Josie's Pov 

Run, run, run, That was all I could think. Don’t stop or they’ll catch you. You have to find the others, You have to find Jack before it’s too late. I kept on running not slowing down no matter how much I wanted to. No matter how much I needed to. Sprinting through a forest is a lot harder than you would think. With the sticks and branches grabbing at you from where they lay on the forest floor, or the tree roots and rocks making the ground uneven. I could hear those things behind me catching up. Now, you might be wondering how I got myself into this mess. Well to catch up let’s go back to the beginning of the week when I still thought I was a normal girl. You would not believe how wrong I was.

It all started at 7:00 am a week ago.It was a monday morning when I woke up abruptly hearing a shrieking noise. I shot up in my bed looking around for the source of the horrid noise. When I finally came to my senses I realized it was my alarm. Today was to be my first day of sophomore year. I was more nervous than ever, not that I would ever tell everyone that. To them I would look calm and collected while on the inside I was shaking in my metaphorical boots.

I jumped out of bed and shuffled to my shower. I shaved my prickly legs and washed my hair with my green apple scented shampoo. I scrubbed my body with my vanilla body wash. After rinsing off the soap I shut off the tap and grabbed my towel. Walking to my closet and opening the door, I pulled out an outfit. My outfit consists of a blue tee-shirt and black jeans. After pulling on the outfit, I wandered back into my bathroom to finish up my morning routine. Looking in the mirror, I brushed out my waist length brown hair. I really need to touch up my blue highlights. They're fading. Finishing braiding my hair back into a french braid, I grabbed my mascara and applied it to my eyelashes that framed my bright green eyes. Because I don’t wear much makeup, I finished quickly. My fair skin didn’t have a mark besides they light dusting of freckles across my cheeks and the bridge of my nose.

I grabbed to black converse by my door and pulled them on. Opening my door, I tiptoed down the hallway and out the front door, hoping to keep my mother from waking. She had got home from work late. She had to support both of us on her own because my father had left when I was young. He had said that he wasn’t up to the challenge of a child. I think he was just scared to face reality.

I ambled to the bus stop and met up with my friend Cole. Cole was the biggest flirt even if he wasn’t the best at it. He was tall, well to me was tall as I was only 5’1. He was about 6’1 and a beanpole. He has blond hair with a reddish undertone. He was always wearing some variation of sporty clothing. Today’s choice was black basketball shorts and a red t-shirt. He was wearing the same beat up black converse he always did.

“ Hey Josie,” he called to me when I was close enough.

“ Hey Cole,” I said back. He pulled me into a hug, my head coming to rest on his chest and my arms wrapping around his waist. “ How was your night,” he asked letting me go.

“ Oh, you know sitting by myself in an empty house while my mother is out working her ass off to keep us in that stupid apartment,” I muttered back sarcastically.

“ I’m sorry Jay.”

“ Don’t worry about it ,” I said smiling . “ Come on the bus is here.”

We climbed up the stairs and pushed our way down the aisle to the back of the bus. Sitting down we continued our conversation.

“ So are you ready for the first day of sophomore year.” He has asked me this question year since the first grade. We met in kindergarten. He was being picked on and I stood up to the bully. We have been best friends ever since.

“ Of course I’m ready. I’ll probably have to chase off the bullies from messing with you.”

“Oh shut up.” We sat there in silence before looking at each other causing both of us to erupt in laughter.

Finally we started to calm down. It took forever because we kept looking at each other and making each other laugh again. Looking out the window I noticed we were almost at the school. Welcome to hell, I thought to myself.