Page 1 of Shattered By the Currents

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Raven Price pumped her arms as she raced through the thick forest, air burning her lungs as she tried to outrun the nightmare that had plagued her sleep. Lungs that were tight. Lungs that barely filled with air.

It was early. So early that the sky cast a blue haze through the woods. But she could see the ground in front of her feet, and that was all she needed to run. And shedidneed to run.

She rounded a tree overlapping the path, ignoring the branch that scratched her cheek. Her dream last night tried to slip back into her mind. The blood on her arms. The body.

She scrunched her eyes, bile crawling up her throat.

Her foot hit a rock. Her eyes flashed open and she just caught herself. She sped up, but then made the mistake of looking down at her arms.

Blood. It was everywhere. Her hands. Her forearms. Its deep crimson sinking into her skin, making nausea swell in her belly.

She stumbled back, the knife dropping from her fingers. Clattering to the floor so loudly that it cut through the quiet like a bullet.

She told herself not to look at him again, God, she begged.

But like the fool she was, she looked. His eyes were open, staring lifelessly at the ceiling of the garage, blood staining his previously crisp white shirt.

Dead. He was dead.

She shook her head.

Stop it, Raven. Stop letting the nightmare slip back in.

She swung her arms harder, a layer of sweat coating her forehead as leaves crunched beneath her feet.

Raven’s feet hit the ground in fast succession, a wild need to get away rippling through her like wildfire.

But where could she go? She couldn’t outrun this.

She raced out of the garage and up the stairs to her apartment, two at a time. Her fingers trembled as she unlocked the door. The second it was open, she fell inside. But not before noticing the blood staining the doorknob. Sampson’s blood.

Faster. She needed to run faster. Exhaust her body and mind to the point she couldn’t think anymore. To the point that she couldn’t remember the worst day of her life. The day that had changed everything.

A light splatter of raindrops hit her face.

Tears wet her cheeks as she scrubbed her arms beneath the tap, blood and water merging together to stain the white porcelain basin. There was so much blood, and it wasn’t coming off. God, why wasn’t it coming off?

She pumped more soap onto her arms and scrubbed harder, no longer sure if the red was blood or bruising.

Air entered her chest in short bursts.

A dream. It was just a dream. A nightmare.

But it wasn’t. It was a memory. Of the worst moment of her life. One she hadn’t thought she’d survive.

The thumps of her feet hitting the dirt grew louder.

A thump sounded as her suitcase hit the mattress. Then she just began throwing her clothes inside, barely recognizing what she was doing.

It didn’t feel fast enough.

A voice in her head whispered that she was wasting time. That she needed to get into the car and leave.

But there were other voices too. So many, all in competition with one another, that she couldn’t think or separate them.

She’d get out. Run. Make sure she was safe. Then she’d figure out what to do next.