Running

No matter how fast I ran, they always caught me.

Although by now I know I won't get hurt, it still fills me with fear every time I feel their cold touch on my arm, my shoulder, my back.

I've been told that I'm now trapped in a sort of feeding zone. I've also been told I can never escape.

I don't - no - I can't believe that.

To keep my sanity I have to believe there is a way to escape.

So that is how I spend my days now.

Running...

...Running....

...Running...

"Come on!" I growled, "Work!" I was tugging and tugging on the door, but to no avail.

Okay, I said to myself. Calm down. They're almost here. Now, try to remember what they told you. What Rory and Amy told you. Think.

* * *

It was another normal night for me. I was running for my life once again. But today was going to be different. Today i was finally going to face my attackers. I was running up and up the stairs. They seemed to never end. I felt their presence from the moment I burst onto the roof. Even though I was braced for the worst - there were probably many of them - I was still extremely frightened when I turned around. There facing me, could easily have been fifty, no a hundred of them. They were scattered throughout the roof; on, under, and on top of, pipes and other electrical things.

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!" I screamed.

"Wow."

"Who's there?" I yelled, knowing that there was no way in hell that I would be able to keep my eyes on all of them.

As I turned around, my eyes were met by two bright lights. My eyes adjusted a bit, and I saw that behind those two lights were two figures.

The source of the voice, I saw, had come from a tall woman. She had red hair that was past her shoulders. Her eyes were a grim, yet strangely happy green.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Amy. This is my husband, Rory," Amy spoke, gestureing to a man, slightly taller than her.

"Hullo!" he called. It was strange, he didn't look at me, his eyes constanily moving, shifting, to the mass of statues behind us. It seemed as if he was trying to look at all of them at once; to keep them at bay. Or maybe he was just as shocked as I was to be seeing that many in one place.

"I wish we weren't meeting under these circumstances," Amy said, snapping me back to reality. "But we are, so let's make the best of it." she was strangely calm for the situation we were in.

"You're one of the only ones I've seen stay this long, I'd like to know how. Let's get back and have some tea" she invited.

"Tea? Are you kidding me? There are like, a hundred million of them, and you want to have tea?" I said "I mean, don't get me wrong, I could definitely go for some tea right now, but really? Now? Now? What about them?" I gestured to the door, and to the rest of them. Strange, Rory seemed to be doing quite the job at keeping them all still. "I was being followed by many before." By now we could see dents in the door from where they were in the process of getting out.

"Oh, don't worry about any of them," Amy said "our flat is protected."

"How?" I asked

"let's just say it was a favor from a friend long ago." Her eyes unfocused for a moment, like she was somewhere else. A small smile crept onto her face. "A very good friend..."

* * *

We went to their apartment and started talking over tea. I tried to delay the inevitable, but the subject soon turned to them.

"We need to give you some tips, so you can stay in one time longer" Amy started.

"Wait," I interrupted. "Stay in one time longer?"

"Yes," Amy explained patiently. "As in time period. They send you back in time, and feed off your potential energy."

"That means they are the only creatures in the universe that kill you nicely." Rory added. "They send you back in time and let you live to death."

"Ok, first rule is any statue could turn, I learned that the hard way" Amy explained. "Don't think a cute sculpture of a baby is harmless. That is a sure way to get yourself sent back."

"Make sure you don't take a picture." Rory explained "if something holds the image of one of them, the image becomes one itself."

"Remember they are still dangerous even if they appear still."

"Don't keep them chained; they can call out to one another... not to mention makes them a bit mad," she adds with a grimace

"They are extremely fast. I'm sorry, but there's no use running."

* * *

I suddenly stopped pulling on the door. I knew there was no use. I realized with a start that Amy and Rory were the closest things I was going to get to family, friends, hell, human contact, while I was here. They had been so kind to me while I had tea with them. They didn't even know me. Didn't even know my name, yet they still helped me.

I could hear them coming, almost here now. I knew what I had to do. As I slowly turned around, a single tear rolled down my cheek. It was a tear of courage as I stood up to my worst fears. It was a tear of knowing that I will begin again the endless journey of running until I die. And it was a tear of hope. Hope that one day I will be free from these creatures and I can live - really live - once more.

I stood up straight with my chin high. As I faced the hallway littered with them before me, I stood a little straighter. Me, common old me, was facing these ancient creatures fearlessly.

As I closed my eyes, a memory flashed through my head. The last memory I had before coming here.

I was walking alone, along the streets of London, England when a wall of graffiti caught my attention. Scrawled across everything were big black letters. They read:

Beware The Weeping Angels