ineluctable
[in-i-luhk-tuh-buh l]
- incapable of being evaded; inescapable: an ineluctable destiny.
*****************************
Jess’
heart raced and her lungs screamed for air as she ran through the dark, dingy
corridor. She scrambled to find an open
door. Or at least one that wasn’t
unlocked. So far, all that was left was
to scramble and run through the hall.
“You
can’t run forever!” Shouted the man.
Jess
risked a glance over her shoulder at the sound.
She was faster than the large man, so she had been able to stay out of
sight of his greasy, pockmarked form.
But that also meant she would tire much faster than him, even if he was
a disgusting sack of lard.
“I’ll
get you eventually.” He called.
She
heard his footsteps creaking on the old wood.
Jess knew she needed to rest, but doing so would only invite disaster by
giving her captor time to catch up. No,
she needed to keep going. For the first
time in her life, she regretted not joining the track team way back in high
school. Maybe then she would have a
little more stamina. She was already on
her third wind.
“It’s
inevitable, really. Why make this harder
than it needs to be?”
She
would not waste breath answering. She
was too focused on running and checking doors.
The hall was mostly straight, with only the occasional corner to break
it up. Had she not been so focused on
putting one foot in front of the other, she would have wondered how such a
thing was possible. The turns were not
all in the same direction, so she knew it was not one big square. But it seemed far too long to be in any building
she knew of. As it was, her mind was
occupied with not getting caught.
“I can
make this fun for both of us, you know.”
She
paused to check a door, fully expecting it to be locked, just like all the
others. Much to her surprise, it opened
with the creak of old wood. Jess paused
for a moment. She could go in, but the sound
made it obvious where she was. No, now
was the time for guile. She closed the
door, attempting to be quiet about it.
Then she moved on, moving slower and softer. She even forced herself to breath quieter,
even if her lungs demanded more.
“Ah-hah! I know where you are now!” Her captor cried
with joy. “That room’s a dead end. Now we can have some real fun!”
Her plan
worked, at least for the moment. Jess
crept down the hall, moving at a more reasonable pace to let her body recover a
bit. She knew that her little ploy would
not distract the horrid man for long. A
few minutes, at most. But it was something.
Maybe if she kept going, she would find
the exit. Or someone to help her. She would even take another unlocked
door.
“Oh, you’re
cleaver.” Came her captor’s voice. “That
just makes me want you more. Now come
here and we can have some fun.”
Jess
looked back, and then once more started running.
****************************
I wonder how many women have had a nightmare like this. A lot, I bet. I mean, it's terrifying.
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