The Night is Darkest just before Dawn - 2

The phantom wrapped his arms around me, holding my body in a vise-like grip, keeping my arms pinned tightly against my side. My skin trembled against his touch, like it would tear itself into pieces at any moment. Molten pain scorched across my flesh, rippling from his body, filling every ounce of my awareness. The world around me was black, vacant, only his face filled my vision.
The pain moved from the surface of my flesh to the core of my bones. I couldn't hold back the screams of agony that ripped from my throat. I had never imagined my death would be so excruciating. The phantom flinched every time I screamed, but his eyes never left my face.
I became hyper aware of every cell in my body. Each one trembled uncomtrollably, to the point of bursting. Nothing could survive the raw power that racked my body. I would be obliterated.
A faint screech began to fill my ears. It grew louder, pounding against my skull. The pain grew stronger, more intense. My fingers dug into the flesh of my palm. I wanted to curl up in agony, but I was unable to move.
Suddenly the shriek stopped. The pain exploded away from me, out of my body. Within seconds it was gone. The phantom released his death grip and I collapsed onto the wet earth. The cold moisture felt like ice agaist my heated skin. I tried to curl into a ball, to escape the cold, but my muscles wouldn't respond to my brain.
I felt grass tickle my cheek and realized I was no longer in the city.
"Are you all right Kyra?" The phantom asked. He hovered over me, concern etched on his features.
"No." I groaned, "Why do you care? Why don't you just finish what you started?"
He nodded, "You're right. I should." He scooped me up and started running. My body tensed, waiting for the pain that would end my life, but it never came. I felt only the cold air as it whipped through my hair.
So he has another plan for my death, I thought. He'll probably take his time, kill me slowly. I glanced up at his face. He gazed intently forward. His eyes moved as he scanned the forest. He didn't look cruel, but that didn't matter. I'd already felt the pain he could inflict.
I subtly ran my hand along my waist, stopping my palm on the hilt of the knife I had hidden beneath my clothes. My fingers wrapped tightly around it. I wasn't going to die today, not at his hands.
I jerked the knife from its sheath, thrusting it toward him. It touched his flesh and he disappeared. I crashed to the ground, dropping the knife in my fall.
He appeared again standing above me, holding the knife, his eyes blazing. "Don't do that again." He seethed, "You will die without me. Do you want to die?"
"I'm going to die regardless! I would rather choose my death."
"You think I'm going to kill you?"
"You nearly killed me already."
He threw the knife and yanked me to my feet, "Listen Kyra," He hissed, "Either you stay and take your chances with me, or I can guarantee you, you will die. And it won't be a pleasant death. You think you're invisible here, but you're not. You have half the creatures of this world searching for you."
I glared at him, "I'll take my chances with them." I turned away from him and stalked off.
I heard him hiss behind me. "No you won't." He muttered. He rushed up to me and I felt his hand on my neck. An electric current pulsed through his fingers, shivering down my spine. My world went blank.

The Dark of Night - 1

I felt the dark around me, like a thick fog. I couldn't seem to escape it. I ran blindly, afraid if I stopped running my living nightmares would catch up with me. I could hear their labored breathing all around me. Their feet pounded on the pavement and echoed of the rough stone walls.
They were behind me for now, but I knew their strategy. They would break off and follow different paths through the maze that somebody dared call a city until they had me surrounded.
Then they would take me.
I knew they would kill me as surely as I knew I was breathing now. But it wouldn't be a swift death. I knew too much. They wanted what I had, what was in my mind. They would make sure they got that first.
I raced around a corner and saw one of them cross the street in front of me. He looked straight at me. I shivered, feeling goosebumps raise on my arms. His was a look that came straight from hell.
This one had been young. He was probably new. He didn't recognize me. I shied away from him, rushing down a familiar alley, one that would take me out of the city. It would be safer for me now to face the creatures that lived outside the city than to spend another moment fighting the darker creatures that lived in the city. The creatures that had once been human, that had the minds of humans, that strategized like humans, but that I was sure were not human any longer. They couldn't be.
"Stop!" A voice cried. The voice was demanding, but it wasn't hard like the voices I was used to.
I spun around, facing the intruder. He was just a phantom in the shadows. His dark silhouette was barely visible against the stone structure.
"Who are you?" I demanded.
"You don't need to know."
"Why are you here? Everybody knows the city isn't safe." I tried to keep my voice firm, but I was panting so heavily the words came out in broken gasps.
"Why are you here?" The man said calmly.
"That's my business."
"And you are mine."
I froze. "What?"
"You are my business. That's why I'm here. I came for you."
I gaped at him. For me? Nobody came for me. Nobody even knew I existed, except the ex-humans that pursued me.
The sound of heavy footsteps broke through my thoughts and pounded in my ears.
"Come on." The stranger said. "Let's go."
I stood in indecision just long enough to hear the shouts of recognition, then sprinted after the stranger. I would take my chances with him.
He waited for me at the end of the alley. As soon as he saw me again he took off. I followed closely. He raced down the back alleys, toward the north entrance. I knew this city like the back of my hand. We could not get out that way.
"Where are you going?" I panted, "We'll be trapped if you go that way."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Of course I'm sure! There's nothing there but guards and more guards. Do you want to die?"
"I'm not going to die."
"Who are you?" I demanded. It was a trap, following him. I was running willingly into a trap. I knew it now. My mind told me to run the other way, but my body wouldn't listen. I had to follow him. There was no turning back. It was like I had made an unconscious choice and could not turn from that, no matter the outcome.
Suddenly, the man was gone. I stopped short, glancing wildly around. He had been in front of me two seconds ago. He couldn't have just disappeared.
I knew where I was. There was no where to hide even a small leaf in this part of the city, let alone a man. I took two steps forward. Maybe he had slipped into a new hole in the ground.
Suddenly he was in front of me again, inches from my face, appearing literally out of thin air.
My heart stopped. I stared into his cold eyes, fear freezing the blood in my veins. What have you done? I thought, What fate have you brought on yourself by following this man? My mind screamed the words, but the rest of me didn't move. The man was, as I had originally suspected, a phantom. He was one of the creatures that had created the horror I was now living in. His kind had turned my once beautiful city into the crumbling heap that existed now.
"What do you want?" I whispered, knowing it was futile to run.
"I told you," He said. "You."