Bitch: Transformation
Chapter 3 - Getting Tired

Minutes later I was at the end of my stamina. My time recovering had sapped my strength. Breathing heavily I leaned against the rough bark. The blood was no longer pounding in my ears. I wondered if I had left too soon after the last surgery. Maybe I should have waited longer. But I shuddered again at the thought of Shen’s hands touching me.

A part of me deep in my core, knew that if I didn’t leave there, I would have died anyway. Shen could never set me free again.

My breath, coming in small white clouds, stung to breathe. I used to be able to run miles without stopping, I had run for my high school, long distances meant nothing to me. My legs eating up the miles, my form perfect, the wind streaming past my face. My eyes watered in the cold. They were memories, but they no longer felt like they were mine.

I was already exhausted. I felt dizzy and was not entirely sure that I’d been traveling in a straight line. For a moment the terror that I may have run in a circle made me swallow dry. I doubted the wisdom of my plan to avoid the road. It would lead to other roads, it had to... and other people, people that would help me. But it was also a way for Shen to catch up with me.

I listened to the night. A low wind whispered around the bare branches.

I could feel my strength returning. I ate some snow and felt the chill enter my blood as I swallowed.

Running would make me warm once again soon.

Running could save me.

With a glance up at the moon to guide me I headed off again as fast as I could. A couple drops of blood staining the snow next to the tree where I had been standing.