Paranoid (Collection of Short Stories)

The Redcoat

I hit the ground at a sprinting pace. Bones felt like shattering with the level of impact, but with the cavalry breathing down my throat, I couldn't afford to stop.

I never really liked running - it made me feel uneasy - with the sickening blur that passed and the relentless voice in my ear that said "the floor trips the sly for a reason." If the ground were to create an obstacle, I would surely fall...

Adrenalin coursed through my veins, giving me the energy to hurdle a fallen, flaming tree. A torrent whipped around me as I neared the edge of the dank forest, leaving the jockeys dancing with the skeletal branches. I was safe. Stop.

Taking in my surroundings, agony hit me like a nuclear missile. It had come from nowhere, and writhed beyond my body to set light to my soul. Torturing me. I was on the floor, trying to release the pain in a scream, but the only thing that came was a figure in red uniform, brass trumpet in hand. I stopped struggling. I closed my eyes as I took my final breath.

The fox hunter had claimed another victim.