Rabid Mate (REWRITING A FEW CHAPTERS)

Chapter 2

There's blood dripping into my eyes and rocks making deep gashes into the pads of my feet - I don't care. Low hanging branches from trees I sprint past are whipping me in the face and neck, a couple have gotten me in my open eyes. Still none of it mattered as much as the need to continue.

If I stop, I die.

They're right behind me, I can hear them, feel them, see them when I glance back as their eyes glow like bloody beacons in the dark forest behind me. In front of me is more forest, more trees, shrubbery, and rocks to gouge myself on. There's no where to hide, no way to escape, and panic crowds closer. The extra adrenaline pushes me faster. Somehow, I am fast enough to escape their grasps. It shouldn't be possible. Having my wolf this early would be exhilarating if not for the situation. 

Despite the adrenaline rush, I can feel myself slowing already. I'm going to die, I'm so certain it feels like death is lingering  above me, keeping pace and waiting for its chance to snatch me up.

In the darkness of the forest, I am running almost blind. My wolf's superior vision hadn't kicked in with the rest of what she shared with me when she appeared, so when the trees suddenly disappeared from around me, I never had a chance. The ground dropped from under my feet as I ran myself off of a cliff, the edge of which started mere feet from the tree line. I screamed as I dropped, knowing the demise I had predicted for myself had arrived.

The fall actually felt a lot shorter than the one I took from the tree I jumped into not too long ago, and the landing was only slightly more painful. And I was alive, even if it did feel like I would never be able to breath again.

I had landed on my back this time, bashing my head off of a hard surface. I took a moment to catch my breath and opened my eyes to survey my surroundings. Looking straight up, I could see the edge of the cliff I had fallen from, and surprisingly, it was only about twenty feet above me. Looking to my left, my arm was almost completely hanging off of the edge of the extremely small rock ledge I had ended up on. Paying more attention to my body, I could feel my feet hanging off of the ledge as well. If I had been any taller, I would have either missed this miracle rock, or bounced off of it, continuing my death fall.

I heard shouting above me, and remembered the race for my life I'd been on moments ago. Knowing they would see me if they just looked down, I searched around me for some sort of coverage. At the spot where the ledge and the cliff face should meet was a small indent, hopefully big enough for me to squeeze into and hide. I laid back down and rolled myself into the space, praying silently. Tears of relief came to my eyes when I fit perfectly into the spot - I would be invisible to anyone no matter how far out they leaned looking for me.

"Alexi, she's gone. There's no way she could have survived that" a voice said from above. It sounded like Tobias.

"NO!" I would know that voice anywhere at this point - Alexi. "She was MINE GOD DAMNIT!" There was a string of curses mixed with more screams as Alexi threw a tantrum of epic proportion. "Tomorrow night we will come back for the body," he said after he had calmed down a little. "We're going to see if her family would like to buy it back. If not, we'll find something to do with it." The three other vampires that had been at the table what seemed like an eternity ago laughed. Alexi and Tobias stayed silent, Alexi because he was not amused at losing such a profit, and Tobias because he never showed emotion.

After several moments of silence, I finally heard the group of them walking away. I was too terrified to move, fearing a trap, so I decided to stay for a little bit, and then get moving as far away from here as possible.

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I had fallen asleep. The feeling of relative safety had lulled me into a few hours of light rest.

I rolled out of my hiding space, feeling stiff and cold. My toes felt like they would fall off at any moment and my thighs felt like blocks of ice. I had to get moving to warm up, so I looked over the lip of my ledge, seeing if there was a way down. I didn't want to have to climb back up, just the thought of getting any closer to that house made me feel nauseous. Below me, there was a formation of various sized ledges, none bigger than the one I'd landed on. They formed a sort of shaky Z, and looked like my best chances. The first one was to my right and down. I hoped my legs were long enough to make each jump, and short enough to not over extend me.

I took a few calming breaths, and started to jump my way from ledge to ledge, getting more confident as I went. A few close calls and some new cuts to my hands and feet later, I finally jump to the ground. For the first time in a very, very long time, I feel a huge smile slide across my face - it feels so strange, but almost as good as being free does.

Here at the base of the cliff was another forest. The trees were tall with trunks twice my width, some being even larger than that. There was plenty of foliage to blend into in case I heard anyone coming and had to hide.

I started toward the forest, wondering what I'd find, and where I'd end up. It didn't matter to me as long as I would be safe. My family was dead, I'd watched them die in the attack the day I was taken. Alexi had killed my parents with a smile on his face, and I'd watched as his soldiers chased down my two brothers and sister, tearing them in half with their hands. I had no one left that I could remember. Just some aunts or uncles I had never met, but I wouldn't know the first thing about starting a search for them.

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After hours upon hours of walking, I was so tired and thirsty I was about to drop. My feet resembled something close to raw hamburg, and I knew I was leaving a bloody trail for Alexi to follow later if he picked up the scent this far out.

I sat at the base of a tree and rested my head down on my raised knees. I played with the idea of letting Alexi find me - I mean, he'd either kill me quickly, and I wouldn't die slowly of hunger and dehydration here in this forest - or he'd take me back to the house, where I would be warm and have food and water.

No. We must continue. I can smell fresh water a mile from here, I will help get you there. I will teach you to catch fish. We must never go back, we will die, and -

"You're back!!! I thought you'd left me here alone. And what? Why did you stop talking?"

Never mind that, I will tell you later. Now get up, we must get as far as we can from Alexi.

After another second of rest, I got up. She was right, I should have never even started thinking of going back to Alexi. My wolf sounded a lot stronger than before, I wonder when she will be strong enough for me to Change. I was too young to know all the details before, when my family was alive and we lived happily. And Alexi never thought to inform me on how the process of Changing went, if he even knew.

Despite the pain in my feet, I walked to where my wolf directed me as fast as I could. The promise of water and food  brought my hopes up again, and I walked with a renewd purpose.