Chapter 10 – Run
> "Run!!!"
The scream tore through the stillness of dawn, slicing through the wind like a blade.
Joshua's eyes snapped open. His small body jolted slightly, his arms trembling weakly as he tried to move. The world around him was a blur of motion — muffled shouts, hurried steps, the pounding of panic in the air.
He could barely lift his fingers, his tiny muscles straining, but all he managed was a faint wiggle.
Feeling his stir, his mother turned toward him — her hair disheveled, face pale and slick with sweat. Her eyes met his for a brief moment, and though fear clouded her gaze, she smiled.
> "It's alright, Joshua," she whispered, voice trembling but gentle. "We'll be fine, my love… just rest."
But as she spoke, a strange heaviness spread through his small body again. His heartbeat slowed. His arms went limp. His eyelids drooped despite his will.
> Not again… he thought weakly.
This feeling — it's the same… it's forcing me to sleep.
A chill raced through him. His baby chest rose and fell rapidly as he fought the darkness creeping over his senses.
His gaze fixed on his mother's face — the same soft smile that comforted him moments ago — and fear swelled in his tiny heart.
> No! Not now!
But no matter how hard he tried to fight it, the darkness swallowed him whole.
---
He fell into silence.
Endless, suffocating silence.
He couldn't move. He couldn't see. But he could hear.
And what he heard froze his soul.
> "Run!!! Laura!!!"
"I'll hold them back!"
It was his father's voice — fierce, ragged, filled with a tone that only came from desperation.
> "No! I can't leave you here, Grey!"
"You have to! I'll find you later — just go! Take Joshua and find the midwife! She'll get you to safety!"
> "No, I can't—"
> "Laura! Stop being stubborn and think of little Joshua!"
The words hit hard.
Even without sight, Joshua could feel her silence — a hesitation thick with pain. The air trembled with the sound of her breathing, uneven and heavy.
Then—
> BOOM!
A deafening blast shook the air, followed by the cracking of wood and the hiss of fire.
> "Go! Go now!" Grey's voice roared one last time, raw and commanding.
Then came the sound of footsteps — fast, desperate. Leaves crunched, twigs snapped, and the forest echoed with Laura's frantic run.
Behind her, chaos raged — the howls of men, the clash of metal, and the unmistakable roar of something inhuman.
Joshua wanted to open his eyes, to see, to scream, to help — but he was trapped in that small, weak body. His consciousness floated between the darkness and the echo of reality.
The sounds of battle faded, swallowed by the distance and the rustling forest.
Now, there was only the sound of one thing — her heartbeat.
Fast. Uneven. Breaking.
---
Joshua's body began to stir again.
The weight faded
Light returned.
His eyelids fluttered open to a blur of trees rushing past above him.
Through his hazy vision, he saw his mother's face — pale, streaked with dirt and tears, her lips trembling as she gasped for air. She clutched him tightly against her chest, running barefoot through the woods. Branches tore at her arms, but she didn't stop.
Her eyes, filled with determination and terror, darted ahead — searching for safety that didn't seem to exist.
Joshua's small hand brushed against her neck.
It was warm — burning with fever, or maybe exhaustion.
> Mother…
He couldn't speak, but she seemed to hear his silence. Her grip tightened protectively.
> "Don't worry," she whispered breathlessly between steps. "Mama's got you. I'll keep you safe. I promise."
Her voice cracked at the end, but she kept running.
The forest was endless. Shadows stretched long and heavy. The sound of pursuit had vanished, but fear still clung to her like smoke.
Joshua's baby eyes scanned the world as they moved — the glow of distant torches in the dark, the faint howl of something monstrous far behind.
He could sense it — danger wasn't gone. It was watching.
Time blurred. Minutes felt like hours.
Then… the trees began to thin.
The scent of grass replaced the damp earth of the woods.
And suddenly, the sound of her footsteps disappeared.