Legs aching, lungs burning, Jill hurtled through the darkened forest, her mind filled with a single word.
Run.
Behind her, she could hear the sharp breaths of her pursuer, and
imagined she could see the gleam of teeth, and smell the lupine stink of
the beast. But she dared not look back; she couldn’t afford to miss a
tree root or branch that may trip her.
Run.
Ahead, a break in the trees. She didn’t know if that would be good or
bad; would the open ground let her escape, or would it let the creature
overtake her? She scrambled as she overbalanced for a moment, palms
stinging where they slapped the soil, willing her arms to help her go
faster for the moment her hands had purchase.
Run.
Driven by that command pounding through her veins, Jill missed the
cause of the break in the trees; she took three steps into open air, her
momentum carrying her away from the bank, before she fell into the
river with an echoing slap. Already exhausted, she barely had the energy
to flounder to her back so she wouldn’t drown, before pain and darkness
took her.
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