Rain fell cold and sharp upon my face as I ran. The downpour was heavy, yet the winded whipped it back and forth effortlessly, slamming waves into me from every directing. Still, I ran, faster than I ever had, harder than I thought I could. Listening for sounds behind me, I heard naught but the splashing thud of my own feet on pavement. Perhaps he gave up pursuit, maybe I had outpaced him and was free, but I dare not look back.
Fear powered my steps as I turned downhill, toward downtown. I leaned forward, letting gravity lend speed to my gait. My decent was rapid, beyond the potential of my limbs, and I risked hope. Surely I was free of him. There was no way he could keep up such a race.
I slid across the hood of a parked car as I departed the main roadway and dashed down a footpath. It was dark and narrow, and a longer route to town, but I hoped it would escape his gaze. I squinted, from the rain and dark, and struggled to see the path. As the trail flattened out, I ventured a glance back. As best as I could see, the void behind was vacant his presence.
Misstep in this moment turned relief to agony. I tumbled forward, hitting face with pavement. The crack of cartilage, a sickening sinking of my nose deeper into my face, and an accompanying gush of hot and thick blood down throat and face. I gurgled a cry of pain as I scrambled back to my feet. How stupid was I? What did I hope to see in dark behind me?
His howl pierced the night, and froze my sodden limbs. He was close, but not on the trail. Had I not been so foolish, I may have made it, but now with the stench of my blood seeping through the air, he would have no difficulty finding me.
Willing my chilled appendages back in to motion, I hurdled down the trail. Vomiting blood in each distressed breath, I knew my pace was slowed. I heard crashing through the brush on my left, maybe twenty meters in. He was upon me, and with fresh adrenaline coursing through my body, I spurred myself faster. I could see the light of the main roadway ahead, freedom from the dark.
I stepped into the light as I heard the last snapping of brambles. He was free the slowing harassment of the briar, and another victorious howl shattered the night. I scrambled down the street. The town center was close, though what hope I had of finding aide in time had all but faded. The rhythmic clacking of his claws on concrete behind me was deafening, and tears of desperation mixed into the rain on my face.
Heart pounding in my throat, I entered the central plaza. Slipping on a downward ramp, I slid forward on my arms, fraying flesh from bone, wrist to elbow. Slamming face first into the brick of the square below, my strength left me. Water cascaded down the ramp and crashed over my exhausted heap. I rolled onto my back and looked up to the form of my pursuer.
His towering silhouette leered at me from the top of the incline. Torso heaving as he drew breath, he just stood and stared. Rain dripped from his muzzle, and the streetlamps illuminated his hideous expression, somewhere between snarl and smirk. His massive finger-like talons clenched into an inhuman fist as his sniffed the air, savoring the sweet metallic stench of my blood pooling in the water around me.
He stepped down toward me, taking his time, enjoying the sight of my broken, frozen form lay helpless before him. I gurgled pleas of mercy as he approached, but words caught in my throat amongst the coagulated blood and terror. He bent over my body, to look into my face, to find final satisfaction before ending me. I choked on the pungent musk of his mane as he lifted my head to meet his gaze, his yellow eyes narrowing as they stared into mine. Victory was finally his. I shut my eyes tight, quivering in uncontrollable trepidation.
There was a moment, waiting for the kill, waiting for death, a moment stretched for an eternity, interrupted by the muffled clamor of men and feet. I opened my eyes and my predator was gone, replaced by two policemen and a flashlight in my face. They spoke to me, something I could not understand as I drew new breath.
“Can you hear me, son? What happened? Are you alright?” one asked again, urgent and worried.
“I don't think so,” I replied. The rain drizzled to a stop.
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