Fire Due at Nightfall

Fire Due at Nightfall
I bend over my knees, catching my breath as I look to see how many Enforcers are still chasing after me. Only about four this time, and they're not far behind. I duck underneath a bed of bushes just as they catch my path. I suck in my breath, not daring to breath for fear they have keener senses this time.

"Where is she?" a deep voice belonging to one of the Enforcers asks.

"She must have escaped," a higher voice-a woman-answers. As if that weren't already obvious.

"Again," the first voice mumbles, with a mix of a disappointing and frustrated tone, "we really should get better security."

"We have perfect security!" The woman says in a sharp tone, "it is beyond me how she continues to do this." I hear the four pairs of footsteps walk away in step, like the king was watching, even though there's nobody here. Just the forest.

And me.

I let out a relieved sigh, scanning all around me to make sure I was alone.

I've always been alone. Nobody else was in the forest. And unless they were an Enforcer, they wouldn't even be interested in me.

Or so I thought.