CRAWFORDS - PHASE ONE

CH 01 - MAN OF HORROR.

*ARES*

15 Years Ago,

I ran through the dark woods, trying to get away. Get away from the monster that has tormented me my whole life. I didn't know where I was headed, but I just knew I had to run.

The night was dark as pitch when tiny rain droplets drizzled over me as I ran with the rhythmic pounding of my feet against the humid, rocky soil of the woods. I could see nothing but the blurry trees and the narrow pathway that lay ahead of me.

Still, I dared not to stop or look back, I was scared, really scared. Scared that he would have found out that I was gone. And by then I thought he would be chasing after me. So I pushed on, ignoring everything. The sting of the branches that clawed at my face and arms, the burn that the cuts caused, the discomfort in my chest every time I felt short of breath, everything, I ignored everything and just kept running.

Each step was taking me farther from that house of horrors, yet dread pooled in my stomach like something bad was about to happen. But escape was the only path I had forward. It was my lone chance at survival and this thought kept me from stopping.

I couldn't stop, wouldn't stop, not yet, not until I broke free.

I was barely seven years old. My breath burned in my chest as I ran for my life. Each ragged step was agony with my bare soles sliced open on sharp rocks, blisters bursting and wet mud sucking my wounds. With all my might, I ran as far as my tiny legs could carry me.
Exhaustion threatened to drag me down with each stride, and still, I pushed myself to the brink, driven by the single desire to get as far from that place as possible. But how far do you expect a child that young to go? Gasping for air, I could almost feel my heart hammering against my chest.

And in an instant, my head spun, and the forest around me tilted as I stumbled over the twisted roots snaking all over the ground. I hit the ground hard, collapsing. The world around me faded into a dizzy blur for a few seconds, and then everything went blank. When I gained back my consciousness, I gritted my teeth and just tried to push on, ignoring the distress, ignoring my exhaustion.

Since the day my mom passed away, I had been living on whatever leftovers the neighbors tossed my way. Somedays, I would get a few boiled eggs, other days it was a cold slice of pizza. On the worst days, all I had to eat was a few dry slices of bread that stuck in my throat when I tried to swallow it. And if I was lucky, someone would leave a sandwich outside the door, and I could pretend I was a normal kid again, sitting down to lunch.

But normal had left when Mom did.

I had no one to sit beside me while I ate, no one to hug me when a nightmare frightened me, no one to hold my hands and assure me that I wasn't alone. No proper care, no proper food, I was just surviving. My limbs had become thin and frail, my clothes grew tattered and dirty.

I was weak, and running all that far wasn't easy for me. If I stopped, if I gave in to the temptation to rest my weary body, I knew I might not find the strength to get back up again. So with every ounce of strength left in my body, I clung to the fallen log and attempted to stand once more, pushing through the ache as his image flashed through my mind.

The jagged bark dug into my palms and provided just enough grip for me to slowly pull myself up with my knees trembling with pain as I stood up. Blood slowly trickled down my forehead from a laceration caused by the fall. I gritted my teeth again, trying to ignore the searing pain that shot through my leg with every movement.

Each breath I took was a struggle. I could barely see where I was going as my vision blurred with tears of pain that welled up in my eyes. Yet, I limped on until I stumbled upon a narrow road, cutting through the woods. There I sat, leaning against a tree, my chest heaving as I struggled to catch my breath.