As I leaned against a tree to catch my breath, suddenly my instincts told me I needed to run… I looked around, aware. Why was I telling myself this? Then I heard someone abyss. I looked around, startled, afraid.

I saw a man with a black suit on. My face was white as a ghost. I ran….. and ran until I reached the top of the mountain.

Then I heard the man running again, and then I ran, jumped on a log boat down the river I had made, and I paddled off down the river.

The man was just staring down at me from the edge of the water, and I felt a hard, twisting feeling in the pit of my stomach that something wasn’t right.

Still sitting on the floor with Grayson, I began hyperventilating. My body went cold and numb and I couldn’t think straight. My breaths were shaking and out of control. I stood up and started pacing around the room shaking my hands at my side. This was completely new to me and I thought I was dying.

“Hey hey, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out it’s okay we’ll be okay,” he’s trying to calm me down, not sure if he actually cares or just wants me quiet so they don’t come back.

I nod my head but my breaths get worse. Breathing too fast for my body to catch up. My arms and legs go tingly and I collapse but don’t feel it. Before I black out I hear him call my name then rush over to me.

As I regained consciousness, out of breath and leaning against a tree in the forest, I have a sudden urge that I need to run. Still too dazed to process quite what was going on I see Grayson beckoning to me from behind a tree about 10 yards away.

I looked behind me when I heard something snap. I could see someone’s back. They were tall and lanky and I couldn’t quite figure out what gender they were, doesn’t really matter. My eyes flicker between different things I notice about the person til I saw what they were carrying. A shotgun.

I panicked and didn’t know what to do. Grayson silently gestures for me to come to where he is but the amount of debris around would give me away immediately. My heart pounded in my chest as my stomach lurched. I hid begin the nearest tree and Grayson chucked a stone about 20-40 feet to the right of us.

The figure tan toward the sound giving us time to try to reach each other and figure out what to do.

We ran in the opposite direction towards the setting sun. I stumbled so he grabbed my hand to help me be a little faster. Once we were far enough away and my mind was able to catch up and process everything that just happened, my first question was, “How did I even get out here?”

“What do you mean?” He looks confused and I feel almost stupid for asking.

“Like one minute I’m out cold in the lighthouse next thing I know I’m on the ground against a tree with you a billion yards from me.” He frowned.

“Did you hit your head? You walked out here with me, remember? The plan was to get out here and get as far away as possible.” The frown was still glued onto his face with little speckles of concern.

“I don’t.. I did?” I was a little concerned myself.

“What’s your name?”

“What? You already know that.” He’s making no sense whatsoever. I’m beginning to question if HE hit HIS head.

“What’s your name?” His frown molded into a firm but concerned look.

“Makayla. I don’t understand how this is..” before I could finish my sentence he interrupted with,

“How old are you?”

“Um… 22,”

“Did you have to think about that? Could you remember right away?”

“Yeah?”

“Okay. You should be fine then.” He says and continues walking.

He looks down at my arms and makes a face I can’t read. “Are you okay?” He asks staring at the bruises and old self harm scars. I pull my sleeves down and look at the ground.

“Yeah. Yeah I’m okay.” I feel hot tears fill my eyes but I quickly push them back.

“Who did this to you?” He looks sad for me.

Before I could form the answer in my mind, a single gunshot fired off in the distance. A scream followed and a loud silence then fell over the forest.

I looked at Grayson and he looked at me with the same worried expression. We both knew what just happened. I hear rustling in the leaves behind us and gasp. “What was that?!” I cling to his arm as I whip my head around searching for movement through the trees.

He squints his eyes and looks around as well. His eyes relax and his face goes white. “Run! RUN!” He screams and grabs my hand to help me keep up with him, but his long legs are too fast for my short ones and I stumble. Before I could really process what was happening, I was being dragged off by the mystery person.

I kicked and flailed and screamed, “GRAYSON!” I fought mostly with the air. I couldn’t see who had me or where they were but I saw Grayson chase us until he was no longer in sight. I didn’t know where I was or what to do.

The room I was put in was pitch black. I whimpered in the dark. I couldn’t see anyone or anything. I heard a male voice say “We found her in the lighthouse. There’s some guy with her. Decent build he’d probably fight back.”

Silent tears stream down my face as I fear for my life and his. If they’re gonna kill me please just get it over with. Don’t torture me with the waiting. I hear the screech of the hinge on a door and a small bit of light enters the room. Someone walks in then shuts the door again.

“Who are you?” I ask. I bite my tongue to keep from my teeth chattering so I seem less scared.

“That is the question, yes. But who, might I ask, are you?” This voice was familiar, rich and deep. It sounded like it belonged to an older man or a smoker due to the raspyness.

“Is that really why you took me? To ask me my name?” I snap at him.

“You better watch your tone little girl.” That’s when I could put a face and name to the voice.

“Grandpa?” My heart is stuck in my throat and I can barely choke out those words.

“What? Who are you?!” He lashes out at me which makes me doubt myself.

“Makayla.” I mutter quietly.

“Makayla?” He pauses. “Makayla who,”

I can hear a skepticism in his voice.

“Crawford. Makayla Crawford.”

“Micky?!” He lights a lantern then walks over to me.

I nod.

I hear an unrecognuzeable voice from the corner. “You’re related to Kaitlyn Crawford. Aren’t you.”

TO BE CONTINUED😏😏😏😏😏

Run.

My eyes snap open. Sweat drips off my lashes into my eyes as I inhale and exhale heavily. Aching covers me in a blanket, pain pulsing with every beat of my heart. I can feel it at the tips of my fingers, like the blood is running too hot and to fast. What am I doing here? My head pounds like a gong and I let out a muffled cry, head slamming back against the tree. I can’t think past arriving at my grandmothers, but that must have been hours ago. I lift my hands shakily to my face, feeling the tears I don’t remember crying mixing with the earth and… and something else sticky. Blood?

Run.

My whole body jolts at this amplified thought, then the sensation of a mallet hitting my head sends me slumping back against the tree. Shit. Shit! Somethings wrong with me. I can’t calm down, I can’t slow my breathing. My body is overrun with a paralyzing panic, though I cannot trace the fear to anything material. It’s just there, like a lurking shadow, pulling me deeper into dispair. I pull my red sweater tighter around me, as if it can shield me from the forest.

Run.

I can’t. My feet slip as I try to stand, the ground slick like from a recent rain. I grip the tree for balance, fingers digging into the rough bark. I don’t want to turn my eyes from the forest, the crawling feeling that eyes watch me curling in my gut. I need to run, I need to run, I need to-

Run.

My heart jumps into my throat, my breathing becoming unsteady gasps now. I swear a growl comes from behibd the foliage. The glint of eyes in the moonlight.

Run.

I’m trying. I’m trying to run, but it’s no better than a hobble. I’m going to die. I don’t even know why or how, but I cannot shake this deepening dread.

Run.

Leaves crunch beneath feet, but I’m not walking on leaves. Someone is coming. No. Not a one. A thing.

Run.

I look over my shoulder, then wish I hadn’t. The face of nightmares locks eyes with me.

Run.

Gnashing teeth, feral gaze. I choke on my burning scream.

Run.

I don’t want to die. I urge myself to move, to escape.

Run.

Sobs fill my throat. Its footfalls come faster now.

Run.

I trip, falling to the muddy forest floor.

Run.

It doesn’t wait, coming faster now.

Run.

I don’t know why I still think I can-

Run.

Hot breath on my face.

Run.

Lashing tongue.

Run.

Unhinged jaw.

Run.

To young to-

Run.

BANG!! I scream, heart pounding even harder now. My ears ring so loudly I almost don’t hear the next two shots. BANG, BANG!! I cover my hears, hands cupped and curled into a ball. My knees hug my chest as tears snake down my cheeks, carving their way through the mud and blood I’ve smeared there. I wait a long time before I allow myself to crack my eyes open. It lies still up against a tree, the bark splintered from impact. It does not move, not a twitch of the ears, nor a flutter of the eyelids. Slowly, I remove my hands from my ears. There is only my own heavy breathing now, and the whistle of wind. “Helen, you stupid shit,” curses another voice, and I jump. I have had enough scares in one night to last me a lifetime. I turn to see the voices’s owner. He lowers a large shotgun as he steps towards me. I know him. My grandmother’s neighbour. Harvey, was it? ”I thought you were smart! Don’t you watch the skies? Visiting your grandmother on a full moon? Thought you’d just waltz into her house and leave unscathed?” He shakes his head, exasperation making him grow a few more gray hairs. “You’re lucky I was here,” he grits out. I glance back at the beasts monstrous form. The tattered nightgown stretched over its middle, torn from growth. The hair scratches across its snout. Her snout. In a rush, the memories return to me, like a wave crashing over itself, tumbling inward. Knocking on the door only for no one to answer and having to fish the spare key out from under the doormat. The lights all out inside, curtians drawn. Dropping off my mothers backed goods in the kitchen as I called her name through the house. Hearing that horrible scream mixed with growling, the one leaking from her room. Pushing open the door. Seeing her there, human at first, making that keening, screaching noise, then all at once, limbs elongating, fingers forming claws, spine bursting from her gown, fur sprouting along her skin. The howl that crawls from her mouth. Her eyes, black onyx instead of their usual pale green, snapping to me. Running. And now… “Oh, Grandma…” I choke. I feel stupid, I am stupid. I did this. Crawling across the earth, I come up next to her, stroking her wet fur, sodden with blood. This is all my fault. How could I be so careless? How could such a thing slip my mind. The man, Harvey, kneels beside me, hand going to my shoulder. He must regret being so harsh with me because his tone softens. “There’s nothing you can do now. She’s the one who told me what to do when things got out of hand. She knew the price. She knew what was coming. It was only a matter of time before something happened again,” Like with grandfather. I cup her monstrous face in my hands, closing her eyes. My whole body is shaking, doubled with weeping. I trace her ears, the lines of her face, as if my grief can bring her back. Tears drip onto her muzzle. I think of when it was human, when it smiled kindly down at me. A memory of her combing her fingers through my hair, singing lullabies as I curl against her bosom surfaces. Then of her, with her hands over mine, as I am convinced that I am the one driving us to the grocer. Tickling me when I wouldn’t listen. Forehead kisses. For a monster, she is so far from villainous. If there is one, it is me.

I blink my eyes open, and become aware of the hard rocks underneath me. I turn my head and see that I am leaning against a tree. I am breathing quickly and shallowly. I don’t know how I got here. I remember running and falling. I don’t know what I was running from. I smell the fresh scent of pine and grass and…blood. My heart starts to race. I shouldn’t be here. I stand and sway. I realise I am missing an arm. It’s a crushed bloody lump of bone and muscle. Pain shoots through my skull and I realise I am bleeding profusely. Then I hear a snap. A twig. I turn and see nothing. The sun is slowly setting and darkening the woods. I need to get out of here. Now. I hear heavy footfalls behind me and I start to speed up. I look behind me yet I still can’t see anything. I hobble quickly through the forest and speed up when I see a body bleeding out onto the moss. I hear the thud of an axe. I look to the tree next to me where the bloody blade of the axe had bitten into the wood. The footsteps sound louder. The ringing in my ears is so loud I can’t hear anything else anymore. I stumble over rocks and mounds and try to run faster. The pain in my arm is immense. I can feel my limbs anymore. I can’t see clearly. I can’t walk. I don’t care anymore. I stop and then feel a sharp pain in the back of my skull. And everything finally goes black.

Without an end in sight darkness surrounds me. I look up an see the crescent shaped moon giving bits of light and shadows of objects I can’t make out clearly. Fear flows through my veins and I can feel my heart thumping loudly in the silence. Gasping for air as I run I feel a panic attack emerging…

Heaving out of breath just running in the forest It was something in the forest looking lurking Not sure what it was It was hungry like a thirsty animal It was there for centuries waiting for the perfect prey The stench of blood hung in the air Hiding will not quench its thirst The only way is to outrun it

The heat from the sun rests on my face, the warmth so familiar and strong, so comforting and peaceful. My head pounds, an ache forming from resting against an oak tree. I inhale in a breath of fresh air, placing my hands on the wet grass and lifting up onto the ground. The wind blows through the forest, the leaves gliding through the air. The wind gets stronger as I take in the view. I need to get out of here. The wind blows through my hair like a cloud of fresh air. As I turn around a snake slithers through the leaves heading towards me. No, no no. I have to run. No. I wipe my hands on my knees and run off to the side. As I turn my head around, I spot the snake getting closer to me. I need to run faster. When I pick up my pace, my foot misses a step and I fall right onto the ground. No, the snake. I quickly get up and run, my body shaking.

I felt a burning sensation in my lungs as I gasped for the freezing air. Looking wildly about me, I couldn't recall where I was going or how I had gotten here, but I knew there was something pursuing me. I stumbled along the narrow path ahead of me, footprints in the slush appearing to be travelling in the opposite direction from where I was currently going. As my memories became less fogged, I recalled grey stone walls and the sound of inhuman breathing. However, one image remained prominent in my mind: a small patch of ground in which the snow had refused to fall, and on it, a dead, flattened blue flower.

For unknown reasons this sparked in my mind a terrible fear, and as I broke into a run, it was unknown whether imagination or reality brought the faint sound of snow crunching behind me to my ears. Too frightened to look, all I could do was continue on this path which seemed to stretch forever.

As I approached a stone well where the path forked, the sound of steps was most definitely real, and the breathing was back. By this time my pace had slowed, and I struggled to drag my feet along as fast as they would take me. As I stumbled on a branch, the realization hit me: I wouldn't be able to outrun this thing. At that point I resolved that if I was going to die, I wasn't going to be killed by some unknown creature that I couldn't even turn around and face.

Without second thought, I catapulted myself over the edge of the well, the grey stones of which it was built bringing my mind back to the place wherein I had first encountered this beast. As I plunged into darkness, all the fear strangely evaporated. The only thought dwelling in my mind was that for whatever reason I was forced to escape this forest, the being chasing me would not have the satisfaction of ripping me to shreds.

I had been running for what felt like days. Still with no knowledge what from besides a growing fear emanating from my chest. I struggled to breathe deeply as the bark from the tree itched my back and icy wind whipped across my face. my full consciousness returned to reveal that I still had not left the woods. my eyes quickly darted around, searching for the figure that had sent me running in a direction unknown. I was beginning to believe that I was fearing my own shadow.

Every sound around me, perceived as natural sounds of the forest, made me want to jump out of my skin. I had yet to spot my dark passenger but something told me, somewhere out there lurked something I was not to prepared to face. As I fought desperately to regain myself, I suddenly inhaled the haunting scent of sulfur yet again. my eyes veered up to meet the hollow gaze of the shadow figure from before just standing inches away this time and peeking from behind another tree.

“What do you want!?” This time I was able to shriek these words, begging for an explanation. As much as the words cut my throat on the way out, it felt good to find a voice again. That was until, despite not being able to make out any features, I could tell this figure was smiling and laughing at my despair. Instinctively I burst into a sob and slid down to the forest floor, grasping my knees and tucking my head. I simply wanted to hide from the creature I was facing. Hiding from these emotions had always been my only coping mechanism.

Confusion grasped my every thought, as I felt the wet, cold ground beneath me soak through my clothing . at some point, I must’ve lost consciousness again as I was suddenly awoken by the sound of approaching foot steps. There had never been a sound associated with the shadow. I couldn’t bring myself to look up as I felt the darkness close on top of me. “ I have nowhere left to run.” I whispered with just enough consciousness, to know that the end was coming…

I didn’t feel much anymore, as I stood staring at the entrance to the cave where everything had started. The water still dripped from the icicles, familiar smells still swirled in the air and the cold breeze washed over my skin. The only difference is this time I was looking in on a shadow, moving slightly within the darkness of the cave instead of me looking out. Once again, I could not recognize features, but this time I was calm. Something I had not felt for the entirety of this ordeal.

“ who I am, is not what matters love. Where you will go from here is far more precedent in this moment.” I found myself yelling out into the distance, unsure of why I felt the need to say this. Yet, as I did, the image before me finally became clear; I was watching myself from the beginning of my adventure. Irrational fear, and years of broken emotions had unlocked this presence within me that stalked my well-being and drug me into this loop of hell where I would face my own pain repeatedly. I looked around and a few feet from where I stood laid the withered corpse of who I once was still leaning against that large weeping willow tree.

I couldn’t help but smile and laugh…

My breathing is ragged as I startle awake. I’m instantly on edge, my eyes darting around rapidly. I’m leaning against a tree in the forest. How did I get here? My body tenses up and I feel an urgency to run. Why? Adrenaline is rushing through me, insisting that I go.

I push myself up and stagger, my vision going white as a searing pain causes my knees to buckle. I drop back down, panting harder. Where am I hurt? I blink a few times to stop my head from spinning and clear my eyes of tears. Turning, I give myself a once-over.

I’m covered in dirt, blood, and sweat. But I can’t see where the blood is coming from. Another flash of pain has me curling up into a ball on the forest floor. _Am I screaming? _I can’t hear anything. I can’t think. I feel feverish, sweating and shivering.

The pain resides and I’m left twitching. My thoughts are swirling wildly as I try to find a way to stop it from coming back. My heartbeat is pounding in my ears. Quick and deafening. I try to push myself up with my hands but a sharp snap has me falling back down, crying out in agony.

Something broke, I’m sure of it. Before I can check, the encompassing pain returns. This time, I know I’m screaming because my throat hurts and my lungs are burning. My skin feels like it’s being flayed and boiled at the same time. _EVERYTHING HURTS! _EVERYTHING HURTS! My eyes roll back into my head and I pass out.