Groaning in pain Elyse slowly crawled to her hands and feet and looked up to see what had made the sound. Running quickly towards the black steed was the strange little donkey creature. The creature ran full force into the horse, bashing it with his golden horns which stunned the horse, and made the Dullahan fall off onto the ground, dropping his head which rolled away from him. Elyse took this as her chance to escape. Quickly she grabbed her bags then turned around and ran towards the direction Chad had run hoping maybe she could outrun the Dullahan.
She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Though with each moment that passed she grew weaker and her legs felt heavier. Soon it felt as if her legs were made of lead, but were as weak and wobbly as rubber. She didn't know how much longer she could continue running. The blood loss from her wound was also weakening her. "Wake up, wake up! Dammit Elyse why the hell won't you wake up!?" Elyse cried out into the night as she continued running for her life.
Soon she slowly began to realise that this wasn't a dream. As crazy and impossible as it was, all of this was actually happening to her. The Dullahan was real, he wanted her dead, and was chasing her through a dark forest late at night.
"Shit how can this be happening? I am going to die." She said almost crying from a mix of fear and pain as she ran some more. She could hear the Dullahan's horse close behind her. Elyse could practically feel the horse's breath on the back of her neck. She knew better than to turn around and just kept going. But she also knew outrunning a horse was foolish and she was close to giving up.
The forest looked eerie in the dark, the white thin branches of the trees looked like skeletal arms reaching out towards Elyse to grab her. She continued through the forest following a twisted dirt trail, trying to escape her headless pursuer. Elyse nearly tripped over some roots and fallen branches a few times as she was running, but luckily, she somehow managed to keep her balance and not fall.
The Dullahan was even closer to her now, and all seemed hopeless. It appeared the Dullahan was soon to catch her when Elyse saw an old rotted wooden bridge held together by rope crossing a peculiar river. The river was made of boiling water and rising from the water was smoke. Actual smoke, not steam. It even had the thick smell of campfire smoke coming from it. And coming from the smoke were ghostly figures of men and women moaning desperately at Elyse.
(Smoking River. That Chad told me that the Dullahan cannot cross the Smoking River. This has to be it.) Elyse thought to herself as she took a deep breath and slowly carefully began crossing the bridge. As she did so, the ghostly figures reached out towards her, some even grabbing her arms and shirt, but then would let go almost as quickly as they touched her. Almost as if touching her hurt them. With each step she took, the wooden planks groaned under her feet and made her fear that she was going to fall through the planks and into the boiling water below. Luckily the planks held up and she was able to make it safely to the other side.
She sighed a deep sigh of relief as she reached the other side. Even though deep down she knew better, Elyse turned around to see if the Dullahan was still following her. But the Dullahan was at the other end of the bridge looking angry as he tried urging his horse forward. Each time his horse set a foot on the bridge though, its hoof would glow bright red as if burning, and it would cry out in pain jumping back. "Hah you cannot cross! See you loser!" Elyse taunted the Dullahan. Very foolish, true. But Elyse was not thinking it through carefully. Perhaps from blood loss, or lack of sleep. Or maybe she just wasn't very bright.
To her shock the Dullahan spoke back to her in a deep gravelly voice. "I'll come back for you later little girl. Just you wait and see. Then you will die." He snarled, then turned his horse around and rode off into the night. Elyse felt a shiver go down her spine, though unsure if it was from fear or her wound. "What will I do now?" She wondered aloud, then shrugged looking down worried. She then turned back towards the path and decided to follow it. Maybe she would run into Chad again and he could help her. After all, she had seen enough horror movies to know staying put would get her killed. And the Dullahan's threat all but confirmed that.
Elyse shivered from the cold, and blood loss from the gash in her back. She continued down the path crying silently to herself feeling hopeless like a lost child. She was so tired and weak, but too scared to stop for rest just yet. "Chad...where are you? You still out here?" She asked in a weak helpless voice hoping he would hear her. True, she still didn't actually trust this man, but he did offer her help. So maybe he wasn't a bad guy and could help her get home safely. Elyse began regretting running away and cried more just wanting to go home and be safe and sound in her own warm bed.
As she walked down the path she could hear the echo of her footsteps in the air, but...could hear something else too. Another pair of footsteps. Softer and quicker, close behind her. She was too scared to turn around and see what was following her so she tried to quicken her pace. But whatever was following her also sped up. Finally, she couldn't take the tension anymore and turned around to see what was behind her.
At first, she saw nothing. That is until her eyes scanned downwards and she saw the source of the footsteps. Sitting on the ground in front of her was a small grey and black tabby cat with a white tuft of fur on its chest, and bright blue eyes. "Meow." It said softly then licked its paw.
Elyse sighed softly and smiled. "Hey little one. Were you the one following me? You shouldn't be out here all alone, you might get hurt." She said in a soft voice to the cat. The cat responded with another meow then rubbed against her legs. "I am so tired, little one. But I'm scared to sleep here all by myself. Could you stay with me through the night?" Elyse asked, gently setting her bags down and sitting on the ground painfully leaning her back against a tree. The cat meowed and curled up on her lap to sleep, letting her pet it. Its fur was soft and smooth like silk, calming her, and slowly helped her fall asleep.