Running. Running felt like torture, the forest floor was painful, and the trees and foliage were even more so. Everything hurt: my hands, my legs, my eyes. Every part of my body bleeds black, unborn skin rendered red, by a hundred broken-edge razors. My vision was shattered into a dozen blurred windows. I saw everything that was around me, the dark-green front, the black-grey ground, the purple-white dotted sky, and the yellow-green blots from behind. I knew nothing but the fear of what would come if I stopped.
My legs were falling apart, skin and sinew peeling with each step, and I felt myself becoming less of a man than I already was. I could hear the snapping cacophony rushing from behind, and my hand grabbed whatever they could to push forward. The smell of venom and the growls from the beast filled the air with vile, and their wails of death were close, and I only hoped that my suffering was the same for them.
Run. Move. Flee. Words I engraved into my very flesh, forcing them to move past their limits, my life was at the end of its wick, and my body was only a flicker in a broken lantern. Yet my soul still poured oil even when it was only stretching my suffering.
I was no longer a man; the remnants of which were lost behind and hung on shrubbery. It did not matter; what was never mine could never be lost. To be a man was sanctuary, only lived in dreams. To be born with such pleasures and innate wonder, to be born with the destiny and fate right at their side, to be born with love. I was only born with one gift, and with it. I learned I was born with unnumerable curses.
'Come.' A voice soft and sensual whispered into my ear. 'Come closer, my dear,' the voice fueled my steps more than my soul. Out of the woods and into the waving fields, the star-lit sky aided my eyes, and the breeze blew from behind, carrying the faint smell of ash.
Flames and embers swallowed what was left behind, but the charge of my followers did not falter. If anything, it only made their figures shimmer. They rode in packs of slender best, each one clad in smooth white cloth over hard black skin, and each one covered their face with a helm of black glass.
"FIND THEM!" The rough voice echoed from behind. "SUCH A MONSTER SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO LIVE!" The roar of their beast quickly followed. I shuddered as their voices echoed through my body and flickered my soul.
My mother and father were at my side, wearing robes of white glittered with moving black stars. "Rest now, my dear." They said in unison, their voice sweet and equally old. I never heard their voices nor saw their faces, but for a moment I listened.
"There in the fields!" A woman shouted, thrusting their sword in my direction. Its edge shone gold, and its tip burned white. A stream of glimmering light zipped across the fields and burned through what was left of my shoulder. My parents vanished along with it.
Gritting my teeth, my arms and legs clawed through the fields, with blurred and sweating eyes. The tightness in my hurt more than the bolt, and there was no reason for me to continue. There was no deifying logic or reason. Exhaustion and anguish battered my flesh. Death was before my eyes, and the world faded as they met.
'Your fate is not here,' The voice spoke again, and it pushed me forward. 'Come, my dear.' I did not know why, but the voice was my only reason to continue.
'Right,' the voice said, and I complied. heat grazed my side, and the ground on my left shuddered as if struck. The voice guided my path, and it sounded clearer with each step, and with each step, my body moved quicker.
My followers were quicker. The rumbling of the ground grew louder with each second, and the rays they sent were getting too abundant to evade. It was unwise of me to think I would ever outrun them.
'Jump.' The voice said, and the scorching shot on my back reminded me not to stop. I felt the cool breeze tear loose flesh from my bones, and I breathed a sigh of relief for that moment of peace.
'Rest easy, my dear.' The voice said, and I complied. I rested my form flat like a carpet, shifting my beating core at its center. I moved what soft tissue remained, creating a protective coon around it, and let fate judge my destiny.
_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-
Dad... Dad..." Chester woke up to his daughter stirring his arm. His vision blurred, and the memories of his dreams nearly vanished at the sight of his daughter.
"I had a nightmare." She said, with teary eyes and clasping the wooden butterfly pendant around her neck. Her frilled pajamas and blue nightcap hugged loosely on her small form, and despite her current look, she still looked precious and perfect in his.
Chester sighed and pushed himself upright, glancing at his wife lying beside him; her hair was a wild, cloudy mess that hid sadly, hid her figure, and took up most of the bed space. But even hiding under her curls, her snore was still audible.
"Alright, come here, caterpillar," Chester spoke softly, picking his daughter up by the waist and placing her on his lap. "What was it this time?"
"It was the monsters in grey again."
Chester nodded and made space. It was understandable for a child like her to have them; her mind and psyche were still developing, and at her age, nightmares were a common problem. A problem that he thought they already fixed.
"Don't worry, Mommy and I are going to fix it." He said and tucked her into the space between him and his wife, using his wife's hair as an additional woolly blanket. "Sweet dreams, my caterpillar."
Chester watched as his daughter slowly fell asleep before taking her nightcap. Originally, it was white. "You're growing up so fast." He muttered before crushing it in his palm, where a mouth opened and ate it. His body shivered at the influx of energy, and he smiled and thanked his daughter for the midnight snack.