WARNING: READ CHAPTER TEN BEFORE YOU DO THIS CHAPTER. ALSO, DO NOT READ MY AUTHORS NOTE IF YOU HAVE YET TO READ CHAPTER TEN. IT WILL GIVE TOO MUCH AWAY.

Goodness. Was that subtle enough? Anyway, I'd like to say a few words. Ahem.

Hopefully, Chapter Ten was action-packed enough for you without being too gruesome. I had to make certain things happen. I guess INTS (Still not catchy!) will be coming to a close winthin the month of October, or halfway through November. I'm not even going to talk sequels. Too risky.

Before you ask...yes, Brandon is dead. Take this moment to tear up and think "WHAT THE HECK IS SHE THINKING?!" I'll tell you, I'm not thinking at all! I'm purely writing, making things more-twisted-and-less-simple than ever before. Maybe I'm crazy. Eh, most all authors are anyways, so.

For Phillip haters, you may or may not get your justice. I'll be happy to give you his address if things work out in his favor. Pitchforks, fire, and brimstone will do, thank you very much. :o)

If you're still reading INTS...thank you! I am forever in debt to you! Haha! 

-HomeschoolGirl (aka Homey)

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I turned and ran.

Behind me, bullets went off like firecrackers. I didn't dodge them, he just turned out to be a horrible aim. The vision of Brandon dead kept edging its way back into my mind. He had been killed--by my own hand! Or maybe, just maybe, Phillip had already killed him. The thought eased my pain just a little. And then, I realized if I had grabbed the gun sooner I could have saved him.

I tripped over something and fell, rolling headfirst down a steep incline that led to the woods. The woods. I looked behind me, frantic, to see Phillip a good hundred or so yards away. It scared me. He didn't have the gun anymore, though, so that was a relief.

Breathing heavily, I got to my feet and took off again. I didn't have time to spare. He threw himself towards me, almost seeming to fly as he pushed off the hill and rocketed into the air. I barely missed him landing on top of me, and something snapped when he fell. For a moment I thought it was me, but I remained free of pain except for his earlier abuse. I began running again. Branches jutted out and slapped my face, almost taunting. The wind sang sorrowed songs, and the sky opened up and cried. That's what I felt like doing.

The rain fell in sheets, showering the ground and turning everything into mud. Now I sloshed through puddles, getting my clothes dirty. Not that I minded. If I made it out of this alive, I wouldn't mind at all.

I realized after quite a while that I could no longer hear Phillip behind me. I turned, and he was no where in sight. I must have lost him all the way back when he jumped at me. I turned, slumping to the forest floor gratefully. He might find me and kill me, but I doubted it. Wary, though, I stood back up and edged to a cluster of bushes. I laid down in between them, my head protesting. It hurt now--a lot.

Basically, no one was left for me. Brandon was dead, I was sure. A sickening sound escaped my lips. I couldn't afford to make noise, so I slapped both hands over my face, buried it in the bushes, and screamed.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Light surrounded me when I woke up. For a moment, I sat there, dazed. Then I managed to lift my torso from the cold, wet plants under me. It was snowing ever so lightly, the flakes barely dusting the ground. The water on my shirt and pants had frozen to ice, and my fingers were purple. I stuck them in my mouth and sucked on them, hoping to Heaven they might warm up. I didn't want frostbite.

Everything around me was painstakingly still. I shuddered at the peace that thickened the air. I wanted to scream and cry again. My hysterics over Brandon had lasted well into the night, and my heart broke to pieces. I was so tired of letting people go.

"God," I said, clasping my hands together. "Please, God, get me out of this mess. I want to go...somewhere. I want to hug Marion and bury Brandon in the cemetary, as it should be. I want Phillip gone." I paused, letting those words echo throughout the woods. "Amen." 

Slowly I raised my head. I had to do something besides sitting here, volnuerable and waiting. Phillip would be coming. Unless he had a broken leg.

The thought lightened my mood, and I stood on shaky legs. I needed to get to town, yet every direction seemed the wrong one. Finally, I chose to go the way I had come, hurrying across the wintry landscape.

With each step I took, the flakes seemed to fall harder. I hadn't remembered the way being so long, or agonizing, but that was probably because I was fearing for my life. I continued to walk, and it seemed hopeless, until time had worn on into nothing.

There was a break in the trees up ahead, but I was too tired to go much farther. With hesitant, broken movements I struggled ahead, tripping two times and once falling for no reason. My limbs seemed frozen. I had to drag myself forward, up to the trees, and out into the still, open air.

I was right back where I had started--the hill. It seemed too daunting to climb at this point, so I collapsed, letting my face sink into the numbing snow. I looked up again, over to the side, and stopped breathing.

Phillip was still laying there, his eyes closed, and his chest moving erratically. His breathing must have been labored, the way he gasped and coughed, though he remained in his deep slumber. Around his leg the snow was red with his blood. It still poured from a fresh wound. I stood, shocked to see a bit of bone poking out from his flesh. His leg was broken! 

"Thank you, God!" I yelled unable to contain myself. I stood up, feeling new strength, and began running. Despite my pain, I scaled the hill in record time, and took off for Brandon's house. I don't know why I went there.

My heart sunk as I came upon a mound in the snow. I knew it was Brandon. He had laid there all night--cold and helpless. Dead. I wiped tears from my eyes and darted past his body, running through the house. I grabbed the phone, punching in nine-one-one.

"Help," I said, after the operator answered. "I'm hurt, and bruised. A man killed my best friend. The man is laying at the bottom of a hill with his leg broken." But after that, I couldn't seem to stop.

"My aunt's dead," I continued, gasping as my tears caught up with me. "The man Phillip killed her. He tried to get me to marry him and put Brandon's sister, Marion, in jail. I had to leave home and live here now. Too late, I realized I was in love with Brandon. We kissed each other before he was killed and I ran into the woods, when Phillip broke his leg and I can't feel my legs they're iced over and I can barely walk and I can't take it anymore!" I grabbed my temple, sitting down on the ground. "Oh, God, I can't take it anymore!" 

Her answer was sure, quick, and stable.

"We'll be right there, sweetie. Hold on. Stay with me. It'll be okay."

It'll be okay.