Fragile Little Flames [H.G + D.M]

1. The Girl

A girl is running for her life.

The forest is unforgiving and cruel, she curses it for this. It does not show her the same mercy it does in the day—when the sunbeams are casting rays of light across the dirt and fallen logs. Instead, it lunges at her and draws slivers of blood from her muddy face. The low-hanging branches claw at her skin, almost as if the forest is begging her to stay.

She can hear them behind her.

The dead leaves and broken twigs crackle underneath their footsteps. Mocking her. Taunting her.

They are screaming orders to each other and a familiar cackle sends a sharp chill down her spine. They are close now and she does not know if she can outrun them, but still, she tries. Her wand is broken in half, lying on the ground somewhere kilometers away from here. She is helpless, so she continues to run.

A sharp pain hits her lower back and her body comes crumbling down onto the earth. She gasps, tries to pull herself back up, but the attempt is futile. This is it, she thinks. This is where it ends.

The people chasing her come into her vision, crooked smiles on their crooked teeth. They tell her they won't kill her. No, the curse will kill her before sunrise. It will slowly, painstakingly, eat away at her insides, set fire to her lungs, and she will wish they blessed her with the Killing Curse instead.

One of them, the one with curly hair similar to her own, lets out a shrill laugh and in a puff of black smoke, they are gone.

She stares up at the moon, unable to run anymore. She is coughing up blood and her breathing is ragged. She squeezes her eyes shut, tells herself she can't give up. Not now. Not ever.

She turns, buries her fingers in the dirt, and forces herself to crawl. There will be help once she crosses the border, she just needs to make it. Her muscles feel like jelly and her blood feels like tar. The darkness is beginning to slip, giving way to dawn.

A girl is running out of time.