Contests and Short Stories

Impending Death

She tripped over her own feet for the third time as she tried her utmost best to evade the person chasing her. She felt like she'd been running for days and had long ago lost track of where she was. Her breathe was labored, and her heart roared on her chest as she scrambled to pull herself off the ground and back onto her bruised, bare feet.

She let out a choked sob as she pushed her self forward and started her attempt at running again. She was exhausted and struggled to keep a steady pace. She could hear them behind her, the fast pattering of a person's footsteps as they closed the gap between them. She pushed her self even harder to move faster and took a sharp turn deeper into the darkness. For a moment she could no longer hear the footsteps and so took that as a sign that she wasn't doing too bad.

She kept on running for her life's sake, looking back through her hazed vision to make sure the person was not too close behind her. She could see no one. She knew they would find her. That they would end her for good, just like they'd promised, she just did not know that they would rid her from the world today. She thought and hoped she'd had more time.

Her body screamed in agony, begging her to stop and rest, but she knew that if she stopped for even a moment it would definitely be the end. Her heart continued to race and bang against her rib cage and her head bobbed up and down as she tried to stay awake. She could feel sweat rolling down the sides of her face from her temples even though her hands shook furiously from the cold air that enveloped her body. Her stomach churned and did crazy flips as she could feel her dinner coming up into her throat.

She could take it no more. Her body was failing her. Her vision became unbearably blurry and the world started spinning madly bellow her feet. She could no longer stop herself from slowing down, and knew now that her death was inevitable. There was no more running from it, she would die and she would die tonight.

She stretched her hands out to stop herself from falling on her face and they found themselves grabbing onto a ragged surface. She struggled to keep herself standing as her legs gave way beneath her and she started to let her body slide down the rough surface to the ground. She took deep full breathes as she let her body recover from the running and waited for the dizziness to subside.

She stretched herself out onto the cool damp ground of the woods she'd been running through. This would be her last moment of peace she realized as she stared up into the midnight sky. Through the canopies of the trees she could see the moon shining brightly above her with twinkling stars scattered carelessly around it.

She took in the cool breeze and beautiful navy blue sky before the terror of her situation struck her once again. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a feeling of fear and regret as she gagged before turning to get on all fours and empty the sour contents of her unsettled stomach. A stream of tears burned a path down her pale cheeks as she heaved and sobbed.

It was in that moment that she heard the slow approach of the person that would end her life tonight. They lurked behind her, waiting for her to become quite. Once she was done, she turned to look up into their eyes with her sad ones, begging and pleading. She searched their eyes for even the smallest bit of mercy but found none. Without another moment wasted, the person swiftly bent forward and grabbed her by the waist.

Her back was pressed against the body of her assailants as she thrashed around in his arms, fighting to escape out of pure instinct. She screamed blood curdling screams and begged for them to let her go as they fought to drag her away. She drew her head back into what she could feel was their nose and could almost celebrate as she heard the loud crack and was suddenly released from the tight grasp.

She lunged forward, ready to take off running again, desperate to get somewhere safe. Maybe I wont die tonight after all, she thought. But her hope was short lived as she could feel a hand grab hold of her ankle, sending her crashing face first into the dirt. She squirmed and struggled to yank her leg away from her assailant and run away, but there was no use.

She fought to grab hold of anything she could find to give her some leverage and pull her legs free, but only ended up with chipped nails and bloody fingertips. She screamed and pounded her fists against the ground the whole time her soon to be killer dragged her through the woods, all while trying to pull her ankles out of their grasp. If this person was going to kill her she wasn't going to make it easy for them, she would go down fighting.

Soon enough the adrenaline had worn off, and the effect of the drug she knew was still lingering in her system returned, and this time with a vengeance. She let out a loud groan as her assailant yanked her off the ground and her head felt as though it would explode with the sheer pain. They threw her over their shoulders as if she weighed nothing, and the entire world was upside down as it swirled in her blurry vision.

Before she could register what was happening to her she was tossed of their shoulder and felt her body being forced into a kneeling position. She could now hear the person taking to her, yelling things she probably should have listened to, but she just couldn't bear to. The tears appeared once again as they fell down her face from her puffy red eyes. She was utterly astonished when she felt hard yank at the nape of her head and she shrieked from the sharp pain before her head was pushed forward and then submerged into freezing cold water. She gasped from the surprise and immediately regretted it as water entered her mouth. The violent and evidently enraged person held her head firmly in the water as she desperately thrashed her arms around, trying to force her body up and out of the freezing liquid.

She was more than grateful and relieved when her head was suddenly yanked out of the water and she could breathe again. She took a sharp breathe of air then gasped at the sudden hiss in her right ear.

"You deserve nothing more than a painful slow death," the taunting voice whispered.

A shiver travelled down her spine as a new wave of dread flooded her already shaken up body. She began to sob again as her mind raced with images of all the gruesome ways in which she could possibly die tonight. She was terrified and although she wanted to be strong she could not help but feel nothing but desperation and fear.

She shrieked when her head was suddenly plunged beneath the water once again. She fought furiously to pull it out but failed. She clenched her jaw at the hot burning pain in her chest as the water slipped down her throat and into her lungs. She was almost grateful when she felt the repeated sharp pains in her back and knew that it would all be over soon. She could feel the pressure in her lungs building from the mixture of blood and water that filled it. She let her body relax and only screamed a shrilling blood stirring scream when she felt the deep piecing pain near her heart and the last thing she felt before she fell into eternal darkness was the sudden blow to the back of her head.