Rulers of nothing. Protectors of everything

I. Faster than a Walk, Slower then a Confession

We as a species think we are the predators but we are all programmed on some level to run, its one of our purest base level instincts. It's a strange thing to run. People run from their mistakes. They run towards their dreams. They run from their own history. They run for their lives.

"Run" my mind was screaming at me. At every muscle to just get out to just go as fast as I could. I could see the door from where I had been curled up in the small armchair since waking in the early hours of the day. All I had to do was make the steps to the door but I was worried that any noise would wake him. If it were to wake him I knew that he would be able to stop me before the sound of the door had even finished echoing through the dead silence of the morning. Just thinking about the pure speed he could possess sent new beads of fear running down my spine. I risked a glance over at his sleeping form. He looked so tortured like he had not ever truly slept peacefully in his life. I would hate to know the memories that seem to pursue and haunt him even in his dreams. He was lying there naked accept for the sheets and his black shirt now folded up on the end of the bed. I love how his shirts smell like him I could get lost in it. I had originally put it on when I'd gotten up. When things were still great when I felt safe with the man I loved there beside me not the stranger he had now become. It is the scariest thing to realize you do not know the person you've chosen to love.

I jumped slightly as the sudden rain shower started to hit the windows; he stirred but did not wake. I waited frozen for minutes seeing if the sound of the rain or sudden loudness of my heart would make him rise or not. I tried to convince myself I could make it. I suddenly felt a searing pain in my hand and realized I was clutching my car keys so tight I'd cut my hand and was dripping blood off my fingers to the floor. Wiping my hands on my jeans, I slowly rouse taking advantage of the storms loudness to slip away unnoticed. Opening the door went smoothly enough but the rain got louder without the solid wood barrier. Not letting panic set in anymore then it already had I kept one hand twisting the doorknob so I could slowly ease it shut without clicking. After closing the door and slowly releasing the knob it was a straight shot down the hall to the elevator and out the door to the parking lot. I was completely drenched even in the short time it took to run to the waiting car and around to the driver's side. Even though I fumbled with the keys I got them in and unlocked on only the second try. I wrenched the door open but it was met with an unnatural resistance before slamming closed. I was about to try to yank the door open again when I noticed his hand resting against the door.

"Please don't" He let out slowly.