Escaping in Darkness

Clouds dashed across the now blackening night sky as the girl raced through the Forbidden Forest. Tree branches scratched her face and body causing new wounds to appear and more pain to endure. The wind blew hard. It had picked up in the past hour, or however long she had been running. And like an invisible enemy it was set on slowing her down. It blew fiercely back against her, causing her to shiver in her nightgown.

She remembered faintly a man coming into her house... screams.... flashes of light.... it was all faint in her mind. Maybe because she chose not to remember. But one thing she did remember was how fast she had stepped into her slippers and out her window. At the time she had thought she slipped away unnoticed, but when she looked back, concerned for her family, his angry eyes caught hers. So she ran through the woods, going no where really, just going. Awhile back she has lost one slipper and even before that the other had fallen off. Her feet, now bruised and bleeding, throbbed mercilessly, but she couldn't stop. She had to run; she had to escape.

Whipping in all directions, her hair flew around her face, particially hindering her vision as she ran. And her body, now riddled with cuts and bruises, was aching so intensely that it forced her breathing to become labored and loud.

Then her right foot dropped into a hole causing her to fall to the ground, scraping hard against the forest floor. She laid there for a second slightly dizzy, then quickly realizing that she needed to run, pushed herself up. But it was a slow push since she was so lacking in energy.

Laughter rang out from somewhere in the woods. "What? Tired already?"

The voice stung her mind and caused her head to pound. "No... no no!" She silently screamed as she covered her ears with her hands then stumbled on.

How easy it would be just to give up now. She was so drained from running and needed rest severly. Just remembering her warm bed made her eyes droop slightly. Her mind wandered on, until she was snapped back into reality when her body stumbled. Her leg had hit something, it was too dark to see. And now she could only limp, using any and every bit of strength she had left.

She tripped, falling over a protruding root. But this time when she tried to raise up, her legs wouldn't support her, this time she couldn't get up. So she did the only thing she could think of: she crawled. As fast as her sore arms would let her, while dragging her lower body. She had made it but a few feet when a cloaked figure rose up in front of her. She hurriedly turned and began to drag herself backwards..

The figure walked slowly towards her, with each step her heart beat faster, pounding in her ears. He was getting closer and she hurriedly backwards. Eyes wide as the figure wasn't more than a foot away.

She opened her mouth to scream, but he whispered a spell and she fell into unconsciousness.