The Queen's Shadow

Hunted

~~~Jennifer

I did everything he told me to do yet that man told me I couldn't be allowed to live. Was it because I was a witness or was it because I was a traitor? Why did I listen to him? Why did I agree to go with his plans? I knew why I agreed yet I kept saying why did I agree? The question always rings through my head, I have to go to Hans, maybe he can save me or maybe he'll kill me, too.

I feel myself being stuck between a rock and a hard place. I felt like I was being pushed into a corner. It's then that I accept my fate, maybe I can run away from him, maybe I can get away from him. All it takes is for me to remove my face. I think about how painful that could be, but I wouldn't recognize how long would it take for it to heal back to normal. I feel the sharp pain in my leg again, what did she stab me with? I'm not healing fast and I still am bleeding a little bit even though it's been ten minutes.

It's then that I hear a twig snap, I keep trying to run through the Canadian forest. This winter is brutal as this snow is to my knees. I find myself sinking into the snow sometimes,  I would trip or fall, too only for her to be right on me. It was as if she was breathing down my neck. Who was this girl that was killing everyone? I know it was me but she killed a few people while we were quarantined. She killed indiscriminately, she didn't care who she killed. I was lucky to get away from her though I did not hesitate to use some of my teammates as shields.

I take a sharp breath as I'm exhausted. I haven't fed in more than four days, that's how this all began. Four days ago, she burned down the hotel, killing two people. She showed no regard for their lives, killing everyone who dared to get in her way. She was by herself but she did tell me everything I needed to know. I don't know why. She said to me, 'Your usefulness has expired. You did everything you were supposed to,' she says with a smile.

"Please don't kill me," I begged her at that moment. I tried to throw the lamp at her head, but I missed. She gave me a swift punch to my face, it was so brutal and so harsh. I felt my teeth being knocked out. It was then that the fire at the hotel started, I flashed back to reality, remembering how I needed to get away from her if I could. No, I know I can get away from her. It's then that I feel the air on my neck. She then says, 'Shh. If you relax, I'm quite sure it'll be painless,' I get up, running away, cutting through more forest and trees.

It was then that I collapsed in the snow again and this time, I heard a clank, a bear trap. It buries itself deep within my arm, I try to break free of it but it digs in deeper. I try to open it up with my hands but it's cutting into me. 'Silver lined bear traps, a personal design of mine. They prevent any kind of escape or make escaping harder.' I throw snow at her and I find myself, running even farther. I keep running and running until the sunlight comes out and then I start digging into the snow so I can hide and sleep.

As I sleep, I find that she stops chasing me. Every day, she gets close to me but she never catches me.  She had to use that valuable time to go back to her home base, she had to. That's the only way she's able to stay in such a clean state. She's not exhausted nor does she look starved when she's coming after me. This must be one of the queen's elite, I think to myself. I found myself healing and I managed to get the bear trap off before I could go to sleep.

I look at my compass and see that I'm not far away from Alaska, with only a few hundred miles to go. I could be there before sunrise tomorrow. I just need to be careful, it's then that I allow myself to get some much-needed rest. I sleep in this cold snow, allowing it to wrap around me. I can't feel cold, but I know what snow feels like. Its wetness, and the fact that I was already covered in snow only made sleeping that much harder.

It's then that my mind drifts, and I then feel guilt in my heart. I've never felt this kind of guilt before, maybe it was because I never allowed myself to dwell on the thoughts. I made sure people were going to die, I did it in the worst way possible. I remember this poor man who lost his entire team, well most of his team. I remember all I had to do was compromise that information, I heard after that battle, that they had lost 40% of their troops, and 60% of them were wounded.