Live Beautiful, Die Young

Nothing gets your adrenaline pumping like having to run for your life in the middle of the night, when most of the world is asleep. If a slumbering neighbor happens to catch the shrill sound of your screams they will assume it is a part of their dream and burrow deeper into their soft bed, unaware that you are 10 feet from their window, fighting to survive.

If you are lucky you had time to throw on some clothing. If not than you are shivering as you try to hide behind a tree, praying that your chattering teeth don't give you away. Your feet are dirty and bleeding and you curse your own vanity for buying the 3 inch heels instead of those running shoes. But then if you had known ahead of time that tonight might be the end for you there probably would have been a lot of things you would have done differently.

Like paying closer attention to the car that followed you home. Or refusing to let the handsome stranger at the bar buy you so many drinks. It didn't occur to you that he might want something in return. But then, it never does.  You are the kind of beautiful airhead that believes people give you things out of the kindness of their heart.  Perhaps it is because you live under a rock and your television does not have a news channel.

None of that matters now. You are still foolish enough to believe that you might get out of this alive. You have no time to think about regrets. There is a police station four blocks from here and that is your only goal. You have two options -  run down the middle of the street, where there is nothing to shield you from sight, or take the shortcut through the woods, where the trees are so thick that they blanket the ground in almost complete darkness. Being too much of a wuss to ever watch a horror movie is about to bite you in the ass.

He didn't expect you to be stupid enough to leave the safety of the well-lit street and possibility that a passing car might save you at any moment.  That will buy you some time as he pauses to consider his next move, but it most likely will not be enough to save you. He is fast and you are scared, injured, and out of breath.

You know that you are so close to civilization but your body refuses to go any further.  All those shots you greedily  downed are now churning around in your stomach and you must cover your mouth to hold in the vomit. Your heart begins to leap for joy as you realize that all is quiet around you. Maybe he realized where you were heading and gave up. You turn in a slow circle, squinting into the absolute darkness. You can't see enough to be positive but you surely would have heard footsteps or heavy breathing or twigs breaking. Nobody could be that quiet.

You feel safe enough to catch your breath, leaning against a tree for support. The next thing you will see is his smiling face just inches from yours. You are weak from all the running and he only needs one hand to pin you to the tree. Go ahead and feel that regret now. You played your hand and lost, only this time you can't pay your debt with a pretty smile.

His knife is pressed firmly against your throat. You should pray that he knows how to use it well. Suffering is for ugly people.