Weston Hayes

Chapter Five ~ Crippling ~

Chapter Five ~Crippling~

Emma~

Three years later

(Emma's Dream)

Crunch... Crunch, the footsteps are getting closer... Crunch... Crunch. The air around me is so hot; it's scorching my lungs as I try to run from the dark figure behind me. Running as fast as I can through the thick forest, I keep slipping on the dense forest floor; just as charred black arms try reaching for me, I narrowly escape the dark figure.

"Please... someone help me," I scream over and over as I run through the thick underbrush, trying to get some distance. 'He's getting closer... always closer,' I scream inside my head. I see a break in the trees in front of me. With a burst of adrenaline spurring me, I race for the tree line. Bam! The dark figure slams into my side, crashing us to the ground, entwining my body with the black figure. Fear and panic fuel my core as I look into the eyes of my tormentor... George.

With an evil laugh, George bashes his head into mine, and stars swirled in my eyes. "You think you can get away from ME!" George roars in my face with spit flying out of his mouth. He pulls his fist back, punching me in the face again and again. With blood pooling in my mouth, I smile at George and spit the blood in his face.

Whipping the blood from my mouth, I roll away from George. Crawling away on my hands and knees, I look over my shoulder, looking for him. He's gone. Taking a calming breath, I turn back, jump up, and run for the opening in the trees, ducking under branches and vaulting over dead fallen trees.

Five hundred feet... my lungs are screaming in pain... But I can't stop running.

One hundred feet... almost to the opening ... My freedom is within my grasp.

Fifty feet... My lungs feel like they are on fire; I can't stop smiling. I'm almost out of the forest. I look to the left, then to the right, but George is gone. "YES!" I scream in triumph.

Ten feet... Five- "NO!" I scream. George is right in front of me; I can't stop. BAM! I slam into his chest, falling backward.

Thick arms reach out of the ground, pinning me in place. With a charred black hand covering my mouth, I can't scream while George is kicking me in my ribs. The pain is unbearable. I close my eyes and cry silent tears as George crawls over my body to sit on my chest.

Grabbing my face, George snickered, "You thought you could kill me!" tsking, "You will never get away from me." Tapping my temple, George growls, "I live here." He puts his hands around my throat, palms against my windpipe, fingers tightening, cutting off my oxygen, laughing as my lips turn purple. My eyes are watering, stars are dancing behind my eyes as they start rolling to the back of my head, and suddenly everything goes dark.

~End of dream~

"Doctor, come quickly, the patient's seizing," nurse Marion said as she ran up to Dr. Chambers and practically dragged him down the hall.

Dr. Dan Chambers extracted his arm as he followed the over-excited nurse into the room only to find Emma restrained to her bed as she shook violently with foam around her lips. Dan raced to her bed and ripped off the restraints. Dan asked, "What the hell were you thinking? Are you trying to kill her?" He shoved the hysterical nurse to the side as he rolled Emma on her side while she convulsed.

Nurse Marion wrung her hands as she stood in the corner, she said, "I'm sorry Dr. Chambers," Marion wept defeatedly. "I had to find you, but I didn't want her to injure herself while I went to get help."