Young Writers Society

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The girl had no clue who she was when she was freed from sleep. She didn’t remember how she got there, or why. All she remembered was what she was. She was different, abnormal, a monster.

She knew she had been running from something, but she couldn’t remember what it was.

Every time the girl tried to remember anything, the memories scattered like mice and her head pounded.

Her heart was unsteady as she adjusted to her surroundings. Her slender fingers squished through mud as she sat up. The forest was dark and dense, a mix of green and brown. The chilly air pricked up goosebumps causing her to shiver. She added more mud to the lot that stuck to her in an attempt to trap the heat, and then the girl stood.

Though everything was dark, she could see perfectly as her eyes adapted and cleared. A wave of dizziness struck and she toppled back into the mud, groaning in frustration. The emotion ran through her like a hurricane, fear and confusion. She stood again, clutching a wound on her right arm. It appeared something had been jabbed into her skin and pulled free again. Blood rolled from the mud, streamed over her hand and dripped to the wet ground. Her body was screaming in pain and she leant on a tree, almost collapsing again.

It was then she heard the calls of mocking voices, and bright lights shone on nearby trees. The voices were to her, telling her to come out, laughing to not be afraid. She of course knew best, and began to scamper through the darkness, sticking to the shadows, scampering through the darkness with the elegance of a cat and the speed of a wolf. Her movement was a blur, stealth was her nature, but a torch light hit her back.

She heard their yells, “she’s there!”

“Get her!”

And the roars of triumph began to speed towards her. The girl saw one of them, a yard way. She saw the man raise his gun. He pulled the trigger, yet she had already dived out of the way. Bark splintered to the ground, the tree she had stood before now had a tranquilizer stuck firmly out of the tree.

The girl gulped knowing that if she had been shot, all hope of escape would have been lost. The splattering of mud grew louder, and she turned and ran. Thundering of a helicopter burst through the clear sky, burning a spotlight through the leaves of the trees. She continued to dash through the forest, her bare feet causing the mud to splash around her ankles. Warm air that was flung from her lungs was visible in the chill as she gasped for air.

They were the predators, she was the pray.

She didn’t care what they wanted her for, as long as she escaped.

The girl halted, sensing someone ahead, hearing the mud squish, seeing the light flash through the trees. She turned, behind her a man approached. To her left someone was heading her way and to her right she heard someone say they had her surrounded. They were closing in fast, like the walls of a cage. There was only one way to go. Up.

Nails dug into the bark of the tree, climbing came naturally to her, she scrambled up the tree with the gracefulness of a panther. And soon she was at the top, where the only branches stretched out proud, shielding the forest floor of the moonlight. Below her the people swarmed like wasps, glancing around to see where their prize had fled. Their lights skimmed the trees, rising higher and higher.

Then a light lit her up, causing her pale skin to appear ghostly, she hissed at them. One of them chuckled in triumph, “it’s ok, we’re not going to hurt ya,” he mocked, raising his gun. She jumped to the next tree, splintering her hands. The tranquilizer struck where she had been, missing her by an inch.

The girl leaped from tree to tree, leaving their angry shouts in the distance. She wasn’t fast enough in the trees, and on the ground was too risky, so she climbed to higher, until she was balancing on the branches. It wasn’t much, the leaves were flimsy, but they were all she needed. As if the leaves were rock solid, she used them like floor, sprinting faster than fast. Her feet barely touched the leaves, her hair swayed through the air. As long as the helicopter didn’t turn her way she was safe.

Her eyes searched the tree tops, a thin gap in the trees approached her fast, if it were a road and if she followed it away from this place, she could find help. Hide from the monsters. So to the road she darted.

By now the helicopter had spotted her with its blinding light, and was heading towards her at high speed. She couldn’t outrun it, her muscles burned. It came over her like a falcon. A man clung from the skids, reaching out to get her. A grin pried from his lips, he grabbed her arm and lifted her into the cabin. He pinned her arms behind her back, twisting. She howled and dropped to her knees. A woman came at her with a syringe, squirting a bit into the air in a teasing matter. Just as she jabbed the needle into her flesh, a voice cam wafting from the pilot’s seat.

“Don’t drug her, doctor’s orders,” it said, the woman lowered the syringe with a disappointed sigh. The man pushed her into a seat, and began to buckle the girl up. If she was going to act, it had to be now.

She kicked the man in the groin, hearing him groan he dropped to the ground clutching his pants. The woman tried to grab her, but in a swift movement, the girl was out the door toppling through the branches and smashing to the ground. With a thud the wind was knocked from her lungs. She lay there gasping for air, until control was again hers.

She continued her way to the road and eventually burst onto the cold bitumen. Sticking to the cover of the darkness, she made her way down the road. Cars came rolling past, headlights slashing through the trees, each time she ducked for cover.

Soon the girl found her way to a main road, waiting like a silent cat for the next vehicle to speed by. When a Feista came cruising by, she jumped onto its back and clung to it. She rode it with elegance through the fields of strange land until city lights twinkled in the distance. The wind numbed her face and played with her hair, causing it tangle into an impossible mess. Her muddy gown swayed in the air, giving her the appearance of a giant bat.

Freedom shone brilliantly into the stars, her hope had risen from the ground. Her bones were stiff from the hours she clung to the back of the car, the roads had become busier. A sigh escaped her lungs as relief washed over her like soothing ocean waves.

It was still dark when the car was speeding through the outskirts of the city. The girl was exhausted. Her grip failed her and she toppled onto the sidewalk outside an old warehouse. The street was empty, and the lonely howl of a dog came wafting through the silence.

She had to be safe here she thought. They couldn’t track her, in the time that past they would have known that she could have been anywhere by now. They’d always be a threat of course.

Darkness invaded her vision, like dark beetles were crawling cross the world, painting it black. She relaxed and let sleep choke her into a useless struggle, a smile drifted from her small lips.