1.02 You Cannot Run

His laughter sends chills down my spine. It’s disturbing and almost unreal. He walks with a slight limp, seeming sluggish until he jolts forward suddenly at rapid speed. You could stare at the monster for days, watching him - trying to learn his patterns but you never will.

You can try to run, but he’ll always find you.

I tried to run. I remember that.

It was the time the monster finally broke me.

The woods were so dark. I had scraped myself up as I ran. I kept running and running and thought I was actually making progress, but I wasn’t. It was as if I were running in circles, yet I never turned.

I ran for three days. I was exhausted and tired. I was near collapsing and that was when I saw him again.

Jack. My Jack.

I knew it was him. He was roughed up around the edges, but it was still him. He clutched his head and I ran for him, but something was holding me back. I screamed for him.

I begged him to look at me, but he didn’t see me. I beat at the barrier between us. I beat at it until my hands bled.

Why couldn’t he just see me?

Then there was the laughter. The monster was mocking me. Jack was right there… but he could not see me.

Perhaps it was all an illusion. He had snapped his fingers and the ground vanished beneath me and I was back in the room that I had run from in the first place.

I was bloody, bruised, and beaten.

The monster had left me a dress to wear to dinner that night. Dinner with him. It was all a game. I was just a plaything. His doll that he would dress up and parade around. It was walking on eggshells. I was always walking on eggshells.

The monster had thought he had broken me. Perhaps he had, but in a way… he only strengthened my resolve.

I had seen my Jack alive.

That was all I ever needed.

~~~~~~

Electricity jolted her suddenly and she gasped, her eyes coming open for the first time in ages. She stared in horror at the man who stood over her - dressed oddly and with a painted face that resembled the monster she feared. There was a monster? She couldn’t recall. Everything was scrambled in her head.

The man wearing bright colors removed his hands from her. “CLEAR!” He shouted loudly to the area they were in. Where was she? What was going on?

Another man behind the brightly colored man frowned. “You’re supposed to say that before you electrocute someone, my lord.”

She was electrocuted? Is that why she had jolted awake? What happened? She had too many questions yet she couldn’t seem to find her own voice.

“Bah, you humans and your rules.” The brightly-colored man scowled. Suddenly his golden eyes landed on her and he smiled a deranged smile. “Happy birthday!”

She sucked in careful breaths as she tried to look around and gather her bearings. Involuntary tears fell from her eyes and she swallowed. Her throat felt dry. Her whole mouth felt dry. She used all of her strength and launched herself forward into a sitting position, her arms clutched her chest. Strangers in the room stared at her and she felt overwhelmed.

The room was spinning. The world was growing darker. She gasped for breath and reached for the nearest thing to her - one of the deranged man’s arms. She clutched his wrist weakly with both of her hands and looked up at his face - his face that was fading into darkness. She scrambled as she tried to remember how to speak. What were the words she needed? Where was her voice? How could she make it say what she needed to say?

“The monster…” She squeaked. She had found it! Her voice was barely a whisper. “He’s coming back for me. Please help… Please help me…” Everything faded to darkness.

~~~~~~

< Previous Chapter | Chapter List | Next Chapter >