Chapter Text
Cold dirt piles up under my nails as I struggle to push myself back up to my feet. I threw up my dinner all over the ground once I got out the back door. One of my slippers is lost and mom is going to be so pissed at me when she sees I've ruined or lost another pair of pajamas.
Yeah, that's if I make it back this time.
The screeching howl I hear too close behind me snaps me out of it, and I push harder to get back to my feet. I just need to get to the town. To the street lights, anywhere other than these fields. My chest burns and the taste of iron coats the back of my throat, thick with the fear that never goes away. I don't even know what is coming after me this time. As soon as I heard the nails scraping the glass of my bedroom windows and the ear bleeding screaming, I made a run for it. I was going to be in so much trouble for running again.
My bare foot sinks into a pile of wet mud and trips me up again. While I'm down, I crane my head around to see if I have any time to even keep running or if it's useless. For a few seconds, it's silent and I think I've been spared. Pulling on my calf that's exposed out of the mud, my clammy hands do little help to free my foot. Looking over my shoulder one last time, I finally see it.
The beast has its nose to the ground, no doubt trying to sniff me out. It's so dark out here in the fields, I can only make out its shape and the dull glow of its eyes as it scans around.
Suddenly, its pale eyes snap up to mine and I can only imagine its jaw unhinging as it screams again hurtling in my direction.
“Crap crap crap!” I squeal to myself, fumbling with my stupid foot.
Just when I think I am going to vomit again, my foot pops out of the mud and I'm crawling, trying to force myself back into a sprint. I can see the first streetlamp in the distance. I just need to make it there. My feet finally hit the old torn up pavement, and I'm sprinting. Right as I am about to reach the warm yellow of the light, my back burns and I'm thrown onto my stomach.
“No, no! Help! Someone please help!” I split my nails trying to claw my way up the asphalt and into the light.
The beast screams with its jaw open over my leg, before the back of my thigh feels like it's been lit on fire. My hand feels like it physically warms before my head violently hits the pavement.