Nowhere to go

    Anna was running deep into the forest. Her lungs were on fire and she could feel her calves crying out for her to stop. But she couldn't stop. Her life depended on her legs running faster.
    She felt his presence behind her. Maybe not right up on her, but he was behind her. He was chasing her. Anna wanted to cry out for help but what good would that do? The trees would only drone it out and no one would be able to hear her.
    She was so far along inside the forest that there was no sign of the highway or the town.  Why had she chosen to run into the forest?  What was she thinking?
    
    It was obvious that Anna was a target. She heard about this threat a couple days ago on the news. She was sitting in her living room folding laundry, watching her baby girl and the news interrupted one of her soaps with an important message. Reporter Jessie Dona Thomas was babbling on about some man loose in the town.
    Anna didn’t pay much attention because her daughter was jumping around, laughing and knocking things over but the words, “Seven women,” caught her attention.  Anna turned quickly back to the television and turned it up.  
    The town Anna lived in wasn’t very big.  It was surprising that the man even found seven women out on their own within that last couple of nights.  Anna felt paranoid, afraid to go anywhere.  
    Jessie Dona Thomas continued to talk on about the man.  He would find the woman and chase them down until they grew extremely tired.  Then he would bring them back to his place somehow without a struggle and there he would kill them.
    Although the killings were never the same, the man always left one thing behind as his signature to show he was there.  There would always be a single, white rose pinned to the victim's shirt.
    Before she could hear anything else about the case, her husband walked in with a bouquet of red roses and handed them to her.  Anna became to distracted to worry about the image that finally popped up on the television as a warning to all women to stay clear of a man with his features.

    Anna should've run back to the town when she saw him walk to her. She should have thought about the police station. Why did she get out of her car? She panted in heavily and heaved her breath, sparing it for when she needed it most.
    A large twig jumped out in front of Anna but she dodged it, ducking her head and flying down a hill. Her body rolled around and pricked up against a rock. She could feel her skin slice and blood trickle from her side. She screamed in agony but got up anyways, determined to run, to see another day ahead of her.
    Anna looked back and could see him running and searching around. Fright overcame her and she couldn't think right. She was already too scared to make good decisions but that was already out of the question since she was buried deep in six thousand acres of trees.
    She closed her eyes and thought of her baby and husband.  She worried that they were looking for her and that they may never find her.  Anna took off so quick that she never saw what happened to her husband.  But what worried her the most was, why couldn’t she remember most of her night?
    Anna had a nice night, she was by her husband’s side the whole night as they talked with friends as the banquet they were attending continued on for hours.  Sure, she had a little over the limit of her drinking intake, but not enough to forget half the night.
    She thought real hard.  Anna dug deep down into her brain, all the way back into her memories.  Then it dawned on her and Anna became frightened.  Fear surged through every vein her body while she continued to run.
    Anna was waiting for her husband in the car while he went to fetch the coats and say goodbye to some of his good friends.
    On his way out, Anna smiled to him and got out of the car to embrace him in her arms and to give him a kiss for a night well spent.  He stopped her after the hug and smiled slyly at her.  She smiled back and waited while he reached into his coach pocket to pull something out.
    Her face dropped as a single, perfectly formed, white rose appeared before her eyes.  

    Anna’s eyes popped open in disgust, pure disgust.  She felt nauseated and upset that her husband, out of all men, was vicious.  Before Anna could react to anything else, she sought out a large tree branch.
    Anna hit the ground right after the large branch and rolled around. Her eye sight grew blurry and she couldn't remember a thing. If she was frightened before, she was frightened even more.
    She looked around, her brain scrambling around.  Her head throbbed with excruciating pain.  Her face held the look of confusion as she called out for someone.  
    “Please! Anyone!  I don’t know where I am,” Anna started to cry but stopped when she  heard some leaves crackle above her.  She looked over.
    Large, leather boots stood before her. She followed them up along the black dress pants to the white dress shirt. From there, a man stood before her, a white rose in his hands and a smile across his face. His hand reached out to Anna and he helped her off the ground.
    "Who are you?" she asked. "Where am I?"
    "Darling, you must be petrified. You heard something and went running. We just came home from a banquet and were heading home." the man stated.
    "Darling?" Anna questioned. She looked at the rose in his hand and looked down. She was wearing a nice dress but it must not have been fancy enough to be one for a special occasion. Anna was too confused to catch that and she looked around at the trees. Her eyes bulged and she looked at the rose again.
    "Yes, Anna, you are my wife. It's me, John," he laughed. He placed one hand to the bridge of Anna’s dress and pinned the single rose to it. He opened his arm "Come now, dear, we have a date at home tonight. You wouldn't want to miss that. I know I wouldn't."

Reviews

[charlotte talley]

oh, this was goooood. very discriptive, I love the characters. yes, the husband is a great character. keep up the good work.

This is a frightening read, I love it.
The husband is a great character, I would have like to have heard more from him.

[LSS]

Sam lou,
You know I could almost see that ending coming, but still not wanting it to. The reality of a horror story is the reader's desire to not want it to end badly. The baby connection is a bit fuzzy as to where it all fits in with the rest of the killer's profile, but you could fix that with a bit of rewrite. Well done.
LSS

[the_stoic]

the story is incomplete or what ?? was her husband the murderer ? the readers won't know ... element of doubt left .. thrilling story

[Cheyenne]

This was really good chilling and thrilling!!

[Victoria]

Wow, this was so suspenseful! I couldn't quit reading until I reached the end. Amazing. Applause!

[P.S I Love You]

Wow.. a very very very scary job. It was well written. :) but very SCARY!!! -BOO-

[S.W.]

Wooh scary but really good. Thanks for sharing with us.

[Ruth]

You dig deep into the psyche with this hon!
A frightening tale
One that you capture the attention of the reader from beginning to end with!
Great work!
xx

[Dior]

internally frightning