I started running because my mother told me to. I held onto that promise, so I moved forward without stopping. But what I had been through in this endless night, I could say I also wanted to survive and live. It may sound selfish and I hated myself for that, but I didn't want to die.
"I don't want to die..." I whispered through my gritted teeth, running in random directions to lose anyone who would come after me. "... I want to live."
The voice that had been chanting the word 'survive' already disappeared in my head. All I could hear now was the howling of the wind, the hiss of silence, and my muffled wishes.
A lot of doubt and questions still clouded my head, but one thing was for certain, I had to get away from here. I was thankful for that naked man whom I assumed could shift into a wolf. But I couldn't trust him. My pursuers were human bats; what if that man was one of those people who wanted to kill me and simply used a different method?
We were strangers, after all. Who would sacrifice their life even if they have over one life to help a stranger? I may have been raised inside a castle and very naive about the outside world, but I'm no fool. Asking for a stranger's help was already foolish, but I wouldn't make the same mistake again.
I jumped over the tree root above the ground, glancing down at it briefly. Just like that one, I wouldn't make the same mistake again. It was already a surprise that I could run after spraining my ankle. It still twinged, but the pain was slight. I didn't dwell on it, though. I couldn't.
I continued running even though I stepped on small pebbles that dug into my sole painfully. I didn't stop even when I couldn't feel my legs anymore, and my heart was about to burst due to all this running.
My breath hitched as I heard multiple howls from a distance.
'Run,' I told myself, keeping my eyes opened, and gazed ahead. 'I can't stop now.'
Running alone felt more dreadful than having that man as my company. I shook my head to get him out of my mind.
"You can't trust him, Rinnie," I whispered to myself with my teeth clenching. "I can't let him fool me."
I bit my lower lip as hard as I could, suppressing all these heartaches for losing everything and everyone overnight. It was silly how I had to tell myself 'this wasn't the time to grieve'. Since when did people time their grief? But I didn't have such luxury to show some attitude. I had to stomp everything down and run.
Was there even an end to this night? Would I be able to see daylight once again? Would I be on the run all my life? Just where am I going right now?
'Stop thinking!' I yelled internally and shook those thoughts away. But I knew those questions would resurface in my head in no time.
"I should..."
My heart sank when I noticed a shadow surpassed me. For a second, time ticked a little slower before it returned to its usual pace. I couldn't feel my heartbeat anymore as I gazed ahead desperately.
Did those bats beat that wolf? Or did they finally come to terms?
'Does it matter?' my brain inquired in a knowing tone. 'You don't trust those bats or that wolf. If they kill each other or decide to shake each other's hand, it doesn't matter since they will kill you.'
'Can't you really not trust that wolf? Didn't you trust him because you didn't feel any malice from him?'
'But it doesn't make sense that he will protect a stranger, correct?'
I let my inner voices argue, and they all dissipated as soon as I came to a halt.
I panted for air, raising my gaze from the man's shoes, up to his coattail suit, and to his face. He stood from a safe distance ahead, having his one hand inside his pocket, and a devious smirk on his lips.
"There you are," the human bat said in a light yet eerie tone, tilting his head to the side. The light from the moonlight shone upon his dark hair. He looked at me with those glowering pair of red eyes while licking his fangs.
Danger.
I took a careful step back, looking nowhere else but him. Just one look and I knew this man had ill-intention.
"Princess Rinnie Everfell, the hidden treasure of King Hektor," he uttered, making me freeze on the spot. He knew my name and Father's!
"You surely run fast for a human."
"What do you want from me?" I asked while taking another step back, stalling some time for myself to think of my next route. "You had seized the Capital and even had my father's head!"
"Pfft —! Father?" he looked at me in ridicule, but I didn't think much about what he said. "Well, sure, let's just say he is your father."
The man strutted forth as if he was walking in the park. I took a deep breath and when he took his fifth step, I put pressure on my foot and jumped to the side and through the trees. There was no way I would let that man catch me.
He'd kill me for sure. That was what his eyes told me.
"My... how come you run so slow now?"
My eyes dilated with my pupils constricting, hearing his voice just right beside me. I turned my head to my right, catching the corner of his lips stretched into a smirk.
"No..."
I trailed off as I shrieked when he grabbed me by the hair aggressively. I instinctively held his hand that was grabbing my hair as we stopped.
"Let go of me, you bat!" I cried out, struggling under his grip.
"Bat?" his tone dropped as I instantly felt my scalp slowly peel off my skull. "Did you just call me bat?"
He lifted me up until my feet couldn't feel the ground anymore, and he forced me to look at him. I gnashed my teeth and glared daggers at him. My head hurts and if he pulled my hair even more it would expose my skull.
"Princess, what did you just call me?" his eyes glinted menacingly as he sucked air through his gritted fangs.
I ground my teeth and spat in his face. "Annoying mosquito."
'I'm dead.'
He closed one of his eyes where my spit landed. A low chuckle slipped past his lips as he wiped the spit with his thumb and onto his tongue. I instantly shivered in disgust, watching him lick his thumb.
A lunatic.
"Sweet," he said while licking his lips. "Ahh... I want to kill you, but I might feast on you before that."
All the hair in my body raised as he laughed maniacally while his fangs grew longer. Once he stopped laughing abruptly, he looked at me.
"Thank you for the food," was what he said before opening his mouth and lurched his head to me.