Young Writers Society

    The cold was an overwhelming force that caused Linna's bones to tremble as she huddled under the makeshift shelter. It had been so long since she had felt this cold and helpless. The hasty scattering of branches over a fallen bough did nothing to cover her from the spattering of rain that occasionally turned to downpoars which threatened to drown her. A cough wracked her body as she drew her knees closer. The rain had soaked through her rucksack leaving it a deadweight long before she'd even decided to try and hide from the rain. Sounds cluttered her ears, the thunder of the rain around the forest – on the leaves, on the branches, on the litterfall – drowning out any of the other sounds she was trying to hear. The sounds of someone following her.

    She had lost her hat somewhere along the way, and she couldn't walk, couldn't run with her tail tucked away. It was the closest she had felt to being a true beastling since she had been a child. Linna was glad she couldn't see herself. Furthering her self-loathing wasn't high on her list of priorities. Her shirt was tattered at the edges and plastered to her skin, mud creeping across the cloth but barely showing on the dark cloth. She coughed again, the sound rattling through her lungs.

    The forest had turned her in circles as she had slowly become aware of other people among the trees. It wasn't something explicit – a flash of skin as she walked down the main road, a small rustle that could have been anything, but she knew it wasn't an animal. She wasn't sure how, but she knew. There were occasionnal murmurs of conversation just outside of her hearing that tickled at her ears and itched as the fragments of words filtered through. It was enough to take her off of the main road and stumbling her way through the undergrowth. The thorns tearing into her calves had almost coaxed her back to the trodden path, but paranoia kept her struggling.

    Though her clothes were drenched and kept her uncomfortable, she still found her eyelids drooping as the rain dwindled and gave way to a clouded, starry sky. The cold dragged at her bones, seeming to pull her into the earth's embrace. After struggling a while against the inexorable drag of sleep - scared of what could happen, of the people her mind showed her in the trees - she caved, letting her eyes slide shut.

    Crack. She woke with a start, her ears snapping to attention. Her back ached from the hunched position she had slept in. She could feel her stub of a tail flicking slightly apprehensively. As she made to move, she realised she couldn't feel her fingers. The numbness abated further down her wrist, giving way to intense cold. Snap. She was on her feet in a half crouch before she even fully registered the noise. Footsteps in the forest. Right next to her.

    "This way. I've seen her over there."

    Run.

    She jackrabbited out of the makeshift shelter, scattering branches as she went. Scrambling through the undergrowth, not sure where she was going, she was only aware of the sudden noise in the branches and on the forest floor. Humans were following her. Humans humans humans always humans. There was a rising bubble of hatred in her, but she forced it down, concentrating on running. The forest seemed to want her to be found, placing fallen trunks and low branches in her way. A low growl escaped her throat as she pushed harder, trying to move through the undergrowth as fast as her body would allow.

    A sudden change in surface made her stumble. The road. She was back on the road. Cursing, she glanced around, trying to work out which way to go.

    "Fuck it all." She muttered, choosing a direction randomly and coursing that way. She managed a couple of sprinted steps before she staggered to a halt, staring wide-eyed at the person crossing the path. She wasn't sure whether they were one of the ones following her, but the dark, foliage scattered clothes weren't normal.

    Turning on her heel, she started in the opposite direction. Run. Run run run run run. Her blood echoed in her ears in an interminable thump of fear. As she made to enter the undergrowth again, she stumbled, her mind suddenly taken by a roar of dizziness. The ground seemed to lurch toward her, calling to the fatigue in her bones. She only vaguely registered motion as she hit the ground, her vision narrowing to a tunnel. A harrowing cough shook her as she curled up.

    Small chuckles followed her down, becoming louder as the darkness encroached further onto her consciousness. She grappled with the invading haze, still feeling the urge to run but unable to act upon it.

    "Is that it?" A bored voice asked, a nudge in her stomach causing her to tense despite the haziness. She managed a vague growl, drawing another round of chuckles. Trying to lash out, she wasn't even sure whether her body moved or not.

    "Well we can't complain about catching her fast." The man's voice tickled at the back of her memory, but didn't connect in her addled mind as she fell into the darkness.