Their Wife

Prologue

I kept running as the rain blurred my vision, clinging to the cracked lenses of my glasses. The branches of the trees caught and pulled on my hair and the fabric of my torn clothes. New scratches formed on any exposed skin they could touch. The newest wounds that were inflicted on my fragile body ached along with my bleeding, bare feet with every desperate step that I took.

I stumbled and tripped as a sharp branch stabbed my foot, landing hard on my hands and knees. Sharp branches and debris on the forest floor pierced my skin, but I couldn't stop to clean my wounds, I had to run. Getting back up with a stumble, I continued as fast as I could.

I burst out through the trees into a clearing that held an abandoned building. The three-story structure was made of cracking cement covered in graffiti that had been overtaken by nature. Moss grew on the walls and vines climbed up the cracks that litter the exterior. The windows that line the floors of the building were too dirty to see through and most were cracked and broken.

Knowing that I couldn't keep running for much longer, I sprint up to the building and climbed through a broken window in hopes of being able to hide. Just as I made it through, the long sleeve of my grey shirt got caught on one of the jagged edges of the broken glass, jerking me back. My left upper arm got slashed by the dirty glass, as well as my forearm where it landed to stop myself from falling backwards. I hissed from the pain, but continued on into the building, feeling the warm blood as it flowed down my arm from the wound.

I ran down the dark hallway, my eyes darting all over the ruined building looking for a spot where he couldn't find me. I came across a set of stairs and made a quick decision to go up. I came to the conclusion that if I hid higher up, then he would take longer to reach me because he would have to search the lower floors first.

Just as I reached the second floor and began to make my way up to the third, I heard a voice that sent unpleasant shivers down my spine and made my hands tremble in fear.

"Ready or not, here I come," he sang in a chilling sing-song manner before letting out a terrifying laugh.

I take a shaky breath as I continued upwards, making sure I didn't make any noise that could give away my location. When I reached the third floor I looked out one of the broken windows that lined the hallway, seeing how far I would have to jump down if I got cornered. If I was in peak physical condition I could probably survive a jump from how high I am with broken bones, but with the condition that my body was in, I would most likely die.

At least I would be free from him...

I turned away and continued down the hallway, looking for a place to hide with the light of the full moon high in the night sky being the only source illuminating my surroundings. I came across a room where the rotting wooden door was falling off the hinges but was still standing up with enough space in the corner of the doorway for me to crawl through. I decided to hide in that room because all the other rooms either had a door that barely blocked the doorway or no door at all.

Once I made it into the room I squinted my eyes to try to make out my surroundings. The room was dark. The only light was coming through the corners of the doorway, but that didn't go very far into the room. The moonlight didn't shine through the small window I could make out on the opposite wall due to the illuminated trees I could see out it. The moon was on the other side of the building so no light could get in through the window. I slowly shuffled my feet forward, hoping not to hit anything that would draw his attention.

"Come out, come out wherever you are," his haunting voice sang in the same chilling manner.

I stopped my shuffling and stood frozen. His voice didn't sound distant like it would if he was on another floor. It sounded near, like he was in the hallway outside the room.

My eyes widened and I inhaled sharply as I felt the blood flowing down my arm drip from my fingertips. I realize that I left a trail for him to follow, leading directly to me. My state of distress worsened when I heard his slow footsteps and saw the light from his flashlight directed at the space in the corner of the door where I entered, making the blood that dripped onto the floor visible.

The sound of his footsteps came to a stop in front of the room's door as I felt a breeze against my skin. The wind gently grew stronger until it turned violent, whipping around strands of my long, dark hair. Small whistling sounds filled the room as it became so strong it stung my skin like multiple bee stings. The high pitched, whistles of the wind soon started to sound like whispers spoken in another language I couldn't understand. The whispers kept gradually getting louder until they sounded as if someone was shrieking. Through the incomprehensible words that were being screamed into my ears, I heard seven haunting words clearly spoken before I felt as if I was falling into an endless abyss of darkness.

"You can run, but you can't hide."