The Fox and The Forest (EDITING)

Darshana(0.6)

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Scampering out into the corridor, the creature attracted the attention of a person in a lab coat.

The Nurse advanced towards her but the fox was faster. Two paws in front of the others-she kept on running. She sped past the curved walls that had no edges, seemingly going in circles as she came back to the same door from which she had escaped.

The fox sniffed the air, trying to smell for something that would indicate the way out. There was nothing. Nothing except the sickly sterile odour of hospital chemicals. All the animal could do was keep running.

After more circular cycles around the corridor, the fox caught sight of a sign, by one of the doors, which read Tom Darshana.

Stop. That name reminded the fox of someone. Someone lost.

The fox looked downwards. Underneath the placard was a small television screen which showed a boy sat in a room similar to Kate's. Though he was surrounded by his paper towers; books.

Beside the screen was a white square, more elevated than the rest. The fox twitched her nose, sensing the presence of another colour there. One that wasn't even on the spectrum of visible light. It was an ultraviolet that reminded her of the pink tile back in her own room. Judging by its position, it must open the door.

That's when the fox finally stopped once more. As she looked back up to the screen her animal instincts were shrouded and her mind was invaded with memories of the clever boy, who she would always compete with in games and competitions. Her friend.

However, Kate's pausing had given the Nurse who was chasing her time to catch up.

The woman cornered the fox in the small space between the edge of the door and the curved wall. But Kate was too fast, by the time the lab coat made a grab for her she swiftly dodged out of the way. The worker's hand hit the squared wall and the fox growled triumphantly. Her hand was scanned. The door swung open.

"Oh lord!" exclaimed the Nurse as the whooshing sound alerted the person inside the room. Wasting but a moment, the boy leapt up towards the doorway, scattering the wall of books that surrounded him.

The boy was shocked- he wasn't planning to escape until next week. At least, that is what he told himself for comfort.

He was beginning to think that he'd ever see freedom again. The conscious days he'd spent in the Forest Facility had all blurred into one, no matter how hard he'd tried to track them.

"Jack?" Tom peered round the door, expecting to see his rescuer. His brave brotherly knight in shining armour.

He had to do a double-take. For he thought his eyes must be lying to him. Instead of his brother, there stood an orange flecked creature. Vulpes vulpes. It was a creature Tom had only dreamed of seeing. He thought he would be dead before that ever came true.

Distracted by the creature's willowy form, he almost didn't notice the gruesome scene in front of him.

That fox, that mesmerizing fox, was biting hard into a woman's neck. Its head jerked back and forth as it attempted to rip out the woman's jugular vein - a red wire on a bomb.

Tom's mouth hung open. He went to help the woman but the fox only turned around and edged towards him.

Suddenly, a watercolour consciousness washed over the fox. Her previous aggressive state evaporated. The fox's muscles softened. Tom frowned, unsure whether to reach out to the creature or kick it away. He had never pictured real animals to be this barbaric. And yet, when it looked up into Tom's eyes, he didn't feel afraid.