Tag, You're It

Prologue

"Do you mind?"

Lheila flinches at the sound of the voice coming from behind. She looked back to the person who owned it and tried to draw a smile on her face.

"N-Not at all," she responded and gazed back at the sea.

It was late at night. The moon is shining directly at the sea creating a glittery effect on the surface.

"Isn't it lovely?"

Lheila's thought was interrupted by the person sitting next to her. She turned to look at him and made contact with his eyes. He stares at her for a little while before he turns to look at the moon and leans back.

"The moon, the stars, the sea, the sound, the sand-- everything," He declared.

Lheila pinched her index finger as her tears started forming from the corner of her eyes. She tried fixing her hair so it falls down, hiding her face from him. 

"They say that beautiful things deserve beautiful life," he stopped and turned to look at the Lheila. Her body curled up, not letting herself take more space, "Do you believe that, Lheila?"

She nodded. She's already tired of being reminded the same thing. It's always that.

"This life is what you deserve, Lheila."

She bit her lip and looked up, holding her tear back as she listens tries to calm herself with the sound of the sea.

The guy extended his arms, reaching Lheila's hair. He tucked it behind her ears. Teresa shivers as his hand made contact with her skin. The crawling feeling makes her sick that she wants to peel her skin off.

"Do you then think that ugly things deserve the worst life?"

"No," it came almost as a whisper.

Lheila heard the sound that the sand make as the man stood up, walked in front of Lheila, and squat to her level. 

"Tell me then, Lheila," he gently caresses her hair and cupped her face, making her face fully seen, "Why do you do these? Why are you making my life a mess?"

A sadness is evident in his voice. He is in pain.

'...and will always be in pain.'

He let go of her face and looked down.

"I did everything for you, Lheila. I love you. I chose to go through everything just to get you," Lheila turned to look away, "I was so close on giving up but my heart told me to keep on going. So I did."

Lheila can feel her panic growing. The sound of the calming waves suddenly turned into a harsh, grating sound, the chirping of the cricket became a sharp, pitched sound, and the wind seems to stop her breath from coming out.

The man raised to look at Lheila who was now hiding her face from the moonlight.

"Wanna play tag?" Lheila couldn't hold it anymore. Her tears came down sliding through her cheeks, "The usual. You can't hide. Just run as fast as you can."

He went back to his seat-- beside Lheila and stared back at the sea.

"One..."

"Two..."

Just like a reflex, Lheila stood up and run as fast as she could. Her eyes are blurring up her vision, breath is getting shorter, her heart's pounding faster, and her legs feels lighter as she distanced herself from the place she was in.

There's no point in running. She know how useless it is to run but she still try. She want to escape from the hell that she's in. She wants to feel free again and she can't lose hope in that.

'I need to escape. I-I will escape this hell!'

She wiped her tears while speeding up to fully see the forest that she needs to enter. She's scared. As she is coming closer, her body is freezing. She had tried entering this forest a lot of times but she can never know where it end, how big it is, or if there is even an end. 

No matter how fast she goes, she will always be caught. She will always lose in her favourite game. She continued inside the forest, her breath is getting heavier. She ignore the pain from the stuffs that she had to step on just to continue and run. She looked around, looking for signs of an escape but found nothing.

Her eyes are getting blurry from both the fatigue, tears, and difficulty breathing.

'I will never be able to escape,'

She lets herself burst into tears but her legs continued to move it's way deep down in the forest. Her head is getting lighter as she continue. 

A flashing light coming from a distance caught her attention but her head feels too light to even recognize it. She's sceptical about the light but there's no pain in trying. Her vision is turning into a complete darkness. As she was about to scream for help, a finger lightly tapped her shoulders.

"Tag, you're it."