The heels of my boots scraped against the uneven terrain as I willed my legs forward. Twigs and leaves crunched beneath my feet as I passed more and more trees. The world around me was a blur, a fact I was happy about. I was moving the fastest I had ever moved in my life.

But even that was no use. I could hear more twigs snapping in half behind me, the sound of heavier boots finding their way closer. John wasn’t about to let me go without a fight. The thought sent shivers up my already creeping spine. Without thinking, I gazed back to see how far ahead I was. He was a good distance away, but the action prevented me from noticing the large tree root that protruded from the ground. As I saw it, my foot got stuck in it, my momentum making me fall into the muddy earth with a thud.

Blood was pumping through my veins at an abnormal rate, the speed only increasing as John made the distance between us smaller and smaller. I scrambled to my feet, hoping that I could retain some of my lead. If only I could make up the distance I had lost from my stupid mistake.

I began running again, but my speed was considerably slower. A sharp pain shot through my leg with each step, the origin my ankle. I had hurt it during my fall. I clenched my jaw and gritted through the pain. A few moments of agony were worth getting away from John forever. I just needed to keep going without slacking my pace enough for him to catch up.

The muscles in my legs started burning in protest after several minutes. I pushed through it, attempting to ignore the pain. I had to keep going.

“Run all you want, Lana. I will catch up! You will tire before I do!” John screamed from behind. I didn’t turn to him again this time, even though his voice sounded very close; he wasn’t close enough to catch me yet.

My breath became ragged, the rush of air flowing into them no longer enough to satisfy my body’s needs. Perhaps John was right; I would tire before him. I didn’t do a lot of exercise or running, a fact even Andreas had picked up on. I had no hope to outrun a knight of the realm, especially when he wasn’t wearing his armor. But that didn’t mean I was going to stop trying. I would run until my legs collapsed out from under me.

And that was exactly what happened. My ankle and leg muscles could take the continuous onslaught no longer. My legs turned to water and I hit the ground so hard, my bones rattled. I placed my arms beneath me in attempt to push up and get back to my feet, but all energy had been drained from them too. I was left almost paralyzed on the ground when John caught up to me, not minutes after my fall.

The smile on his face made me wonder how people could ever consider him a protector of the people, an honorable, noble man. “I told you so. You are a pathetic girl from noble blood, if you have ever lifted a finger it would’ve been a lot.” He smirked, rubbing salt into my already burning wounds. “You never had a chance of running away from me.”

I spat in his direction, making my disgust in him clear.  “You will regret it if you hurt me, that I can promise you,” I said, my voice breaking.

John knelt down next to me. “And who’s going to do that, sweetheart? Andreas, a man you claimed to have met, but has yet to make an appearance? If he really cared about you, wouldn’t he have been here by now to save you like all the heroes in those books you love to read? Isn’t this the exact moment they would ride in and save you?”

My breath hitched. “No, this is not the moment. But when it comes, you will be sorry. And when he kills you, I won’t do a thing to stop him. I warned you.”

“I’m not afraid of your empty threats, my lady.”

He pulled me to my feet, but I was unable to remain upright. With a swoop he threw me over his shoulder and started walking back in the direction we came. I didn’t even have enough energy to kick and scream on the way back. My body just hung like a sack, unable to move or fight.

No hero ever saved the girl in this part of the story; that was one thing John didn’t know about my books. It always came later, at the most crucial point. What he also didn’t know was that there was no hero in my story; no man of noble stature. No man that considered killing much of a moral dilemma. My story was filled with but the ones that no matter how bad they were, you couldn’t help rooting for. The ones, that when they went after John, would spare him no measure of pain. And for the first time in my life, that thought didn’t disgust me. It fueled me. I wanted it to happen. Maybe there was more darkness in me than Andreas and Kalen thought.