No. No no no no no no! He can't get me! He can't! The world around me blurs as I force myself to run faster, the tears hard to see through. I can't pause to wipe them away. Every second counts. I can feel him getting closer, can feel his cold eyes trying to pin me down. Oh God, those eyes. He couldn't be human, not with those eyes. There's no life in them, no humanity. Just cold, terrifying darkness that tries to drown you, the light blue front fooling so many. It had fooled me. He looked so nice, so good. What a lie that was. Oh, God, I can hear his laughter. No. No. No no no no no!!!
“Why are you running, dear?” More laughter, deep and utterly horrific. “You know I'll catch you. I always do.” The laughter's louder. Closer. “I always do.” Nearly right behind me. No no no!
I try to run faster, I need to run faster. My legs don't listen. He's faster than me. He's almost here, still laughing. How could I have once loved the sound of his laughter? How could I have been so naive to let him have me trapped here? I once thought his laughter was perfect. I had thought he was perfect. After all, gods couldn't be flawed, could they?
“Too slow, dear.” Whispered in my ear. His arms wrap around me, caging me.
“No!” It slips past my lips. Tears fall faster from my eyes. I start to thrash, even though I know it's pointless. He doesn't even budge. I refuse to look back, refuse to see his damned smile. Why did everything of him have to seem so perfect? If there was a flaw, somewhere, anywhere, it would lesson the twisted, nausea inducing feeling that clung to his every feature. He had taken perfection, which I had once foolishly thought of as good, and warped it. Polluted it. Now I knew it was only a guise, a mask to hide that which is truly horrible, truly evil. Behind me, he sighed.
“Now, you know better, dear. You're already in quite a bit of trouble.” His arm tightened around my still thrashing form, his other arm coming around to trap my shoulders against his chest. He leaned down to breath into my ear, “Do you really want to make things worse?”. Instantly, I stilled, my body still shaking. He place a chaste kiss to my temple.
“Good girl.” He scooped me up, carrying me bridal style. I squeezed my eyes shut tight as he started back the way we came. Now that I wasn't moving, I could feel my feet bleeding, the blood slowly trickling out. That was to be expected, considering I was sprinting barefoot through the woods, trying to get away. There were cuts running up my arms and legs as well, but most weren't bleeding. Like I had many times before, I wished I could run away into my mind and pretend I wasn't here. But that was impossible. I was already trapped in my mind, it was all around me, constantly manipulated by him. Above me, I heard him sigh.
“You know how to escape here, dear.” I could feel him peering down at me, but still didn't open my eyes. “Just say the word, and you can leave.” Yes, I knew how to leave here. But still I couldn't bring myself to do that. Everyday, though, everyday I came closer to saying yes. This was Hell. My own personal Hell, literally. And one day, I would agree to gift others with their own personal Hell. Today was not that day. I still couldn't bring myself to force others into this to save myself. Again, he chuckled, and I could almost see him shaking his head, even with my eyes closed.
“Go ahead and be stubborn, dear.” I could hear that bone chilling smile in his voice, even as soft as it was. “After all, we have eternity.”
