Writing Championships #4

Pink Procrastinators

Warnings: Death and Violence

Cleo felt tears prickle behind her eyes as the Hermits shouted at each other, wanting to do things but other disagreeing. It was so.. familiar in a painful way.

The zombie hybrid backed away slowly, edging herself away from the other hermits in the Cowmerical District. The Hermits were her family, not biological family by any means, but a family nonetheless. But her family was breaking apart, and the memories of a past life and family were filling her mind as they screamed and fought with each other, ignoring common sense completely.

Her pace began to quicken as their shouts gained volume, and soon enough she had taken a leap of faith and launched a rocket. Her elytra opened as it caught on the air around her, and she glided away into the distance as more thoughts of a story forgotten came to mind.

-----

Cleo came from a rather wealthy family. Everything was perfect, it was meant to be perfect. It was clear to the others that the family was perfect, perfect

Cleo herself was never the lady her parents wanted her to be, she was adventurous, reckless, and fearless. Her parents never loved each other anyways. They were paired together, she knew that her family loved her, but they never showed it. Over time, the two fought more and more, even the strongest metal can't fix the pain

Nothing less, it wasn't visible.

So the night when she finally escaped, it all ended.

She remembered it all clearly, as if it had happened just an hour ago and not 10 years.

-----

Cleo had been preparing for months. Memorizing sleep schedules, taking notes of when people got up in the night, or when others came to visit. She learned of every nearby structure and landmark, every friend and foe within 100 miles.

She acted on her plan in the dead of night, no one could stop her if no one knew what she was doing. She packed her things into a small sack, only the essentials were brought, everything else was too heavy. The redhead opened her window with vigilance one would expect from a spy, not a teenage girl.

She knew there was a forest not far away from her house, well what used to be. What was left of it barely classified as a forest, but it would do.

She dashed into the green foliage, the moonlight peeking through the leaves. She darted between each plant, slowly making her way further and further away.

There was only one thing she hadn't account for...

Mobs.

Cleo didn't notice the hoard of zombies creeping up behind her, only when they started mauling her, pushing her to the ground, and leaving her defenseless.

She lay still, mauled and bloody, Cleo's chest slowly rising and falling and she tried her best to steady her breathing. Her gashes and scratches dripped onto the dew-stained grass, the cold breeze of winter shaking the trees above her. The sun began to rise, causing the mobs that had mauled her body to flee into the shadows. Cleo's body was burning as she gasped for air, struggling for breath.

She wasn't sure if running had been worth it. Her family was restricting, painful to live with, and yet she was on the verge of death. Cleo ran because she wanted to be free. She wanted a chance at all the things that were taken away from her, and yet she would never get a chance at them. She was going to die in the forest, and no one would find her. The young girl had never felt so weak and alone before.

After one final breath, the pain was washed away with a feeling of numbness. Cleo didn't move, she thought it was all over, and yet she was still conscious, alive. But she couldn't feel her heart pounding in her chest, nor could she feel her chest rising and falling.

But for the first time in her life, Cleo felt free.

Cleo could feel her heartbeat slowing down. She let their arms fall to her sides as she laid back in the cold grass, accepting the present and the reality. Her chest rose and fell with each drawn-out breath and her eyes softly fell shut. It was only right there and right then that she finally felt like she was being freed of the invisible chains that reigned her in.

--------

Now, for better or for worse, Cleo knew deep down that things would never be the same again.

Score: 8