Safe?

The pain was so unbearable, nothing like she had ever experienced before. She hid behind one of the thick branched trees in the forest - the forest, or so she thought. She was exhausted and tired, the soles of her feet were sore and hurting from all the cuts she had received from running barefooted. Now was her chance to rest, at least for a little while. Slowly, she sunk to the ground behind the tree and started to cry, she had been through a lot. Seeing horrible things done to girls her age and horrible things being done to her too. That was how she got those cuts and stitches all over her body and the reason why she had a kitchen knife sticking out of her left thigh. She had tried to pull it out several times but she couldn't. She knew she wouldn't be able to bear the pain that came with it and the sight of blood made her nauseous. She wiped her tears with the sleeves of her flimsy overall white cloth she was made to wear. Though white being its original colour, hers was stained with smudges of dried blood and soot, her body was too and she looked like she was going to die anytime soon.

After a while, she was able to subdue her silent tears and stood up. She had to continue running or else he'd catch her and take her back to that place that smelt like dead corpses and was difficult to breathe in.

She was about to move when she heard the sound of a tree branch crack in the darkness. He was close, really close. She gasped. No I don't want to go back, please don't make me go back. She could hear her inner voice screaming and pleading in her head. But where could she pass? which path was safe? She was scared because she didn't know where he was hiding. The call of her name interrupted her thoughts, instantly, she recognized the voice, it was his. She recognized his cold, cranky, baritone voice. The one that sent chills running down her spine and sets her panicking. Suddenly there was a loud bang, a gunshot. He had brought his rifle along with him and wasn't hesitant to use it. But this gave her a clue as to where he was hiding and ran in the opposite direction to where the rifle had sounded. Hopefully, she would get away from him and be free again.