Chastity Broken

She walked alone that night; away from the pain, the grief. Not once did she stop to think, or to breathe. The unsettling images were banished from her head, tossed away like ashes in the wind, but her mind was still reeling. She’d been drowning in her sorrows for too long. Even now the sharp pain split through her side with every step she took on this rock-strewn trail to nowhere, but she pressed on into the eerie darkness. Here, she was safe, with her lonely shadow rippling beneath her feet, and the only ones watching her were the glistening stars and the moonlight streaming down through the lush canopies, guiding her onwards.

She was heading in a direction she had never been before, but she could feel them chasing after her; haunting, teasing. In the space of a second the wind abruptly strengthened from being eerily still to a sudden, violent squall that howled into the isolated silence - dancing, swirling, and hurling icy cold air against her deathly pale skin. She felt the surrounding branches rustling in the wind - reaching towards her, seizing at her body, tugging at her devilish black hair - and pulled away desperately. The sudden movement triggered another wave of pain to flood through her body. She stumbled and half glimpsed, half tuned around and caught sight of an almost non-existent shadow, following her. Her heart lurched in her throat. She could hear herself breathing now, as she broke out in a cold, deep sweat, so intense that she felt her whole body tremble with fear.

It was at that moment that she quickened her pace to jog, breaking free of the trail. She fearlessly endured into the maze of trees, shrubs, and darkness - whatever the night managed to throw at her – warily picking her way through the obscure wilderness. Adrenalin powered her now. She would never let him touch her again. Not ever.

As she staggered endlessly through the grass, and mud, and rock, frantically gasping for breath, the frosty air against her damp skin sent a ghostly chill down her spine. She pushed on into the darkness; anxious, distraught, desperate.

Until, at last, she could run no longer. She collapsed suddenly, falling hard on the cold, damp ground, struggling to breathe. Her spirit crushed, her heart torn, her soul taken. The pain surging through her body was excruciating now. It was he who had done this to her, and she would never go back. Attempting to get up, she glanced back in the direction she had come, and saw nothing. The world behind her was vast and empty. She broke down; her head in her hands, her knees pulled tightly into her chest, shaking, and choking on bitter tears. The synthesis of blood, sweat, ruined makeup and tears added to her infectious, yet once vestal beauty.

She was her own person now. No one could touch her here. And no one would see her as she cried.