Page 89 of Once Upon a Fable

I HALF RAN, HALF STUMBLED.

I saw double and crashed to my knees. Shaking my head, I snarled at my messed-up vision, demanding it to sort its shit out. Thankfully, the queasiness and vertigo faded a little, giving me a few precious moments to charge ahead, following the tracks of my prey.

When I touched my forehead, my fingertips came away streaked with blood.

She’d struck me.

She’d made me bleed.

She’d left me for dead.

She’ll pay.

I ran faster.

I didn’t know how much of a head start she had or how long I’d been out. The sun’s location hadn’t changed much by the time I’d blinked back the wash of achy blackness and come to. It couldn’t have been that long. Then again, it’d been long enough to ensure her presence in my valley was gone. She’d left behind an emptiness, a cavern that threatened to keep expanding until it swallowed me whole.

That almost kiss.

It’d been...electrifying. Confounding.

The most dangerous and painful thing I’d ever done.

Everfelt.

And look how it ended.

Once again, violence had been wielded against me. Pain had been given when all I’d offered was pleasure.

They’re all the same.

No one can be trusted.

Swaying, I caught a tree branch and kept running.

Anger gave me speed. Betrayal gave me power.

She couldn’t escape.

That isn’t how this story ends.

Shadows enveloped me as I reached the base of the cliff. Her tracks had been easy to follow. Her goal had been swiftness not sneakiness, leaving behind broken twigs, crushed grass, and a pathway that blazed with her direction.

Skidding to a halt, I spied something colorful and abandoned in the undergrowth. Kicking it with my bare foot, it rolled away, water oozing from a crack in the side. Was that hers? A water bottle that she’d left behind in her rush to escape, or had others been so close to my valley and I’d never noticed?

Pure fear shot down my spine.

The thought of others finding me. Of her telling society about me.

It can’t happen.

I couldn’t go back. I couldn’t endure that again. I would rather die.

Find her!

Ignoring my pounding headache, I began to climb.

Grabbing a branch, I stepped onto a plant-spotted rock, taking the first step out of my valley for the first time since I’d been brought here.