Pain

The rain beat down ruthlessly on Sofia's head, her thoughts raced without a sign of ceasing. She hadn't stopped walking for a good two hours, and with every minute the knot in her throat grew bigger. Her hands ached from the cold, but all she could do was shove them farther into the pockets of her doused hoodie as she trudged along the dirt road. She hadn't seen a car yet, but she did take the backroads so it was thoroughly expected. Exactly what she wanted, to be alone. 

Everything around her seemed grey and lifeless, like the rain washed the colors away. Fields of corn lined the road creating an unsettling atmosphere, as of they were closing in on her. The dark clouds caused the nearing dawn to still look like night. Her auburn hair was soaked, and deep brown eyes tried hard not to drowned in their own ocean that threatened to overflow. Her stomach felt twisted, and her body shook violently. I'd rather die out here, she thought before pulling her hood closer around her head. As if summoned by those very words a noise met her ears despite the sound of the heavy rain. Her body straightened, and her steps slowed as fast as her heart quickened. Squinting through the rain as she looked over her shoulder she could make out the headlights of a moving vehicle. Her pace sped up, what should she do? Who could it be? This road is always deserted, could it be him? She prayed that whoever it was didn't see her, or at least didn't care enough to stop. Now would be the right time for no one to care. She broke into a jog as the illumination of the lights got closer.

20 feet. She forced her legs to move faster.

15 feet. She didn't dare look back now.

10 feet. Please, please don't stop.

5 feet. Oh no.

 The sound of tires screeching filled her eardrums. Her heart stopped, adrenaline coursed through her veins. A loud humming started in her ears. The white mud splattered van came to a halt five feet in front of her. The windows were tinted, and the dark silhouette of a driver was evident. Acting quickly, she turned and sprinted into the cornfield. The van's sliding doors flew open, and she could already hear thumping of following feet. The rain blinded her and the mud made it hard for her to keep balance, but she ran anyways. I'm not going without a fight, her thoughts echoed bravely through her head. Even with her bravery, her body was sore, and growing weaker by the second. The humming in her ears still became louder as she ran. She swerved to the right into another row of corn, slipping and sliding as she went. Her follower had equal the amount of trouble staying up in the mud.

Another right. Her heart felt like it was going to explode, and her lungs burned as if she'd inhaled hot embers.

A swift left. She couldn't see anymore, leaves and rain hit her from all sides.

Over two rows. She begged her legs to keep going. She had to outrun them, she had to outrun *him*, she had to outrun everything.

She turned once more, losing her footing. I shouldn't of ran away, was her last thought. As if in slow motion both she, and her world(even more than it already had) came tumbling down. Mud painted her face and clothing, an iron taste of blood from a busted lip trickled into her mouth. In an instant she could feel a hand grope wildly at her shoulder. She thrashed, kicked and clawed at the skin of the unknown assailant. She couldn't hear it, but she knew she was yelling curses. The man stopped his attempts at grabbing her, all her weak body could do was crawl into a fetal position in the mud. She sobbed uncontrollably, thinking of all the things that would happen to her now. What the wicked man who chased after her would ultimately do to her. She couldn't even move as the hand touched her shoulder once again, she panted unable to catch her breath. She raised her arms above her head in an act of protecting herself. The humming in her ears was head splitting now.

What was that, a noise?

No, a voice.

What was this voice saying, was it mocking her?

It grew louder, but it still sounded like another language. Were they even words?

No, it was one word.

 "Sofia."

The voice called in a panicked but soft tone repeatedly. Who is Sofia? That's her, she realizes. One more question though, who is calling for her? A shadow creeped over her closed eyes, and she couldn't feel the rain hitting her skin anymore. Her head turned upward with the help of whomever's hand was above her. Her eyes opened to show a concerned and familiar face.

"God, you're burning up." He muttered, "What the hell is wrong with you?" He moved her hood back and examined her. Even if he tried he couldn't quite hide the worry from his face.

 "James?" She nearly whispered still panting, weakly moving his hand away. His blue eyes were beautiful, but they still had that look of scrutiny and anger in them that they always had. His hair was now a darker blonde as it was soaked, strands hung messily in his face. He had the looks of a man every woman desired, but the attitude of a man no one wanted. James was her childhood friend, their families were as close as could be. She was one of the only kids who could take his constant bullying and still be friends with him. He was two years older than her, six months ago he had moved to another state to go to college to become a doctor. Neither of them were very good with staying in touch, so they hadn't spoken a word to each other for a month.

"We'll talk more in the van." He said, standing up and taking off his somewhat wet and muddy jacket. He placed the jacket over her, and despite her objections scooped her up like it was nothing. Not but five seconds later she had already given up on arguing with him to put her down.  It was more of a one sided argument anyways. The warmth of his chest sent her into a drowsy state, and the smell of men's bodywash and coffee calmed her even more.  The pitter patter of his strong heart resonated throughout her head. Before she knew it he was setting her down on the van's floorboard.

The van was rather empty besides a tool box at the very end. The driver, a man around James' age sat in the drivers seat smiling at her. His short brown hair stuck out this way or that, he had a pudgy face with sincere brown eyes. Very different from the terror she had pictured in her mind.

"Sofia, meet Mark. Mark, Sofia." He said closing the sliding doors. "Now take off your clothes.", he added bluntly. James moved swiftly to the front of the van, and tilted the rearview mirror down giving Mark an accusing look. Mark shook his head chuckling and faced forward in his seat.