That is just what I did; crawled as if my life depended on it, for all I knew, that is just what it did.
I can't remember feeling this out of touch or control over myself while obviously being just that. I crawled into the darkness; sharp rocks scraped up my knees, palms, and legs, but I ignored it. Kept my head and eyes focused straight forward, looking at nothing.
Jacob's howls of amusement echoed around me, together with his laughter. He pretended to bark like a dog and growl, and every sound taunted me as I dragged myself through the darkness. At one point, the pain I felt was the bleeding wound on my exposed limbs. It stung, burned, and plain out hurt. This shook me back to reality.
A little puzzled, I slowly got myself up, used the wet and cold walls to get to my feet, and just stood there listening to the creepy sound filling the dark void around me, together with my loud and heavy breathing. My pulse throbbed in my ears like rushing water, desperately working to close all other sounds out, but the pain of the rejection was gone. Taking a couple of deep breaths and straightening myself, I didn't take time to ponder. Amon told me this pain, the pain of rejection between destined mates, was enough to kill. Not everyone survived it, and it could linger for weeks, making it feel impossible to breathe for days. But for some reason, not for me. However, right now, I have other things to worry about.
There was no question in my mind that the barking and growling Jacob made was only to taunt me, they had not yet shifted. No matter how hard I raked my brain and memories, I had no clue how long I had before they followed. I couldn't even remember if they told me at all. Leaning heavily on the cave walls, I shook my head. Focus. Carefully, I let go of the cold stones, testing the ground, and I could keep my balance.
"Drifta? A little help here!"
The deep cave was pitch-black. I didn't even see my hand before me, and this attitude from Drifta is seriously rubbing me the wrong way! I know she's there; I know she hears me, and I feel her. I even know she's keeping away from her own will! But fuck it, I'm tired of asking why, sick of begging for her help and company, but she can at least help me instead of letting me burn on my own in the dark. No matter the reason for her to ignore me, I can't believe she wants me dead.
"Drifta! Keep away, be like that! But at least help me see!"
I felt anger but also shame rolled off her while she stirred in my mind, and to my surprise, my sight slowly became clearer. Breathing out, I felt some sense of relief and muttered a low thank you. Now I could see where to go, the narrow rocky corridors split into several paths, and I had no idea where to start or go. A low whisper filled my head, like magic swishing around between my ears, but there was not a single word there I could sifter. I brushed it off as Drifta's work and that I didn't have time to stand here and glare, so I just picked a direction.
Running like a headless chicken, my feet felt raw, and the metallic taste in my mouth covered all my tastebuds and smell. My pulse throbbed like a drum beat through my entire body, and drops of sweat trickled down my back. Catching my breath, listening, waiting for, I don't know what, I realized I have to be smarter than this. No matter how fast I run, they will catch up in their wolf form. No matter how many turns I take or how many times I switch paths, they will follow my scent like a glowing string through the dark. No, I needed to stop and think. Even if Drifta didn't answer or talk to me, I found it better to talk to her or out loud to myself. I am discussing with myself how to solve this, how to wash my scents off or mislead them, slow them down, or something at all.
Since I did not have much time, I decided to use what I had most of here in the dark, stones and water. First off, I quickly built up a rock wall, cutting one of the paths off, making it look more like a little rockslide, and making sure I stood on the opposite side of it while I built it. My shirt had been left behind with Jacob and Ezra, not that it would cover anything at all after they ruined it, but it would have been nice to have about now. The only piece of clothing I had left besides my bra was my pants. My heart hammered against my chest while ripping them off. Running through this cold and wet place in my underwear did not lift my spirit in any way, but what choice did I have?
Soaking my pants in water, I laid them over the rock wall before I climbed to the other side, making sure I touched as little as possible. Splitting the piece of fabric in two, I stood on one and used the other one on my hands while closing up my little construction. My feet burned in the cold water as I stepped into a little puddle to soak the pants again before wrapping one on each foot. The cold water and fabric would not hide my sent for too long, but if I'm fast, I can at least give them a little run for their money and waste some of their time. With no sense of time, I can't say how long I did this. Ran and stopped to make smaller and bigger obstacles. Walking back and forth, dipping my pants in cold running water, stepping into it. In some places, I covered the path entirely; in other places just created a little wall or heap of slippery stones. In one place, I even found old rotten wood logs. It all helped, and everything had a part to play in my goal to irritate Jacob as much as possible while throwing them off my way.
I felt rushed, like my time was running out, and it was time to just hope what I did help a little and run until I fainted. The universe is a strange thing, and just as this thought struck me and I started to run, the sound of growling and falling rocks created raucous far away, and I knew they were on the way. I didn't know I could run any faster; maybe I didn't, but it felt like I did. All my energy focused on running like I shut down everything else that was not important. I just ran.
But for each step, it felt like the raging beast came two steps closer. The hair on my neck rose, and my heart started pounding even faster. Everything rushed past me, cold water splashed on my face, and stones cut up my arms. Warm blood trickled down my cold arms, and I saw no end to the darkness or path in front of me. My eyes focused on the never-ending darkness in front of me, hearing paws slide on the wet ground, shuffling his massive weight through a sharp turn, kicking loose gravel in all directions. Huffing and puffing came closer behind me in the dark, a low growling snuck up closer and closer with each step I took.
My scream echoed loudly, covering all other sounds as my body suddenly threw itself against the wall. Shocked and in utter disbelief, I realized it had been Drifta. The massive white wolf flew past me like a white and fluffy lightning bolt. My feet started running before the rest of my body was ready, making me run on all fours before I managed to get up on my feet, only to be thrown down to the ground. My nose and forehead slammed to the ground, but as quickly as I went down, I jumped up. Panicked, the white fur brushed against my skin, and an irritating roar hit me in the back. Unfortunately, the only thing ahead of me is a long, straight path with no room to be thrown aside, I don't even think it would help to lie down. The wolf filled almost every inch of the cave tunnel.
As the seconds passed, the sound of four paws paralleled with the splashing sound of my feet running through small puddles and water streams. The air started to vibrate as the monster behind me growled, and for a split second, I swear I could feel his hot breath on my neck and his fur brushing up against my bare legs.
Whine and whimpers exploded behind me, and I almost fell for the need to stop and look, but I managed to keep on going. The space between us grew, and looking over my shoulder as I took another turn, I saw the wolf squirming on the ground, a massive rock on his back and another one right beside him. Even if it looked like he was stuck there, I didn't stop. I ran, took as many turns as I could, and tried to tell me I took the most unpredictable turns to hold my own hopes up.
The little flash of light almost made me cry when my head finally realized what it was. A little hole in the roof, but enough for me to squeeze out if I could only reach it. Without even thinking, I grabbed all the rocks I could see and threw them together below the little hole, and since the tunnel had become smaller and smaller as I ran further in, it didn't take me long. I crawled up, ran, and crawled up the loose and wobbling rocks, picturing myself as Gollum using hands and feet like an animal that belonged nowhere in this world, and jumped towards the opening above. It was a little further up than I first thought, but both hands grabbed onto the edge of the opening. So, kicking like a crazy person, like I tried to walk or run up on the air itself, I pulled myself up.
The bright light blinded me and made my eyes fill with water. A voice started shouting, but all I saw were white flashing spots as I blinked while desperately trying to pull myself up. My entire body froze as something warm grabbed my hand. Slowly, my sight adjusted, and I started crying. The air felt so light, so pleasant for a change, and right there, holding my hand, was Myra! Sobbing and smiling, I managed to pry up my other hand and reach out for her. Her smile was enough to warm my heart and warm my cold and numb skin.
My heart wanted to explode in joy, and tears spilled down my face. All I wanted was to hug her, to hear her voice, to collapse in her arms.
I saw her face light up from fear, shock, and utter disbelief. It was a heartwarming sight!
And it felt like I watched a slow-motion movie, where the zoom was on my fingertips, closing in on her cheek, her smile and aura that called for me. Sang towards me and promised help and comfort. A sharp pain in my foot, and then everything was gone. The beast's jaws were locked round my foot and continued to drag me further down into the caves again. And no matter how loud I shouted, the space between us grew rapidly.