Moon Angel

Prologue

I ran through the trees, dodging branches and avoiding roots. My face was hot, my thighs were burning and my mouth had dried out ages ago.

I knew I wouldn't be able to continue for much longer.

But I had to.

I couldn't stop.

I had to put as much distance between me and that place as possible.

I could hear the guards getting closer. I couldn't let them catch up to me. Last time I had been caught was bad. But after this attempt at escape, I didn't know what would happen.

I kept running.

I tripped over a large tree root that had penetrated the soil.

I scrambled to my feet and kept going.I could feel my body becoming more and more exhausted. All my muscles screamed for mercy.

I tripped again, knocking into a tree. I knew I had to stop, or the exhaustion would get to me before the guards could.

I hid behind a tree and lent against its cold, rough surface. My heart was bouncing out of my chest, thudding in my ears. 

I froze as I heard someone coming. They were closer than I thought.I tried to quiet my breaths, which were coming in short gasps.

"Selene..." I recognised his voice instantly. I hadn't thought he would come after me himself. "Selene!" he called out again. "I know you're around here somewhere. You can't have gotten far. Why don't you give yourself up and we'll forget all this nonsense when we get back?"

He couldn't be more than 10 metres away.

I slowly looked around the side of the trunk. I couldn't see him. It was risky, but I couldn't wait any longer.

I ran.

Soon the forest ended and I found myself standing on the edge of a cliff.

The strong winds whistled past my athletic figure, picking up my long hair and swinging it around my face.I heard footsteps behind me, but didn't turn around. I didn't need to, to know he'd found me, faster than I thought he would. He must have seen me running.

"You can't run anymore, Selene. There's nowhere left to go. Come back with me and we can talk things over." His voice was warm, persuasive, but I knew he didn't mean it. He would just take me back to that place. I couldn't even say its name. They had made us do unspeakable things.

I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to go back.

I looked around.

There had to be another option.

My eyes looked over the edge of the cliff, to where the ocean crashed against the rocks.

There was one last option.

I turned around, and looked him in the eyes.

"No," I told him. "I won't ever go back with you," and with that I threw myself off the cliff.

My wings unfurled quickly behind me, catching the wind to stop me from dropping.

I started upwards, hoping the shock would give me a few extra seconds.

But it didn't work. Loud shots rang out and then my body filled with unbearable pain. One hit, two hits, three. 

I plummeted towards the sea.

I hit the water, sinking into the icy darkness. Ribbons of red ink floated up around me, the water filling with blood.

I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe. My body felt like it was on fire, pain searing through my chest.

I knew that I needed to get to the surface or I would drown, but the strength was gone from my limbs. Only pain remained.

And now I was going to die.