The Devil's Runner Part 3

“I am known by many names, most notoriously The Devil’s Runner. I am here to set you free, the door is unlocked, and I will clear the way ahead.”

It took a while for Jenna to understand just what she heard. It had been so long since anyone had spoken to her. A small part of her old self tried to bubble to the surface, someone was here to save her! But after being hopeless for so long, that small piece of hope quickly died away. It is just the guards playing another trick. They enjoy your suffering and wish to give you some small sense of hope, just to steal it away again. Jenna wouldn’t fall for it though. She just stared up at the sun and did her best to stop thinking.

“Are you okay? Do you need my help?”

Again with their trickery?! Why couldn’t they just leave her alone? Why must they torture her so? But then something incredible happened. It was more than Jenna could bear. The man who had spoken stood before and waved his hand, trying to get a reaction from her. Jenna saw that he didn’t wear a guard’s uniform, and there was kindness in his eyes. He reminded her of her father. Thoughts of her father only filled her with bitterness though and she quickly looked away.

“My word, how long have you been here?”

Jenna couldn’t take it anymore. It hurt too much to hope that she would be free, that the monotony of her life would be over. It didn’t seem real. It couldn’t be real. She couldn’t stand it anymore and she looked away, closing her eyes against the tears that suddenly started flowing. She couldn’t remember how long it had been since she cried. She thought that her tears had dried up long ago.

“Don’t worry; I’m going to take you away from here.”

Jenna almost wanted to scream at him. She had given up long ago, and now he offered her life, but it was futile! Nobody ever escaped this place! No one had ever been rescued! Don’t worry? She had given up worrying so long ago, now he would come here, try and give her hope and expect her not to worry? But she wouldn’t worry. She knew that they weren’t going to escape. He would try, but he would get caught and end up in a cell just like her.

She didn’t have the energy to protest so she allowed him to pick her up. Jenna hadn’t felt the touch of another person in so long that it shocked her. She found herself suddenly afraid. She didn’t like being touched. When had that happened? She hadn’t ever minded it before. She remembered how loving she used to be, all the embraces she shared with her family, but then she turned her thoughts away from that, and tried her best not to panic at the touch of another person.

She had been so surprised that she didn’t hear what her so called rescuer was saying, but suddenly she was being handed off to someone else. This person’s touch was gentler, but it still scared her. She wanted to look up and see who it was that was holding her, but she was too frightened.

“Don’t be scared miss; don’t you know who it is that’s rescuing us? It’s the Devil’s Runner! No one is better than him!”

Jenna had never heard of the Devil’s Runner, or if she had she could not remember, so that offered little comfort. What did comfort her was the voice of the person speaking. It was such a calm, quiet voice. Despite being in this terrible place, his voice wasn’t hopeless or filled with despair or anything negative. She looked up at him and hiccuped. It had been a long time since she had seen another person, so perhaps that clouded her judgment, but he was the best looking man she could ever remember seeing. She was suddenly aware that she must look absolutely terrible. Her hair was an absolute mess, she hadn’t combed it in who knows how long, and her cheeks were likely sunken and unattractive.

“My but you’re a pretty girl miss,” the man said, bringing an emotion to Jenna that she never thought she would feel, even before she was imprisoned, embarrassment. She quickly looked away.

Their rescuer, this Devil’s Runner person, was giving instructions to the small group of people that Jenna only just noticed she was surrounded by. She didn’t like being around so many people, and she was still very uncomfortable at the touch of the man holding her, despite his face and voice. Jenna didn’t pay attention to the instructions; she tried most of all not to get her hopes up. They wouldn’t make it out. The other prisoners had to know that. Why were they acting like this would work? Jenna sunk into herself and tried not to think about escaping or the man holding her. It was very difficult for her to do.

They started moving at a slow pace, their rescuer going on ahead and leaving a trail for them to follow. The trail consisted of unconscious guards most of the time. They were never out of the Devil’s Runner’s sight for long. He would go ahead, there would be some grunting noises and perhaps a shout, then he would return and check on things behind them, followed by more grunts and shouts.

Jenna didn’t want to allow herself to feel the hope that was bubbling up inside her. It would hurt that much more when they got caught and she knew that that was going to happen eventually. She couldn’t allow herself to feel, to hope, to get excited. All that there was in the world was her fear of the man holding her. If she could just focus on that, then things would be okay.

“Please don’t cry miss,” the man holding her said.

Jenna hadn’t been aware that she was crying, but now that he mentioned it, she could hear her own sobbing. Despite all her trying not to, she had allowed her self to hope, but had already given up again. She suddenly felt so empty inside, and each tear was making her more and more empty. Her fear of the man holding her intensified suddenly and she started shaking. Her breathing was getting faster and faster and she felt like she still wasn’t getting enough air. Why was it so hard to breathe?

“I think she’s sick!” the man holding her said, though she hardly noticed.

Their rescuer put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down, but that just made things worse. She didn’t have much strength, but she used every ounce of it to fight the people holding her. She could think straight anymore. Her only thought was one of panic. Who where these people touching her?! Why wouldn’t they just put her down?! What were they going do to do her?!

Jenna used up all of her strength fighting against her captors, which wasn’t much and found that her vision was fading. She was so exhausted. She finally gave up and passed out in the arms of a stranger.

~

This is all I've written of Devil's Runner so far. I'm still not to sure about that title, but it'll do for now. What think ye?