As Children and Parents

Prologue

She panted. Her legs were sore. She could almost hear the sound of the blood pumping through her veins from the exertion of running. Her hair shielded her eyes from the rain, but it also blocked most of her view. It didn't matter to her, though. At that moment, all she cared about was getting away from him.

She could hear his rough grunts from behind her as he stepped in a puddle of water on the sidewalk, and she could still hear his footsteps as the man refused to stop. She strained her legs to run faster, yet the fact that she was carrying a suitcase of almost all her stuff didn't help; he still followed her with unwavering determination.

She tried to escape about an hour beforehand, but he caught her in the act, claiming she shouldn't leave him in such a manner. She resisted and there they were playing the most ferocious game of cat and mouse they have both ever heard of. Her body was drained from running such great distances, yet she knew that if she slowed down, he would force her back 'home' and there would only be hell to pay afterwards.

It was late into the night and the streets were quiet. People slept through the chase as though it was the soft summer breeze ricocheting off their windows, so it wasn't at all likely that someone would show up and magically help her; this wasn't a fairy tale. No, she was the only one that could rescue her in such a situation, and she was determined not to go back with him.

"Damn it, get back here already!" The man said loud enough for her to hear the rage in his voice.

She ignored him. She kept her eyes forward as she ran, focusing her attention on what was in front of her rather than what's behind her. She needed to find the perfect opening to lose him, or else he would eventually catch up to her and force her back. Her eyes spotted a right, and she took it without hesitation. She found herself running down yet another street and spotted an alley on the other side of the road.

"This is my best chance yet!" She thought, feeling quite a bit more hopeful.

She wasted no time crossing the street, hearing his footfalls draw nearer. He must've grown impatient. With one final push, she managed to cross the street successfully... or so she thought. She suddenly found herself falling towards the ground, with her right ankle twisted into a bizarre angle as it collided with the curb, pain shooting up her entire leg from it.

Her head hit the ground as despair washed over her. She was tired and injured, so any hope she had of escaping him was absolutely gone. She saw him through the droplets of the rain, running towards her with his trademark sick grin. She felt the energy draining from her body as unconsciousness slowly started taking over, the man starting to cross the street. She almost closed her eyes in submission when the blinding light of a car taking a quick turn came, followed by the sound of the brakes and then a grunt different from the ones she had been hearing so far.

She tried lifting her head to see what had happened, but it was too late. All she saw afterwards was black as her head rested on the rocky sidewalk, the droplets of rain resting on her face as they landed on it harmlessly.