I extended her hand towards the bottle of water June held out to her.

Melissa shivered in my hands, but her hand wrapped around the bottle. She shakily pulled the bottle to her lips.

“Drink slowly, please,” June warned. “Not too fast. You look so dehydrated. If you drink it too fast, it could be more harmful to your body. Take your time, dear.”

Melissa nodded and slowly raised the bottle to her dry lips, the bottle shaking in her hand as if she were struggling to hold it up.

I gently grabbed the back of the bottle and helped her to control the flow of water.

A small splash fell onto her lips, some of it dribbling from her mouth. She swallowed it, choking a little bit, and tried to pour even more into her widening mouth, but I resisted her pull and only allowed for a small amount to drop from the bottle.

“Easy, Melissa,” I said firmly. “I know you’re thirsty, but you need to take your time.”

Melissa nodded quickly, but tried to pour even more water down her throat.

“No, no,” I said to her, pulling the bottle from her.

She whined weakly, opening her mouth wider, pleading for more water.

“Sit with me, please,” I told her, and I slowly sat down, pushing down as gently as I could on her shoulder to encourage her to follow my lead.

She grabbed my shoulder with both hands and June grabbed Melissa’s other shoulder, Melissa turning and removing one of her hands from my shoulder and grabbing June’s with it as she lowered herself down. Before long, we had all dropped to the ground, sighing.

I raised the bottle of water to Melissa’s mouth and allowed a little more water to dribble from the top.

Melissa slurped up the tiny amount I had given her and then wiped at her mouth.

“Here. These have juices in them, too,” June offered, holding out the open bag of grapes.

Melissa reached into the bag and pulled out a handful of grapes, bringing them to her mouth eagerly.

“Nu, uh,” I said, gently grabbing her wrist, startling her and causing her to drop all of the grapes to the ground.

Melissa reached out for the fallen fruit with her other hand, but I reached out and grabbed that wrist, too.

“June, can you feed her, one at a time, please?” I asked her before turning to Melissa. “We’ll get you fresh grapes. Don’t eat so fast. Please.”

“But…” Melissa made a whiny noise as she struggled to go after the grapes on the ground, but I held on to her.

“I said no, Melissa,” I said strictly, feeling as if I were talking to a preschooler.

“Here, honey,” June said, holding up a grape in her hand towards Melissa’s mouth.

Melissa obediently opened her mouth and hungrily chewed on the grape. After swallowing it, she coughed once before her mouth opened immediately for another, and June fed her another grape.

I can’t believe this is happening, I thought, watching June feed my sister grapes. How is this possible? This is so surreal.

June and I went back and forth between feeding Melissa and giving her water. The bottle emptied out first, and June handed me the bag of grapes to feed Melissa while she got another bottle of water from the bag. When we had finished the bag of grapes, June handed me the water bottle and then found a banana in her bag. She broke it into pieces and fed it to Melissa as I managed her water intake.

Melissa had gone through three bottles of water, a bag of grapes, a banana, and a large jar of applesauce before she burped, her head lowering in embarrassment. “Excuse me,” she whispered.

“Are you feeling okay, Melissa?” June asked her.

She nodded, her head still down.

“Melissa.” My eyes were locked on her head that was covered by her black hood.

She didn’t look at me.

My eyes remained on her, but I didn’t say another word.

June looked at me, and then back at Melissa.

Finally, after a couple more minutes, Melissa slowly turned her head towards me.

“Melissa, are you alright?” I asked.

Melissa nodded, looking away.

“Please, don’t.” I reached out slowly towards her face, and she flinched as my hand touched her cheek.

“No…” she said in a hushed voice as she shook her head hard. I pulled my hand away, and she turned to me with a sorrowful look.

“Melissa, what happened to you?” I asked her.

She inhaled and her breath came out shakily. Her mouth opened as she inhaled a hesitant, nervous, quivering breath, and then it came out. She tried again, inhaling deeply. “I’m so sorry, Gary. I didn’t mean to treat you like that.”

My eyes instantly filled with tears at the sound of her apology. I opened my arms towards her, hoping for a hug.

Melissa lowered her head and shook it slowly. “I’m not ready,” she whispered to me. “I’m sorry. I’m… Just not ready yet.”

My arms dropped, my heart falling with them, possibly to never return. “I don’t understand. It’s been over four years since we’ve been together in person. Over three years since you’ve seen me at all, and you’re not interested in hugging your own brother?”

“It’s not that,” she explained slowly. “I love you. You’re my little brother. I want to hold you. I… need to hold you! But, not right now. I’m still not… sure what’s going on. I don’t know what to think or believe. It doesn’t feel like it’s been… three years since I’ve last spoken to you, Gary. It feels more like…” She swallowed. “I don’t even understand it. I have no recollection of time anymore. I don’t remember how three years feels! Or even a month. I can barely comprehend the feeling of a day passing by. What does it mean? All I really remember is…” She turned to me, drops falling from her hauntingly pale blue eyes. “You… Mom… Daddy…”

“Mom and dad.” I allowed tears to fall from my own eyes.

“How is mom?” Melissa’s voice trembled.

“Why don’t you know, huh?” I demanded, my voice rising. “Why don’t you know for yourself, Melissa?” The tears were picking up speed as they formed and left my eyes, my eyebrows starting to narrow as outrage, confusion, and despair mixed inside of me for an explosive combination. “Why haven’t you called any of us? You just vanished! How did you even get here? How did you get into Unova?”

Melissa swallowed, lowering her head. “I don’t understand, Gary.”

“You don’t understand?” My voice continued rising as I got more and more upset at her. “You don’t understand? I haven’t heard from you in three years, and you don’t understand?!”

June’s eyes met mine, but she quickly looked down, seeming to want to say something.

I was glad she had decided to butt out, or I would have seriously lost it on her.

Melissa cowered away from me just a bit.

“What is it that you don’t understand, Melissa? Because I sure don’t understand a lot, either!”

“I mean, I don’t know how to answer your questions,” Melissa said in a tiny voice.

“What do you mean?” My hands flew up into the air before dropping. “You’re in Unova, but you started out in Kanto! How did you get out here? Why haven’t you picked up a damn phone to call home? These aren’t hard to answer questions, Melissa!”

Melissa sniffled and covered her face, crying again.

June looked over to Melissa, and then at me.

Although she didn’t say a word to me, I could understand what she was telling me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m sorry, Melissa. It’s just that, I’ve been through so much without you. Mom has, too. You abandoned the entire family. I’ve wanted answers all this time, and finally I have access to them, but you don’t know how to give them to me?”

Melissa wiped at her face, sniffling hard, and coughed several times. “It’s been an endless amount of time since I’ve seen you, and yet, I feel like we were together just yesterday, at mom and dad’s house, talking about Pokemon and stuff. Seeing you here is so creepy. I feel like I should be happy to see you, but I’m not. I’m scared and confused.”

My sister’s words were nothing but constant stabs at my heart with the sharpest blade, but I kept my eyes on her lowered head as she spoke.

“When I saw you, I didn’t know what to do or think,” she said to me, speaking very slowly and carefully. “It was like, I knew who you were, and yet, who the hell were you? I couldn’t believe it was you, and that meant a flurry of different things for me. It was like, ‘yay, my little brother is here,’ and at the same time, ‘oh, no. My little brother is here.’ It was like, I couldn’t let you see me like this, even though I don’t even know what ‘this’ means exactly. Everything is just so wrong. That’s how it feels, at least. It feels like everything is backwards. And forwards, too. And sideways, up, down, spinning. I don’t know when the last time I spoke to mom was. I could say I spoke to her yesterday and honestly feel that’s the truth, but you’re saying it’s been three years… I don’t know what’s happened or how long whatever has happened, happened. I do remember that I was, at some point, a Pokemon Trainer.” She leaned over and dug into her pocket. When her hand came out, a Poke Ball was inside of her palm. “I have this empty Poke Ball for some reason. I don’t really know why. It’s one of the few things I have left on me.”

“Wait, what about Bulbasaur, the Starter you choose when you left on your journey?” I asked her.

“So, I chose a Bulbasaur?” she asked, turning to me.

My heart stopped, my eyes squinting at her, my eyebrows narrowed in confusion. “Yes, Melissa. You chose Bulbasaur from Prof. Oak!”

“Bulbasaur…” she said, looking back at her Poke Ball.

“Melissa, what happened to your Bulbasaur?” I asked, staring at her in shock.

Melissa turned to me with a blank stare. “I don’t have any Pokemon. I kind of remember having a couple, I think, but, I don’t have any anymore. I don’t really remember what happened.”

June’s face was stunned staring at Melissa , looking at her as if she had just admitted to having committed the most heinous of crimes known to man.

I licked my lips nervously. “How did you get into Unova? Do you remember?”

Melissa lowered her hand, closing her fist around her Poke Ball as she stared at the ground silently.

Several minutes of complete silence passed, none of us making the slightest bit of noise as Melissa searched her mind for the answer, crickets chirping around us, grass and leaves moving about from unknown sources on this windless night.

Finally, Melissa shook her head. “I don’t remember how I got here at all. I had no idea I was even in Unova until you told me.”

My teeth clenched tightly together. What does that mean? I asked myself. How is that possible? You can’t just walk into Unova from Kanto! There’s no way she just woke up in a new region, but she can’t be lying to me. Right? Why would she? But, if she’s not lying, what happened to her? She really needs some severe help, right away. This isn’t anything to be taken lightly. She’s gone through something terrible.

Melissa leaned forward and coughed repeatedly.

June gently pat her back and grabbed the bottle of water on the ground, waiting for Melissa to cough up whatever she was struggling with. Melissa wiped at her mouth with the back of her hand and sat up, opening her mouth as June poured a little more water into her mouth.

I waited for Melissa to take a few sips of water before bringing up the next question on my mind. “Were you in the Desert Resort a few months ago?”

“What’s that?” she asked, turning to me.

I breathed in and out slowly. “Were you in any kind of desert environment in the past few months?”

Melissa kept her gaze on me for a while, and then looked away. “Like I said, I don’t really know how much time has passed for most anything I’ve done anymore. But, as far as a desert environment, I don’t have any recollection of any such place. Why?”

June squinted at me, and her mouth suddenly dropped open, her eyes widening in realization as they turned to Melissa, but she didn’t say anything.

“Just wondering if you had been through there. That’s all,” I said in a voice below a whisper, lowering my gaze. What would she know? I told myself. She doesn’t even remember crossing a freaking region. But was that really her in the Desert Resort? How can I be sure? I guess it doesn’t really matter. She’s right here in front of me, now.

“Melissa, could I ask a question?” June asked her suddenly, grabbing my attention.

Melissa looked over to June and then looked down quickly. “Um, I guess. Who are you?” Melissa asked hesitantly.

“My name is June, and I’m a Pokemon Trainer from the Kanto region, as well,” June introduced herself with a caring smile. “I’m also a friend of Gary’s. I met him in Gringey City.”

“Say…” Melissa slowly turned towards me. “Wait a minute. Gary, what are you doing in the Unova region?”

June and I exchanged glances.

“Are you out here just to look for me? No way!” Melissa shook her head. “Did you finally become a Pokemon Trainer, Gary? Wait. Three years, you said! You have to be, like, twelve or something, right? Did you get your license to become a Pokemon Trainer?”

“I’m thirteen, and, yes, I did get it, Melissa. But right now, I’m not concerned with that,” I told her seriously.

Melissa smiled weakly. “Gary, I’m so proud of you, little guy. Why did you decide to start in Unova?”

“Melissa, I’ll explain everything to you later, okay? Right now, you need medical attention,” I insisted.

She sighed wearily and pulled her knees up, resting her elbows on them and covering her face with her hands. “This is all so much to take in at once. I can’t even comprehend what’s going on properly.”

“Then let’s get to Mistralton City, right away,” I said, standing up.

June got to her feet, and together, we bent over to help Melissa up.

“What direction is Mistralton?” I asked June.

“Back this way,” she pointed, and the three of us turned around in the direction she directed us in.

“Um, June, is it?” Melissa asked June as we walked slowly, carefully, through the woods.

“Yes, Melissa?” June replied, wide-eyed.

“You had a question, right?”

“Oh! Well, yes…” June admitted hesitantly.

Melissa sniffled and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “What was it?”

“Well, it’s just, when we found you, you were surrounded by a few people,” June told my sister. “I was kind of wondering if you knew who they were. Why were they with you? What were they doing to you?”

Melissa stopped walking, and June and I stopped after her, turning back.

“Melissa?” My heart started to pick up its pace when I saw the look on Melissa’s face.

Her eyes were blank, gazing straight ahead. She seemed to be in another place in her mind. Her eyes closed and she pulled her hood down over her face, tugging it hard, and her hands began to shake as she let out an ear piercing screech from her throat.

“Melissa!” I stepped towards her, but she turned around and ran. I ran forward and grasped her hand tightly.

Melissa whipped her hand hard, and my hand slid off of it as something slippery got onto my palm.

I looked down at my hand briefly before looking up to chase after Melissa, but then I stopped and looked down at my hand again.

Melissa continued running deeper into the woods, getting away from me.

“Melissa! Wait!” June ran up to me. “Gary, what’s wrong? Aren’t we going after her? Oh, my gosh!” June covered her mouth with her hands as she gazed down at my hand.

I turned to June, and then looked back down at my hand. It was coated in a layer of blood.

“Gary, what is that?” June asked, her hands still covering her mouth.

“Melissa’s.” I looked after where Melissa had run.

She was completely out of sight in the mix of trees, not a sound to be heard from her running anymore.

“Gary, we really need to get her to a hospital!” June urged. “What did I say? Why is she running? Something’s seriously wrong, here!”

Without a word, I ran as fast as I possibly could, knowing this was the top speed I could move at. I felt in my heart that I had never run faster at any point in my life. Branches grabbed at my jacket, roots and things on the ground made me stumble, but I didn’t slow down and continued running after my sister. What is wrong with her? I asked myself. Why is she bleeding? She wasn’t bleeding before. I hardly even touched her! What’s going on with my sister? Why is she running? Everything was going perfectly fine! What the hell did June say? Who were those bastards around her when we found her?

June was far behind me, but I could still hear her running after me, her breathing harsh.

A loud rumble was followed by a scream from somebody, both sounds from further up ahead.

That wasn’t Melissa’s scream, I thought, flying through the forest that was a blur of dark colors.

The rumbling noise actually sounded more like a collision of large objects crashing loudly to the ground, and it was getting louder by the second.

What is that noise? I wondered. “MELISSAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!” I bellowed. The next thing I knew, I had burst through the forest and was staring out from the top of a cliff! The edge of it was several feet away, and I slowed down to a stop as I gazed out at the surrounding mountains around an enormous, gaping hole in front of me, dropping down further than I wished to know.

“JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY!!” a voice with a foreign accent begged.

I turned around to see a man wearing a black blazer buttoned up over a white shirt, black slacks, and black shoes, staring at a pile of large boulders on the wall of a tall mountain he was standing next to. He took a step back, close to the edge.

“Hey, watch your step!” I yelled out to him.

The man turned to me in shock, and then looked back at the large boulders. He turned to me once again and then ran towards me. “Get out of here! It’s not safe!” he said, out of breath. He sounded like he was from the U.K. His black hair was a mess on top of his head, his face deadly serious and unshaven, a thick beard covering the bottom half of his dirt smudged face. Up close, I could see how dirty his attire actually was, filth coating his clothing noticeably in large, various spots. His pants had a couple of small holes in them, his blazer displayed a large cut in the front of it near his stomach, and his shoes were badly scuffed.

“What do you mean?” I looked around. “Where’s Melissa?”

“Who? You need to find your way to another area, immediately!” the man warned. “It’s not safe here!”

“But, my sister is here!” I told him, and I ran past him, looking around. To the right of me was a dead end, displaying the end of the forest and the end of the cliff, in front of me was the gaping hole after the edge of the cliff, and to the left of me sat the pileup of huge boulders, blocking a thin path near the edge of the cliff that I could see behind them. “Melissa??” I ran forward, looking over the edge of the cliff.

The drop was enough to fill me with panic, the bottom of the cliff seeming endless, nothing but gray mountain walls and a pitch black hole leading to the end of your life.

“Don’t you listen?” the man snapped at me. “What don’t you get about what I just told you? Get out of here! I’m telling you this for your own good!”

I turned away from the hole. “Where is my sister?” I demanded.

“There’s nobody here but me, my Ninetales, and now, you!” the man said impatiently. “It isn’t safe right now!”

“What?” I shook my head quickly. “No! That’s not possible! I just chased my sister out here! Now where is she?”

“I am only going to warn you one last time, and then you’re on your own,” the man said, speaking firmly, slowly, glaring at me. “I was out here with my Ninetales, and then those boulders over there dropped from the top of the mountain. After that, you showed up. Now, will you kindly get out of here! I’m not going to live with your blood on my hands if something bad happens to you!”

“They just fell? That was the loud noise I heard?” My head turned towards the large boulders again.

“Yes. They just fell! Do you now see why it’s not safe here?” the man screamed frantically.

A noise made me and this angry man turn around.

June ran out from the woods, gazing around, looking worn out from running.

“Oh, great. There’s more of you?” the man shouted angrily.

“Gary! Where’s Melissa?” June asked, running over to me.

I spun around in a circle again, but there was nobody here but me, this man, and June. My eyes turned to the boulders. They just dropped there, I thought. Just now. “MELISSAAAAAAA!!!!” I took off, running away from June and the man.

“Gary, wait! Where is she? What happened?” June spoke with exhaustion.

A loud, sharp noise from the top of the mountain beside me was joined by the even louder sound of a powerful explosion.

I stopped running and looked behind me, up the side of the mountain, but I couldn’t see the source of the new noise above.

The man growled as he glared up the side of the mountain.

June gazed fearfully at the top of the mountain, her mouth open slightly.

Melissa, no, I thought as my entire body quaked as if an earthquake were erupting inside of me, and I ran on quaky legs, back towards the woods I had gotten out of. My body was sore, begging me to stop, but I pushed on to keep running.

Knowing that, no matter how fast I ran.

And no matter how fast help arrived.

If the fearful thought bobbing in my mind, filling me with dread, horror, and nausea, was true.

Melissa was already dead.