"Faster!" I hissed at myself, as though saying the word would will my legs to push me harder… faster… away… I needed to escape; I needed to get away from it. I wasn't sure how long I would last, I only had so much stamina, and my bare feet were going numb. I wouldn't normally run in the wet woods at night in just my pajamas- which consisted of my green booty shorts and oversized tee-and no shoes. But I couldn't be picky under the present circumstances. I was, after all, trying to get away from something that could easily end my life if it wanted to.

Hide… Trust me, it's not what I would usually do, I would usually try to put up some sort of fight, or I'd keep running until I came up with a solution, but that night wasn't at all usual. And desperate times call for desperate measures. I jumped off of the trail I had just been on and began to weave through the trees, looking for somewhere, anywhere that I could hide. I found two trees that twisted around each other. I quickly darted to the other side of them and found a small hole in the base of the trunks. I scurried inside, I was squished, but comfort was the last thing on my mind. It wasn't what you would call a 'good hiding spot' but this wasn't a friendly game of hide-and-seek. I felt as though I were stuck in a much different game; the deadly game of cat-and-mouse.

I sat there and waited. I wasn't about to move, if I made a single sound, I could be found, I didn't know what it would do if it found me. Why does it want you? I thought feverishly, seriously Lexi, what did you do? I thought about that, what, exactly, did I do? I couldn't think of anything that could've gotten me in this situation. Things like this just don't exist! If I were to tell anyone I knew that they would send me directly to the loony bin. My parents would just tell me exactly what they told me when I was little, 'Alexis, you know that we love you, but sometimes it's not healthy to have such an overactive imagination'' Then I would be automatically banned from any horror movies until I was thirty. No, telling anyone would only complicate things, I told myself.

The seconds turned into minutes, and it felt as though I had been squatting in that tree-hole for a long time. I was starting to lose feeling in my legs; it didn't register in my mind that my next move would be a huge mistake. I shifted my weight on the wet leaves and sticks I was on. Snap. One of the sticks I was on cracked with a much louder sound than I could afford. I clamped a hand over my mouth to silence my breathing, which was now coming out in short gasps. If possible, my heart would have stopped beating. The forest remained silent though, and I began to calm down, just a little bit.

That was, until I heard slow, shallow breathing that I knew wasn't mine. Lexi, shut up. Stop telling yourself that! Remember what Mom and Dad said about that 'overactive imagination'? Yeah, that's what is happening now, I tried to ease my panic; I shut my eyes and counted to ten.

One, two, three… there's something there!

Four, five, six… No there isn't!

Seven, eight, nine… don't be an idiot! I highly doubt that even you are creative enough to make this up Lexi.

Ten…

The breathing stopped…

See? I told you, there is nothing to worry about!

... And started up again, louder, deeper, developing into a pant, like the thing behind it was gulping in the air, short on breath, trying to take it all in at the same time. I could feel its presence, my eyes bugged out and I tried to hold back a small shriek; the sounds were coming from right behind the tree I was currently hiding in.

Run!

I didn't need to tell myself a second time, in an instant that even I didn't know was capable, I leaped out from the tree and ran like I never had before. Adrenaline pulsed through my veins, putting all of my senses on high. The dim moonlight that had been lighting my way seemed brighter, I felt quicker, lighter even. But no matter how much better I felt, I still knew that it was sharper, much faster, and much lighter on its' feet.

I didn't know where I was going, come to think of it; I didn't even really know where I was or how I got here. All that seemed important at the time was getting away, I couldn't tell how far away the thing was, it could have been right behind me and I would have never known. Its silent pursuit made my running seem noisy in the peace of the woods.

Something inside me froze when I saw what was ahead of me; the path abruptly stopped. There was a thick, dark cluster of trees in the way. They were too close together to have grown naturally; someone must have put them there. Out here, in the middle of nowhere, right on the only path in sight? It was a strange spot for trees, I'll have to admit. But all of my thoughts on this strange formation were cut off when a sharp, stabbing pain shot up my right leg. I immediately fell, landing face first on the cold forest floor.

No, no, no! This is not happening! Get up! Run! I kept telling myself these things, but every attempt to move my right foot made me wince in pain. I sat up quickly and glanced at my foot. Blood was running in a steady stream down to my ankle, dripping on the ground. A stick about three inches in length was protruding from the arch of my foot. I knew I had to act fast. I bit down on my lip, grabbed the stick where it was closest to my foot, and yanked it out. Tears began to stream down my face as the pain throbbed through the lower half of my leg. I was noisy, but I didn't care. I got on my left foot and began to hobble towards the cluster of trees. I didn't make it very far, I fell only about a few feet away from where I had first fallen.

I knew it; at that moment I realized that there was no point. That thing… whatever it was, it was going to get me.

I was laying on my stomach, my face down, waiting for something, anything to happen. That's when I heard the soft padding of feet come up from behind me.

This is it; I'm really going to die.

This time, I didn't argue with myself. The footfalls circled around and stopped right in front of me. I swallowed deep, and then looked up. My eyes met with two chocolate-colored orbs. They didn't look violent; they looked quite friendly, almost… human. They belonged to a massive animal. It looked like some freak version of a wolf, with sandy colored fur, very gangly; it was about the size of a horse. This thing couldn't have been chasing me, if it had wanted to kill me why hadn't it done so already? I opened my mouth to say something, anything. But I just couldn't form a coherent sentence. The wolf-thing looked suddenly to the right and I followed its gaze. Another wolf was coming out of the darkness, this one had grey fur. It seemed to have some sort of silent communication with the sandy wolf. All of a sudden, the grey wolf snapped its head in my direction, only just realizing that I was there. This wolf's gaze was nothing like the first wolf, this stare was one of mistrust, anger, and nothing pleasant.

Almost so fast that I couldn't see it, the grey wolf lunged straight at me. I let out a piercing shriek and barely rolled out of the way. The sandy wolf lunged at the grey one and they began to fight. I was guessing that sandy was on my side, and I felt a sudden rush of affection for the animal. The sound of snapping trees awoke me from my reverie. I did the only thing that I could do then; I dragged myself to the cluster of trees to find somewhere to hide.

I was about four feet away from the small opening of the trees when I heard the fight become more violent. The grey wolf had managed to throw sandy off and was coming straight for me. I leaped into the opening, hoping that the wolf wouldn't be able to fit, and was dragged into a suffocating darkness.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm back after a very long unofficial hiatus. I haven't posted on this site since April. I think it has been much too long! This is my new story, and I hope that it turns out well. If you are confused that's okay, I'm going to be explaining more in future chapters. This chapter was mainly for me to start the story out and get back to writing. I still need to get back into the swing of things. I'll try to spice it up a little more in the future, and I will try my best to make them longer. The rest of the Twilight gang is coming, don't worry. If you can guess the two characters that are in this chapter, I might send you a preview of chapter two!

Love it? Hate it? Let me know in a REVIEW!

--Eternally Dazzled