Hunting Season
Blood pumping, ground flashing by, trees multiplying, breath becoming shorter and shorter. Her legs trembled during flight as her paws hit the earth causing it to rumble. Everything was muted out, and her eyes were set straight ahead.
A flaming red fox raced at an incredible speed through an overgrown woods, jumping through thickets, leaping over fallen oaks that creaked beneath her soaring figure. The sun was setting. The light beams filtering through the treetops became thinner with every second.
A bellowing bark shook the wood off of the trees, and the sound of panting began to fill the vixen's ears. It was gaining on her. Her left, front leg suddenly tucked under her causing the fox to crumble painfully to the ground. The black leg twitched in soft spasms. She started to pant in fear. Saliva dripped off of her sloppy tongue, but her mouth quickly grew dry.
Barking—more monstrous bellows and growls sounded from deep in the wood as darkness set in from the dying sun.
Her amber eyes grew wide. She tried to stand but her back legs were frozen still. Her mind commanded the quivering limbs to stand, but they disobeyed.
More barking. Louder and louder those bays became soon filling her black-tipped ears causing them to ring in agony.
The crippled vixen cried out, but nothing fell from her gaping maw. The sound was sucked out of her, and soon everything became silent—save those looming bays and barks and howls of the invisible hound.
Panting hard, her lungs expanding like balloons ready to burst, she became desperate. She reached forward with her only good leg. Her body was ready to run even with its inoperable limbs. She stretched that leg out—and it snapped in half. The sound of the sudden crunch of bone drowned out by the awful, unending shriek of the fox.
XXX
She jolted awake with a shrill cry. Her left arm clutched her right with a grip so tight that her skin began to turn white.
'The same dream—' her thoughts echoed.
She remained upright for a while. Soft pants flowing out of her mouth one by one, and her heart was racing. Racing like that fox.
Cold water slapped her face as she flung the grimy sink water from her hands.
When did she get to the sink?
'When did I get to the sink' Her thoughts repeated.
'When did I get to the sink?' Her thoughts repeated again.
'Wait.'
She inhaled sharply before clamping her mouth shut. Water dripped from her nose and her lips as her blue eyes stared into the mirror above the faucet. Her sweaty fingers gently refrained from gripping the fake porcelain sink.
Didn't. Didn't I just…just say…ju—'
She slammed the bathroom mirror shut after having grabbed a toothbrush. She ran it under the water before thrusting it into her mouth to scrub… but then her thoughts caught up to her.
'Wait.'
She froze.
It happened again.
Holding the bristled, wooden toothbrush in her mouth as her eyes went back to the mirror. There she was—in her reflection. Remy Hadley. The body of Remy Hadley that was moving faster than her own mind. The cogs ticked in her head just a minute too slow.
It was getting worse.