Fox Chase

Chapter 3

Fox felt weightless as her stranger carried her down an unfamiliar street, the streetlights seemed to blink in and out as they passed them. Everything was hazy as if the city were covered in a fog and her stomach ached painfully. Her stranger whispered gentle words, but she couldn't make sense of them and with each passing second her blood burned beneath her skin like a furnace. Her skin was slick with sweat and her body shivered violently in his arms; it felt like her stranger was running, but she couldn't be sure of anything. Suddenly Fox's body felt as if it had erupted into flames and she screamed in agony, surely her blood was boiling her from the inside out. She lay in his arms writhing in uncontrollable pain, screaming till her lungs felt like they would burst open. He tried to calm her down but his soothing murmurs were lost on her pain ridden mind; she clawed at her own skin desperate to release the blood boiling in her veins. Somewhere a church bell tolled signaling the arrival of midnight and Fox's pain intensified and consumed her. A tormented scream erupted from somewhere deep within her as what could only be described as the flames of Hell licked at her flesh. Then just like that it vanished leaving behind her tremoring sweat soaked body as the only sign it had ever been there. The fog had lifted from not only her mind but her vision as well and the ache in her stomach had vanished with them. There was no fire, no pain, and no more drug; she felt just like she had this morning when she'd woken up. No, she felt ten times better than she had this morning; she felt stronger, more powerful. Whatever it was Fox couldn't be happier it had happened, she took her stranger by surprise with a harsh head-butt. He dropped her and she landed gracefully on her feet while he clutched at his forehead, a slew of curses escaping his lips. Fox didn't wait for him to recover, she swept his feet out from underneath him and took off like bullet.

She'd always been fast but not like this; she could go up against gold medalists at the rate her feet were carrying her. On an impulse she jumped out in front of a taxi, and when it came to a screeching halt she jumped inside. The startled driver cursed at her as she urged him to drive as quickly as he could to her hotel, she was free and safe. He had saved her but she couldn't place her trust in the wrong person again, for all she knew he saved her for his own sick reasons. She tried to push the thoughts from her mind as they pulled up to her hotel and she paid her vary annoyed and somewhat scared cab driver. She waited a moment after the cab was gone to see if she'd been followed and then headed inside. Once in her room she peeled off her sticky clothes and climbed into what she intended to be the longest hottest shower of her life. Eventually she ended up sitting on the shower floor with her knees pulled up to her chest, desperately trying to escape her venomous thoughts and memories that spread through her like poison. She sat there so long she couldn't even feel the sting from the boiling hot water; her skin was red and her head woozy from the hot steam. She knew she should get out, but she just wanted a few more minutes of blissful denial.

Fox had dried off mostly by the time she finally decided to get off the shower floor; her hair dripped slightly and her skin was damp, but she didn't care. Ever since the human furnace incident she couldn't shake the odd feeling inside her. It wasn't a bad feeling, in fact she'd never felt so comfortable in her own skin. She slipped into her bra and underwear too tired to care about any other clothes. Distracted and exhausted Fox was prepared to climb into bed and sleep for days, only her bed wasn't empty. Stretched out like a cat on her hotel bed was Mr. Tall, dark, and handsome; she let out a startled cry at the sight of him. He looked up at her his sleepy eyes widening at the sight of her half naked body; she could feel the heat creeping into her skin, but she was so shocked she didn't know what to do. He whistled at her approvingly and that was all she needed to snap herself back into action. She grabbed the lamp off the dresser and hurled it at his head; he rolled off the bed just barely dodging it, an amused smile tugging at his lips.

"Who the hell do you think you are, you have ten seconds to get out of my room before-"

"Before you what? Call the police maybe? They can't stop me princess." Arrogance seeped through his velvet voice and into her blood taunting her into an even deeper rage.