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Looming overhead the crimson sky taunted her. Everything blurred together as she ran. Her breath ragged as she refused to slow even for a second. If she stopped now the only thing she’d become was food.
Aisha could only grit her teeth as she pushed her straining, sore and battered, legs further.
She’d run track back in High School and run marathons whenever she had time, but even so, she doubted any amount of training could’ve prepared her for this.
Running for several hours straight without anything, not even a sip of water – dastard thing collapsed the ceiling on top of her go bag -, while being actively hunted was not something she ever expected to experience.
Falling into a hellscape that was seemingly designed to kill her was not something she’d expected from simply accepting a tour to some haunted landmark of time.
If you’d told her she’d be fighting for her life in some everlasting nightmare realm a mere month ago she would’ve laughed in your face. She’d never been one to believe in ghost stories, it was the exact reason why she’d even accepted that spontaneous tour offer.
Oh, how dumb she had been.
It was always her horribly pathetic luck that got her into situations like this. Couldn’t she have one thing go right for her? Just once?
A distant sound reverberated throughout the thick wooded forest she was traversing. Her ears strained, she could barely, but just enough, thankfully, understand what it had been.
The sound of a tree crashing.
“Shit.”
It was close. The monstrosity that had been the cause of all her - most recent - troubles.
God, what she’d do to see that thing crushed to a fine paste under her shoe like the pest it was. If only it wasn’t so good at keeping track of her.
It was just her luck that she’d garnered the attention of what could only be called the Boss of this realm.
( If there was anything worse than that horrific centipede living somewhere here Aisha would just pass away. Whether by her own volition or its . )
Everything was sore, the ever-distant crashing slowly inching closer, but if there was ever one thing she’d been told she had too much of, it was stubbornness. If she gave up now what was the point of all the pain she’d endured until now?
If she had any say about it, she’d awake to see the blue sky - that only felt like a figment of her imagination by now- once more.
Aisha wished she hadn’t taken the chirping of the songbirds for granted.
What she’d do to hear anything other than the scraping of too long nails and thundering force of hundreds of feet.
CRASH
Her eyes widened.
She’d thought it’d been farther.
She saw that gaping maw of teeth.
Please.
TAK
Just a little further. Let her move just a little faster.
TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK
Please.
TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK
God.
TAK TAK TAK TAK
Anybody.
TAK TAK TAK
Please.
TAK TAK
A breath escaped her.
TAK
Her foot met the root covered earth.
Aisha refused to look back. Only forward.
Keep going.
Maybe you’ll finally be lucky .
Scattered leaves crunched under her weight.
CRUNCH
.
. .
. . .
. . . .
. . .
. .
.
COUGH
Red painted the mottled ground.
Tears pricked her eyes.
She heaved.
She felt it scrape her insides.
Why did those legs have to be so sharp?
Aisha could see it in front of her.
From where it went through her.
Liquid crimson stained.
“Ha-” it dripped down her chin.
Her cheeks felt hot.
How funny.
She didn’t want to die.
Her father had named her.
After her mother died.
He’d told her.
‘ Your name means Alive ’
She’d been named to live .
“Haha-”
Darkness spotted her vision.
Her tears turned burning.
‘ Your name means Alive ’
Black ichor splattered the ground.
“HAHA-”
How Funny!
She felt a grin spread across her face.
It was painful.
‘Your name means Alive’
“HAHA̷̜̲͕̞̓͠H̶̨̡̙̲͕̳̺͖͙͆̑A̸̧̛̮̠̳̰̯̼̗̹̥͔̱͜ͅ!”
'̵̡̢̱̤̙͖̺̞͈̐̋̑̏͌͜Y̸̢͕̝̻̊̋̓̆͑̔̄̓̀̏̉̿̏͂õ̵̪̦̽̄́̓ͅŭ̴̥̏̅̍̏͆͐̈͠͝͝r̷̬͒̇͆̿̍̐͛̀͌̍͘͠ ̴̨̧̼̪̲̥̟̮̫͈̯͇̓͛̓̎̉̈́̔͊̀͋̎͠n̸͎͕͙̦̩̙͚̮̫̾̌̄̈́͋̈́̒͐̿͗͘͜ȁ̷̧̡̧̩͓̝̥̤̘̩̳͗͊̈́ͅm̷̟̺̩̣͉̙̋̀̿͌̆̓̀̑͛̆̇̓͜͜e̸̛͇͍͈̞͓͍̖̊́̉̓̎͂͆̽̆͛͑͐͘͜͝ ̷̛̛͚͕̰͓̦̘͍̻̖̗̦͚̰̹̲̽̃͗̌̐̋̆̒͗̆̒̀͝m̷̡͉̥̹͇͙̙̖̻͕͙͍̙͚̾͗̽̈͠e̵͉̳̠͇͒̎̾̒͊̍̅͆̀̃͒́̾͠a̵̡͙̬͉̥̺̖̭̲̲͍̪̐͑̌̈́͂̂̅̋͐̇̅̚͘͠n̷͎̈́͋̽͌̌́͊̀͘͘͝͝s̶̡̤͓̥̭̩̮͎̗̟͒̈́̽̉̈̓͗̚ ̶̢̡̢̹̩̟̣̺̤̋͒̏̿͊ͅA̸̦̲̖͍̓̔͗͘l̴͔̪͙̼͍̹̮̣̳̰̮̽̏̆́̐̔̚ḭ̷̪͇̰̺̯͙͉̩̤͎̲̙̝́̓̏̂̇̐̃̎̀̏͜͝͝͝v̵̧̤͍̱̥̦͎͎̜̞̈́̌̕͜ȩ̴̢̪͈̱̩̭̻̤̙̾̏͜'̶͇̗͈̩͔̰̘̭̭͊̃̎ͅ
Her body looked wrong.
She’d been named to live.
The way her limbs looked too long.
She’d been named to live.
The way her nails looked too sharp.
She’d been named to live.
The way her skin looked too much like i̵̯̬͂̌̈́͐̆̽̈͋͗̄̋̒͠n̶̨̡͕̖̯͓̯̳̊̿̄́̀͌̇̋̀̑̉̕͜k̶̈͠ ̤̀̓͛̀.
“H̷̡̧̜̭̖̹͖͈̪̘̩̃͂̒̐̈́̍̽̓̀͝A̶͔͗̿̈́͑͗͠H̵̢͈̿̆́̆͛̿̌̅̽̽̓̓͜ͅA̴̜͙̜̗̩̩̬̲̪͂̐̈͋̑̉̊̈́͑̾͐͜͝H̴̨̟̑̾̅̔͑̀̏̽̅̑̑̀̈́A̴͕̜͛͆́̒̈́̏͗͗̈́͆͘͠H̴̡̡̤̳̳͎͙̣͍́̎́̿͛̐Ą̶͇̳͇̮̳̪̤͌̋̑͒͠H̸̛̟͙̮̱̬̙͎̬͓͆̑̔͋̒̉̿̾̒À̶̢̱̮̟̹̓!”
.
. .
. . .
She’d been named to live but had been born to die.
. . .
. .
.
Somewhere else there was erratic beeping as a heart monitor went haywire.
A person thrashed.
People in dark blue rushed in to hold them down. Strapping restraints already in place around the person’s limbs.
Wide, pupil blown eyes.
Wide, manic smile filled with all too many teeth.
Extended fingernails sharp enough to tear skin like paper.
Bony, elongated appendages that made them look far too emaciated.
Standing nearby a man stared apathetically. As the bed containing the infected individual was rolled away, he could only think one thing.
‘ Another one reached the mature stage .’