“Rosalie!” She could still hear him calling out to her, a little less loudly this time, but she knew she needed to keep going. He could catch up with her at any moment, and then, it would all be over. Her life would no longer be her own.
Here, in the woods, she was lost, but every path she took, would take her to freedom. To return would lead back to slavery, back to the only life she had ever known; a life she never wanted to return to.
She coughed heavily, feeling a roaring fire somewhere inside her chest. Her shoulders ached. Her hands stung from all the scratches. Her legs were barely keeping up with the tempo her mind had set for her. “You must keep going,”she kept telling herself, as if she would forget a moment later.
Shattered and worn out, she dropped to her knees. The hard rocks gave pressure on her soft skin, as her palms rested against the wet dirt. The rain had intensified. The wind had started to blow violently, as if threatening to tear the thin fabric of her dress to pieces.
The woman coughed again. Her chest hurt. Her head was an amalgamation of a million little explosions, which kept taking place one after the other, relentlessly, not giving her a single painless moment of existence.
“Rosalie!” Her name echoed throughout the woods once more, fuming. “Where are you, you white Devil woman?”
She knew she couldn’t let him find her. Barely able to get back up, she somehow managed to walk, one foot in front of the other. The wind blew right through her, chilling her to the very bones. Thunder roared somewhere in the distance. Lightning tore through the sky like a knife.
She had no idea where he was. She dared not turn around. Every time he called out to her, he seemed farther away, but she knew the woods were treacherous. The trees would soak up the sound. They would make it seem like he was far, far away from her. But he wasn’t. Not really. He was right behind her. She was sure of that. If she turned around, all he needed to do was reach out to her and grab her. She would have no strength left in her to fight, no strength left to live.
Still going, she tried to bring back the barely living image of her mother and father. She had been so little she barely remembered them. Then, she remembered the orphanage, which they had taken her from. But her mind refused to collaborate. It refused to offer any soothing thoughts. All she could think about was that she was alone, in the woods, left to her own fate.
The woods had gotten darker, the storm louder. Colder. More menacing. She knew that if she stayed out in the open, she would succumb to the elements. She remembered the fire inside her chest. The cough. She needed to warm herself up. She needed to get out of these wet clothes. She needed to hide somewhere. She needed to sleep for a small eternity, until her body was ready to fight once more.
However, there was nowhere to hide. The woods were not her friend. The sky above her was oblivious to her pleas for help. The ground beneath her feet was deaf to the pain of her body.
Tears started streaming down her cheeks, merging with the rain that had soaked her face. The pain was too much to bear.
If this is what it feels like to die, I shall die today.
Her mind was empty, focused on the harsh elements around her, on the miniature possibility of her surviving, against the odds. She dropped to the ground again, her knees trembling.
“Rosa….lieeeeee…” The wind carried her name through the drizzly branches and huddling bushes, all the way to her. “Come…. to meeeeeeee…”
He sounded far away, like he was on the other end of the world. But she knew that as long as he lived, he would always be a threat to her. He would always be just one step behind her, breathing down her neck. He would be ready to dig his teeth into her, like the prey that she was to him.
She shuddered. Ahead was a small brook. She dipped her hands into it, then wiped her lips and face with the tips of her fingers. The water was freezing. She wanted to drink from it, to extinguish the fire that was now scorching her insides, but she dared not. She might extinguish, at the same time, the little strength she had left.
She waded through the small brook, her feet quivering with every step into that coldness which burned almost as much as the fire inside her chest. Every step was more difficult than the previous one.
“Rosa…” She could hear only half of her name now.
Perhaps, he had gone in the opposite direction. Perhaps, he was walking away from her, not even knowing it. The thought made her smile. The woods had kept her safe. The rain had hidden her footprints, washed them completely from sight. The bloodied branches which scratched and poked at her were not visible in the darkness. The woods had kept her secret. It had kept her safe. But, at what price?
With those thoughts in mind, Rosalie dropped to the ground, motionless, her body no longer governed by her senses. She had become oblivious to the fact that a few miles down an invisible, forest path, a man trudged heavily, in search of her. His teeth bared, he spat at everything in his way, vowing to find her and take vengeance.
* * *
“Bloody Hell!” Broderick Loveless, a man whose countenance perfectly mirrored his name, hissed at the weather. He looked around himself, painfully aware of the fact that he had taken a wrong turn somewhere. He had lost his prey, which was even weaker than he was at the moment.
She is worn out and cold. There ain’t no chance she be runnin’ nowhere. That bitch is hidin’ somewhere, aye. I just need to find ‘er. Then, I’ll make ‘er pay.His mind susurrated at the world, venomously.
“Rosalie!” he shouted once more, as the wind raged on, his words dispersed around him. “Where are ya, ya white snake?”
He doubted she could hear him unless she was close by. But it was impossible to spot her in this pitch darkness. She probably muddied herself on purpose, to hide that pale skin and white hair. She was cleverer than he had thought her to be.
He looked behind him. He could barely recognize the path on which he had walked. He dreaded continuing along the path into the woods and losing his way. His carriage waited by the roadside. It was at least dry in there. The rest of his wonders were waiting. But, not for him. They were waiting for her to come back. He’d show them. He’d show them all.
That was how she’d run away. She always rode with him, in his carriage. He had fallen asleep somehow. This damned weather and the rocking of the carriage made him drowsy. She was singing.She was singin’ aiight,he thought to himself.She was singin’ me to sleep, the bitch.When the carriage slowed down, she unlatched the door and jumped out.The memory of what had happened made him livid.
Lifting the collar of his old, worn out coat, he felt his toes getting soggy from the rainwater that had already soaked both his shoes and socks. He considered calling out to her one last time. Only, he was sure that it would do no good. Thunder roared above him, his voice little and meaningless.
“Bloody Hell!” he repeated once more for good measure, then started plodding back in the direction he had come from.
