another refugee from the wet notebook.
May. 10th, 2008 06:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
levityIt was storming, the few lights still left unbroken were flickering, and the streets ran slick with water overflowing from the city's canals. Barely anyone was out at that ungodly hour.
Her bicycle's front tire found a pothole, and at the sudden bump it crumpled to the ground in a heap of metal. She disentangled herself from the steel skeleton, pushing a hand on the road to steady herself. She heard footsteps in the not-so-distant distance, footsteps that did not echo in the complex labyrinth of alleyways.
Wincing, she got to her feet, pulling the bike up with her, a biting, crippling pain in her leg as she tried to mount.
I want to sleep, she thought. I want to curl up and sleep for a thousand years.
The footfalls came closer.
"Serenie Valyn," she heard a voice say, clear despite the haze of rain.
"Damn," she muttered as she pushed off.
She could have sworn she heard laughter behind her.
---
Faster, she thought. Faster.
Her head was throbbing. She shut her eyes, leaning against a wall for a single moment. The muscles in her legs screamed as she kicked off once again. Her fingers were numb, her toes were getting there, and she could hardly see in the downpour.
How many hours since her last meal? Twelve? Ten?
She swerved around an electric post she had seen two seconds before it was too late, moving from the sidewalks to the street. Her clothes clung to her skin, and she bit her lip in attempt to stop the shivers, in an attempt to ignore the gradually quickening footsteps she knew were there.
She turned a corner, hoping it was too fast for her pursuer to notice.
Her foot slipped from the pedal at exactly the wrong moment, and the bike skidded. Her skull crashed into the wall, and blue and white exploded in her eyes. She could taste blood in her mouth, and she could not prevent a small whimper from escaping.
Get up, she tried to order herself. Damn you, your life depends on this, get up.
The rain drummed across her aching shoulders. She closed her eyes, leaning against the filthy wall, her every motion ringing with the tense pain of fatigue.
How long since she had started fleeing? Ten hours? Seven? She did not even try checking her watch in the dark.
Please... Just let me rest... Just for five minutes... Please...
"This is pathetic of you, Serenie. Just giving up? I honestly never expected it, that's why we left you for last."
She recognised that voice despite the heavy thrum of the rain. She would recognise that voice anywhere. Her eyes were flickering shut, despite all her attempts to force them open. She cradled the arm she had fallen on twice, and from the light in his eyes she could see it was coated in blood.
"You're not giving me a choice in the matter, Ren," he said, with a little theatrical sigh.
You didn't give me much of a choice either, she thought, right before her world went black.
Her bicycle's front tire found a pothole, and at the sudden bump it crumpled to the ground in a heap of metal. She disentangled herself from the steel skeleton, pushing a hand on the road to steady herself. She heard footsteps in the not-so-distant distance, footsteps that did not echo in the complex labyrinth of alleyways.
Wincing, she got to her feet, pulling the bike up with her, a biting, crippling pain in her leg as she tried to mount.
I want to sleep, she thought. I want to curl up and sleep for a thousand years.
The footfalls came closer.
"Serenie Valyn," she heard a voice say, clear despite the haze of rain.
"Damn," she muttered as she pushed off.
She could have sworn she heard laughter behind her.
---
Faster, she thought. Faster.
Her head was throbbing. She shut her eyes, leaning against a wall for a single moment. The muscles in her legs screamed as she kicked off once again. Her fingers were numb, her toes were getting there, and she could hardly see in the downpour.
How many hours since her last meal? Twelve? Ten?
She swerved around an electric post she had seen two seconds before it was too late, moving from the sidewalks to the street. Her clothes clung to her skin, and she bit her lip in attempt to stop the shivers, in an attempt to ignore the gradually quickening footsteps she knew were there.
She turned a corner, hoping it was too fast for her pursuer to notice.
Her foot slipped from the pedal at exactly the wrong moment, and the bike skidded. Her skull crashed into the wall, and blue and white exploded in her eyes. She could taste blood in her mouth, and she could not prevent a small whimper from escaping.
Get up, she tried to order herself. Damn you, your life depends on this, get up.
The rain drummed across her aching shoulders. She closed her eyes, leaning against the filthy wall, her every motion ringing with the tense pain of fatigue.
How long since she had started fleeing? Ten hours? Seven? She did not even try checking her watch in the dark.
Please... Just let me rest... Just for five minutes... Please...
"This is pathetic of you, Serenie. Just giving up? I honestly never expected it, that's why we left you for last."
She recognised that voice despite the heavy thrum of the rain. She would recognise that voice anywhere. Her eyes were flickering shut, despite all her attempts to force them open. She cradled the arm she had fallen on twice, and from the light in his eyes she could see it was coated in blood.
"You're not giving me a choice in the matter, Ren," he said, with a little theatrical sigh.
You didn't give me much of a choice either, she thought, right before her world went black.
