Engulfed By His Shadow

Chapter 1 : The Deal

Unedited.

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The man panted heavily and ran as far as he could get. The rain fell mercilessly and his fear rose as the men approached behind him.

He had committed a crime. A theft and had been caught red handed.

There was no where out but he had to save his family which included his dear wife and the new born child.

He whacked angrily on the wooden door with his fist and yelled, "Let me in!"

His worried wife rushed to open the door and found her panic stricken husband looking at her with fearful eyes,"We need to get out of here, they are behind me. They will kill us all!"

The wife couldn't understand what he was aiming at and why. Who would want to kill them? What possibly could her husband have done to run away from someone?

She knew that taking this matter lightly would be a severe mistake so, she quickly gathered the little baby in her arms which was securely wrapped in a white cloth and followed the man without asking any further questions.

Her husband barged inside his house, stuffed some money down his pant pocket and took some of the other valuables with him.

He quickly held his wife by her arm and helped them rush out from the hind door as soon as they heard the large thud of the front door falling.

The family made their way out of the house premises and ran into the forest as fast as they could. The mother pressed the whimpering child close to her chest but couldn't gather much stamina as she was still weak after giving birth to her new born child.

Her husband turned back to catch a glance of the men that were behind them with angry faces and fire torches in their hands, chasing them with the intentions of brutality and eventually murder.

In the turn of unfortunate situation, as the woman took another step, a branch tangled around her foot and she gasped, stumbled and fell on the wet forest ground.

"I can't run any more," The words escape with a breath and her lips quivered in fear. Her husband tried his best to help and make her stand but to their disadvantage, his wife's foot had developed a bad bruise and she couldn't get up.

"Leave. Take our child and leave!" She cried and gave him the child.

"I can't Lia!" He rasped and wound his arms around her worriedly.

"Please! It's my last wish that the child survives! Take her," She said and her eyes were tear struck as she softly placed a hand on her baby's head.

"Lia..." The man whispered and panicked upon seeing the vicious men approach. "Tell her I loved her more than anything," She smiled with tears flowing down freely and the man was left choice less with the sole option to take away the softly sobbing infant in his arms to a safer place.

"I love you and will always do, my dear Lia," He whispered back after kissing his wife's forehead and took a quick look at the group nearing them. Handling the baby carefully, he ran through the uneven, dangerous woodland leaving behind his wife reluctantly.

He dodged every branch that came on his way and jumped over all the obstacles of the forest along with making sure that the baby was held properly.

The man felt a large guilt and and sorrow build up in his heart which burst as the thing he feared the most happened - he heard the agonizing scream of his poor wife when the men stabbed her without any mercy.

His eyes burnt and became blurry with the tears but he wiped them away with a determination to save his little daughter. His baby let out a sharp cry hearing her mother and the man haphazardly made his way on the forest ground, luckily finding a way out into the lightness from the dark forest. He searched for help or a safer area to hide in the strange, new place. He had no idea which place it was and where he was headed to but all he had in his mind, was a small hope of finding a savior who could help them.