CARMEN
Branches whipped across my face as I ran.
The forest was endless, a black maze of towering pine trees and jagged stone, their shadows twisting together beneath the storm-dark sky. My lungs burned with every breath, cold air slicing down my throat like broken glass. Damp earth slipped beneath my boots, roots clawing at my ankles as if the woods themselves wanted to drag me down and offer me to the creature hunting me.
Behind me, it roared savagely.
The sound rolled through the trees like thunder, deep and animalistic, but wrong in a way no normal animal should ever sound. It vibrated through my chest and into my bones. Heavy hind legs slammed against the ground, fast—too fast.
It was gaining on me, and that realization terrified me more than anything ever had before.
I shoved p
