*ELIYA KENLEY *
Age: 20
Sex: Feminine
***
[Don't stop.]
Steps thundered behind me, making my soul feel as though it was leaving my body. Shadows appeared everywhere I looked. Tall and humanoid, each cocking their head back as if laughing. Laughing at me, the little lamb running from the wolf. I didn't have the time to be seeing things right now.
'He' was faster, 'he' was stronger, it was only a matter of time before I was once more in 'his' hands.
But I had to keep going, this was likely to be my only chance. Something was bothering 'him', to the point of clouding his judgement.
The why didn't matter to me, all that mattered was that for a small moment, he had untied me from that pillar.
I couldn't yet see the campus, but I could hear it. Just a little further, it was just a few minutes from here.
It felt like acid had been poured into my lungs and my legs had been set ablaze. I was never very athletic, my body moved now only by adrenaline, it moved only in fear of those…steps?
They were gone. The thundering and rage-filled steps from a mere moment ago were gone.
[TRAP! DON'T STOP!] I wasn't dumb enough to fall for such an obvious trap. My legs kept pounding against the ground, propelling me until I passed the wall of shrubbery and was officially on campus. My body kept moving until I eventually collapsed by Building Eta 2
"Haaa~ Haaa~"
Each breath felt like I was inhaling fire, more strenuous than the last. I forced myself to turn my head, spitting out a red liquid from my mouth. Blood, but it wasn't mine.
Just as I was starting to compose myself, a sound stole my attention.
They were footsteps, dangerously close. I knew they were 'his'.
I knew how he was here, I had experienced it myself. He was possessing someone else's body
My body was too drained to resist, the weight of my exhaustion making my body impossibly heavy. I could only close my eyes as a silhouette loomed over.
PA!
My heart almost leapt out of my chest as something fell on top of me, a body. I didn't have the energy to push it off, only slowly reopening my eyes.
What greeted me was a face I had never been so grateful to see. Framed with auburn locks and accentuated by two piercing blue eyes, Pandora's face looked down at me with a smile. In his right hand was a wooden bat, while in his left was a small black notebook.
"Howdy!"
His voice was like sunlight during a storm, making me relax.
I parted my lips to speak, my voice coming out raw and broken.
"W-Why?"
He didn't open his mouth to answer, instead tapping the bat against the floor a few times. Morse code.
P-BOX.
"Now that that's cleared up, let's get moving. I have a thing or two I need to look into." He picked me up and threw me on his back.
"Know anything about what's goin-"
"AAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHHH!!!"
He froze, so did I.
My heart, which had just started to calm down, was now pounding like a drum. I felt tears fall from my eyes as I was overcome with an overwhelming yearning for death.
I didn't want it near me, I didn't want to be on the same planet as it!
But what was it? What creature had caused someone to scream like that?
Fate had never been very kind to me, even less so now. Another scream tore through my soul, causing a wave of fear to paralyse me further. I had forgotten how to breathe, blink, how to be a functioning human being.
The scream, it was getting closer!
[RUN!] I tried to tell Pandora, but my lips refused to part.
I was a prisoner in my own body, helpless.
"AAAAAAAAGGGGHH! AAAGGH! AAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!"
I knew her, the girl who had let out that soul-freezing scream. Her familiar brown hair was now a mess, stuck to her head by beads of sweat as she gave a desperate sprint in the direction opposite to where she had come from.
I understood her fear, looking at the creature slowly chasing after her. It was tall, about 190 cm, but it looked wrong, twisted. Its skin was thin and ghastly pale, almost transparent, and it walked with a limp. Each of its steps made a sickening sloshing noise. One of its eyes was bloodshot red, bulging with veins. It was muttering something, but I was too far to hear.
It slowly walked halfway through the road, almost walking past us before turning. Both its eyes stared at me intensely.
Pandora, who had been as still as a statue, started trembling, the bat in his hands forgotten.
Wait…
I knew that monster!
I hadn't recognized him immediately, too focused on his horrifying build to notice the torn basketball jersey hanging from his hips.