Author's Note: There was a crooked man...nah, I kid. Here's this.
Description: Times don't change. You think it's any different now that they're out? No. Not even a little. MxM
Warnings: A good chance of future blood and gore. Perhaps some adult themes as well.
Disclaimer: I don't own Merry Shelly's stuff. Or...well...whoever owns the rights to it now.
Run! Keep running! Don't stop, just run!
My heart was pumping painfully in my chest as I ran along the rooftops of suburban Nightmare, Virginia. My breath clouded the air and my throat was so dry it felt like it might split open any minute. God, did my throat hurt. As did my legs, both of which were burning at this point from the blatant overuse over the course of the last two hours. Two hours I'd been running, doing all I could to stay just a few steps ahead.
With all the luck I was having that night it had actually began to rain minutes prior, the tiny, insignificant droplets piercing my face with the force of little, razor-sharp needles. Still, despite the freezing, wet weather and the deafening protest of my body, I kept my stride. I couldn't afford to stop. He was after me.
I came across a particularly long gap between two houses and steeled myself for the jump. I wasn't much stronger than the next person, despite my quarter vampire heritage, but it was enough to put me above most others in my class. Ei, I can cross twenty-five foot gaps between houses, a feat just out of the reach of most others like me. Mostly like me.
Unfortunately, this particular gap was at least thirty foot, maybe more. But I couldn't break my stride, couldn't stop my momentum. For one thing, I was already going so fast that stopping myself before the jump was pretty much impossible at that point. Second...I just couldn't be caught. Not by Him.
I swallowed dryly as I closed in on the gap and bent my legs, ready to make the leap. Just as I went to spring, though, my frozen muscles locked and I tripped forward.
For a few moments there was nothing but darkness and cold. Then I hit the ground and the feeling came back to my legs in full force.
"Fucking whore..." I ground out, curling into a ball with my most-likely broken leg held up to my chest. Tears pricked my eyes as the pain slowly grew in intensity. "God, don't be broken," I whispered, slowly sitting up. I couldn't run, not like this.
I felt my heart stop when I heard footsteps through the rain, heavy and slow. I looked around and found myself in someone's backyard. There had to be someplace to hide. I surveyed the area and found three possibilities. The doghouse seemed too obvious, and the tree would only protect me from one side. I made up my mind and quickly crawled into the row of bushes lined up against the house. It wasn't easy, my leg protested the entire way, but the pounding rain masked the sound of my quiet whimpering and the hedge was thick enough to keep me hidden. Now I just had to lay still and hope for the best.
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
...
I could see His shoes come into view from my position on the ground, but I didn't risk looking up out of fear of making noise or causing the bushes to move. Would he see me? His senses were as strong as anyone else's, but the feeling he gave you, just being near him, made you believe he could just sense you somehow.
For the longest time he simply stood there, not six feet from my hiding place.
The storm was picking up by the second, the rain causing rivets of water to run down my face even as I lay in relative shelter. How long would He stand there? I swallowed and slowly laid my head on the ground. I was so tired, and my leg was in so much pain. I just wanted to curl up somewhere warm and sleep it all away.
Just then, He moved. My sluggish thoughts lit up as He turned away from me and started towards the doghouse, slowing creeping up to it as best He could. If I wanted to escape, I have to do it now. He knew I was there, and He'd search the place from top to bottom looking for me. If I didn't move, He would find me.
Forcing all of the negative thoughts to the back of my mind, I began to wriggle along the ground, pushing through the bushes towards the corner of the house. If I could just round the corner to the other side I might be able to find some way out of there-
I felt a large, calloused hand clamp onto my ankle then, and before I could even process what was happening I was dragged out of the foliage and dropped onto the open ground. My leg burst into white hot pain and I screeched. I hadn't known something could feel so horrifically painful.
He dropped to his knees beside me and leaned over me. I could barely make out his features through the haze of pain, my mind swimming, but I could still see the alarm and concern etched on his face. That look hurt almost as much as my leg.
I tried to roll away from him, but he clutched my arm gently, yet firmly, and held me in place. He was trying to be careful, I could see that. I panted and coughed, trying to break through the numbness in my brain.
"My leg..." I mumbled, not sure if he could hear me over the rain. I wasn't getting away this time. There was no way, not with a leg like this. Not when he already had me in his hands.
He understood immediately what I was trying to tell him and turned his attention to my leg. I let my head fall back onto the cold, wet ground, defeated. I wanted so badly to sleep.
He ran a hand along my calve slowly, pinpointing the location of the break. It was a break, too, I found out later. Right in the fucking middle of my calve. After a moment he looked around, as if to find something, but there wasn't anything around us but mud and deserted houses. And shadows. A second of silence passed and then he leaned down, his twisted mouth close to my ear so that I would hear him.
"Brace yourself. I'm going to pick you up."
I grit my teeth and my breathing turned harsh as I steeled myself for the pain of being picked up. It wasn't enough.
I screamed again when He picked me up, placing me carefully over his shoulder. The bolts running up my leg were too much and before I knew it, I was out.