Juniper's shoes stomped over the pavement.
The beast's claws clicked and clacked over concrete.
Juniper's breathes were labored.
The beast howls with hunger.
Juniper didn't want to look behind her. She didn't want to die. Well, she did at times, but not right now. Maybe later. Before she's old, at least.
The adrenaline coursing through Juniper's body was powerful, and her heart sounded like a marching band in her ears. Vicious barks sounded along with the sound of slobbery snarls.
Juniper was going to die.
Her feet slammed again the pavement, and Juniper had never been more grateful for wearing tennis shoes. It hurt with every step, her shoes a size too big, her toes subbing against the tip and then sliding back in her Nike's.
Juniper was going to die.
Her mind barely recognized the street names going past her. She was too focused on getting away to notice where the fuck she was. Inside she was playing a mantra of something that sounded a little like this:
"FUCK THIS SHIT."
And that was better encouragement than anything.
She heard a skid behind her, and what sounded like a bark of anger, but her mind was going as fast as her feet. She ran like she was on red bull trying to finish a essay five minutes before a deadline. She ran like she was going to get tickets to a One Direction concert. She ran like a giant ass fucking monster was chasing her.
Oh wait.
Juniper turned sharply, nearly falling in the process, just barely seeing the street sign reading Jefferson Lane.
Home.
Safety.
Just a few more steps.
And she'd be safe.
Or at least she hoped.
The snarls and the howls and the barks and the clicking and clacking had faded, but Juniper didn't care, unless she could feel the recliner under her, she didn't stop. Her hands fumbled as she got to the door, shakily trying to turn the doorknob, before shoving it open and slamming it closed again in one movement.
"Juniper!" Violetta scolded. "The hell's gotten into you child?!" She snapped, but Juniper just walked briskly past and collapsed into the recliner, feeling a sense of deja vu.
"Hello," Tiny said in her tiny voice. "Greetings and Salutations," Juniper panted. "Juniper!" Violetta storms I tot he living room. "Care to explain why you just ran into the house and nearly broke the door?"
"Yes, Yes, dreadful etiquette, I apologize."
"Juniper, quit making stupid references! You better not have smoking herb."
Juniper sat up, offended that her mother would even suggest a thing. Juniper had never seen weed in her life. "I wasn't!" "Mhmm." Violetta hums, unconvinced and sauntered into the kitchen again.
"So," Tiny looked at Juniper, her gorgeous brown eyes alight like a fire with curiosity. "What did happen?" Juniper lets put a heavy breath.
"Some crazy shit, Tiny. Crazy shit."
Juniper closes her eyes, and is about to drift off into some much deserved nap time, when her phone buzzes in her pocket. Reaching for it and reading the screen, it's a text from an unknown number.
"11:30 A.M. AT THE ABERRATIONAL CAFÈ. DON'T BE LATE, MISS CAREW."
———
529 WORDS.
COMPLETED JAN. 24TH
VOUS LISEZ
Pale
FantasyAt fourteen years of age and in the middle of her freshman year of high school, Juniper is about as normal as your average Joe. She gets C's and B's in school, isn't necessarily athletic, but can run if she needs to, and never really knew her father...
