The pale silver moon glowed dully as the wind howled in agony. The dark forest shrouded the night's anguish with thick overgrown branches; hardly allowing the moon's light to pierce to the shadowed undergrowth.

Crack

She froze like a rabbit spotted by a fox, one foot raised and the other leg trembling beneath her full weight as she listened hard for anything more. Breathing shallowly; she allowed herself to lean on the fifth tree that night, she drew in a couple deep slow breaths before continuing on. She could never fully stop and rest. She knew the rules.

"Come on.. I don't have much time before they find me.." She mumbled, casting her eyes around her hoping to spot them before they could see her. Every night was the same game to them. Release and Capture was what they called it. A sick game they love to 'play' with her. It only happened when the nights were cool but not too cold; the scent of frost on the wind and the nights black as soot so you couldn't see much or that far. She warily continued her trek, heart thundering in her chest loud enough to wake the dead by her reckoning.

The wind howled again, whipping her hair and clothes around her body a faint voice seeming to scream with the winds.

Run run run! She shook her head, the wind had no real voice; she knew that. Yet, she pushed herself faster, just knowing that they were out there... waiting; hunting for her. Every year was the same. Every year the hope got smaller and even though she knew she didn't have a hope in escape... she still believed.

Glancing at the the forest tops; she saw that dawn was fast approaching as she cast around for a place to sleep. If there was any consolation in this messed up game; it's that they don't move during the day.. it's as though they avoid the sun even in this darkened forest. To her though, it allowed her a couple hours of respite. She dared not sleep more than a few hours. So she grit her teeth and scoured the dense thicket around her; hoping to find a good spot to bunker down in. If she couldn't... then all she could do is gather a small meal of fruit, nuts and anything else she could eat before moving on. Briefly she thought of the other who used to run with her. Little mousy David would cling to her, trying to stop the never-ending tears. Goofy Keri who always managed to find a way to make those around her laugh. Strong willed Leah, whose resolve was like iron; made her the natural leader. Finally she thought of charming Collin. The boy who saw these... games as thrilling as those who hunted them. Whose smile made her smile back without conscious thought of even doing it. There were many others but she had only got close with those four. They had made being a... she didn't know what they were but in some cases it was like they were pets. An animal to be wary of, closely guarded but never shown compassion. Trained without a gentle touch. The more she thought about it... the more it made sense. One by one as the children changed, the hunts were made and they never made it back after the week was over. Her guess was that they had shown their captors things they wanted. Weather they were... she swallowed the thought and shook her head. Best not go there, she didn't know what happened and she wasn't going to go assuming things either. They were gone and she was the last one left. That's all she knew and that's all she should worry about. She picked and nibbled on fruit that she passed by; barely checking to make sure it was edible before popping the satisfying treat into her mouth. It was learned early on that to sit in one place was wrong. Those who sat passively were the first to go but she wasn't sad to see those ones gone. It was a huge relief to her and the four leaders that the soulless ones were taken first. Vacant, unseeing eyes that stared through you were the first and last she remembered of them. Even if they did speak it was slow and measured in a large amount of venom to hurt anyone who listened. She shivered as a cold wind brushed against her, feeling as though a hand had slid across her skin.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Stop thinking Daela. It's making you jumpy! Collin and Keri would be laughing at you right now." She smiled to herself as she shook her head. She sighed as the smile disappeared as quickly as it came. To her left a shadow had waltz past her and she knew what that meant. They were coming. It defiled all previous rules. Daytime was their way of rejuvenating from a night spent in terror and pure adrenaline. She felt her heart sped up and her breathing quicken but her mind was unusually clear. The shadow sprinted across her field of vision again, this time to the right. She stopped moving in a small clearing and found an old stump to sit on. Her heart thundered in her chest but she quelled the shaking in her limbs by refusing to acknowledge the fear. A remnant of Leah's teachings. She had a smile playing with her lips as she gazed at the smallest flower growing in this accursed place. Finding joy in darkness was a skill Keri taught her. Collin had taught her that optimism is what keeps hope alive, a hope that little David had taught her all about. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply; the scent of pine and earth filling her nose. To her left and right she heard the sounds of movement. Her nails bit into the stump she sat on. Still, she sat unmoving from her perch. She had grown tired of always running of always playing the game. This was the last night of the game. She would end it - one way or another. The shadows had blurred with the trees, not quite reaching the meadow where she sat and they waited.

In the distance she heard her name being called and the shadows blurred further, still they didn't move. Her heart still rapidly beat against her chest as if in defiance of her calmness.

A piercing pain shot through her as she gasped; clutching at her heart. Still the shadows didn't move; only watched and dancing just beyond the sun filled meadow. She violently shuddered as she managed to stand up, unsure of which shade to walk to.

"It's time to choose." The wind whispered.

She gasped and swung her gaze between the two. Her words barely coherent as she choked out, "choose..?"

"Between one or the other. Which do you choose?" The wind neither answered nor helped. Her time was slowing down as her body began to feel the effects of her lost heart. Choose? What was she supposed to choose between? Suddenly the shades where in front of her, each holding out a spectral hand and both beckoning her. She blinked as the shades grew less hazy and more defined. She knew these shades... but they were never shades to begin with and she felt tears forming in her eyes. Two pairs of eyes stared at her. One pair a golden hue of hazel, the other pair a piece of the morning sky just after the sun fully raised - the lightest blue you could possibly imagine. David and Collin both stared at her as she struggled to choose. With a final cry she grasped both hands desperately, hoping that this too could be a choice.

Life after that... was never the same.