RUN

SCENE ONE (MEG)

Pursuit - Desolation - Shock

The forest grew thicker with every strained breath I felt this sinister cathedral of despair echo with the very essence of dread. My legs carried me through its depths, driven only by my aching heartbeat, each step turning into a plea for escape.

I was used to running, often to fight the insatiable itch of rebellion that gnawed at my gut - but tonight was different. My feet squelched into the sodden earth, branches cracking beneath my feet like brittle bones. A shroud of leaves clawed at my face and I wiped it away.

The silvery moonlight dappled my path with feeble light. It felt like an eternity since I'd left the cabin, or perhaps mere moments; time lost all meaning beneath the suffocating fear that took root in my chest. I cursed Tyler and his dumb ass - if it hadn't been for him, I wouldn't be out here. I couldn't bear another second in there with him, the walls of the cabin turning into a cage and I an animal.

Driven by the ache for freedom, I had donned sneakers and shorts, venturing into the warm summer night for a run—just another routine escape, the promise of fresh air all I needed to drown the fire he had lit in my stomach.

But I wasn't alone in these woods. At first, I clung to the absurd notion that it was Tyler, chasing me with an apology. But as the shadows tightened upon my path, with each shallow breath, the presence grew more threatening.

I could not fathom what hunted me, but I sure as hell wasn't going to idly wait around and find out. My instinctual response was to keep running - perhaps now my life depended on it.

Through countless agonizing hours, I ran, my legs screaming with the torment. My feet ached and bled, branches gouged at my flesh. I dodged by sheer luck as an axe materialized from the stygian void, whizzing past my face. A blood-curdling scream tore from my lungs as it embedded itself into a trunk. The pursuer, was closing in, and I was plunging ever deeper into the labyrinth. Lost and disoriented, I could not discern the path back to the cabin, and the forest's maw seemed to mock my futile attempt at escape.

RESOLUTION

The feeling of dread fills me before it turns to ice. Cold as winter frost I find my breaths slowing, my heart synchronizing with my foot steps as I dodged another axe. I fell into focus, realizing that this was no different than running track - I just had to outplay my opponent and I did just that.

With a burst of adrenaline, I chose to deviate; I took a sharp turn and slipped down a hillside, my soles pushing up the grass and dirt.

As I tumbled down the hill, a memory slithered into my mind. It was a vision of my mother, her once-vibrant eyes now vacant and dead, staring back at me as I clung to her frail, sickly hand. I could feel the frigid chill of her skin seeping into me. The rage I'd bottled up for so long erupted, leading me to defile the family photographs and paintings. In a frenzy I peeled the wallpaper from the walls as despair clung to my skin. A scream tore from my throat as the cruel reality hit me - she was gone, and I was alone in this house that had turned into her tomb. 

Months after, I still resided there, imprisoned within a moment frozen in time, surrounded by the vestiges of her existence. Her belongings adorned every surface, her scent and memory embedded in the very walls.

In the face of death, I grew colder.