The Hidden Heart

Trouble

(Holly's POV)

My thin legs burn. I'm running. I'm running as fast as I can. But what else can I do? I can barely see where I'm going because of the darkness. The monster is almost upon me. I can just barely feel its breath on the back of my neck. My long brunette hair comes undone from the ponytail it was previously in. The white ribbon that once held it together, falls, and I quickly grab it up. I couldn't lose that, it means too much to me.

I curse as my legs give out and I fall on my hands and knees. I feel the sharp jab of pine needles underneath the soft cushion of my palms. An incredible amount of pain goes through my left shoulder as the monster embedded its claws into my flesh. Through my blunderous fall, it had taken the opportunity to slash its sharp claws at me. I suddenly feel very faint, and my thoughts became as though they were part of some dream or different world. Even though the pain was almost unbearable, I somehow am able to desperately crawl away. As I slowly make my way forward, I clutch my shoulder trying my best to make the pain subside. My attempts at doing this, though reasonably intelligent, resulted in only a river of blood seeping through my fingers.

As I'm crawling, the crown of my head bumps into the trunk of a tree. I reach out my hand to touch the object between me and my freedom. I would have to change my course in order to go around the tree. I push my back against the tree and sit. Thus giving in to my apparent fate of death. I look up and look into the dark eyes of the monster's right head; for it had two heads. One of those great heads was completely mechanical, adding even more darkness to the sinister fog that enveloped the  being. I realize that the monster had had every opportunity to finish me off, but it had begun to pace back and forth; constantly keeping its shiny brass head trained on me. I draw my dagger from a sheath attached to my left thigh, as though i was a child who needed a blanket or knitted doll to feel safe. I had completely run out of strength.

I can't breathe. I'm scared, terrified to my very bones. I try to prepare my body, mind, and soul for what was going to happen to me. I stare at the two-headed, hairy mass (which is about 15 feet away from my position at this point). The beast raises both of its mighty heads to the skies and lets out a deafening roar. The sound causes a loud ringing in my ear. The moonlight shines through the clouds of steam the metal head expelled. I can't run anymore, I can't hide, and I can't fight back. I've given up trying to survive.

I just wanted to somehow get out of this alive. I wanted to be rescued.

"Someone...please..." I cry.

I close my eyes and listen to my breathing. It's the only thing that is calm in this godforsaken forest. The sound of steel cutting through flesh wakes me from my trance. I look up to see the monster about 10 feet away, dead. Standing beside the mass of flesh and metal that once frightened me so much, is a figure. Dressed in black and dark grey, and silhouetted against the moon. I don't know why but the man scares me and calms me at the same time. As he approaches me I see the lower parts of his face. He looks young.

He kneels down on one knee in front of me and picks me up. The way he holds me reminds me of how a mother coddles her child. As I look up at the figures face, trying to discern who this hero is, I close my eyes and slip into the welcoming gates of unconsciousness...