The boy in the black ragged jeans sprinted forward over the small stream, leaving disturbances in the water as his foot grazed the water. His breath came out as ragged as the holes tearing his attire; whisps of white moisture floating into the air and disappearing into the cold night.
"Where is he?!" They cried, always close yet far- the threat of discovery following him like a shadow.
He ran faster, entering the dark tree grove. The branches tore at his clothing, adding more holes, whacking his face. They cut his skin, leaving streaks of red blood, yet he knew he could not and would not feel the pain. Desperately, he ran even faster, faster than he had ever run before; he knew what would happen if they caught him.
"There he is!!" One of the shadow figures pointed a hyper-extended arm out towards the boy, just grazing his face. In the darkness, none of them could see one another, yet they all were there, searching in the confined space.
The man grasped the boy, and swung him around to look in his eyes. "Where do you think you are going?" The boy looked deep into the man's empty, lifeless eyes and saw his own fiery irises reflecting back at him. The man screamed suddenly, and the boy shot away as his grip slackened.
"The little twerp burned me!!" The man cried, clutching his face. The other soon caught up with him, as the sun began to rise. One of the figures, enveloped in a thick black cloak, watched the shape of the boy run out onto the horizon.
"Exole? We have to catch him!" Another figure, a woman, told him.
"No." Came the reply. "He will not survive long. If the test results prove correct, he is as good as dead." He turned around and walked away from the grove.
Eventually they followed; the burned man and the others. The woman stopped before they exited the grove, she hesitated. As the others continued onwards, she turned around and watched as Exole had done.
"Jecht..." she whispered, "you will be found." a tear rolled of her cheek and was blown away in the warm wind, spiraling upwards toward the fiery rising sun, and evaporating with a hiss as its atoms broke away into the dawn's early light.