Fading In

Chapter Three

I was running.

All that was evident in my mind was the hard set goal to get away.

I had to get away.

The idea had been engraved in my head. Beaten into my skull. Branded with an iron that had burnt into the flesh of my brains.

Needed to escape. Needed to run. Needed to get away. Needed to survive.

My pace slowly came to a halt as I asked myself what was happening.

What was I running from?

I turned around hesitantly.

The beating of my heart had told me I was afraid. The blood that rushed through my veins had told me I was running off of the fear that had consumed me.

But where did it come from?

What caused it?

I stared into the dark abyss that I had left behind. Staring into the endless lands that held no light, I studied the area. My eyes scanned over the empty place I emerged from, then moving on to the rest of the land.

The wind rushed through the moonless night, rustling the trees. The breeze sent a shiver down my spine. But it wasn't from the cold. It was as if the wind was a warning. It was telling me to go, pushing me to keep running.

Every atom in my body had been begging me to run, but I stayed still.

Despite the frightening feeling that had struck me to my core, I stood in place. I needed to know what I was running from. I had to see the danger that sought me out.

I had felt so brave in that moment, but my bravery had been cut out in less than a picosecond. The wind whipped around my face as if it were trying to cover me from what lay ahead. The trees cried out for me. Their branches shaking in terror as if they were at gunpoint. They quaked as if what was so threatening was evident and right in front of them, yet nothing was there.

At least that's what I wanted to tell myself.

I knew something was there. I didn't need to see it, I felt it, and for whatever reason, it was not on my side.

I mustered up all the courage I had and tossed it on the ground and ran, leaving it behind for whatever was to come, because there was no way I was going to wait around, no matter how curious, or how brave I was feeling. The breeze whisked my hair around like a raging tornado as I ran against it. With my feet following after one another, I sprinted past the trees and into a clearing. My brain told me to stop and catch my breath, yet there was no breath to catch. My breathing was leveled and far from hectic. The wind had finally ceased its assault on my hair and carried any feeling of uneasiness away with it.

I stood at the edge of a cliff; the sound of water was almost deafening as the waves crashed against the bottom of the giant piece of land. There was nothing beyond the horizon but water. The ocean. Not once have I ever got to experience such a sight. Perhaps to most people the endless abyss of water was nothing to them, but seeing how far it stretched had left me astounded and filled to the brim with the desire to journey beyond it; to discover what exists far past what the eye can see.
I could almost feel the phantom droplets of the ocean dripping down onto my skin. It felt so real I had to wipe my cheek to make sure I wasn’t actually feeling the sensation that I craved to feel. Yet when I brought my hand down, it was indeed wet. Another drop of water fell down the tip of my nose. The sky was clear, yet there was water dripping down?

I questioned the weather and looked up into the sky. That curiosity was something I wished I never possessed. My eyes locked on to pure red slit eyes that stared right through my soul. I let out a scream and moved back away from the black beast. Fear had struck me straight to my core like a bolt of lightning. Everyone knows that lightning comes first and what follows after is not always pleasant to hear.