Feature Friday

Yeah, I just made that up.
The hub and I are taking a break from our Supernatural binge so he can do some homework, so I thought I'd work on Reckoner some more, and then I thought I might share a little bit...

Anyways, so if you're interested, this is the opening:

***

Branches whip into my face, stinging my eyes, drawing blood, blinding me as I run. The strap on my flipflop broke and I kicked them off so I can get a better grip on the soft ground even though the fallen twigs and pine cones and sweet gum balls and occasional rocks cut into my feet, but I'm above being bothered by physical pain. My heart pounds in my ears and my sides are stitching, forcing my lungs to squeeze up tighter and tighter as my unfit body pushes itself beyond its limitations for the adrenaline powering me now. I can hear him behind me, hear his ragged breath and steady footfalls and know that eventually I will fail, will succumb to my weak physical form and he will overcome me.


And I don't see the drop-off until I'm already pitching forward over it, flailing in midair to try to orient myself, trying to throw my balance in the right direction so that when I land I won't fall, but it's no use and my breath is forcibly expelled from my lungs as I smash into the ground. The scent of decaying leaves and there's blood in my mouth along with intense pain and I realize that I've bitten my tongue severely, and I have just enough humanity left over the fear to wonder if I've bitten it off and what will happen if I have.


He lands on top of me, knees smashing into my abdomen. His eyes are wild and lips drawn back over his teeth and he doesn't look human, doesn't look like the boy I thought I loved as a dirt-covered hand closes over my face. I thrash beneath him and scream deep and guttural. One of my arms is loose and I lash out at him, but he is larger and bats it away, so I claw at the back of his hand even as fire envelops my face, whiting out my thoughts with searing pain. I feel one of his fingers thrust into my mouth and I bite down without thinking, bite down harder than I've ever bitten anything in my life, embracing the animal I truly am as I feel his skin splitting and the resistance of bone, but I keep biting even as his blood mixes with mine. He falters for a second, just long enough for me to wrap my fingers around the skin of his wrist and pour everything I have into that moment and I know it is going to be the end for both of us, a clash of wills on the top of my mountain, my refuge, and our howls rise together to the blazing sun.

***