I wake up with a cold sweat pouring down my face. It would have been a relief to wake up inside the walls of my home, but I still find myself here under the Poplar tree. The wind now slowly whistles through the trees. My face still stings, and my throat is still pained and sore. I figured it's no use to try and get home again, but there's a part of me that just can't give up on getting back.
I've always been a night person. Staying up late has never bothered me, but now I suddenly start to feel a slight drag on my energy level. I try to shake it off and ignore it, but it won't go away. I'm still sitting on the ground and get distracted by a twig lying in front of me, but as I stare down there's a sudden change and a loud snap. The twig, that had laid there motionless just moments before, now lay snapped in two. I jump back suddenly, and for a moment I swear I can hear the still breathing of something, or someone... In that moment the tiredness I was beginning to feel vanishes. The footsteps keep coming, as I begin to run again.
I realize that I need to get back to the tree; I shouldn't have run away from it in the first place. I turn around and run back through the woods, trying not to get lost. I hear a frustrated growl and push myself harder. I see the tree and halt to a stop beside it; all I can think is, Now you can just catch your breath, and relax, and sleep, and... I'm stopped short in my thoughts. The footsteps are still here. This doesn't make sense. Whenever I reached my tree, I was safe wasn't I? Yet the footsteps get louder and louder, and soon are very very close. It's as if whatever has been chasing me just wants to mock me. To make me feel as if I was safe in this one place, and then just suddenly take it from me. I don't think I'm safe here, I'm not safe anywhere anymore...
Tears pour out of my eyes and burn down my cheeks as I realized that I am going to have to keep running. I spin around the other way and take off deeper into the woods, as I cry as real as I have ever cried in my life.
YOU ARE READING
The Endless Night
Action"...never walk out alone..." Rumors have haunted the property around the little cottage for years. Vanessa Görtz and her family have just moved in and her parents are taking these rumors seriously. Vanessa decides to take matters into her own hands...
