Arisa, Part 1:Dusk

-Chapter I: First meeting-

Arisa quickly looked behind her she hadn´t seen them for nearly half an hour. A false feeling of safety came over her. Suddenly the silence was broken. A man shouted in the distance. Arisa cursed. She should have known that they would not give up that easily. She picked up her pace and continued running.

Keith rubbed his eyes. How long had he been here already? Half an hour, an hour?’ He couldn’t tell. Suddenly he heard footsteps above him. He held his breath. If he wanted to stay hidden, he had to be silent. The steps slowly stopped right above his head. Keith started to feel unpleasant. He could not hold his breath for much longer. The seconds slowly passed. Keith felt his lungs shrivelling. The dust was trying to enter his nostrils. Just as he was about to faint, the steps moved away from where he was hidden. Then, slowly, someone softly knocked on the plates above him. Keith pulled his hand out of the soil. A different hand grabbed his and pulled him out of the underground cellar. Keith gasped for air as he dropped to his knees. His father looked at him with a smile on his face. ‘He’s gone, Keith, for now.’ He said. Keith slowly got back on his feet. ‘Thanks’ He muttered. He turned around to leave the dig site where his father had built him a hideout. Just before he could walk away, his father stopped him. ‘Keith, you have to find yourself a work spot’ He said. ‘We can’t hide you every time lord Akuma’s soldiers are looking for you.’ Keith nodded and tried to walk away a second time, but his father stopped him again. ‘I mean it, Keith’ He said. His voice was shaking. He was serious. ‘You know what they will do to you if they find out you never went to The School…’  ‘Please, dad’ Keith begged. ‘Don’t force me to go there. You know what they teach people in that place…’ His father nodded.  ‘That is the reason we never sent you there. The schools are military training camps and brainwash facilities, we know that!’ He got angry. Tears sprung in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry dad…’ Keith said. His father swallowed his tears. ‘Please tell me you’ll find a job soon. Your mother and I don’t want to lose you. We are worried sick!’ he said with a shaking voice. ‘Can’t I work here on the farm?’ Keith complained, already knowing the answer. His father sighed. ‘Only two sons can work on the farm, Keith. The third one has to go to The School, you know the laws King Akuma made.’ His father said. Keith looked at him. His father sighed again. ‘Don’t look at me like that. You know your two older brothers have the right to work on the farm. They are the eldest. You have to look for a job yourself, like other people. When you do that the soldiers can’t claim you for the School.’ Keith sighed too. ‘I know, dad.  Thanks for helping me out.’ His father hugged him. ‘Did you think that I would leave you to yourself?’ Keith smiled faintly and went back inside the farm. Before he closed the back door behind him he turned his head to the forest. Strange, it was as if he had heard screams coming from the woods. He shrugged. It was probably nothing. He closed the door behind him.

Arisa made a quick calculation: if she kept running at her current speed the men would not be able to catch up with her. An arrow whizzed over her head. Arisa cursed. They carried bow and arrow. The men could not keep up with her. The arrows most certainly could! This was bad. Just as Arisa thought this, a sharp bolt of pain shot through her back. An arrow had hit her between the shoulder blades. Arisa almost screamed, but kept quiet. Another arrow hit her a few centimetres below the other. Arisa stumbled, almost falling over, but quickly restored. She knew she had to keep running. She had already outrun her pursuers. She would escape them if she could just keep ahead of them. They would tire sooner or later. The pain numbed her body. One arrow was bad, she knew out of experience, but two arrows were too much to bear. She couldn’t keep running like this for much longer.  She noticed her vision was fading. Shapes became blurry. Arisa bit her lip, distracting her mind from the pain. Her legs got heavier with every step. She kept running. Arisa blinked. Was that a farm in the distance? She could hardly see, but if it was she would only have to cross a dig site to get there. She would be saved. Just a little bit further…she would just have to knock on the door and…