Chapter 3: Chased By Memories

Reid's mind repeats a mantra as he runs. This can't be happening. This. Can't. Be. Happening. It won't stop running as

much as his body won't stop, driving itself into his psyche over and over again as his legs piston up and down, sneakers

pounding over the trail. And yet, he knows it is as real as the rocks and fallen leaves sliding under his racing feet, as

the moon shining down on him, and the pine scented wind forcing itself in and out of his aching lungs.

A headlong sprawl forces him to stop. His knees are suddenly on fire, palms aching from the impact, mouth clogged with

decaying leaves and dirt. Reid spits out the mess, rolling over on his side. Whimpering in terror, he drags himself into

the trees again and scans the path behind for signs of the hunter. Nothing. No one. Not even a hint of movement. Reid

doesn't trust his eyes. Or any of his other senses. How can he when the one who pursues him moves like liquid lightning,

as silent as the wind? Whoever the man is, he looks normal on the outside but instinctually feels like a wild animal,

only better. Smarter. Able to reason and react with human instinct and cunning. Reid has no doubt the hunter can and will

find him and attack without warning.

He can't think about the boy. Either of the boys, for that matter. They haunt him, but he needs to think of himself. Reid

slams that reality into his consciousness until he really believes it. There are others like him out here. He has no way

of knowing how many. And they are dying, just like he will die if he doesn't get the hell out of there somehow.

He still feels responsible. And guilty. The first boy gapes at him in his mind while the second one screams, "Please!" in

an endless cry for help. It's almost enough to drive him mad.

Instead, he decides to run. But when he tries to go on, his body refuses to move. Both legs give out on him, his ankles

throbbing from the fall. Reid is unable to run for the moment. He hugs himself in the dark, knees to his chest, making

himself as small as possible while he fights off the horrors he witnessed. He manages to quiet the panting protests being

torn from his throat and rocks back and forth on his haunches while his gaze scans the path and the trees around him over

and over again in a never ending cycle of fear, guilt and shame.

He should have saved that kid. He could have. If he had just moved faster, been smarter. This shouldn't be happening. Why

is it happening?

That leads his aching head down a fresh path. How did he get here? Memory flickers over the past at last, taking him to

the time before he was kidnapped. Before he was dropped in hell. He is relieved to let go of the death cries and the

accusing stare of the dead boy's eyes.

Reid is able to recall the day before and cling to it. Or was it the day before? His concept of time is lost in the face

of what is happening to him.

Lucy. The restaurant, so fancy he felt like an intruder in his jeans and hoodie. Her choice and her treat. She acted like

she owned the place and no one said a word. They celebrated. He remembers. She finally managed to get him out of foster

care. A whole year he spent after the tragic deaths of their parents, living in someone else's house, at the mercy of the

state, while his twenty-year-old sister struggled to get her own life together.

He honestly never thought she would, was positive he would be in state care until he was eighteen. Not only that, Reid

was sure she forgot him until the very day she came to pick him up. He was so shocked when his foster mother called him

downstairs, to see Lucy standing there at the door, holding the paperwork that set him free. The smile on her face

reminded him why he loved her. All his resentment disappeared. She looked good, smelled good when she hugged him, body

thinner than he remembered, her blonde hair much lighter than his tickling his face as she squeezed him so hard he

choked.

He didn't care. He hugged her back. And took in her new life. Her car was expensive, her clothes designer, hair and

makeup flawless. She looked like a model. Or a famous actress.

"We're set up now, baby brother." She smiled at him past her big, dark sunglasses and patted his knee as he settled his

hastily packed bag in the back seat of her black convertible, the combination of new car smell and freshly dyed leather

making him nauseated. "Found a good job, a great boss. Set up."

He hadn't asked her why she didn't contact him that long year they were apart. Why she didn't call, write, email. It

didn't matter. They were together.

Reid swipes at a thin tear tracing down his cheek. He doesn't have time to feel sorry for himself. Lucy. Where is his

sister?

"Mr. Syracuse," Lucy said as she pulled up to their new building. It looked expensive. "Mr. Syracuse," she repeated as

she led Reid onto the well-appointed elevator that streamed soft muzak at him. "Mr. Syracuse," Lucy whispered as she

smiled at him and unlocked the door to their apartment. "He's great, Reid. You'll like him. He's got big plans for me.

And he can't wait to meet you."

The place was posh, plush. She loved showing him around. Nice furniture, great kitchen, a bathroom Mom would have died

for. And his room was huge, stocked full of clothes, too. He had his own TV, a brand new iPad. How did she get so lucky?

This was way better than anything they had when their parents were alive.

He wanted to ask the cost of it all, what the real price was beyond the money it took to buy, but that was the natural

cynic in him. His father's influence. Still, he wondered if his sister got herself in over her head. But he was too happy

to be with her to go there just yet.

Is this the price? Reid's terror is suddenly not just for himself. His sister. She has to be out here too, somewhere.

There is no way she will survive without him. Reid's panic is so strong it drives him to his feet again. His mind races.

He has to find her. She's all he has, he's all she has. He refuses to lose her again.

But as he spins in place and his mind desperately searches around as though he'll find her right there with him, his

heart cracks down the middle. He has no way of finding her. She could be dying right now at the hands of the hunter and

there is nothing Reid can do to stop it. He hates the feeling of being worthless. He had enough of that in foster care,

shuffled from one house to the next, treated like he was an inconvenience at best, a burden and a waste of skin at worst.

His father taught him better than that, to respect himself, and he clung to that the whole year he waited for Lucy to

come get him.

Standing there, desperate to find his sister, Reid feels his will crumple at last, as it never has before. There are no

options. He is lost and alone with a man out there hunting him and kids like him. Reid has no doubt if Lucy comes in

contact with the hunter, she won't last a moment.

He slams one hand into the closest tree and swears softly. The pain is enough to bring him to his senses.

I need a plan. Easier thought of than done. Still. It is something to focus on and he needs that very much right now.

Reid resumes his crouch, finding the darkest shadow he can as his mind searches for a way out.

It triggers another memory.

He had been in bed, the comfortable mattress a far cry from the lumpy, musty things he'd spent the past year sleeping in.

Funny how every foster home had the same kind of bed. He was stuffed with good food and a beer his sister let him drink.

Lucy even tucked him in, he remembers it clearly. She smiled down at him, kissed his forehead just like Mom used to. Told

him she loved him.

So what the hell happened? He was sleeping. The door slammed open in the dark, the whole apartment deep as pitch. Reid

struggled, remembers fighting, but there were large shadows in the night, stronger than him and something fell on his

face, pressed to his nose and mouth. It stank. He sank into quiet to the sound of Lucy screaming.

Reid shudders and pulls himself from the memory, the pit of his stomach rolling over slowly once. It is true, then. She

is out there with him. This Syracuse she mentioned, he has to be in on it. Sold them to some sicko maybe? Some freak who

hunts people for fun. Reid's anger surges and for a moment it gives him power. But it isn't as strong as his fear. It has

only enough energy to drive him to his feet one last time.

He has to find his sister. She was always the weak one, the brittle flower, just like their mother. At least, that was

what Dad always said and Reid believed him at the time. Nothing Lucy did up until now gave him reason to doubt either.

And Dad would want Reid to find her and keep her safe if possible. Even though he was years younger, Reid always looked

out for her as best he could.

Indecision is agony. How? Where does he go now? And where is Lucy? Reid has no answers, no hope, no direction. He has

only his fear and the path before him. For a moment he gives in to the despair, wishing he is safe and she never came to

get him. Fury wakes suddenly, while he blames Lucy, knowing this is all her fault.

That doesn't last long. He has never been vindictive or known to hold a grudge. And his sister is all he has. Instead, he

chooses to act.

He has only one choice and he knows it. Keep moving. Search for her. And stay alive. If he can. If only long enough to

protect her. Again, if he can. He knows the chances of locating her in this vast wilderness are slim. Worse than that,

probably impossible. But Reid clings to the idea of finding Lucy, uses it as his means of moving forward, his motivation

for staying alive.

He does one last visual check of the trail, holding his breath to listen as well. It remains empty, the night quiet and

calm. He weighs his options. He can go back the way he came, on the chance the hunter moved on and perhaps left something

useful behind, or he can keep going forward. Reid checks the moon. It is falling across the sky, setting behind him.

Which means it must be headed west. He knows that much. He studies the path again. To return the way he came will take

him south. The path continues to the north. Not that it matters. But his is an orderly mind and Reid finds small comfort

in knowing at least what direction he is headed.

He can't bring himself to go back. It would mean finding the remains of the second boy, possibly in the same position he

found the first. He isn't sure his sanity can survive that. Besides, as long as he moves forward, there is hope, as slim

as that dream is.

When his sneakers touch the path, he is already turned the opposite way, frightened gaze watching everything around him

as his steady footfalls carry him deeper into the forest.

***