Ribbon

She raced through the forest, scrambling past the trees with their sinister shadowy smiles, tearing through the bushes and shrubs that leered at her through hooded eyes. Brambles scratched and tore at her hair, her arms, her clothes… But she pushed them all away as they reached for her with their greedy hands, lashing out hard enough to draw blood.

It was strange how in the red-tinted haze of panic and fear, even the surroundings seemed to take on human features. But she had no time to stop and wonder about her situation. She had to keep running.

She had to get away from him.

She couldn’t hear him, couldn’t hear his footsteps, couldn’t see him either, but she could most definitely feel him. His presence pressed down on her from all sides like a suffocating blanket, clinging and smothering and slowly driving her insane. His voice floated to her in the darkness, a thin strip of crimson ribbon coated with velvet and wine.

Poisoned wine.

“Lilah, my sweet, sweet Lilah. Where are you?” It sighed, as though mourning the loss of a lover. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

And even as she ran, her breathing in harsh ragged gasps, her heart pounding so hard she was sure it would give out at any moment, she could hear the voice speaking to her, trying to find her.

“Come to me, child. You know you cannot fight me,” the voice crooned, full of desire and dark promise. “Give up, give in. Stop trying to resist me.”

“Give in to me.”

NO. She could not, would not go back to him. She would fight with everything she had, for as long as she could. For as long as she had to. Even though that voice in her head was whispering that perhaps she should give up after all, because there was no way she’d be able to run for much longer, she made herself ignore it.

But she couldn’t stop herself from listening to his voice. God help her, she couldn’t stop listening.

And as she fell to the ground, caught in that balance between keeping her eyes open and giving in to the darkness that pressed at the edges of her eyes, with dirt and decaying leaves sticking to her sweat-coated skin, a shadow fell before her. Trembling, she raised her eyes, glazed over with exhaustion and despair and something akin to desperate fear.

Why exactly she was shaking she did not know; it could possibly be the adrenaline that still coursed under her skin, or the exhaustion that came from having run without a plan in mind, or the fear of what she would see as she looked up, or the terrible anticipation that rose in her.

It was an angel staring at her. It was an angel’s face that she looked at, jet-black hair and olive skin and lips that formed a thin line. But the eyes that were only partially obscured by the hair – those eyes – they were that of a demon. A predator. A wolf, greedily waiting to possess its prey. Flat and emotionless, they bore into her as she stayed frozen. As she stared, a mixture of fear and despair and breathless anticipation, she thought of a rabbit that had been cornered by a wolf. No sooner had that thought formed in her mind that his lips curved into a haughty smirk.

And then he spoke, the owner of that crimson ribbon that slowly melted into a pool of blood.

“I found you, my sweet, sweet Lilah.”

Been a while since I actually wrote something worth posting! I'm sorry that I haven't been posting anything good lately, I've been all over the place... Anyway I hope this short piece (because when have I ever written anything long, right?) is satisfactory!

Read, comment, share if you think it's good enough! :)