Cursed by the gods

I get attacked by a tree root

I ran faster than I had ever run before and I wasn't planning to stop anytime soon, mainly because that lake really freaked me out but also because the sun was setting which meant that I was definitely going to be late for curfew and I really didn't feel like getting in trouble again.

I mentally let out a breath of relief when I finally saw the break in the trees up ahead of me which meant I had gone the right way. With a new feeling of hope in me, I started to run even faster, desperate to reach the school before nightfall. 

Unfortunately for me, the world was against me today so no sooner than I thought I'd finally make it out of the trees my left foot got caught under a tree root leading me to fall flat onto my face. 

As soon as my chest made contact with the forest floor I felt all the air leave my lungs which left me wheezing with a possibly sprained ankle. 

I debated just staying there and waiting for nature to take its course, I imagined the headlines, 15-year-old girl died in forest, cause believed to be tree root. 

I almost laughed at how ridiculous that sounded before I slowly started to sit up deciding not to look at my ankle just yet. I felt something trickle from my nose so I quickly reached up a hand to touch it before bringing my hand away to see red liquid on it. 

"Great," I muttered sarcastically as I put both my hands flat on the ground to slowly lift myself onto my feet before feeling pain shoot up from my left leg almost making me fall over again as I winced trying not to cry. 

Something was definitely wrong with my ankle but I still couldn't bring myself to actually look at it properly so instead I hopped to a nearby tree and leaned against it waiting for my nose to stop bleeding before searching for some sort of crutch. 

Eventually, I found a broken branch and picked it up before testing it. It was a little short by it would work.

I started taking small steps towards the school stumbling as I slowly crossed the big rugby field. It was starting to get more difficult to see which led me to stumble more and it only got worse when it started to rain. 

 I was about twenty meters away from the school when I slipped again this time landing flat on my back before I sat up and unintentionally looked straight at my ankle which was red and extremely swollen and in even more pain after falling again.  

Tears started to well up in my eyes while the rain kept plummeting down from the sky covering me in a cold layer of water.

I would have tried to get up but the adrenaline that had been pumping furiously through my veins was slowly giving out so with the last of my energy I pressed my lips together and glared at my damaged ankle, willing it would just fix itself so I would have some sort of chance of getting to the front door.

  I didn't expect anything to come out of being angry at my leg, I definitely didn't expect my body to start tingling, frowning I mentally went over what might cause my body to tingle, was I going into shock? I really hoped I wasn't. Maybe I was having some sort of seizure?

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the water from a nearby puddle had started rushing in the direction of my ankle only causing my confusion to grow. 

 "What the-," I questioned as the water reached my ankle and defied the laws of gravity by moving upwards before wrapping around my ankle. After a few seconds, the liquid dropped off of me and once again became still as if nothing had happened.

I blinked a couple of times before staring at my ankle in disbelief, it looked completely normal like nothing had happened to it. There wasn't even the slightest bit of swelling.  

Hesitantly I stood up with newfound strength and carefully tested out my left foot. I squeezed my eyes shut expecting pain but instead, I felt nothing. 

"I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought," I muttered trying to convince myself unsuccessfully that whatever I just saw happen wasn't real. 

I abandoned my makeshift crutch and walked the last few meters to the front doors before I looked up at the giant old victorian castle-like building that was my high school and that somehow managed to look inviting and intimidating at the same time, especially at night with all the light shining out of the windows. 

I gulped as I realized how much trouble I would be in if a teacher caught me, not only for being out after dark but also for being in the forest after dark and leaving the trail which happened to be a big no no. I reached out a shaky hand to open the ancient wooden door slightly. The door made a loud creaking sound as light poured out into the night. 

I quickly slipped into the main corridor and was momentarily blinded by how bright it was before scanning around me for any hint of life forms. 

When I didn't see anyone I as quietly as possible started navigating the school to get to my dorm room. 

I had made it to the corridor form of a crossroad and once again and  I was starting to feel hopeful so naturally, something was going to go wrong. 

I started shuffling towards the dorm section which was really easy to find since it stood out like a sore thumb because of how much newer it looked compared to the rest of the building when I suddenly heard voices coming from a passage on my left which made me freeze. 

I looked back at the dorm passage and saw that it was at least another 6 meters in front of me and the only way to get there would be to walk straight into the crossroad and past where the voices were coming from. 

My heartbeat began to pick up as I started to panic, I was going to get in so much trouble I'd probably be put in detention for the rest of the year which was not on my to-do list, not for this school anyway. 

There was no way I could handle being stuck in a classroom for an hour every day for that long. 

I searched around me desperately for somewhere to hide as well as trying to come up with a believable lie if I was caught but I found nothing.

I could hear the voices getting louder so I resorted to darting against the wall on my left and pressing myself against it trying to slow down my breathing. 

I watched the two people walk passed me and prayed they wouldn't look back. I could clearly see that they were both women and they looked quite young, probably student teachers. 

Luckily they didn't look back because they were way too busy talking about coffee and annoying kids and I swear I heard them mention my name but I was freaking out too much to actually listen properly.  

After I watched their figures turn down another corridor I waited a bit longer as a precaution. 

Finally, I came to terms that no one else was coming so I let out a quick breath before slowly shuffling along the corridor wall and then stepping eagerly towards the passage. 

As the last of my weight left the wall I immediately collapsed onto the ground, exhaustion hitting me like a bullet all of the energy I had somehow gained earlier disappeared taking every ounce of my strength with it. 

I probably should have been thinking about what had just happened and how I was going to get off the floor but the only thought that was passing through my head was did I seriously just fall over again?

I lifted my head up slightly to see my line of sight completely blocked by a pair of brown lace-up shoes. 

"Miss Scott?" I heard a voice from above me ask curiously. 

"Oh hey sir," I stated cheerfully before my eyes rolled back into my head. 

A/N: Chapter three yay 

I didn't really change that much here but I added a bit in that was kinda cool, well I thought it was cool 

anyhay see ya next time bye  👋