Revelations

The wind was fierce, ripping through trees and blowing dirt into the air like some sort of mini cyclone. Trees strained against the roots holding them into the ground while smaller branches fell about, thrashing in the tumultuous wind.

A couple ran through a thinly wooded area, never stopping for air, though the female looked fit to collapse in a heap. Their clothes were tattered and torn, in places covered in dried blood while to a passer-by they smelled as though they hadn’t washed in days. The male had caked blood on one entire side of his face, as though he hadn’t even bothered to wipe it away when he was injured.

Neither one of them spoke, for to do so would break the rhythm they had fallen into over time. The woman had a fear in her eyes that told of long periods of pain and death she had witnessed, while the man’s eyes were hard and cold, as though he couldn’t possibly let any information seep through this facade of strength and courage.

At one point they approached a rocky hill which looked perilous to climb, however the trees had gradually closed in on them, preventing no other option other than to turn back the way they came or climb upwards. The wind whipped the woman’s dark hair about and she hardly took any notice of it. Her eyes were focused on the obstacle before her.

“I don’t know if I can...” she began to say uncertainly.

“Don’t think about it,” said the man, his voice ragged. “Just do it.”

He was already making his was up the rocky incline, grasping at jutting stones and tree roots to haul himself up. The woman hesitated a moment, and then followed him. Her cold fingers grasped at anyplace that she could find a firm grip. A few times she grabbed hold of a loose rock and it slid out, causing her to swing dangerously close to falling. But she regained her grip and continued onward.

The man was almost all the way up now and the woman thought of how he had always been a fantastic climber. She was the one with the fear of heights, and whenever she looked down it was all she could do to keep from screaming. She knew how high the stakes were, and if she wasted her precious time by being afraid then she was done for.

She knew how achingly slow she was going, but there was no question of turning back. She forced her aching, cold body to move and let out a little whimper of exhaustion.

The man at the top was clearly anxious about her slow progression, but he tried not to rush her. “Come on, Khandi!” he called softly down. “You can do this!”

The woman named Khandi nodded wearily and pushed herself up a little more. Her feet sought purchase on some jutting rocks and she saw that there wasn’t much more to go. She began praying in her mind that the sun would rise soon, and she hadn’t prayed in a long time for god seemed to have left them on their own. But now Khandi needed to believe in something.

When her hands reached the top, the man pulled her the rest of the way to the top and gave her a nervous, reassuring smile.

“Erik, how long until Dawn?” whispered Khandi fearfully. Her large almond eyes were focused on his face and she briefly touched the engagement ring that she wore on her wedding finger.

“A couple of hours,” Erik responded.

Then they were running again, almost as though they had never stopped, and the shadows in the woods seemed to be monsters pouncing upon the running figures. Tall trees had branches that stretched out in a way that made it seem as though they were beckoning for the scared couple to come further into the forest and to become forever lost in the labyrinth of trees.

The duo didn’t glance behind then as they ran, but they were slower this time from exhaustion. Because of their human need for rest they could soon find themselves dead. That realisation chilled Khandi, like a whisper of death had been spoken in her ear with aching honesty.

The wind had died down but rain had begun sprinkling lightly down like icing sugar on a cake. The tiny drops fell upon Khandi’s ink-black hair and on the shoulders of her thick, dark jacket. Water fell upon the trees and the earth, which was still damp from the previous night’s showers. Each step that Khandi and Erik took left a print, but they didn’t bother to stop and cover their tracks.

Eventually, an unearthly wail tore through the air. Khandi froze in her tracks, but Erik grabbed her hand and pulled her onward.

“They’re close,” she whispered with tears in her eyes. She didn’t think she’d ever been so afraid in her entire life.

Her breath began coming out in sobbing gasps and she knew that there was no way they could keep going like this. The others would eventually catch up and rip out their throats, just like they had Erik’s family and her family. Khandi remembered that evening with perfect clarity, coming home with Erik just to find that their hide out had been invaded. The stench of blood in the air caused them both to heave up their dinner.

Suddenly Erik stopped, panting heavily. A thin sheen of sweat coated his face as he shook his head. “We can’t escape them like this. We need to find somewhere to hide.”

“They can smell us, Erik,” murmured Khandi nervously.

“Not in the rain.”

Erik glanced around for a while, before taking Khandi’s hand and pointing somewhere to the right of where they stood, still quite out of breath. He was gesturing toward a rocky incline, similar to the one they had just climbed, and walking toward it. Still half-sobbing and afraid, Khandi followed him for some time until they passed through some prickly bushes and found a well-concealed cave just off the path.

The rain pounded down now, slanting from the wind, which had now increased dramatically and made it almost impossible to hear. Thunder could be heard in the distance, along with the low growl of the very creatures who were following them.

“Hurry!” shouted Erik over the storm, pushing Khandi inside before going in himself.

The cave was cold and uninviting, but at least it was dry from the rain. The chamber the couple stood in was as big as the average-sized bedroom, with two smaller passages going off in different directions.

“What do we do now?”

Erik glanced at her. “We wait until morning and then...” he sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know what we do from there.”

Khandi shivered. “Are there any safe houses nearby?”

“Not that I know of, no,” responded Erik ruefully.

Just then, the couple went silent as unnatural wailing and a low growl could be heard, even through the wind and rain. Khandi clutched Erik’s hand tightly and he put his arms around her in a reassuring embrace. There was shouting, but whether it was male or female they couldn’t be sure.

Khandi and Erik sat together on the cave floor, bodies pressed together for warmth. The time that passed couldn’t be determined, for they were too afraid to move, to speak, to sleep. Their eyes were wide and frightened, like prey hiding from the hunter. Khandi pressed her lips together to keep from screaming or sobbing or both, and her lower lip quivered from the effort of it.

This isn’t how the world is supposed to be, she thought.