I tripped over a tree root, stumbled, fell, and scraped my knee. I inhaled the dank peatness of the mossy ground, still covered with last fall's leaves, just inches away from my nose. "Move, keep moving," I told to myself. The pain kept me motivated. I got back up, and scrambled through the brush. I couldn't tell which way I was going, but I knew he was coming. My heart pounded in my ears. I glanced left and right. Which way to go? It all looked the same. The sky was dusky above me, the world was nothing but shades of gray, as I stumbled, naked, through the trees and the thorny devil's club, trying to get away, trying to escape.
"Move, keep moving," I told to myself. My legs were scratched from the thorns and brambles. My feet were cut from stumbling over sharp sticks and rocks. Sweat poured down my back. My heavy breathing was loud in my ears. What had started off as a beautiful summer day had devolved into this... this nightmare. I could tell I was getting deeper and deeper into the woods, as the temperature had dropped a good 10 degrees. Or maybe it was because the sun had set beyond the mountains some time ago. I sent a silent prayer to any god who might be listening for the bright nights of summer. I could still see. I wasn't completely helpless. I kept moving forward, climbing through a maze of alder bushes, trying to find an open path. I had to move faster. I knew he was coming.
I had no idea where I was. He grabbed me as I left my shop. I locked the back door behind me, but before I could even take a step towards my car, there he was, behind me, picking me up off of my feet, tossing me in the back of a van. I kicked, I punched, I screamed for help, but no one heard, no one came. He was too strong. He quickly subdued me and tied me up, leaving me on the floorboard like nothing but cargo. He must have driven me at least an hour out of town, blindfolded, bound, disoriented, frightened. He tossed me in the back of a boat, and we zipped up some unknown river to some unknown destination. I didn't dare jump out, I didn't know how fast the current was, or how deep the water was, or even where I was, and being tied up, I couldn't rely on my ability to float to safety before he snatched me again, or before I drowned or succumbed to hypothermia from the cold water. Its always cold, even in summer. He hefted me like a bag of garbage over his shoulder, and dumped me on the rocky shore. My shoes slipped off and splashed into the water when he lifted me. I could hear the river rushing by behind me, and the rocks felt slimy beneath my hands and knees. He untied my hands and feet.
"Don't move," he growled. I rubbed my sore wrists. He cut the blindfold off me with a knife. I blinked with the sudden light as my eyes struggled to adjust. He grabbed me by my neck and forced me to my feet. I slipped on the wet rocks, but managed to gain my balance. I looked into his face and saw cruel eyes. My heart pounded. Oh god, what is he going to do to me? I thought to myself. He had the knife in one hand, and my throat in the other. With wide eyes, I spotted a shotgun hanging from his shoulders.
He reached up with the knife, running it along my face. I whimpered. With a flick of his wrist, he sliced the straps holding my tank top up, and with a yank of his hand, he forcefully ripped the cloth off of me. The force of it pulled me off my feet, and I fell to my knees. He grabbed me by the waist of my pants, yanked up, and with a slice of his knife, and a tear from his hand, pulled my pants off of me in tatters. The underwear was next. Finally I knelt there, naked on slimy rocks, tears running down my face. Once more, he pulled me to my feet by my neck.
"Run," he spat into my face, and then shoved me away. I stumbled backwards, falling. I scrambled to my feet, and took a step back, confused. He pointed to the line of trees behind me, along the riverbank. "Run, bitch," he shouted at me. "Run for your fucking life!"
I didn't wait for a second chance. Choking back a sob, I turned and ran for the tall cottonwoods and spruce trees. "You better run faster than that, you stupid whore!" He shouted after me as I disappeared into the trees. I had torn my way through the bushes, dimly lit by the midnight dusk, getting as far away as fast as I could. I didn't try to cover my tracks. I didn't try to escape silently. Alder and mountain ash branches snapped and creaked as I forced my way through their dense thickets. The underbrush crunched beneath the soles of my feet. Thorns - wild rose, raspberry, devil's club - grabbed me, tearing at my flesh, but I kept on going.
He was getting closer. I stifled the panic that threatened to rise, and kept moving. I could hear him crashing through the forest after me, and occasionally see a flash of light. Headlamp? Flashlight? It made no difference. I moved away from the light whenever it peeked through the foliage, leaving a distorted pattern through the shadows. I was covered with mud and dirt. I had slipped and fallen more times than I could remember.
I scrambled up a steep moss and fern covered embankment on my hands and knees. Just as I reached the top, a shot rang out in the air. I screamed, and dropped to the ground, intact, terrified. I looked behind me and spotted him stepping through the trees. His headlamp played across me. I slid back, out of the light, trying to will myself deep into the ground, to blend with the moss and ferns, hoping the fronds were tall enough to mask my presence. I slithered across the ground along the edge of the embankment, trying to stay out of sight. There was a large birch tree in front of me. I crawled behind it and paused, leaning up against the smooth white trunk, trying to think straight.
He was twice as big as me, twice as strong, and obviously faster, and he had me seriously outgunned. What options did that leave me with? I wiped a hand across my eyes. Sweat and tears were blurring my vision. I reached out and grabbed a large branch that had fallen. I didn't have anything else, only suprise. He didn't know exactly where I was.
"You fucking bitch, I know you're up there." His voice came from below me.
"Come and get me, you sick fuck!" I shouted. I glanced behind me, I saw the light peering over the edge. He was climbing up. I crawled out from behind my tree, and silently slid back down the embankment, branch in hand. I emerged below him and a few feet to the side. Now who's hunting whom? I thought to myself I crawled up behind some mountain ash bushes at the edge of the hill, hiding behind them, hoping to blend into the background. I could hear him above me. He must have been following my tracks.
"Are you doubling back on me?" He shouted out. I didn't say a word. I focused on breathing slowly, I didn't want to give myself away. I could see his light flashing around. His light was a weakness, it gave away his position; I knew exactly where he was, and he was climbing down the exact same spot I did. My heart was pounding in my chest, my pulse thumping in my ears.
I could see him out of the corner of my eyes. His back was to me. I gripped my branch tightly. It was now or never. I jumped out, swinging.