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"I don't know what you want."
Her voice cracked from her weak state.
"I want you to see what you are doing.
I want you to recognize. Realize. I want you to wake up!"
Vines were tangled about her ankles. She lifted her body from the ground with caution. Her elbows were too weak to elevate her. She reached out to rip the vines from her tired feet. She struggled to sit on all fours like an old hound. A line of blood flowed down her cheek. The massive gash in her head was excruciating but only a minor pain to the racing of her heart. It felt like it had been cut almost to the bone, maybe not as severe. She hadn't decided if she wished it had or not.
She examined the bark no longer laid perfectly on the tree she ran into. It was too dark to tell how much had been mangled, but her shoes led her to believe that there was enough on the ground to make her whereabouts known. She examined the trees and animals that scurried by. Knowing that time was running out, she began to walk to find something to clean up the blood that had been spilled across her disgraceful face.
A stream was in the distance. It was rushing by, crashing against rocks and boulders. Her movements were loud and distracting. The leaves around her were dead and made the most hideous crunching noises. She knew he would find her soon.
The water was frigid on her face like an ice pack. Her wound would have to suffer with being open. There was nothing around to wrap it in except those dead leaves. Her eyes welled up with tears. She leaned her head up and looked at the silver moon. She had to keep running.
"Still trying to hide?"
She jolted at the sound and saw the evil that had been following her all this time.
"Answer me, or better yet, answer nothing.”
The figure was cloaked in all black. Its face and any other body parts were unnoticeable. It was as black as the night that surrounded them. The horse it rode had fire in its eyes, red as the anger that haunted her from all of the running.
"Do you think you can run forever?"
Its voice was deep but almost angelic. She stepped back, unaware of who was confronting her. Her legs began to shake. All she could do was run.
She sprinted through the trees and tried to jump over rocks, breathing heavier than a person having an asthma attack. The figure charged behind her with its horse. The clomps echoed through the night. The sound could not be drowned out. The dead leaves sounded like the rush of a hundred elephants.
She didn't know if it was the wind or the horse's breath on her neck. She dared not tum around to find out. Her legs were starting to give, but she couldn't stop. The adrenaline coursing through her body made her faster. She finally lost her balance when her feet started to drag through the sludge. She crashed to the ground, and the dead leaves rustled. She didn't hear the clomp of the horse and its rider anymore. It had disappeared.