Shelter // H.S.

Chapter 1

"I raised myself

My legs were weak

I prayed my mind be good to me

An awful noise 

Filled the air

I heard a scream in the woods somewhere"

Harry

It was dark.

Strong winds blew across me, bringing chills up and down my body. Circling around me like vultures circling a deceased animal, but I was very much alive. I could feel my heart beating and my mind racing, yet my body felt paralyzed.

It was empty and lonely, yet I could feel the many sets of eyes on me as I lay. Still as a deer in the headlights. Not making a sound and not moving an inch.

Fear is all I felt. A numbness overtook me. I couldn't surpass it. Like sleep paralysis in the deep of the night. The debilitating feeling of not being able to move my body as much as I tried. In my head my body was thrashing, screaming, running every which way. Mentally I was there, but instead I was still. Lying on my back as a lone person lying in a grave. Feeling everything and yet why couldn't I just get up and find my way out?

In the woods, everywhere is open. There isn't a wall to put your back against to feel protection from behind. Not a corner in sight to feel even an ounce of safety. Instead you are stuck. Exposed as can be.

As I lay there staring up into the empty night sky, I hear a noise in the distance that snaps me out of my comatose state of mind. I don't know what it is but it gave me the capability of bending my knees and propping myself up on my elbows.

I look around me only to see miles and miles of trees and brush. Not an end in sight.

I have to get out.

He'll be mad at me. Disappointed in me.

My breathing gets heavier and I begin to pant as I stand just to spin in circles trying to find the right way home. Everywhere just looks the same. No paths. No clues. I need help.

She's not here to help me. To push me in the right direction. I need her.

My thoughts are running rapidly and I can't take it.

I take off through the trees. The noise follows me. I don't know what it is. Is he following me? Pushing me? Hunting me? My chest rises up and down in quick short breaths, getting tighter and tighter. The panic overwhelms me. My legs are on autopilot, taking long strides seeming completely separate from my mind.

One second my mind was the only part of me functioning, worrying about what my next move was and now only my body was in existence. My body was separate from me, running at a pace I couldn't reach as a child. Sprinting, only to go nowhere.

He always did this. Made me feel the way of the hunted. Why did he leave me out here?

Why won't he help me? Why do this to me? I was just a kid.

I'm just a kid.

The treeline was never ending; it kept going on and on. The realization that I won't get out hits me as if I ran full force into a tree. I wish I had. It would've made this much easier. Just for it to be done.