The cold night air stung my face as I ran. It was freezing, but I didn't stop. I had to keep moving, faster and faster, or they'd catch me again. My left foot and leg burned with pain, screaming with every step. My foot was probably broken, maybe a bone in my leg too. I didn't care—I had to keep going. The moonlight lit up the forest floor, making it easy to see my path. The branches scratched my face, but they were just a small bother. All that mattered was getting away. I needed to be free, to escape my family.
I could already hear them running after me. Their footsteps were pounding the ground harder and faster than my own. My heart rate kicked into overdrive as I put on another burst of speed.
'Keep going Mira, don't slow down.' I thought to myself as I pushed through the thick trees. I had never made it this far before, if I kept running I might just make it all the way.
I saw a big pool of light ahead, there must be a clearing just beyond those trees. That would make it easier for me to run, I could move just a little faster if there were no trees hindering me.
I nearly dove through the edge of the trees and into that clearing. I felt the limitations that had been keeping me from running all out just slipped away. And almost as soon as I was beyond the line of trees I smashed right into someone.
There had been a man walking leisurely through the clearing. He was taller than me by several inches. His inky black hair blended almost perfectly with the darkness of the night. He was older than me but still young, and his eyes were light even though I couldn't see the color properly in the dark.
"Are you alright?" He asked me, concerned, filling his voice as he looked down at me where I had landed in a heap. He barely seemed fazed by me having run full on into him, he didn't even stumble as I bounced off him. He was like a brick wall or something.
He leaned forward, a hand outstretched to help me up. My already racing heart sped up even more, beating so fast it almost seemed to hum. I had never run into anyone else on my escape attempts before. I didn't know if he was one of those that hunted people like me or not.
My fear took over. I couldn't process what was going on, I just knew that I had to get up and keep running. This man could be just like my family, he could be worse than them.
Without another look in his direction I sprang to my feet and started running again. That slight rest from sitting on the ground for thirty seconds had given my broken foot and leg time to catch up to me. I couldn't run as fast now as I limped away from the clearing in a different direction than I had been heading before.
Now I needed to get away from that man and my family. I was back in the trees and moving as quickly as I could.
"Wait." He called after me. He had seemed momentarily stunned when I turned tail and started running again, but he had found his voice again. "Where are you going?" He hadn't taken more than three steps when my pursuers caught up to me.
The first wolf smashed into me, toppling me over and sending me sprawling on the ground for a second time. The huge, gray, panting wolf stood over me, placing his paw on my chest. Within seconds there were three more wolves spread around me through the trees. I could hear the crunching of leaves and twigs as the man was still walking toward me.
In my mind, I screamed, 'Get off me Ronan.' Then my cousin's face came overhead, and he continued to keep me pinned to the floor. My efforts to free myself only seemed to amuse his feral expression even more. I was itching to get away from Uncle Jeff, and did not want him to come anywhere close to me.
It was only a matter of time though. Just seconds later he was close enough for me to see even in the thick trees and dark night. My racing heart stopped dead at the sight of him. My breathing ceased and I felt like I should just die right there on the spot. This night was not going to end happily for me.
"When are you going to stop trying to run away from me, you little bitch? Don't you know better by now?" His growling, grating voice sent sickening waves through me. But I didn't say anything in response to him, I just continued to look at him like a petrified mouse that was caught in the eyes of a predator.
Jeff just grinned at me, the look was pure evil. His yellow eyes pierced me like a set of daggers as I just laid still on the ground. His light blonde hair swaying in the breeze. He was supposed to be a handsome man, that's what everyone always told me, but he made my skin crawl every time I looked at him, or whenever he looked at me. He was only in his mid thirties, still young by all accounts, and he was strong, very strong. I always felt weak and helpless when I was around him.
"Don't you know that you're supposed to be mine?" His voice made my stomach churn sickeningly. "When are you going to stop all this childishness in Astraia and just accept it?"
"What the hell is going on here?" The man from before had stormed over and seemed to be glaring at the scene we were creating.
What must we have looked like to him? Did he know what was going on? Did he know my family? Would he help them to take me back? I didn't know the answer to any of these questions anymore than I knew who he was. Then again, I didn't know who anyone outside my relatives were.
"This is no concern of yours. Leave us be." Uncle Jeff snapped at the young man who was standing there. I could just see him out of the corner of my eye and it looked like he was staring at me. What did he want from me? Was he someone just like Uncle Jeff? My skin crawled again.
"This doesn't look like a very pleasant experience for her." He said pointing toward me.
"Again, it's none of your concern boy. Leave now before you live to regret it."
"You're threatening me?" He growled back, he must not know who my family was, or how powerful Uncle Jeff was. If he did he most likely would not have spoken to him like that.
Uncle Jeff walked to my side, placing his boot on my chest, allowing my cousin Ronan to move away from me. He and the others circling around me moved toward the man who had spoken disrespectfully toward my Uncle.
"You can clearly see that you are outnumbered, do you really want to continue this issue, boy? I suggest you run along and leave our family business to us." My uncle's voice held a biting edge, that sharp tone he often got when he was angry. Most of the time, it was aimed at me.
"Hmph." The man looked at us all for a long time. His eyes linger on me and Uncle Jeff the most. "I will go, for now." His voice didn't sound happy. Was he one of the men who often hunted pack members? One of the men I was warned to stay away from my whole life? I feel like I have run from one horrible situation into another and back again tonight.
The man turned around and started to walk away. He only looked back over his shoulder once as he stalked off. His figure retreated quickly into the night.
"Let's go." Uncle Jeff said as he glared down at me. "And this will be the last time you try to run from me or my patience will completely snap. I just might forget to be forgiving when I punish you next." He leaned forward and grabbed me by my long, golden brown hair.
I felt the sharp pain of my hair being pulled as he dragged me along behind him. My deep blue eyes were most likely lightened to a softer shade as they often did when I was scared and nervous but they couldn't see them as I had squeezed my eyes shut tightly to block the pain and the thought of what would happen when we got back home.
I could feel the roots, branches, and rocks strewn all over the forest floor digging into my flesh the entire time I was being dragged along. I was bruised, scraped, and cut in hundreds of places by the time we made it back to the family house, not to mention that my scalp felt like it was on fire from Uncle Jeff's firm grip as he pulled me along.
The family house was a large estate hidden away in the woods. There was nothing more than a three mile long driveway weaving from the road and through the trees until you reached the house.
The house looked so beautiful from the outside. It was big, with huge windows and stone walls, like something from the magical stories in the few children's books I'd read. But I didn't know what most of the inside looked like. They always pulled me through the back door and down the cellar stairs. That dark, cold cellar was my prison—the only part of the house I ever saw. I was never allowed outside, never got to be with anyone else. I didn't even know how many of my relatives lived there. My whole life, as far back as I could remember, was locked in that cellar. It had been that way ever since my mom died—or was killed.