Hide

Worn rubber treads pray for purchase in the cold earth as clumsy feet stumble within the living forest walls. Sweat dots furrowed brows; insects blinking in and out of existence paint narrow halos in his reddened field of vision and he reminds himself to breathe above the empty pulse of blood in his ears. Above him the black sky falls backwards and he isn’t concerned in the least.

Footfalls thunder like clockwork at his back and he had to keep moving keep breathing and

Ducks into a hollow in the forest wall. Fingernails dig into the soil and he wills himself flat against the tree bark, ignores the artificial sting of thorn digging through the thin protection of sweat-soaked cotton. Tries to hide, protect himself from the inevitable hurt but it’s not enough – never never enough. Hands that harm peel the layers of brush from his hiding place and he’s face-to-face with dishwater eyes and a blood-flecked smile.

“Found you.”

Dirty fingers snare him by the scalp and as teeth snap down into his bottom lip Henry knows there’s nowhere left to run.