Dream Bound: Book One | ✓ [COMPLETE]

Dream Bound - Chapter Two [edited]

                                       Dream Bound

                                       Chapter Two

                                            day one

I had first expressed interest in track when I was just twelve-years-old. In my sixth year of school, I wasn’t cut out for sports. At all. It was obvious, that, at the time, I had been overweight. My chubbiness wasn’t the dead giveaway, it was my laziness. My mom had been constantly poking and prodding at me to get my butt off the couch and do something.

 I don’t think my mother had ever been so grateful. Running was my sweet escape, something I found joy in. The sizzling burn it would create in my muscles and lungs was only a reward. Somewhere along, I’d heard a quote that went something like, ‘Pain is only weakness leaving the body.’

 Running was my thing. And, sometimes, it came in handy. Like right now, as I was running from that psychopath who called himself Colton Jameson. Under my breath, I cursed the fact that it was winter.

 Because of said season, I had slackened in my running rituals. It didn’t mean that I was out of shape, but rather that running now was taking a toll on me. I slowed my pace, making sure to even out my breathing. With practice, I had mastered the art of controlling my breathing while running.

The key was to not heave. The more labored my breathing became, the slower my feet became. If I inhaled slowly, exhaled in the same manner, and kept my head up; I could run a good amount of time. Keeping my chin level with my shoulder, I glanced behind me. Automatically, I slowed when I saw that he was not behind me.

 Eventually, I came to a brisk walk. I allowed my body some time to cool down before pacing off to the side. I knew that I was still in Southport, located in North Carolina, but I was on the far end of town. The cobblestone streets underfoot had gradually reduced to nature-made half-sand, half-grass and dirt road terrains.

 I placed two fingers beneath my ear as I surveyed my surroundings. Even on the far end of Southport, where I had been all of three times, it was destroyed. The lands all around me looked as if a giant, mutated monster smashed its way through; as if he had destroyed anything and everything in his path. A low wind whistled through the empty, sad community. In my peripheral vision, a gray lake sat surrounded by underbrush and black, naked trees.

 I turned toward the lake and made my way over to it. The trees’ limbs stretched into the sky, starved of leaves and sunlight. The charcoal color of them shone with melted snow and slick ice. I stopped short of the lake’s shore and leaned over, peering down.

 The water, from what I could see, was entirely frozen over. I wasn’t going to risk it, though. My reflection shimmered in its surface; my dark hair was matted and knotty. My dark blue eyes looked black on the opaque surface. From across the lake, I spotted a bundle of close-knit trees.

 Having caught my breath, I jogged around the lake and quickly came up to the small semi-circle of trees. The way they had been planted and grown, some of their limbs twined together and held fast.

 Two large trunks sat pushed together, creating a small dome-like hideout. Tired now, I slid down and crawled into the small hut and pulled my legs in. I sat with my back up against the cold bark, the tips of my shoes just reaching the arch of the entrance.

 Quite a bit of time had passed, before the curious part of my brain ventured in Colton’s direction. In my head, I could see the flash of his unreadable, midnight-colored eyes. I shivered, silently telling myself it was because I was cold. The underside of my jeans grew heavy with wet snow, and my skin began to burn along with my muscles. I tilted my head back, resting it against the tree behind me.