George pov

I was pouncing on the man in the ski mask through the now opened car door before I could even assess the sutuation.

We both fell to the ground, and I was lucky enough to land on top of him, wasting no time in crashing my elbow into his temple, making him fall unconscious.

"Stop!" the woman screamed, now appearing at the side of the car. Half her face was covered by a black mask, her honey hair flowing beside it and cascading down her shoulders.

A mask... just like the masquerade.

The thought alone made me scrunch up my face with distaste and anger, making her eyes spark with a fraction of the fear her boss had ignited in me only hours prior.

I lunged at her next, punching her jaw with all the strength I had, the blow reverberating through her bone and making her fall unconscious as well.

It was only then that I was able to take in my surroundings, peering around at the large tan building that lay in front of me and the forest that shielded it from any pedestrian's view.

It was large, and to some, intimidating, but it was only an obstacle for me, and one that could, for the most part, be ignored in the time of my plight.

I turned my gaze downward at the soft dirt I had predicted would be there, gazing intently at the tracks that the pickup truck had left.

It was my way out.

Just follow the yellow brick road. I thought bitterly, unexpectedly recalling my mother's favorite film.

My body was still fatigued, remnants of the drug I had managed to, for the most part, fight off we're still coursing through my veins.

My eyes were pricking with tears that were foreign to me, long suppressed over years where they would have been seen as a weakness.

I could laugh at the fact later, that the source of my weakness fought so strongly against my suppressions of a sad display.

I was limping, the bruises I had sustained in the fight that broke out upon my mother's death were beginning to take a toll on me.

I could hear footsteps again, and I chanced a look behind me.

The sight frightened me. There is was again, the feeling that prey were oh, so privy to.

I let out a strangled shout as a man came towards me, his hair green but almost black, clothes to dark to see, and a gas mask that hung low over the bottom half of his face.

A mask... just like the masquerade.

He cantered towards me, purpose in each step, seeming to have bo worry that I would get away from him.

The fact alone was insulting.

I was weak, and he was gaining ground on me, something that really shouldn't have surprised me.

I wasn't well enough to put up a much better fight than I already had, and I knew that the struggle I had caused was not going to be enough to warrant me a safe passage home.

Even still, the brush of the forest was so close. The camouflage of the trees almost tangible.

I grit my teeth, trying to go a bit faster, but to no avail.

My legs have out treacherously, and pain surged through my still throbbing head. I collapsed to the ground, small bits of rock sinking painfully into the already battered skin of my arms.

I let loose a grunt, curling my arms into my chest with my palms flat on the ground as I try and push myself up again.

Its practically useless to fight now.

The man is behind me, kicking loose stones onto my calf's through the tears in my dress pants.

I continue to exert more energy into pushing myself off of the ground.

Come on. I think to myself furiously, angry at my weak body.

Suddenly, there is a stinging sensation spreading through my shoulder, and it feels like my right arm is on fire.

Whatever strength that was keeping my chest above the ground was gone, and my face hits the ground with a thud.

I had been injected with yet another drug, but one with no symptoms that I'm familiar with.

The pain spreads to my back, making me arc my torso in pain, letting out hisses at my agony.

With a burst of energy, I swing my leg outwards towards the man who is now standing at my side, watching me writhe in the dirt.

A dull thud tells me that he's fallen to the ground, but the only noise he lets fall from his unseeable mouth is a scoff of dissatisfaction.

I am lifted off of the ground roughly, taken into the hands of my former pursuer and led towards the towering building in the middle of forest.

Suddenly, the structure seems all to much more daunting than when first my eyes grazed it.

Now, it only comes in and out of focus as yet another aftereffect of the drug in my body, seemingly growing in size and fading into the blue sky behind it.

I could barely stand, and my senses were waning. Nothing made sense anymore.

We were inside the building, right in front of the doors, and I took note of how empty it seemed.

Seemingly before I could blink, we were in an elevator, lined with sparkling white concrete walls and shining silver buttons with symbols my mind was too cluttered to make out.

Then I was being shoved into a room, any form of support abandoning my side, leaving me to collapse into a remarkable soft carpeted floor.

I squinted my eyes, trying to make out my surroundings through the fog in my head and ringing in my ears.

By body was on fire, the toxin having spread all over by now.

There was... a bed?

Couches...

A bedside table..?

The room looked like that of a hotel's; furnished for a temporary, yet admittedly comfortable, stay.

Stay.

I nearly scoffed at the fact, but the only sound my mouth managed to elicit was yet another groan of pain.

Everything was fading out again... my body was burning, my skin crawling with invisible ants and discomfort.

My eyes were closing against my will, my ears not picking up the words dropped by the voice behind me.

I was so tired...

And so, so scared.

1072 words