Bloody Mary // J. Hale

In the eye of the storm

Cold wind bit into her face, stinging her eyes and sending tears streaming down her cheeks. Faster. Her legs burned as she pushed her body beyond its limits. The trees blurred past her, the winding path curving between trunks and rolling over hills. Up ahead, a fallen tree stump loomed in the distance. Jenna clenched her teeth, determination flooding her senses. Her knuckles whitened as she tightened her grip on the handlebars, bracing herself to take flight.

She leaned into the pedals, pumping harder. Rising from the saddle, she steadied herself. One... two... three—now! The front wheel of her mountain bike lifted off the ground, propelling her into the air. She soared effortlessly over the fallen tree, the moment stretching out as though time itself had slowed.

"Whoo-hoo!" Jenna's shout of exhilaration echoed through the forest as she hovered mid-air. The rush of adrenaline surged through her, her heartbeat thundering in her chest. She had missed this—the sheer, unbridled freedom, the electrifying pulse of excitement in her veins. In that fleeting instant, her troubles melted away.

She felt like a bird tasting the sky for the first time, weightless and unbound. For the first time in what felt like forever, Jenna felt truly alive—truly herself.

Her wheels hit the ground again with a jolt, and she pressed forward, the trail unfolding endlessly ahead. The rhythmic whirr of her bike's chain and gears filled her ears. Leaves rustled in the wind, blending with the crunch of her tires against the dirt. In moments like these, she could forget the world—forget herself. She could almost pretend that everything was okay.

But reality never stayed buried for long.

Jenna clenched her jaw, biting down hard on her bottom lip as the voice in her mind pierced through the wind.

Jenna...

She shook her head, her breath coming in sharp gasps. The wind whipped her hair into her face, and the rustling leaves only deepened the tension. No, not now. She didn't want to hear the voices. Not today. Not here.

The voice had been with her for years now—since that day. Sometimes soft, sometimes thunderous, it crept up on her at the worst possible times. Therapy didn't help. The pills hadn't, either. Whatever this was, it wouldn't let go.

In that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be her old self again. She pushed the voice down, focusing all her energy on the path ahead. Her knee scraped dangerously close to the dirt as she rounded a corner, forcing herself to steer the bike with precision. The rain clouds looming above threatened to burst, casting everything in a muted gray.

Jenna, you must listen to me!

"Leave. Me. Alone!" she gasped, her words tight with desperation. She pumped her legs harder, trying to outrun the voice, trying to outrun the feeling that something—someone—was reaching for her.

But it wouldn't stop. It never did.

A chill ran down her spine as something dark and ethereal began to form ahead, a shadow stretching long across the path. No... not this again...

Jenna, please!

The voice, soft but demanding, echoed in her head. It was almost as if it was getting closer, closing in on her. Jenna's heart skipped a beat. She glanced at the shadow, now unmistakable in its form—like a ghost, a phantom, something otherworldly that shouldn't be there. Her hands gripped the handlebars harder, white-knuckled.

With a growl, Jenna twisted the steering wheel to the side, aiming her bike up a fallen log. She could feel the wheels lift, the tension in her muscles, the momentary triumph of evading the spectre. She didn't want to see it, didn't want to feel it. All she wanted was one moment. One single moment of peace where she could pretend everything was normal. The self she lost two years ago.