Her Monster

Prologue

Prologue

Panting, crystalized breaths wrapped around his head as he stood upon the cliffside staring down at the crashing waves below. Angry clouds stretched out over the whitecapped ocean, releasing sheets of freezing rain that pelted against his bare skin. As those frigid drops washed down him, they mixed with blood and ran in red rivers down his legs onto the rocks below.

The braying of dogs from the forest behind him filled his ears above the crashing of the waves and the rage of the wind. The irony that his pursuers were using dogs in their pursuit was not lost on him.

He had run as far as he could go but stopping here was not an option. He could not, would not, go back to that prison. Freedom or death were his only choices and he would find neither if he remained here for his would be captors to find. They would not kill him, no, they had much worse plans in mind. They would take him back and put him back into service—hunting and killing for the master.

No more. If he couldn't be free, he would rather be dead.

Taking as deep a breath as his burning lungs would allow, he knew what he had to do. The dive off this cliff could break his body. It could leave him helpless on the rocks below, could drown him in the angry waters, could end his life. Or, he just might survive the jump and manage to escape those pursuing him—not very likely. Yet, it was a chance he was very willing to take.

Just as he heard the footsteps and calls of his pursuers coming out of the trees, and the clicks of the dog claws on the rocks behind him, he took two steps back, drew in a deep, steadying breath, and ran for the edge before leaping off to what he was sure would be his death.