Faster and faster her heart beat; soaked to the bone, she trembled and forced herself on, knowing that her limbs would soon begin to numb. Around another corner and under a stone bridge, she persisted, still feeling as if his chilling breath were on the back of her neck. Again she screamed! The reflection of her shadowy and weather-beaten form stared up at her from a vivid puddle. She was trapped; there was only choice: take the one grim escape that remained or, she knew, submit to the gruesome terror approaching.
Her body sore and aching, Margo stopped at the end of a cobblestone alley and looked up the hill to the right of her. There erected was a tall and intimidating structure. It reached up beyond the height of the sleeping town, the top even higher than the clouds themselves which, this very moment, beat down on her. Its image amazed her enough to make Margo pause for a moment.
A loud thud awoke her gaze and she spun around! Nothing but the dank and deserted alley behind her was seen. She began again, running harder and harder, straining herself over and under the obstacles in her way, and she made for the desolate hill.
"If I hide anywhere in the city he'll find me- sniff me out--and that will be only the beginning," Margo thought to herself. "The manse is my only hope...and even there...," but her train of though was interrupted by her passage through the town gates and into the wilderness west of it.
Crouching in the shadows she waited and listened. Had he seen her? Would he? Was that her heart's beat that echoed in her mind? She had no time to examine her predicament; all she could possibly hope for was to continue on her way unseen and unheard. This was of course impossible, for the pursuer was ever hot on her trail, ever lurking. Ever watching.
Springing from her post, she sprinted along the bottom perimeter of the hill, intending to spiral up to the top and eventually find some peace and solace in the lonely, abandoned house above. The rain still ricocheted off her body as she panted and struggled up the steep mountainous path.
Nearly an hour of straight intense climbing finally resulted in her completion of the hopeless hike. She cast her eyes down, as she stood in front to the towering mansion, to search frantically along the ascent. Darting from rock to rock and crevice to crevice they watched. Suddenly with disappointed excitement and a chill of the heart she saw the thing for which she was searching. A black and deformed spot was slowly climbing the hill towards her. The gnarled thing in hot persuit gave her a morbid shock that pierced into her being and she fell with a soft screech.
Immediately she pulled herself up and threw open the gate of the manse, never looking back. She saw the cobblestone walk as she trampled down it, but apparently not clearly enough, for she fell. As if out of nowhere. Hurriedly she glanced around for the cause. She saw no one.
Compelled by her need to escape the pursuer she dismissed the thought and ran again. With a crash she fell, this time into a large puddle on the walk which had come about from a missing section of stone. She lay there quivering, stricken with fear and wonder.
"What if I just lie here, he will find me but I will not have to run, I will not have to live this life that has born itself upon me!" she thought with a flicker of indecision. Yet again, getting to her feet she sprung from the walk onto the grass and bolted to the wooden door ahead of her. Clambering up the steps she threw herself, with the last of her strength, against the mahogany entrance.
The door gave way and she fell in, the door swinging on one hinge. Finally, looking up, Margo kicked the door shut and examined her wounds. Nothing much...yet... The only scratches on her drenched body were those caused by her exodus. She trembled and sobbed with half fear and half relief. She felt as if she were running out of the two precious commodities she needed the most: time and energy.
*****
Feeling heat for the first time in over three hours was not something that Margo was going to pass up, pursuer or none. As she stood up she felt the slight warmth of the old house, her new shelter. In the center of this entrance room, a staircase leading upwards promised new rooms above. Looking at the cobwebs and stained wood gave her a chill that seized her backbone like a pair of freezing hands. In a sudden burst of stamina she managed to reach the next floor up and dashed through the nearest doorway.
The dark suffocated this room and threatened to choke her with its grip. Margo couldn't believe her eyes. It was a room so desolate and eerie that her hands clenched trying to fight it off. She heard footsteps now! Coming from somewhere distant, and hurrying! Thud, thud, thud, thud! Louder and louder they grew, her blood turned icy, and she froze in place with sheer terror!
What was this, though? Could it be that the footsteps were getting neither nearer nor farther? She put her hand over her heart and realized it had been her tender heart! In that split second she had thought it the ghastly mark of her pursuer but now turned away from that notion, wrought with distress. The water dripped down her body landing with soft echoing plops on the hardwood.
"Where am I to go? Anywhere...and he will follow.’ bellowed in the depths of her mind.
At that exact moment a small click was heard behind her, she slowly turned on her heels and...
*****
That night a screech echoed and froze the blood of all who heard. That night the town woke to it. That night they could not help but hear...the sound of the pursuer, claiming another victim in the darkness.
