A LONELY WORLD OF WONDER: An Anthology ✓

Runners

I had no clue as to what started it all. All I remember was running. 

The asphalt echoed to the rhythm of our torn sneakers, our three voices a mixed charisma of panting and huffing. The world whooshed past us faster than my eyes could process, but alas nature's beauty did not matter. Even so, it was too dark to see the sights that surrounded us all.

One would assume our lives were at gunpoint, that fleeing was just another solution to our fear of the unknown. That our only purpose in this second of spacetime was to escape Death. And in some ways, this was true. Had my memory remained, maybe I could understand our motives. Have a sense of morality, or a second where I could pause and think. But my body willed me to keep running, to go as far as I could, forever if I had to.

Nobody spoke. Nobody screamed. Our voices had ceased for this triumphant dash to an unknown finish line, wherever it may be. So, our faces spoke for us, spoiling that whimsical look of terror and letting those dreaded salt droplets spill freely down our flushed cheekbone.

The road we raced upon was twisted and old, curving from side to side, oftentimes tilted in one direction where the surface split in others. And at one point, the ground itself had completely changed, from the blackened glowing rocks to a dust-orange hue of sandstone. 

We had jumped off bridges, climbed down slopes, ran up mountains, even charging through entire towns. But whatever followed prevailed onward, undeterred to find us, pin us to the earth- 

And kill us.

At some point we stumbled across a closed in gate, the entire area sealed off by this border except for one chained in opening. The lock had been broken inward by something, yet the forest appeared untouched. Upon slamming into the fence and ripping the gate open, the two prepared to flee, already prepping their bodies for a million miles more. But I slumped down onto the ground, wheezing terribly.

"I can't-"

"No," The boy growled at me. "You have to keep running!"

I shook my head, leaning onto the metal to catch my breath. "Just... go. The b-both of you."

"You'll die."

My eyes glanced up the road to the top of the hill; the streetlights siding the empty highway began to flicker off like magic. It was here. I quickly pushed them through the gates of the damaged metal gate and closed it behind them. The girl gasped.

"Don't do this!" she cried. "Keep running!"

"We were going to face it one way or another," I whispered back, tears flooding my visage. "I can't keep running forever... I won't."

The two of them gazed at each other, horror drowning in their faces as another couple of lights began to flicker off. 

"Go..."

"Don't-"

"Go!" I cried back, watching them spin around and dash off into the forest, into the shadows, and into the nothingness forever.

"And keep going!" I screamed to them, clenching the fence and turned around, just in time as a dark human figure began turning down on the roadway. For moments it kept sprinting downward, it's stance normal, it's hands moving strongly and proudly. It was as if it was after a trophy, or at its own finish line, all until its run was facing directly toward me. My heart screamed to flee, my mind as well, and without much thought I grabbed a lengthy piece of wood beneath me, holding it up high. The sound of my heartbeat began to strengthen in tune, a violent crescendo as if a lone drum was approaching. But the only thing I saw was the shadow, running closer...

And closer.

And closer...

It looked like me. It sounded like me. But that was just a trick of the eyes. Deep down, all I saw was it's darkness, it's hideous rage and bloodlust, boiling beneath that skin of blackness that sizzled like burnt toast. Once more my mind screamed to run, the seconds ticking down, my beating heart roaring into my eardrums. All I did was snag onto the fence, beginning to cry, and raised the weapon.

"Come on!" I roared in tears, the figure beginning to shift its appearance as blooded eyes suddenly glowed, a vicious snarl emancipating from its drooling jaws. Its goat-like head was the next to show, its four eyes widening, and its run only magnified - faster than ever before. It knew it had me. I knew that too. But I couldn't run forever, not like them. I knew it was only a matter of time before I faced myself. 

The monster dashed straight into my visage, and with one horrified cry I swung at it.

Everything went black.