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Run.

That was the only thought my head made room for as I ran. My head hurt, my feet were sore as ever, and my chest ached. Branches were tearing at my robes, catching in my hair, scratching at my skin. I could hear the dead leaves being destroyed beneath me as my feet pounded, feel the constant 'crunch', 'crunch' as I ran. I kept hitting things; it was almost as if trees and bushes were purposely getting in my way, trying to slow me down. I kept my eyes straight ahead, trying to see through nothing.

Darkness had settled around me, though it hadn't fallen upon me like a blanket; it had faded in, like water that slowly drips from the tap, filling the sink until it's full, and you don't even realize it. My arms had been flailing about me for some time, although I hadn't noticed until something hit one of them. This made me slow down for a bit, it made me think of something else for a moment, something other than running, because after having run into things for such a long time now, it was odd that something had run into me - or rather, that something had hit me.

I made the stupid mistake of looking behind me, only to be met with a black whose thickness my eyes couldn't penetrate. Although it was only for a second that my attention was drawn elsewhere, that's all it took for me to lose my balance; for my hardly coordinated movements to become completely uncoordinated, for me to trip on my own feet, and fall. I tried in vain to plant my feet firmly on the ground, but my skirt had wrapped around my legs in such a way that they were hopelessly twisted. I wondered stupidly if it was a fruit bat that had hit my arm before I fell hard on my right shoulder. For some reason, everything seemed so much simpler while lying down. My breaths were coming out in short gasps, and I sounded like I was choking; this was only made worse by the fact that my mouth felt sticky and dry. I couldn't tell if my eyes were open or closed it was so dark, and when I tried blinking, I couldn't tell when my lids went up or down. I had been prepared to stay there on the forest floor for awhile, until my mind registered that something wasn't right. I could still hear the leaves moving, as if someone were running; it was the same sound I'd been making before I'd fallen, only I'd hoped that I was the only one making it. Immediately my muscles tensed. I made to get up, but before I knew what was happening, something had grabbed me by the back of the shirt, and was trying to pull me up.

A scream burst out of my mouth, and into the night; it seemed to go on forever. This didn't make any difference to me though, since I realized that only two beings were going to hear that sound - Me, and the person that was trying to lift me up. And if there was one thing that I was absolutly sure of at that moment, it was that whoever it was, was most definitely not trying to do so out of hospitality. I tried smacking them away, tripping them, scratching, biting, pulling, and kicking them, but to no avail, since I couldn't see a thing. Finally, after a few more moments of struggling, I felt the edge of something sharp dig into the my left shoulder and then go much deeper, and a moment later, realized that the person had stabbed me. Before I could do anything, he took the knife out and thrust it into my side once more. I didn't think I could scream any louder than I already was, but the pain was unbearable. I lay on the floor again, staring at nothing, willing myself to breathe in, and out, in, and out, but even that took so much effort. After a few moments, I realized that the man was chuckling. He crouched down next to me and started laughing loudly. I couldn't find the humor in the situation.

I heard him mutter something before he made me roll onto my stomach. I willed myself to move, to do something, to get away - to scream at least, but I couldn't. I wondered what would happen to me now that I'd been caught, and silently asked myself why I wasn't dead yet.

He began to tie my hands together with what I realized was metal rope in the back, and proceeded to do the same with my feet, making sure that they were as tight as he could get them. Groaning, I closed my eyes as I felt him wrap something else around my limbs, and briefly wondered why he was taking so many precautions to keep me bound, if he knew I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Suddenly, he stood and murmured,

"Nasty little witch."

I felt something hit me in the head -hard - and then, everything went black.

Author's Note: Hello to all you wonderful people! Please do me a favor and review! I'll return the favor if you take the time to. I'm working on another story, called 'Wake Me Up Inside', and I'd be really glad if you'd give that one a chance too, but I'm not gonna push my luck. Tee Hee. This was a really weird way in my opinion to start off a story, but shrugs I like. ) Thanks for reading, and once again, please review!

- peppermint moose