Gothic Opening Chapter
I’ve always wondered what it feels like to be on the run. What it feels like to be
completely free yet utterly trapped at the same time. As if you have been ensnared in
a net of fear.
That is how I feel now.
Lost.
Broken.
Trapped.
But I know I must continue. No fish ever gets caught without an escape attempt. The
same goes for me.
A cruel, sharp branch whips past my face, abruptly jolting me from my desperate
thoughts. I yelp, a thick, foul smelling substance running down my cheek. I spit foully
as it invades my mouth, but my running does not falter, and nor does the eerie light
that shines down from a ghostly, ominous moon hanging high in the cloudy sky.
The night is cold and, after a while, I begin to shiver, despite my endless running.
The short, sharp breaths I do emit look like hazy clouds of steam in front of my face,
momentarily blinding me with their foggy opacity. But I don’t think my shivering is
down to the temperature.
Suddenly, something rough grabs my ankle. No, wait. Just a tree root. I let out a
short sigh of relief, using most of the oxygen I have left, as I right myself as quickly
as possible, soon after taking a deep gulp of the refreshing substance.
Snap!
I stop dead in my tracks, almost skidding to a halt with my momentum. My follower is
a lot closer than he was before. The snapping sounded from just a few metres away.
Eyes alive with fear, my head snaps round. Nothing there. I breathe heavily. Turn
around. Continue running.
Snap!
I flinch, a wave of fear washing over me…
Snap!
Fear courses through my veins like a kind of poison…
Snap!
A strangled cry. It takes me about a second to realise it is my own.
I stumble. A second cry. I right myself. Carry on.
Snap!
My pace quickens, my head screams, my body has a mind of its own…