Chapter 11

A mad rush of fear. It was distinct and difficult to remove from memory once it had barbed itself into Elie's head. It was the kind of clarity she experienced when she did something naughty and had to quickly hide it from her parents, lest she get a telling off or a pulled ear. Only, so much worse.

The only words she could remember was her dad telling her to run, so she kept running, or at least she tried. Her limp as she, part-dragged, part-stepped, on her bad leg, was severe enough that she couldn't reach more than a brisk jog. Even she could tell that it wouldn't be enough to outrun the deer in the distance.

She stole brief glances behind her and every time it seemed to get closer. The memory of it slowly licking the skin from her face, bit by bit, grew more vivid in her mind, with every glance she thought of worse and worse things, her imagination filling in any detail it could latch onto.

Elie frantically looked around for something, anything she could do to get away. At first she gazed at the cliff trying to get some kind of handhold to climb, but they were all made of loose dirt and quickly crumbled away with any attempt to put weight on it.

She stole another quick glance. The deer was still trotting towards her, it seemed to be tired and wasn't sprinting, but even then she could tell it was getting closer.

When Elie looked ahead she could see a tree in the distance along the path. A smile broke out on her face when she saw it, never in her life had she been as happy to see a tree. By the time she arrived at the tree she could hear the deer behind her running, the squelch of mud beneath its hooves getting faster. It seemed to have a renewed energy, sprinting towards her, trying to prevent her climbing the tree.

Elie dropped the spear and started making her way up. The tree had a large and exposed set of roots, laid bare by the meandering of the river throughout the year. She struggled to climb onto them scuffing her hands on the rough roots in her rush. Safety was almost in reach. Elie grabbed onto the closest branch and desperately tried to pull herself up, she made up for the sweat on her hands with a firmer grip, the ache of travelling was replaced with the numb drive of fear.

She grabbed onto another branch and managed to get her foot on the first one, just as she put her full weight on it she heard a gut-wrenching snap.

"Ah." Elie tried to hold on to no avail.

Her body fell backwards and the sky filled her vision. For a brief moment, she could see the sun parting the clouds and shining through the green leaves above her.

She felt a cold, wet, thud against her back, followed by a sharp pain. She rolled over in the mud trying to catch her breath and fumbled around her back trying to locate the source of the aching. The culprit was a small bit of root that was sticking out of the ground, barely the size of a snail.

When she got back to her senses the deer was close enough that she could make out its bared teeth, ragged breathing and its excitement. She scrambled to grab the spear, pointing it at the beast charging at her.

Elie kept looking for a way out, but the more she looked the more her hands shook and lips quivered.

But something shiny caught her eye, it was between the roots of the tree, a small opening enough for her to fit through and hide. Without much thought she dove into the opening that gave way to a small hollowing under the tree, a musty and foul smell filled the space. She landed on something cold and hard, that clattered when she landed on it. She didn't pay any attention to it and turned to face the entrance with her spear.

If the deer wanted to come down here she would be sure to skewer it if it tried. Her heart pounded as she heard the deer approach. It didn't waste any time trying to get in. The deer snaked its head through only to have its nose bloodied again by the spear. Droplets of warm blood splattered on her face, but she didn't dare blink in case the deer made another attempt.

It tried to bite at the spear, but Elie would jab it upwards threateningly whenever it tried. It was a stalemate of sorts.

The young deer grew frustrated, it laid its ears flat against its head and bared its teeth in a snarl. It let out a deep growling noise as it stared at Elie, in sight but out of reach. Its teeth were red and bloody and its deformed snout had a mix of old and new blood. It dripped down from its face onto the spear, trickling down onto her hands.

Elie did her best to stay calm, she breathed in and out irregularly through her nose, trying to keep the deer at bay. Eventually the deer licked its teeth with what remained of its tongue and started to circle around the tree, trying to find somewhere else to enter through. Elie felt her arms shaking from the constant raising of the spear and the pain in her back only grew worse, but she tried to follow the deer with her eyes and ears as best she could.

At one point there was the sound of it trying to dig at the roots, but eventually it gave up and returned to the opening, baring its teeth and trying to intimidate her. It kept pacing around the entrance.

"Elie."

"Elie."

In the distance she heard a faint voice whisper her name, it only grew louder as time went by.

She yelled "Dad!" back at him repeatedly trying to draw him to where she was. The deer was starting to grow restless and disappeared from view, Elie let out a small sigh of relief, only to have a sense of anxiety at the deer suddenly giving up. For a few seconds it seemed to grow silent.

At first it was a bit of dirt, then a flood of mud droplets rained onto her, into her eyes. She fought the urge to cry out. The sound of the deer beating its hooves against the ground was all she could hear but even this made her lurch in fear as she tried to get it out of her eye.

It was only when the beating stopped she realised, in her blinded state, that she was being eyed by the deer at that very moment. The darkness only made the sound of it salivating in excitement more vivid. She could almost see it baring its teeth in a smile and lunging at her.

Elie flailed the spear around frantically trying to prevent it from coming in, she jabbed back and forth even when her arms wanted to give out from exhaustion. She would hear the occasional yelp and snarl, the faint feeling of resistance against the end of the spear.

There was a sudden yank as the spear tried to escape her grasp, she didn't let go no matter what happened. She managed to wrest control of the spear back only to slam her back against the cold hard surface behind her, making the clattering sound again. The pain in her back made her feel weak and dizzy but she held onto the spear.

The second yank took it from her, she lay there frozen and heaving, feeling around for something, anything. She pulled out boner from its sheath and waved it around threateningly. She felt the cold grip of death clamp around her throat, soon the deer would eat her, just like her dad had told her.

All she could think about is if her dad would keep the promise. Would she get to see mum? she wondered if he was telling the truth

Her arms gave up on her and slumped on either side. She could hear the deer trying to get down to her but she only grew more despondent with that realisation. The only thing she prayed for was a swift and merciful end.

"Mum. Mum, I'm scared."

She waited, but the teeth never dug into her flesh. She heard a roaring shout from her dad followed by an inhuman screeching that forced her to cover her ears, there was the sound of intermittent growling and shouting between the ringing in her ears.

There was scuffling, more shouting, then running. She rubbed her eyes as best she could until she could see a faint silhouette with the sun to their back. The last thing she remembered was an intense relief and the warm embrace of her father as he slowly rocked back and forth whilst holding her.

This chapter needs some reworking