Being chased by a killer was bad but being chased by a killer who didn't even exist in public records was even worse. My breathing was labored as I jumped over the snaking roots in my path, not looking behind me in fear of tripping. The sun was light and a cool breeze flicked through my hair but I didn't stop.
The murderer's heavy thumps were behind me, trampling through the forest.
I could see the artificial light barely ahead of me, a dim flash of sunlight streaming through exit of the forest. I gasped as my foot caught onto a root and tumbled down, my elbows and knees screaming in pain as I crashed into a tree.
My head hurt, spinning around as I desperately clutched the thin bark of the tree to get up. Was it my imagination or had it become darker?
A blinding pain shot through my leg and I cursed, trying to keep myself under control as my twisted ankle hurt.
Just one more step, I thought. One more. I could hear the boots close behind and the whoosh of a breath beside my shoulder. I started running toward the light, terror coursing through me. I couldn't die. I couldn't.
The forest grew thinner, the trees suppressing me in their grasp. The darkness grew, enclosing me in shadows until I was blindly running through a dark tunnel to the light in front of me. There was no sunlight anymore.
I heard hisses, the rattling of snakes and the whines of coyotes nearby. I panted, prayers running through my head as I scrambled to keep my balance with my ankle.
I felt the soft sound of a hand slamming into my shoulder, of the thin, wheezey gasp in my ear as the murderer muttered words.
I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. I was frozen in place, the light growing dimmer each second. The murderer pulled me away slowly, step by step, his pale hands gripping me tightly. I screamed as the darkness blocked the light and I was left alone in the shadows.
And soon, the shadows would come for me too.
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© Andri