When I meet a friend at the hospital because his dad is in critical condition, I feel horrible inside, like any other human being. But as I leave, I spot a man with a weird object in his hands, and curiosity strikes my whole being.
What I find o...
My feet are like lightning as I sprint through the brush, leaves untangling and twigs snapping underneath me. Even though it is dark, I can still see far enough ahead to gather that the man is huge and fast. He is walking, waltzing even, and yet I seem to be unable to close the gap between us.
He hums aloud, his voice deep and scratchy, as he moves along with increasing speed. He is swift, almost as graceful as Jade, I think to myself.
The man doesn't turn around at the sounds of my quickening footsteps, but continues on, his hands in the pockets of his blood-red pants.
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I chase him, my breathing becoming heavier and heavier until a sound suddenly shakes my concentration away and makes me come to a complete stop and whirl around. My breathing falters and I lean on my knees, looking over the trees. When my eyes land on nothing and I catch my breath, I turn back around to face the man once again.
To my astonishment, there is no trace of the man I had been following. His body doesn't continue moving forward yards in front of me, no trees rustle, no footsteps thud.
I curse under my breath and take off towards the last place I had seen him-in between two thick trees. When I reach the spot, I stand in place and look forward, my mind racing for ideas.
How could he have disappeared that fast?
There isn't any possible way-
An arm abruptly squashes the silence as it swings out and whacks my stomach with so much force my body instantly doubles over. A moan escapes my lips as pain shoots through my gut, but as I'm looking down and so vulnerable, the person grabs my arms with an iron grip and shoves me so hard against one of the trees that my eyes see dots.
I try to catch my breath, but the next thing I realize is that I can't. An arm is preventing that.
When the dots disperse and lead me to clear vision, I stare right into glowing orange eyes. The man from before-whose eyes were once brown-looks at me with humor glittering inside his pupils.
"You defeated the spidery no-good?" He questions me in his deep, scratchy voice. "I thought he would've sucked your blood for dinner. You sure didn't fight him very well for an Aureate."
"You underestimated me." I get out in a rasp, my throat stinging as if a bee is stabbing it continuously.
The man's sandy blond hair flutters in a breeze, revealing his angular eyebrows. His teeth are gritted, though his orange eyes are steadily looking into my eyes. His arm pins me against the tree so well that I can still breathe but can't breathe normally, almost as if I am breathing through a small straw.
"You should be ashamed for following me." The man tells me as his gritted teeth form a smirk. "If my girlfriend found out a girl was following me, she would chop of the girl's head."
