Black Venom

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

The grasses below Rae were an assembly of the dead and alive. 

Some were green and rich with youth, while others had already withered away, their chlorophyll having been drained form their bodies, making them appear almost stark white with little bits of yellow barely coloring the roots. The fact that the sadder looking ones were being trampled on now by his feet did no wonders for their state. 

Rae felt the air enter and leave his lungs in shallow puffs, his rapid heartbeat an exhilarating rhythm in his chest. He'd lost count on how many laps he'd done, but his legs just kept on pushing forward until he didn't care anymore. All he could focus on were the sweat covering his body, and the little voice in his head that kept on chanting: one, two, one, two...

Actually, they were what he tried to focus on.

Something was wrong. He felt it the minute he and Tod stepped onto the field. A restless sensation. A sharp tugging inside his chest that begged him to-to...

It was as if he was being watched. 

Rae shook his head. His imagination was going all over the place again. Still, he couldn't help but feel almost...murderous. 

Murderous? Why would he be feeling murderous? A good night's sleep should not be putting those thoughts inside a person's head. And he couldn't help but turn his towards the grey stone building that stood next to him. To one spot in particular on the wall that made his nostrils flare. 

He increased his speed, wanting to run away from his own mind, taking refuge in the howling wind that now filled his ears. He pumped his legs even harder, going even faster until he heard not a single word of his brain. 

Overhead, the clouds had broken just enough to let a soft ray of sunlight illuminate the oval field. A shape that should have made Rae dizzy, but was too long and wide apart in bending areas that it didn't even register in his mind that he was making a turn in the stretched circle. 

Another lap gone, and Rae could feel his lungs aching, a sign that he had finally reached his limits. Tod was passed out on the grass just a few feet away from him, so Rae was determined to mark his friend as the goal with which he would stop.

Gathering all the strength he could find, Rae dashed forward with a speed that made his lungs constrict even more painfully, the exhaustion making his arms fly like broken wings by his side. By the time he reached Tod, the right side of his chest throbbed as if he was being stepped on, and he wasted no time collapsing next to his friend, heaving himself dry with air. 

At the sound of him hitting the ground, Tod stirred from his nap, sitting up and blinking at the Rae that looked just like a fish out of water: mouth open and breathing like the world was going to explode. And Rae didn't find it funny when Tod busted out in laughter the moment he saw him. No, he felt almost...angry. 

"Wow!" Tod exclaimed, his voice sounding like one of those comedy dudes feigning surprise. "I did not see that coming! Really, couldn't predict it at all." 

Rae rolled over so that his back was to the ground. For some reason, the words annoyed him. For real. And he never got annoyed at Tod's words for real. 

 "Shut up," he said, a little sharper than he intended. 

If Tod found that tone surprising, he didn't let on. Instead, he took the liberty of making another earthquake on Rae's shoulders, the tremor knocking his head back and forth like one of those bobble head toys Dad had in his car. 

"Stop!" The shaking was so bad, Rae had no choice but to sit up, trying not to bite the hell out of those hands. He realized he was seething. 

"What?" Tod exclaimed at his pissed off look, completely oblivious to his rage. "I am not carrying you home."