I ran as fast as my legs would carry me out of my bedroom window and into the thickly wooded enclosure beyond my backyard. My feet were bare with the exception of the muck and leaves that clung to their soles but despite my former concern to grab my shoes, your looming presence forced me deeper into the woods.

With my legs shaken and body wracked with tremors from your recent invasion I felt weak and sick. But I pressed on further without giving you the satisfaction of having me in your slimy clutches. I couldn't look behind myself and why would I have to? I knew you were there close behind, watching me with your eyeless gaze and smiling at me with your mouthless grin.

My pajamas were torn in varying uneven patterns that did little to mask my fresh bruises from the cold night air but I had no more concerns for my humility. You had done your work on my body and inside it as well, but I refuse to let you take me. I refuse to let a monster like you have me for your own sick pleasure. That motivation alone made me run even faster from you.

But the most curious thing about you is... Are you still following me? Or did you finally get bored with me? No... You could never leave me, not without devouring all of me at least. I could never be free from you, could I? I know now, as I run through these woods, that you would never let me be free from you. And no matter how much I scream or fight, you could never see it my way. And why would you?

There is a white orb where your face should be and a dark bottomless hole where your heart should be. You're incapable of remorse or sympathy for the things you do to me and all the countless other kids that have fallen victim to you. But not me. You can't hold me down and have your way with me anymore. Which is why I continue to run. Which is why you continue to hunt.

I can still feel those things inside me, tearing me apart for your own amusement and I can feel your jagged claws scratch along my back to leave little red trails of blood in their wake. I shudder from the memory of you cloaked in endless blackness and your expressionless face as you claimed me as yours. But just like my life, along with my family and home, those things are long behind me.

I stumble over sticks and rocks with my filthy battered feet that have gone numb from the cold and look ahead to the faint glow of a street light in the distance that seems too far away. And even as I near the other side of the woods with you in tow, I can't deem myself foolish for leading you here. You know it's not safe for either of us, but unlike you I'll take my chances.

You and I are both aware of what lays beyond Shepherd's Glen and the woods. It's a place where even horrors like you are no longer scary or imposing to faint of heart. I can't possibly believe I'll be anymore safe there than here, but knowing you stand no chance gives me enough clarity to egg you on.

The atmosphere pulls in tight around me and my once clear vision is obscured with a dense fog that shrouds even the brightest beacon of light. How foolish you are for following me this far! You should've turned the other way when you had the chance! The prey has out-smarted the predator and even as you realize this you're too determined to stop now.

So I ran to the only place where you couldn't possibly want to follow me. Because you know there are some things out there that are far more worse than you. And still, you chase me.

You chase me into the only place where you can't follow.