The Wanderer

Chapter 1

Running. Running through the dark, eerie wood in the dead of night. Crashing through the shrubs and underbrush, pushing aside the many branches and leaves that blocked my path. My head was pounding from the cold and lack of breath, my legs burning and my heart racing. My body was numb with pain and my lungs were screaming for air- but I didn't stop; In that moment my life flashed before my eyes, I saw myself graduate and getting a law degree... I saw myself getting married and having children. I realized that I wasn't ready to die, I realized how small I was compared to the evil in this world, the same evil that was about to take my life.
I urged myself to run faster and harder than I thought possible, but I could only keep it up for so long. I knew I had to stop, to take a break before I got sick of exhaustion or pneumonia or something. As my feet were slowing down, I made a sharp turn to the right, as an effort to confuse my pursuer. The change of direction was so sudden that I suprised even myself.
I slowed down to a walk and began frantically searching for a place to sit- a place to hide myself from the man who intended to take my life. I soon began to realize how limited my options were; as it turns out, there isn't many places to hide in the woods. The longer I searched, the more doubtful I became that I would find a place to rest safely, but I kept looking anyway... What else could I have done?
I was pushing through a mass of branches and vines when I heard the faint "crunch, crunch, snap," of footsteps somewhere behind me. He was getting closer, that dreadful man. I started running again, careful to make as little noise as possible. As I was running, I started crying, crying as I started losing hope that I would get out of this mess and away from the man chasing me.
Tears blurred my vision, so that my footsteps became sloppy when I couldn't see where I was going. All of a sudden, I ran straight into a gigantic boulder, which caused me to lose my balance and fall.
I wiped away my tears with the hem of my filthy, ripped dress and I began to examine my physical condition. I was covered in scratches and blood head to toe with dirt and mud caked on my arms and legs. I could feel that my hair was a mess and matted with twigs and leaves and bark from the trees. Looking at myself, I couldn't believe that this was the same girl who was enjoying a family Christmas party just hours ago. That girl felt miles away and foreign to me.

That was the last thing I remembered thinking before I was grabbed from behind by two cold hands.