To Escape

I was panting heavily as I ran at top-speed through the forest. I didn’t know where I was and I couldn’t see where I was going; it was dark. The tall trees covered the sky were partially the reason for the darkness. I was unable to see where I was going in the black nothingness in front of me. I only had one mission...

To escape.

That meant everything. Whether I was successful in running away or not was the only difference between life and death. Nothing else mattered. My legs seemed to agree, because I was able to just keep going and going. Sure, I was getting tired, but they seemed to have almost infinite stamina.

“Emily...” The husky, masculine voice called in the distance, the sound coming from behind me. That was good; there was a large difference between us.

His voice only made my legs move faster and faster in their quick rhythm.

Crunch, crunch, was the only sound I heard as my feet ran across the abandoned leaves in the ground. The wind was hitting against my face, but it wasn’t too strong so I ignored it, though my hair blew behind me.

“Come on, Emily, don’t run away from me. I don’t mean any harm,” the voice repeated, his tone full of guile and sneakiness. I could picture him smirking and his eyes twinkling with mischief. I didn’t trust it at all. Go away, I told him in my head, not willing to use any of my breath and speak. He couldn’t hear me, but it didn’t make a difference. He would have ignored me anyway. My feet moved faster and faster in their steady rhythmic pattern with great swiftness and my arms moved in an alternating motion. The wind whistled in my ear as I closed my eyes shut from the discomfort of the wind, hitting my face harder and harder the faster I went.

“Wait for me, don’t go so fast,” the voice taunted shrewdly, seeming to be a little closer than before. I ignored it and continued running, not able to go any faster than I already was. I opened my eyes as I put a hand over my chest. Sprinting and asthma certainly did not mix; my chest was beginning to throb, my heart practically beating out of my chest.

Suddenly I heard a loud boom not too far from me: a gunshot. Thankfully it had missed, I was still able to—

The last thing I heard before my head hit the ground was: “I told you to stop and wait for me, but you didn’t listen. Now you pay the price.”