My feet sound like cannons as they pound against the ground. My heavy breathing is labored, and I hope the person chasing me can’t hear very well. I won’t be hard to catch if his hearing is better than, oh, say an 80-year-old woman. Still, I run. I have to. If not for myself, than for Grandmother. She wouldn’t want to see me go this way. She wouldn’t want to see me go at all, I realize with a grim smile, but she especially wouldn’t want to see me go down as fodder for a murderer or a wild animal.
I don’t know which is chasing me.
I only know I have to keep moving.
I'm basically running blind through the woods. I have no idea where I am anymore.
My feet move on their own, pounding loudly against the ground. I can't decide whether my footsteps or my heartbeats sound louder right now. I only know that if I stop moving, I'll die, so I just won't stop moving.
I wish I hadn't worn red. It shines in the darkness and I wonder if it lets them see me more easily. Then again, if it's
really wolves that are chasing me, I'm guessing their sense of smell is even better than their sight. I could be completely naked and they'd still find me.
It always comes down to this.
My life has been full of mistakes and regrets, heartaches and pains. My world has been ripped from me and handed back in shreds. This is what I get.
Part of me feels like this is what I deserve.
I deserve to die at the hands of a pack of angry wolves. I deserve to have them rip me to shreds. I deserve this. I deserve it.
The howls sound farther away and I slow my pace slightly, giving myself a moment to catch my breath. It's not much, but I'll take what I can get. I've never been so horrified in my entire life. I've never been so scared. I should have thought about the wolves. I should have thought about the animals that lurk in scary forests. I should have thought about those things and figured out a way to protect myself before I ran, but I didn't.
For the millionth time, I feel like a stupid, stupid girl.
If there were ever a picture of someone who could get nothing right, it would be me. Right here, right now. Just me.
Makes-mistakes-Marcy. That’s what I am.
Why did I wander so far from the path today? Why did I sneak out on my own? I should have waited for Wolfy to come with me. I should have woken him up, but I didn’t.
For some reason, I just wanted to go on a walk on my own. I wanted to explore a little bit by myself. I wanted to clear my thoughts and my head and just relax for a little while.
So I sneaked out of my cabin before my wolf could wake up, and now I’m being hunted.
I hear a howl that sounds closer than the rest, and I take off running again. I’ve lost all sense of direction. I have no idea where the cabin is, where the waterfall is, where the path is. I’m running blind and I have a sinking feeling that it’s going to be the death of me.
I race over some underbrush and around a tree, then put my back against it. I try to catch my breath, but my breathing sounds loud and unnatural in the sudden silence of the forest.
Just when I begin to think maybe I’ve lost them, I hear a snicker.
A human snicker.
“Well, well, well,” the voice says. “What do we have here?”
I squeeze my eyes shut and stand perfectly still, as if that will make me invisible.
As if that will give me a chance.
The voice laughs and I feel cold, hard hands on my chin.
My eyes pop open.
There’s a giant man in front of me. He’s at least 6 feet tall, maybe taller. His tan skin is muscular and even with just the thin rays of sun for light, I can tell he’s shredded. Despite his physical perfection, I feel nothing but fear when I look at him.
“W-W-Who are you?” I manage to squeeze out.
“W-W-Who am I?” The man sneers, mocking me. My heart crashes into my stomach. He’s going to kill me, or worse. He’s going to hurt me and destroy me and he doesn’t care at all.