Crosshatch - I

It's not me.
I don't do this.
I don't kill people.
But now they're blaming me for it.
I have to run.
But there's nowhere for me to go.

x

Trying to hide in the woods when you're running from specially trained hunters is not the best idea.
My lungs were about to give out. Soon to follow were my legs.
Blood leaked from various small wounds - pricked by a thorn, whapped with a branch, strumbling and gashing my knee on a rock. I didn't think I'd be able to run much further, not with half my clothes torn off. My broken coat flapped in the wind and at my speed.
I stopped for a moment, despite the fact it might kill me. Swinging off the torn swathe of fabric, it caught in the sudden breeze and was flung into a tree.
The sun was slowly coming over the horizion, flooding the woods with light. The same breeze that took my jacket pushed against me with raw, powerful force. I was about to change direction, head back, when I heard it.
Dogs.
Their barks were drawing closer. I had to go - I had no choice.
So I pushed against the wind, trying and hoping desperately that I could run past the invisible wall and escape.
It was fruitless - the wind laughed at my advances and pushed me farther back. Until the gales disappeared as quickly as they'd come. I stumbled and fell heavily, only to pick myself back up. I kept running after I got to my feet.
I could swear the wind picked up behind me again.
How I managed not to slam into a tree, I don't know. Considering I didn't break my face on the bark of an elm, I consider myself lucky.
I tripped as the slope fell away into a rocky cliff. Dust flew as I skidded down the face of it, trying to stop my descent with my heels. Instead, my arm did the trick as it slammed into the trunk of a tree I couldn't identify. It broke with a quick snap as I continued sliding down the hill. I could hear my scream echo among the silent trees.
I came to a stop at the end of the hill. I hit another tree as I did, my legs folding beneath me as something in my chest began to ache. I groaned - had a rib broken?
As I curled inwards, I could still hear the dogs barking. The sharp pain from my arm and my torso dulled somewhat as they grew closer. I pushed myself off the tree with my good arm, starting to run, away, away, away. Adrenaline came in full throttle, making me blind to anything other than fleeing far from town.
The forest at the bottom of the cliff was thicker than before, but the trees appeared to bend themselves out of the way to come to my aid. I ran unimpeded, save for my small pains and stings. I couldn't hear the dogs anymore.
I want to say that I ran for a while. I didn't.
I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I just wanted to go.
Trees flashed by. As the sun rose, my surroundings changed. It became less green and leafy and more dull and grey; and so very suddenly, I found myself in a cave.
Water trickled down the walls, taking particles of the rock with them. I could see less and less as I continued, until I came to a shallow pool.
My pace had slowed down considerably, but the energy and the will to move was still there. From the pool came a soft glow, very unlike that of a torch or candle.
The pool itself was entirely unnatural; the bottom of it was smooth and there was no lip to dry ground to speak of. The water was an almost transparent blue. Undisturbed, my steps didn't even make a ripple on the surface.
I couldn't see my reflection in the pool, no. Instead, I saw a world like something out of a dream: large, leafy, flourishing trees, a clear sky, a majestic waterfall. Birds flitted from tree to tree, but their design was..different. Janky. Unreal.
The most unreal part of the world in the pool were the people.
Their skin had a superior glow. Their clothes and their hair were simple, yet elegant. Soft smiles were everywhere.
It was hard to describe, but they radiated power.
I wanted a closer look; I stepped forward to see. My adrenaline, on the other hand, disappated quickly.
My hands shook, as did my legs.The pain from my arm and my rib was back in all its glory. I pitched forward and fell into the pristine pool.