Thief Of Existence

DECEM

Arian bolted her way through the woods faster than she had ever done. The creatures had remarkable speed and though they had no visible means of sight, they never lost track of her. She tried her best to lose them through the twist and turns of her direction but it was never enough to work. They always tracked her down and they were determined to get their hands on her.

What scared her the most wasn't their hideous looks and nasty weapons. It was their voices.

They all imitated the voices of her father and the people she was close with. One of the creatures was an imitation of the blonde girl who bullied her before, the one that she had stabbed with a pair of scissors. The imitation kept on talking about the blood that she had lost from that incident and how Arian should have been punished in a more serious manner. Her father's imitation was laughing maniacally, telling stories about how he had raped his wife in such monstrous details that Arian wanted to tear her ears from her head.

But there was one imitation whom she found less familiar but more intriguing.

The imitation had long red hair, the first that Arian had ever seen. She had a gentle voice that kept on repeating the words, "you forgot me".

The static voice of that imitation made her ponder the question: who are you?

But there was no time for trivialities. Her life was at stake. One of the creatures swung its wire at her and it reached Arian close enough to put a bloody gash on her cheek. She winced at the pain but she couldn't allow it to slow her down. They were faster than her, she just had a good headstart from them. If she stopped to feel the pain, she would for sure die in their hands.

"Why do you run, Arian?" the child imitation of her asked. Blood dripped out from its microphone mouth and more appeared with every word of her static voice. It raised its wire and swung it at her. As if by magic, the wire wrapped all over her torso, catching her like prey. She fell on the ground so hard that she could almost eat the soil. She tried her best to wriggle herself out of the wire but with every move, the spikes and needles embedded themselves more in her skin. She could feel her chest throbbing with unimaginable pain that she thought she would pass out.

She laid on the ground motionless as the creatures circled around her.

The little girl walked towards Arian and halted just in front of her head.

"What do you want?" Arian asked in a faint voice. She was aware that she was losing too much blood but her body wasn't allowing her to pass out.

But the imitation did not answer. It slowly fell to its knees and caressed Arian's hair. Its hands were rough and they almost felt like there were a million microscopic needles on them.

"Why do you run, Arian?" it asked again but this time, there was more static to its voice.

"Of course, I'm running. You'll kill me if I don't."

"You don't seem to be the type to be afraid of death."

Arian tried her best to raise her head and look at the imitation. It had no eyes but she could feel the two of them staring at each other with thick tension.

"How can you say that?"

"Are you really afraid of death or are you just frantic of the thought that your past is running after you?"

She just looked at her blankly, trying her best not to show any emotion.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Arian said.

"Of course, you do know!" the girl chirped. It stepped back and twirled round and round like a top. "Look around you, Arian! Look around!" it exclaimed. "There is no need for that," Arian refused. Feeling disrespected and disobeyed, it crouched and held Arian's chin tightly. The impact and force of the movement made the needles and spikes bury themselves deeper into Arian's flesh, which felt more and more like hell with each passing second. The imitation slowly moved guided Arian's head to look around.