The Escape

         I was flying.  The wind whipped my long hair off my back, throwing it into the air.  I angled my face down to the right, trying to clear my watering eyes. As soon as I looked down, my heart skipped a beat.  At the bottom of the unnaturally deep crevice lay a dark, rapid strewn river.  The roaring channel of water was wide and stunningly beautiful in all its ferocity.  I quickly looked back up, trying to calm my erratic heartbeat. 

         The sides of the ravine were perfectly smooth.  Even from a distance and through the darkness of night I was certain that there was not a single imperfection in the walls of rock.  The trees on the opposite edge looked erose compared to the sleek surface.  It had a haunting effect.

         There should have been a full moon, but it was overcast.  The stars were blinking in and out of sight between the swiftly moving clouds and then, as if trying to reassure me of its presence, the veil suddenly parted and the gorge was filled with moonlight.  The moon was a massive glowing sphere of white.  The ravine walls reflecting its light looked luminescent in the darkness.

         I turned my head from the sky, back to the fast approaching edge of the crevice.  It hadn’t really occurred to me how wide the ravine was until my feet touched the other side and I turned back to survey the opposite bank.  It was an impossible leap; at least fifty yards across.  But I didn’t stop to think about how I had gotten here.  The snarl of fury that erupted from the opposite edge spun me away and I began fighting my way through the dense forest in a desperate attempt to escape.

         My heart was pounding in my ears.  I was scrambling now, unable to move fast enough.  A second deafening roar of anger from the ravine stopped my heart and paralyzed my body.  I knew whoever, or whatever, was coming for me.  The fear was overwhelming.  My breath was coming fast.  My hands were shuddering as they began moving again, ripping against the thick branches and tearing through the underbrush.  My vision blurred with tears and I reached up to wipe my eyes dry.  I was crying in pure terror. 

I was going to die here.  My life was going to end in this godforsaken forest.

         And then everything was silent.  I stopped moving, even though I should have been sprinting for my life.  I knew in my mind the pursuit wasn’t over, but I couldn’t stop hope from filling my body.  Then I heard it.  A twig snapped behind me.  I spun on my heel and came face to face with the angel of death. 

         The tall, muscular frame belonged to a man; that much was obvious.  He was dressed in all black, wearing only pants, a cloak, and a shirt.  The cloak brushed the ground as he began to glide towards me.  The hood was pulled over his eyes, obscuring the top half of his face.  His ivory skin seemed to glow like the walls of the ravine.  His perfectly straight hair was the color of obsidian and fell to his waist.  He smiled then, producing flawless, white, teeth.  They were bared, like a hunter having cornered his prey.  He was beautiful yet terrifying.

“Hello Sarah” he said softly, a smile touching his lips.  It was a quiet reminder of my impending death, as if I needed it.
         
         My heart seemed to stop for the second time tonight as had the tears, but my hands still shook uncontrollably.  I could hear my ragged breath.  I was mentally weighing the odds of escape, but knew it was hopeless.  He would overtake me the instant I turned around.

I shuffled backwards, trying to distance myself from him.  He laughed, throwing his head back in amusement.  He found my futile attempts at escape entertaining.  He was a predator; the joy of killing was equal to that of toying with his victim.  That’s exactly what he was doing now, toying.  As he turned back to me, the hood of his cloak fell and his face was visible.

         I whimpered.  It sounded pitiful to my ears.  He must have thought the same because he smirked then, his dark eyes glittering with menace as he took a soundless step towards me. 

He didn’t walk, he floated.  He was completely silent as he approached.  He was closing the distance between us, his pace slow.  He was savoring the moment, though his patience was dwindling.  His eyes were like black fire; his stare burning into my skull.  I was frozen in place.

“You cannot run.” It was a statement of fact and I knew it.  My heart was bursting through my chest, my breath coming out in short gasps.  I couldn’t control myself.  I thought about pleading, but I knew it would only give him more pleasure in the kill.  I was going to die and there was nothing I could do.

I took another step back and tripped over what felt like a large log and everything went black.