I was awake in bed staring into the darkness when I heard the sound of running in the distance.

The only reason I was able to hear it was because I had heightened my hearing for a few moments to check my surroundings. I'd made a regular habit of heightening my hearing every ten minutes or so to offset the consistent paranoia I felt.

Whoever it was running out in the woods nearby was running fast. Inhumanly fast. Which meant it could only be a powered teenager.

I sat up in bed with a start and continued to listen. The running was becoming fainter.

Was it Sophie or Walter perhaps? Or maybe it was that boy Azaad who Donald and Sienna had mentioned?

I strained my hearing to make out any possible sound that might give away who this mystery powered person might be, only for the running to stop abruptly.

The sound of distant vehicles, heavy ones, drawing near met my ears.

It was late enough at night that the sound of at least two vehicles heading straight towards the farm sent me into a panic.

Got to get out, I thought, Got to hide.

It took me all of fifteen seconds to get dressed in the clothes I had been given. I checked my pocket to make sure I had the money Sienna had given me, as well as the cheap phone with the new sim card and money on it that Donald had gone into town earlier in the day to buy.

Having both these things, I hoisted on the boots that, like the rest of my clothes, were too large on me to fit properly.

Lastly, I took a knitted hat from the foot of the bed and put it on my head.

Earlier in the day, after dinner, Sienna had surprised me with one last gift. I had been worried she intended to give me even more money, or something valuable like an expensive watch; instead she gave me a knitted cap which looked like a very cute, and very minimalistically depicted fox, with pointed triangle-shaped ears.

I hadn't felt particularly good about receiving the fox-hat because it came as a reminder that I probably had hallucinated a baby fox which hadn't actually been there. Sienna had taken my mention of a baby fox as some indication that I had a particular fondness for them, and so had worked busily throughout the day knitting me the hat. I had taken the hat, and thanked her for it as politely as I could manage.

I fitted the fox-hat snugly on my head and then moved towards the bedroom window. After pulling up the latch the window swung open. The dull quiet and warmth of the bedroom spilled into the cool night air. The smells of the farm rose to meet my nose, particularly the freshness of the wet grass and mud from a night of drizzling rain.

The vehicles were drawing nearer. I had perhaps ten seconds to get moving.

Stay, a voice told me, You don't have to keep running. Maybe now would be a good time to turn yourself in?

Maybe I was thinking this because the idea of jumping out of a first floor window was scary to me. Already a fresh sweat had started to take hold, and any drowsiness was replaced with hyper-focus and an increasingly fast heartbeat and breathing.

You're strong enough to handle the fall, said that strange new inner voice inside my head. The same one which had told me all of those things about Donald and Sienna as if I had gained a sixth sense.

There was a chance that the voice was wrong, no matter how confident it sounded in its prediction.

Despite how little time I had to get moving I still hesitated.

Why? I thought, What if I break my ankles?

The voice didn't respond in words so much as a general overall sentiment, like something instinctual, that said: you'll be fine.

The fear of being caught by whoever it might be that was drawing near was greater than the fear of falling and breaking my ankles.

I sat on the edge of the window and then let myself fall.

The impact of my boots against the ground was hard, but somehow the strength and sturdiness of my legs was more than sufficient.

I broke into a run, my boots squelching in the mud on my way along the main path which cut through the middle of the farm. I hadn't planned where I was going to go, so I headed in the same direction Donald and I had taken earlier in the day.

I reached the forest treeline just before the headlights of three vehicles pierced the dark. The roar of the engines and the grumbling of the tires met my ears. The vehicles came to screeching stops outside the house and then the doors to the vehicles opened.

I hid myself behind the tree and used my heightened hearing to make out the details of what was happening.

Men, with guns, exited the vehicles in a hurry and ran towards the house. Within seconds the front door of the house was broken in and the men stampeded their way inside.

My heart sank.

Had I brought this trouble to Donald and Sienna? Were they finally about to pay for the kindness they had shown me?

I was left with a choice. Stay and listen to what was going on with these men barging their way into Donald and Sienna's home, or make a run for it.

I couldn't bring myself to run away. At the very least I had to know the elderly couple weren't in serious danger.

I inched my head as much as I dared around the tree I was hiding behind, looking with one eye at the house.

"Donald! Donald!" Sienna screamed.

The men with guns kicked open their bedroom door and entered inside.

"What are you doing in my house?!" Donald shouted.

But his question was drowned out by the intimidating yells of the armed men.

Several grunts and thumps followed as Donald and Sienna were made, despite their old age, to lay flat on the ground.

Anxiety and anger gripped my entire body.

You could go and do something about these men, I thought to myself, You're not helpless like you were before.

I considered going back inside the house but also continued to watch and listen.

And then I realised my mistake.

I had left the window open. An obvious sign that someone with powers may have jumped out.

The door to Rupert's bedroom slammed open and two beams of light shone in the dark. Then, finally, one of the men, dressed in military-like gear, came into view at the window.

The light from the man's gun was pointed towards the forest. I hid behind the tree again just as the light reached it.

I stayed still, contemplating the best thing to do.

Run now? Or keep hiding?

After a moment the light shining against the tree eased away. I didn't dare wait for another chance to run under the cover of darkness.

I sprang forward, racing off into the forest, choosing not to go along the forest path but deeper into the unruly, thick-rooted way ahead of me.

I'm sorry, I thought, thinking of Donald and Sienna.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

My assumption was those men were part of the Pied Piper Task Force. With that being the case, the best thing for me to do was to run.

Immediately the looseness of my clothes and the boots threatened to slow me down. The boots in particular were threatening to fly off with each step.

Grow bigger, I thought, searching the power within my mind's eye to make myself grow in stature the way I had done when down in the Wedder Gorge Facility's underground complex.

Right away I felt myself growing, as if a third puberty were taking hold of my entire body. I grew by several inches, my arms and legs and the rest of my body growing bigger, and burlier. This, in tandem with coiling, which had become so familiar to me by this point I hardly even had to think about doing it to tap into that particular ability, all made me feel some kind of action hero version of myself.

My clothes fit, and my speed exploded to an incredible sprinting pace. My heightened vision helped me see in the dark, making what should have been a pitch black forest gray and clear to see instead. Trees and roots and bushes whizzed by as I ran, my mind working in tandem with everything my body was doing to make sure I dodged and jumped and spun away from any obstacle ahead of me.

After just ten minutes I already felt like I had cleared a good deal of distance between me and the farm.

The forest came to an end, opening up to a winding concrete road that was empty of any vehicles. I leapt across most of the road and then when I touched down I leapt again, soaring over a low stone wall that was the back-end of another farm.

It was easy to lose myself in the rhythm of running through the night. I wasn't at risk of getting tired. Thankfully my surroundings weren't some bland exercise area, which meant I had an onslaught of things around me to prevent time from getting away from me.

After the next farm came a very dense forest. I ran through the forest, having to slow down because of the sheer volume of trees in my way. I came to a stop when I reached a large section of fallen trees piled up across the ground. I wasn't sure at first what it was about the trees that had fallen that was dangerous, but the little insight voice in my head told me it wasn't a good idea to try running across it.

Go around? I wondered.

It took me moments to catch my breath, which in itself was surprising given how far and fast I had run.

It seemed the fallen trees ahead of me were a hazard because, if one of the thin trees were to break and I were to fall deeper into a layered mess of trees, there was a good chance I could impale myself on a particularly sharp branch.

Every moment I wasn't moving was a moment the Pied Piper Task Force could be headed in my direction.

But could they find me? I wondered. How good was the task force at tracking powered individuals anyway? Did I really have that much to worry about given I could sprint and hide before they had any hope of catching up?

My hearing has heightened, but not to the full extent I could make it. Even so, I heard a distant sound of footsteps and hampered breathing coming to a stop from somewhere ahead of me.

That mysterious other powered person, I thought.

Running gave me ample time to think. I had decided that it wasn't me the task force was likely to be after. It was too much of a coincidence for there to be a powered person on the run at the same time the task force came to Donald and Sienna's home.

"I know you're there," I said, speaking loudly to the mess of fallen trees and the short clearing and forest which lay beyond the clearing.

No answer came. I increased my hearing enough to hear the heartbeat of whoever it was ahead who was hiding behind one of the trees. The breathing of this mystery person also gave away that it was more than likely a girl.

"I can hear you," I said, "I don't mean you any harm if that's what you're worried about."

More silence, although to my ears the surroundings were incredibly loud. The brisk night breeze was like hearing someone breathing closely into a microphone; and the sound of a distant plane overhead was like hearing a hairdryer blowing from another room. There were far too many sounds layered on top of one another in all directions to make sense of them all at once.

I honed in on the heartbeat and the sound of breathing from the powered person hidden somewhere ahead. Even with my enhanced vision I couldn't spot them.

"Fine," I said, "Suit yourself."

I broke into a sprint, going left of the huge mass of fallen trees.

Before long I reached a tall hedge and, after my mind quickly calculated whether or not it would be worth the risk, I leapt through the hedge in a single bound, tearing through the bristles that snapped and gave way to the mass of my taller, broader self. I kept a hand atop my head to prevent my newly knitted fox-hat from getting caught on one of the twigs.

I landed on a firm concrete road. From what I could hear the road was empty of any vehicles in both directions for a reasonable distance.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

The running of the mystery powered person met my ears again. It was clear enough to me now that they weren't merely avoiding me, they were actively following me. But if they weren't going to show themselves then I wasn't going to waste my time sticking around in the hopes of them changing their mind. I needed to get as far away from the Pied Piper Task Force as possible because, for all I knew, they were likely already pursuing me.

I turned and looked through the gap in the hedge I had made and saw for a brief instant the figure of someone running at high speed in the dark. They veered away to the left before I could get a good look at them and after a sudden thud the patter of their footsteps came to a stop.

For some reason this game of cat and mouse made me smile.

Don't let your guard down, I told myself, You don't know what their intentions are.

I broke off into a sprint again, this time enjoying the firmness of the road unfurling before me.

The road continued on past farms and houses and fields whilst I ran at an incredible sprinting pace. With each minute that past it became easier to make out the distinct clapping sound of the powered person sprinting after me.

A part of me wanted to run even faster, because running as fast as I was, veering this way and that in line with the winding road, felt amazing. I hadn't realised how cooped up I had felt at Donald and Sienna's house. Running full tilt, my whole body working in perfect unison to create one powerful stride after another, stretched out all the kinks and aches that had settled into my body without me paying much notice.

Perhaps the most surprising part about running down the winding country road at high speed, was how part of me didn't expect the other powered person to keep up.

On a whim I came to a hard stop and turned around as fast as I could. The powered person had been so close behind me that I heard, but didn't see, this person leaping through the hedge row to my right. Even in the near pitch dark using my enhanced vision, seeing the world mostly in gray, I could see the newly made hole in the hedge the powered person had just made.

I smiled and shook my head. There was something kind of funny about this peculiar chase.

I set off again, returning to the powerful sprinting pace, and listened for the sound of the powered person running.

Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat!

Now!

I turned again, leaping up and running backwards this time to give myself a better chance of catching a glimpse of the mystery powered person.

Splish!

Once again whoever it was leapt through the hedge, this time to the opposite side of the one they had before.

My vision was able to pick up a few of the leaves falling to the concrete road. The bend in the winding road prevented me from seeing where the powered person might have gone.

I kept running backwards for a few seconds and then turned around again.

Tat-Tat-Tat-Tat-Splish!

This time, up ahead, I saw the black mass of the powered person jumping through the hedge and landing with both feet onto the middle of the road.

The heels of my boots skidded against the concrete as I forced myself to a hard stop. I nearly fell over in the process.

The powered person was very close to me now.

So close she was within arm's reach by the time I came to a complete stop.

"Hi!" said the young woman, in a sing-song tone.

Given I was on my own on a quiet road at night the overall effect was more scary than welcoming. Not least because the face of this young woman was slightly pale, with eyes that were strangely big.

She was smiling, showing teeth which for the most part were normal except that, on the upper row, her canines were above the rest. This didn't seem to have anything to do with being powered but just the way some people's teeth don't grow the right way.

"What do you want?" I said, a little breathlessly.

The young woman seemed to be at a loss for how to respond to my question. Her face, which had heavy black mascara around her uncannily larger-than-they-should-be-eyes, scrunched with the effort to think of an answer.

"Well," she said, and then again she said, "Well, I…"

As she continued to try and find the right words to say I saw that her iris and pupil seemed to have no distinction, making the overall look of her eyes to be very cartoonish.

"You're powered," she said, pointing at me with a black painted fingernail.

"Yeah," I said, nodding.

I was a little exacerbated by how obvious this statement from her was.

"So am I," she said, gesturing with a thumb to herself.

"Okay," I said, "Why are you following me?"

She put her hands to her short head of hair, which I couldn't tell was either black or brown given how limited I could see colour in the near pitch black night, anxiously moving a few long locks of hair away from her eyes.

She then looked at me as if I was a bit stupid for asking the question.

"Because you're powered, I'm powered, and as far as I can tell we're trying to get away from Pied Pee'pers."

I smiled.

"'Pee'pers?'" I said, "That's a new one."

She brought her black sweater sleeve to her mouth, absently chewing on it as she smiled.

It was then I heard the distant sound of barking. The new powered girl must have heard it too because she looked off in the same direction I had heard the sound coming from.

"Hunting dogs?" I said.

"Yeah," said the girl, "They use those."

"But," I said, "Wouldn't they need my scent first?"

And then it clicked. I remembered Sienna taking my shredded blue overalls and binning them. I could easily imagine the Pied Piper Task Force officers digging through the trash, finding the shredded remains, and giving that scent to their hunting dogs.

They were getting closer by the second.