A woman in a long sleeveless grey dress ran through the light forest.
Her bare feet were bloody from the stones and branches that had cut deep into her flesh. Her honey brown hair flew around her sweaty face, and her ragged breathing echoed in the woods' silence.
The cold autumn night air burned in her lungs. She was out of shape and exhausted from running. But the sense of imminent danger pushed her to her breaking point.
She felt exposed and vulnerable on the dirt road in the moonlight.
There was no one nearby. Nobody was pursuing her. She was still aware of the danger.
The darkness that surrounded her only heightened her fear of something following her. She came to a halt and listened, turning around and peering into the shadows. She held her breath, but all she could hear was her
