She ran through the woods, trying to push branches and cobwebs and bugs out of her way while she ran, but it did her no good.
Twigs and leaves crunched and snapped under her feet, threatening to trip her. Trees whipped her face, stinging every part of her body.
How can this happen to me she thought frantically, running, running.
There was something after her, that much she was sure of.
But what, she had no idea.
It had woken her in the middle of the night. Well, more like beginning of the morning.
It was around 2:15 when her window started to rattle violently, tearing her away from her nightmare.
She's looked up at the window and noticed it's shaking.
Interested, she pushed aside her covers and looked at the moving window.
It couldn't just be wind. It had to be something more. Maybe the trees were growing too long, and were shaking it somehow.
She walked over to the window, and suddenly, the rattling ceased. Curious, she looked out the window, peering beyond the glass, covering her eyes with one hand.
She saw nothing that suggested abnormal movement. That was until her eyes flickered, and rested on two eyes, burning into the night, only with a hole in the middle for the iris, and the silhouette of a body, latched onto the side of the house.
"Oh my…." Was all she said before she bolted. She ran to her door, and wrenched the door open, only pausing to look behind her.
The creature at her window was in full view now, trying to get in through the window. It looked up at her, noticing that she paused, and it smiled, revealing white teeth that creeped her out even more.
She ran out of her bedroom and nearly made a pit stop at her mother's bedroom.
Deciding against it, she sprinted straight past the room, and headed for the stairs.
There, she slipped a hand shaped in a circle over the railing and raced down the stairs, praying that she wouldn't slip. Her feet flew off the slippery carpet against her socks, and nearly three times, the stairs threatened to fail her, but she wound up on the floor level safely, and out of breath.
The girl dared to look behind her, and there she saw the shadow, looming in the stairwell.
All she could hear was the adrenaline pumping through her body, something she hadn't felt in a long time.
The figure seemed to stop for a moment, and she heard something faint over the whooshing of the blood in her ears.
Whatever it was, she decided, it was not friendly.
Like a frightened lamb, she darted again, somehow snatching the shoes and the jacket that were sitting on the ancient family chest, where she'd left them that night, after coming home from the party.
Then, she came to the door, and panicked. It was dark, and she couldn't find the lock.
Hastily, and fumbled for the padlock, the swing-lock and the door lock, opening them all in an amazing three seconds, and flung the door open.
She reached her hand around and locked the door, leaving it open for the person to slam closed.
She had a strategy.
The intruder would chase after her, and lock the door; alerting her mother to the danger [if she even woke up] and it would also make the intruder go back through the window if it decided to return for her mother.
As soon as the girl got halfway down her street, her door slammed behind her, and she put on the speed, thankful for the track coaching she'd been receiving.
She sprinted for two blocks straight, and decided that a straight path would only lead to the intruder getting her.
Or its friends, her subconscious said to her, and she took an abrupt left, swinging into the margin between two houses, then shot to her right, speeding between two sides of the streets' backyards. Dogs barked as she went by, but she paid no heed to them, until she realized they might alert her pursuer to her location, and the girl revolutionized her entire route, taking a slant to the next neighborhood, and running down the alleyway.
The girl searched for a place to hide, naturally slowing her pace.
There were bushes, but those were too conspicuous. They would be searching for her there. And in backyards, and on porches.
She didn't realize how much she's slowed down until there was the sound of someone crashing through the bushes, and she turned slightly over her shoulder, seeing the black-clad creature coming toward her at an unbelievable speed.
Inspired by a new wave of fear, she bolted toward the tree-line, wishing she would go a little faster.
She broke through the first film of trees, and immediately tripped. Mud sprayed her face and clothes, and she realized she was still shoeless, and she's sunk into mud.
She grabbed hold of a tree in front of her to grip as she pulled herself, not daring to look back again for fear the thing would be standing directly behind her, breathing down her back, and she continued into the woods, clutching her shoes and jacket in her fingers as hard as she could, knowing her fingers and knuckles, knowing they were white from the pressure they were under.
She ran for another ten minutes, too afraid to stop or slow down.
What was after her, and why was it continuing to chase her.
What had she done?
And why were its eyes glowing?
She stopped when she was sure the only sounds in the forest were that of hers, stepping on dry twigs that had fallen to the floor of the forest, and leaves being disturbed.
She slowly slowed down, and her lungs and heart slapped her in the face, reprimanding her for depriving them of oxygen for so long.
She leaned against a tree and focused on inhaling and exhaling to calm her heart rate.
The back of her throat singed every time a new wave of cold air hit the gentle skin.
She pulled her hands above her head, and welcomed the new dizziness, still listening for any sound that would alert her to the intruder.
She looked around, not recognizing anything.
It wouldn't have helped even if she had football spotlights with her.
She never wandered into the forest this far anyway. It was a death sentence, and everyone knew that.
With a sigh, she knelt down and stripped her socks off, which were covered in dirt, grime, sand, mud and unfortunate bugs. She carefully pushed her already laced shoes over her wet feet, careful not to get them muddy, trying to preserve the cleanliness for as long as she could. Then, she shoved her dirty socks in her jacket pocket, not knowing when or if she would need them again.
She tugged on her jacket, and stayed motionless for a while, listening for the shadow.
It seemed to have left the woods. There was no distant crashing, or anything.
With a sigh, she realized that going back the way she came would only provoke the intruder, and possibly prove threatening to her mother, so she continued on the way she had begun to run in.
At first, it wasn't difficult. The terrain had become solid because the dense treetops prevented much of the moisture from getting in, and the only thing slowing her down were the tree roots that jutted out in awkward places.
But once she got to what she felt was the other edge of the forest, she experienced muddy marshes and places where she sunk in four feet, literally to her waist, and ruined her attempt to keep clean shoes.
Muddy, wet and disheveled, she trudged on, not knowing where in the world she would end up, or where she could seek shelter, and possibly call home.
A sudden crack startled her, and her head whipped around so fast, it made the vertebrae in her neck pop and crack.
Her eyes were wider than her skin allowed, and it caused them to get dry quickly, but the girl dared not to close them, even for the fraction of a second it took to blink.
Whatever it was, she felt that it was back.
Quickening her pace, she caught sight of a possible end, and made haste toward it, hoping that it was some sort of civilization.
Adrenaline got her brain to hallucinating evil creatures and monsters chasing her, and she began to run, nearly tripping over everything in her way.
"Arrrghh!!" cried the thing, and the girl gave a yelp, fast-forwarding into survival mode, and she loped out of the forest, running as fast as her protesting thighs would carry her.
She sprinted up the first hill she got to, seeing a large brick house at the top, and whatever was chasing her crashed out of the forest. Her brain pushed harder, and her breath seemed to come in her nose and out her mouth simultaneously.
She finally got to the door, and frantically banged on it.
"HELP!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
"PLEASE OPEN UP!!" she added, banging with her fist, bruising it.
"PLEASE!!!" she cried, looking around, wide-eyed for the creature.
All she saw was shadows, but her brain was convinced that it was still after her.
"FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS, PLEASE OPEN UP!!!!" she screamed, purely terrified.
She saw a quick flash of pink, and a lady with the most beautiful face she'd ever laid eyes on flung the door open.
"Child, what is your problem?!" she demanded.
It was not even a second that the girl was mesmerized by the face of the woman who looked in her early 30's before her mouth opened.
"Ma'am, I'm being chased. Please, let me in. I'm so dirty, and I'm so sorry, I'll pay for anything and everything, but please let me in." the girl pleaded, and the woman, who seemed to know her dilemma before she opened her mouth, stepped aside, yanked the girl in by the collar and shut the door, dead-bolting it before the girl was finished with her sentence.
The girl looked up at the woman.
"Thank you so much!" she said in a gasp.
The woman nodded, and the last thing the girl saw was the beautiful face staring indifferently at her before the girl passed out from oxygen debt.