Short story

Into the woods

I could hear the echo of the silence around the cold dark forest, feel the dew settle on my bare arms. Whipping my head around every 3 steps. I travel through the maze of tree's following the path of jagged, rough stones. Suddenly the blood on my hands seems to weigh me down, as I stumble and stagger and fall into a pile rocks. As I pick myself up off of the floor, I notice the blood on my knees.

I vomit at the memories that arise in my head. Her body on the floor. I can see the blood, streaming down her face, pooling around her thick, dark hair. I can vividly picture her last breath, the condensation formed from the cold night air mixing with her hot breath. I see the rock, floating in the river by me, the water a slight shade of red.

The constant ringing in my ears gets louder and louder until suddenly I can't hear at all. I scream, drowning out the ringing. Suddenly all I can feel is her hand on my throat as she shoved my head under the water, the sensation of my head exploding as I clawed her wrists. The water in my mouth, the breath in my lungs burning. The sound of the bubbles popping on the surface as I struggled and screamed.

Suddenly I'm hyperventilating. I feel the smoothness of the rock that was settled in the palm of my hand as I smashed in against her wrist. The crunch of breaking bones. Her shriek as she realises what I did. I feel horrified at the smirk I had plastered all over my face.

I feel even more horrified at the smirk that was plastered on hers.

My head starts pounding as I recall her punching me in the jaw, knocking me off my feet. She straddled my waist, hitting me until she heard the snap of the bone and gristle in my nose. I kneed her in the crotch. We wrestled on the wet, dewy grass until suddenly my airways were blocked. She picked me up and smashed me against a nearby tree. Once. Twice. I could smell the blood before I felt it pouring down my neck. Before I could feel the pain. The grip wasn't as strong, being that she only had one useable arm and wrist, but she still had me gasping for breath.

I kicked her knees out from under her. She straddled me again, hand tight around my neck, thumb in my oesophagus. I reached out searching for anything I could use as a weapon. I grasped the grass, expecting to feel it in both my palms but instead I got a smooth, medium sized stone. I brought it up, smashing it across the side of her forehead. One hit. Two. Three. Four. The blood from her head was rushing down my fingertips

I begin to break out in sobs as my throat starts closing. Just like hers must have just before the rock hit her skull. I start scrubbing my hands in the lake, sobs coming out of my throat. I never meant to hurt her. I scrub harder and harder, the water running a deep, deep shad of red, matching the blood on the grass 100 metres back.

Suddenly all the memories push into my head of the last 3 years. My head smashed into a locker. My fingers smashed in the door. I unconsciously rub my fingers over the scar.

I rise off the floor, stumbling toward the forest edge. I don't turn back this time.