Ileene's breath came in shallow bursts as she crept along the second floor hallway of her step-father's house. It was two hours after city curfew and Gabriel was sound asleep after his pre-bed drinking ritual. She crept down the stairs, keeping to the side of the steps, sneakers already on her feet. Ileene paused for a second at the door leading down to the basement. She held her breath for any sound that would mean her golden retriever Jave had been alerted. She had made sure to lock the door soundly that night, she would have loved to bring him along, but there was no guarantee that he wouldn't give her away. Hopefully animal protection services would come tomorrow in response to the call she had made.
Then we'll both be free of him bud.
She continued on, not daring to stay in one place for too long. She moved quickly through the living room and into the kitchen, grabbing the bag she had packed from its hiding place at the base of the pantry. Gabriel never looked in there, in the off chance he did, he would usually be too intoxicated to notice the backpack stashed behind the half used pack of water bottles.
With her bag strapped securely to her back she moved silently to the screen door that lead to her backyard. She had spent so long planning this, it had taken her months to collect the food without Gabriel noticing. She was afraid that he'd found out when his old hunting knife went missing. She had played it off that he'd lent it to a friend who hadn't returned it, but she still had the scar on her shoulder from being pushed into the side table.
She opened the screen carefully, one wrong move here and it would cost her everything. If the door woke Gabriel, all it would take was him rolling over to his side to see her escaping across the lawn.
The door squeaked and Ileene froze like a deer in headlights. She waited for the shouting as her step-father bounded down the stairs, but it never came. After the ringing in her ears ceases she closes the back door with a quiet thud.
She wasn't free yet, keeping an eye on both the house and the road for any movement she stalked across the yard and took shelter behind a pair of bushes. It was a quiet night, too quiet, even for the city outskirts. Usually there would be at least a handful of night guards patrolling Tayan's streets, but tonight they were bare.
Ileene knew better than to test her luck though, and she proceeded with caution as she moved to the forest that started at the back of her step-father's property. There were twenty miles of forest between her and the next city over where she would buy her way onto one of the cargo trains to the outskirts of Tayan. Once she reached the tree line, she broke into a full sprint. Her bag thumping against her back as she hurtled herself over rocks and fallen trees. The moon lent a silvery glow through the tree canopy, her heart flying with her body, as she continued to put distance between her and the man who had claimed her life for the past seven years.
After a few minutes she was forced to stop before her lungs gave away. Her hands rested on her knees as she hunched over and tried to catch her breath. Now that she had stoped the forest seemed darker, each gust of wind was Gabriel's voice, every shadow held a night guard ready to bring her back.
She spun on her heel and continued to whip through the trees. A red haze began to descend and the trees closed in around her. In her frantic state she was able to place one coherent thought, and a quick glance up at the sky confirmed her worst fears. It was what Tayan's citizens dreaded most, and why the nighttime curfews were implemented. But it wasn't supposed to start for another week, she had made sure of it.
Half of the moon was still a glowing opal white, but the clouds drew a jagged line through the middle, leaving the other half in a blood red haze.
No-one knew exactly what happened when the Red Moon rose, but those caught under its stare went mad. Because of the hallucinations it caused, or the creatures that came out under its reign, nobody was sure. All that we knew was that very few survived its light, and those who did were no longer fully there.
Ileene forced her body to move faster.
***
This one was a bit shorter that what I normally do, it was more of a way to give my brain a little bit of a break and try something new. As always let me know if you find any grammatical or spelling errors!
Until the next chapter,
Bree
Picture from bustle.com
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De Todo"Just tell me Elly, and I'll let you go" I raised a shackled hand to my face, nothing broken, but I could still taste blood. I worked my jaw until I had a good amount in my mouth, then I looked up into his face, and spat. Now it...
