S.H.A.D.E. [{ Completed }]✔ (#Wattys2018)

Terror

3.

The screaming of the boy and the pounding of the woman on the other side of the door send me running the way that Copper has instructed.

I should listen to him for now, he is leading me away from danger.

My lungs feel as though I have breathed in fire, and my muscles still ache terribly from going from utter stasis to exertion, but I continue on down the long hall way, fear driving me. This building is clearly used for storage, stacks of wood and metal everywhere. It smells of saw dust and iron.

I reach the end of the hall.

"Right".

So I continue right.

The hall leads to yet another room stacked to the brim with materials.

"You can exit here through another vent that is located at the back wall. You're on the first floor, so there will be a lookout going around the building. I will be able to pin-point him once you step outside, but you will need to be careful when exiting."

I nod, though I am unsure of if he can see me. I have no idea how he's doing any of this, especially talking to me from the inside of my own head...

Putting that perplexing question aside for now, I move into the room, jogging around the various stacks to the back wall.

Suddenly, from behind me, I hear the clatter of a wood plank and a hushed curse. I dive behind one of the stacks of wood, back pressed against and listening intently, trying this time to keep my heart beat even.

"Good, Ebony," Copper says, "she can hear your pulse, so keep calm."

"How am I supposed to keep calm now that I know she can do that?"

"Just when I was starting to think you were a worthy pick..."

"You know what, Copper? You're turning out to be a real dick."

"Yeah, saving your life is such a dick move. Now concentrate! She is moving your way. You're gonna wanna knock her out before you leave, and do it fast because others are coming!"

I slowly take a plank from the stack, then move stealthily around a row, listening for movement.

Now that I'm not so disoriented, I find that I seem to be adapting to this strange situation well. Or is this unexpected sense of confidence Copper's doing?

I hear a rustle over my shoulder. I turn and the woman is right behind me, coming at me with a plank. I meet her blow with my own plank, but her swing splinters them both so that they erupt in our faces. We both tumble back to the ground, but despite the bits of wood that have flown into my eyes, I get back up onto my feet quickly.

She has done the same. She shakes the splinters from her hair, her bun no longer just so. It makes her look all the more terrifying, and her eyes glow harshly in the darkness of the room.

I feel a sense of paralyzing dread. A deep instinctual impulse of fear seizes my breath, and I want to run, to claw at these walls like a rat trapped in a cage.

But I cannot move.