He Owns Me II

Chapter 11

The only thing keeping him alive was his will to survive. His instincts told him that he was being chased, but his body was at its limit, there was no way he could go any faster. He felt claws rake his calf and felt his pants become damp and warm but he couldn't feel the pain yet, he kept running. He made it through the door and his pessimistic thoughts were confirmed: more corridors and halls. He had no time for rational thought; no time to sit and think which an which way to go to escape, he could only run and pray he had more stamina than his pursuer. He kept running, turning and turning, weaving down the paths of the base. Even though he had no Idea where he was going, he knew that it was better than stopping; not just because he would be caught but because if he let his adrenaline subside, he'd feel all the pain from his wounds all at once.

He kept his arms pumping until he saw a big door, just like the one that lead to the arena; a big metal door with a wheel in its center. He put his head down and poured on a little more speed, stopping short and sliding, hitting the door with his side and bouncing off. He grabbed the wheel and used his weight to turn it. This wheel was much looser than the one to the arena and with little effort he pushed the door open and pushed it closed behind him, turning and running through the snow covered forest. Snow? California doesn't snow. Well, at least where we were didn't snow. Cloud ran, weaving between trees, stopping to throw snow on himself from time to time to cool himself down; sweating gives off too much scent. He ran and had to skid to a stop or he would have gone straight off a cliff. He stood at the edge and looked over it, turned at looked behind him and saw the beast barreling towards him.

How didn't he hear it all this time? By the time he had gotten to finish that thought a clawed hand was stretching towards his midsection. He leaned back to fall over the cliff in attempts avoid the claw but the beast swiped down and grabbed his shirt as he was falling, suspending him above the trees and snow by a thin layer of cotton. The beast leaned over the ledge, growling in Clouds face, its rage obvious in its crimson eyes, but on the verge of escape, Cloud felt little fear, just a strong urge to escape. He swung his arm as hard as he could and felt the creature's jaw crack under his strength. It's head snapped back and its arms went up to its face, letting Cloud fall in the process, and he laughed on his way down.

His fall was short, or at least it felt short. At first, all he felt was the dread of hitting the ground at this speed and all he could hear was the roar of the wind passing his ears, next he felt the prickles of pine tree leaves as he flew through the branches. He was thankful for them though, they slowed his fall to a more...survivable speed, still hurt like a bitch when he hit the ground though and he made that very obvious.

"Fuck." He moaned as he got up and cracked his back and neck. He started walking away from the cliff face, deeper into the forest. The only thing that could guide him at the moment was his sense of smell. His sense of direction got messed up from the falling and running around, but he had no memory of ever being around snow in California. He thought as he walked, following his nose to the smell of food. He had to formulate a plan to get back in there and free his friends and quickly as possible. He needed a surefire way to get in and out of that place and a way to take down that beast if needs be.

He was too deep in thought to realize where he was going, not that he would have known where he was going anyways. Lost in thought, he hadn't realized how long he was walking until he came about a little cabin in the forest. He looked back and saw the cliff face, a tiny black dot jutting above a sea of trees. He stared at it for a while, rethinking his decision to run. What kind of alpha leaves some of his pack behind to save his own tail? What kind of man did that make him? He knocked on the door of the little cabin, just in case, to ensure he wouldn't surprise anyone inside. After knocking three times he pushed open the aged wooden door.

The rust-covered hinges wailed as the door came to a stop on the wall. He stepped into the little cabin, onto soft wooden floors; over saturated with water from the melted snow. Every step was muffled so if there was anyone in the house, they would only hear the door but not his steps. The house was furnished, a red couch sat before him, facing a furnace; probably used to keep the inhabitants warm.