Devour

1

The world as I knew it was blood, fists and fear. Who would have guessed outside of it was flourishing green grass and scarlet painted leaves holding onto trees as tall as the barbed wire fences that surrounded the ring.

I ran as fast as I could, the leaves crunching beneath my bare feet, toes dug into the earth below me. The yelling of my name overrides the whistling howl of wind making my heart skip a beat. I push myself further digging my heels into the ground, my black-matted hair flowing behind me in the breeze as I enter an opening in between two thick oak trees. Sticks and stones etch themselves into the soles of my feet leaving a barely noticeable trail of blood behind me, the pain felt unbearable but I keep my mouth shut biting down onto my tongue.

I weave in between trees, struggling to catch my breath. Eventually, I leaned up against one of the many trees surrounding me in the forest I had entered. "Fuck." I bite under my breath leaning my head back, taking a few deep breaths I push myself off the tree glancing in each direction before the hunt starts again.

It must have been at least an hour since I began running, I had slowed down my pace trying to converse as much as I could and I no longer heard the yelling in the distance.

As I dragged my feet along forcing my body to press on, the gentle dirt underneath my feet slowly changed into a rough concrete. Below me, the forest floor slowly morphed into a concrete pathway.

I raise my head, dragging a hand through my hair pushing it out of my face. I noticed a wooden cabin standing soundly at the end of the pathway. I could tell there were no lights on in the house nor any cars parked out the front, from a distance. Unoccupied. A perfect place to hide for the night.

Bending down I grab a decently sized stick swinging it by my side as I walk up towards the cabin glancing at each of the windows for the slightest bit of movement. My shoulders tense up with each step till I make it to the end of the path, placing one foot on the bottom step. I turn my head over my shoulder double-checking the woods before I go up the last two wooden steps that were coated in a darker brown. I suppose the people are still renovating the place.

I slowly step onto the porch banging my free hand on the door twice, gripping the stick tightly in the other, when I heard no footsteps my grip loosened and I grabbed the doorknob twisting it but unlike I had hoped the door did not swing open.

With the bite of my lip, I raise my fist smashing it down onto the thin glass of the window directly next to the door. Reaching my arm through I fiddle around with the locks until the door nudges open with the knock of my foot.

Carefully I remove my arms before walking in, shutting and locking the door behind me with a proud smile. I squint, waving my hands around for the light switch eventually flicking it as the lights blink on, I let my eyes adjust for a second before moving around to get the layout of the place. It was stylish, not the type of interior you would expect from a random cabin in the middle of the woods.

Where I had entered stood two grey couches facing a wide-screened tv, potted plants hanging from either side and even on the glass coffee table, a baby cactus was placed in the centre. I guess these people liked their greenery. Underneath me laid a grey rug beginning to stain with my muddy and bloody feet, sorry to whoever has to clean that. An opening to the right leads to the kitchen towards the back of the room and a dining room to the left, half a wall closing it off from the lounge room.

Walking towards the dining room I glanced in seeing a set of stairs leading up to the next floor. My body felt heavy and I lacked the energy to search upstairs, so I moved back into the lounge room lowering myself down onto the grey couch, my body happily sinking into it.