The Clepsydra

Chapter 3

So, here's the 3rd bit of the book. I may need to edit it a bit seeing as I'm posting late at night but here it is nonetheless. Once again, feel free to comment, and if you like it please spread the word about it. Have fun reading. From: M x

__________________________________

I glance over my shoulder as I run, just to see that Aidan is not only behind me but catching up to me. I pump my legs even harder, thanking the day I decided to start running the last three blocks back home from work during the summer instead of taking the bus all the way...it saved a bit more money towards my scooter fund.

I run into the forest, the trees thickening around me and providing some cover, although Aidan’s pace definitely has no problem getting better to match my increased speed. I dodge under low hanging branches, twigs catching at my clothes and hair as the trail becomes more obstacle ridden the further I run. I start having to dodge left and right to avoid the ever increasing tree trunks and watching where I step to avoid twisting my ankle on rocks.

He’s getting closer to me, the sound of his breathing nearer to me than before. I can’t move my legs any faster than they’re already going and my heart only beats faster when I hear the sound of a sword being drawn. I glance back behind me to see Aidan wielding his steel weapon and my mind begins to flash with terrifying images of the things he could do to me with it when, and not if, he catches me. At this oh so very well timed moment, fate decides to do me a small favour when my foot catches in the loop of a root sticking up from the ground and stops me running any further. At least now I’ll die quickly, I think with a sick sense of humour.

I soar head first through the air, doing a tumble turn which should be solely reserved for when one is in a pool filled with water. I land, my face feeling as if it catches every stone and pebble it can find as I skid along the ground. I put my hand to my head once I’ve stopped falling over myself, feeling the warm trickle of blood on my fingertips from a cut above my eyebrow. I also taste it, and touching my nose next I realize that it too is bleeding from its contact with the ground.

I barely have any time to respond to this before the dust around me settles enough to silhouette a frightening figure looking down at me on the ground. I stumble to me feet, slipping as I try to reverse away from him but rather finding myself backed up against a tree. Aidan takes another step forward, his eyes the colour of the sea in the middle of a storm and filled with fury. I’m trapped against the tree, pressed so tightly against it that I can feel the rough bark grazing my skin through my thin shirt. The man in front of me is standing like an avenging angel, his mouth forming a thin line as an almost primitive growl can be heard coming from his throat. I’m paralyzed with fear, unable to move or try to escape as I know that my attempt would be futile, probably pathetic to him.

I say my last prayers, shaking like a leaf in a hurricane wind and staring at the ground as I wait for the inevitable swift swoosh of a his blade as it ends my life. I watch as Aidan extends his hand, raising his blade as his hands close around my neck and pushes me up against the tree. My throat begins to tighten and my lungs protest at the lack of air as he closes his fingers tightly around my windpipe. I lift my gaze from the ground and look into his lovely eyes, finding it ironic that the last thing I will see in this world will be something as beautiful as them, even if they show nothing but wrath towards me now. What people say about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as they die is all wrong, all I could see was a brilliant turquoise ringed with gold as I felt myself fading into oblivion.

Then, oblivion ceased to descend on me, the leaden feeling in my body which had been creeping in as well the pressure on my neck stopped as well. The canopy of sunlight speckled trees came back into my fuzzy view, but I was more concerned with the face of Aidan standing above me etched with a look of complete horror.