You need to keep moving! she told herself sternly as she pushed forward on weak legs.
It had been six hundred and thirteen days since she had seen the sun, moon or stars. Six hundred and thirteen days since she had seen the petite moroi girl with platinum blond hair wearing that disappointed look upon her face. Six hundred and thirteen days since he had uttered those four words that had destroyed her heart.
But she couldn't allow herself to think of them. Yes, he had been one of the main reasons she had survived the many months, and yes, she had constructed fantasies of him in her mind that pushed her through the darkest of moments. But she needed to focus on herself in that moment.
She needed to be free of her captors, and thinking about them wasn't going to help her with that.
She knew she was being pursued, but by how many, she had no idea. Nausea wrestled with her resolve, but she needed to keep moving. It had come down to move or be killed. Although being killed sounded like a release more than anything she pushed herself to keep going. Her whole life she had been taught to fight, it was her instinct of survival mixed with his first lesson that helped propel her forward.
Her body continued to scream profanities at her. The pain was almost unbearable. Images of torture flashed through her mind, but she pushed them straight back out. Remembering those times weren't an option for her…ever.
If only it was that easy.
The grass was cold and icy beneath her bare feet. Instead of being soft, it prickled into the soles of her feet with every rushed step she took. Her breaths were sharp and ragged, a piercing pain shot through her chest with every forced breath she took. But just like with every other hint of pain in her body, she ignored it.
Pain would only bring her to a stop, but she could still hear them. Shouting, calling out orders, crunching on leaves and twigs that cluttered the ground. She believed that she was moving without sound, but in truth, she was too busy straining to hear the ones behind her.
The brunette felt like she had been running for an eternity, though it had barely been fifteen minutes. The noises behind her faded and eventually stopped altogether, but she didn't allow herself to slow down. The sun was beginning to peak above the horizon, safety edged closer with every second that passed.
It was only as the first rays shone brightly across the landscape that she could breathe a sigh of relief.
In the distance she could see vague shapes, buildings dimly lit by the rising sun. Wasting no time she headed in that direction. For all she knew they could have had their little minions after her, but they were all long gone.
She was fading, and fast. There was no luxury of time left for the injured and bloodied dhampir. If she didn't find help…who knew what would happen to her.
Just as she entered the small, worn looking town she stumbled, unable to catch herself as she fell to the rough surface of the road. She laid there gasping for breaths that didn't seem to want to come. Black spots danced merrily across her vision.
The dhampir heard the brakes of a car screech, but she couldn't have braced herself for impact even if she had wanted to. The nose of a dark coloured car came to a rest only inches from her face. Seconds later car doors opened and slammed shut.
She was gently rolled onto her back, a stream of words were shouted, but to her it was only jumbled noise. She was no longer coherent as she tried to force her unwilling eyes to stay open.
The young brunette dhampir barely caught a glimpse of the kind face of a moroi woman hovering over her before her eyes closed and she slipped away.
A/N: This is the prologue for a previous fanfic I had posted 'Damaged'. As I'm coming to the end of one of my other fanfics I thought I'd give this one a fresh look.