Running
Albert was running through the old city, he knew he was being chased, but he didn’t know what was chasing him. The only thing he was sure about was that something awful would happen to him if whatever it was that was hunting after him reached its goal.
Maybe it was because of the adrenaline or maybe not, but it seemed to him that the streets were narrower, as if the buildings had grown together to make his escape even more difficult. The streets were dark and the only light to be seen looked dyed in grey, filtered by the heavy fog that covered everything.
Suddenly, he was out in the open. At first, he didn’t know where he was, but amidst the fog, the shape of the cathedral could be seen as a dark smudge. He stopped for a second, with the feeling that the temple didn’t look as it should, that for some reason it was much bigger. Then, a hell of a fire started inside the cathedral making its windows explode, glass fell like rain everywhere, crashing against the floor, shattering into smaller pieces. He started running again, passing next to the queen’s statue in the middle of the square. It seemed to him that the statue moved as if to stop him, but again, maybe it was only his desperation to get away from all that. He took the first street he saw, just to get away from the terrible heat that had been unleashed in the cathedral square. He ran without even looking where he was going, crashing into things, stumbling, and almost falling more than a couple of times.
He ran and he ran more, feeling that the stones moved under his feet. He ran so much he didn’t even realize he was running uphill. Without expecting it he found himself on the top of the hill, at the foot of the castle. He looked around in despair, the only way out was the way he had gone up, and it meant going straight into the enemy’s hands. What could he do? Maybe he could hide inside the castle, or maybe the castle had another way out.
He ran desperately to the castle gates, expecting them to be tightly closed, however, to his surprise they opened swiftly. He closed them behind him and secured them with a heavy iron bar, it would make him win some time. He ran up a flight of stairs to find a large corridor with doors that opened on both sides. He started trying to open them, but they all looked closed until one gave way. It was what looked like a hunting trophy room, he could feel the glass eyes of the stuffed dead animals following him, so he sprinted away to the next room.
And he met face to face with a woman hooded with a light blue cape. She held a hand out.
-Hurry up, come with me.
He felt that it was what he was supposed to do, he took her warm hand and followed her through some crooked descending stairs. They descended fast at the start, in a blind flight, but as they were approaching their destination the tension started disappearing and they felt safe to slow down. Finally, sunlight greeted them from the outside, making Albert feel relieved. However, his savior insisted on carrying on until they reached the limits of the old city.
-Go on and don’t turn back.- she said.
-You don’t know how grateful I am to you for helping me escape. But, who are you?
She raised her hands up to her hood and lowered it. It was Myriam. Then Albert woke up and his phone started ringing.
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