Dark Tragedy

Three companions stumbled though a dark and lush forest.

They ran from something, continuously looking over their shoulders, but nothing could be seen or heard behind them. Men or an army or something else all together.... Whatever it was, their terror and fear was palpable and they fled through the thick growth as quickly as they could.
The sky was dark and overcast and the jungle-like surroundings were fog ridden and gloomy in the pre-dawn light. Wisps of cloud and mist veiling the trees and vines and making it nearly impossible to move faster than a crawl as the wooden sentinels appeared and disappeared from around the three travelers.

The three had been running for a long time. Now they simply stumbled wearily along, unable to stop for fear of their pursuers. In the lightening early morning, they stumbled out of the forest and into a clearing miraculously clear of the mist which clung to the surrounding trees, making it seem like an island all alone and isolated.

Each of the travelers showed average features, brown hair and pale skin, their clothes soiled and tattered. Travel worn and weary. There was nothing about them that might hint at their troubles or who was chasing them or why.
The first into the clearing was a man. He wore a determined look and was followed by another man who leaned heavily on a woman for support.

The woman led her wounded friend further into the clearing and helped him to lay down so she could inspect his wounds. She knelt down next to him, her back to her mate who strode to the far side of the clearing, looking troubled but unwilling to show the others his insecurity as he tried to plan where they might go next and how they could continue their escape. He glanced back at his companions, his friend and his love. Concerned hopelessness bled into his features but he turned away again, still determined. He paced, staring into the misty woods, when suddenly he stepped into a deep hole in the lush grass, hidden by black watery muck.

He fell soundlessly, unnoticed by the others, and hit the ground half sprawled in the puddle. Tiny black things suddenly swarmed over him, almost clouding him from view. Things that resided in the muck... things that had lain in wait for just such an occurrence, just such a disturbance. Each tiny creature was unique in it's own horrifying way. Some were spidery with long, stabbing legs. Some were worm-like, slithering and crawling. Some were like small beetles with hooked, barbed feet and some were like amoeba and slid and clung with their own stinking ooze. Yet they all shared one common link. They were all evil and malevolent and they covered him until all that could be seen was a writhing mound of putrid black.

He gasped and shuddered and struggled to get these terrible organisms off of him. He strove, batting at the things and slapping at them in panic but nothing had any affect. After only a few seconds, not even enough time for him to cry out while the creatures bit and stung and slithered, he twitched and jerked and then became still.
Almost like a living liquid, the black that covered him stole beneath his clothes leaving him dirtied and pale but with no other evidence of its presence.
He lay stiffly on his stomach with one arm stretched out in front, wide eyes staring off to the side and mouth hanging limply agape.

His mate stood up from the wounded man and walked into sight of his staring eyes. She was looking back the way they had come through the misty jungle.

\"We can\'t stay here long. I"¦ I don't know if he'll make it"¦\" She said without looking at him. \"But we\'ve got to keep moving. They\'re coming.\" She turned and, seeing him laying there, thought he was resting.

Still unblinking, his face turned fully toward her. \"Help... me...\" He gasped, his voice weak and rough, barely audible.

Tired and uncomprehending, she only looked down at him in confusion.

\"Help... me...\" He wheezed again and black spidery legs flashed from beneath the cuff of his outstretched sleeve, an unobserved lightning quick movement. She still didn\'t understand.

He took a whistling breath as he tried to gain enough air to speak more than just those words.
\"Something... bit me... it hurts! ... oh ... it hurts...\"

His voice cut off sharply and as he craned his neck to look up at her. Abruptly a new presence seemed to rise up in his eyes. Where there had only been weakness before, a tiny hint of strength suddenly showed and he looked directly at her with a veiled intensity.
\"Please... help me.\"

She started to see that something was wrong and fear welled up in her voice. \"What...?\" She paused, alarmed.
\"You\'re... You\'re just tired.\" She said as if trying to convince herself.

He straightened slightly and his eyes narrowed as if harboring some hidden purpose. The hand that had lain stretched out before him now lifted toward her. \"Help me... please.\" He whispered, looking into her eyes.
\"I love you.\"

Panic started to overwhelm her and tears began streaking down her dirty cheeks.
\"No... oh no! Not now! We can\'t stop now!\" She cried.

His hand reached out for her now with a strength that it had lacked before.
\"Please, help me.\" He repeated in a still weak yet somehow changed voice. His grime slathered arm stretched inches closer to her and with that reaching hand there came a hidden threat that even she seemed to sense.

Her own hands went to her mouth and her sobs came harder as she stared down at her mate, his body limp but for his face staring up at her and his arm stretched pleadingly. She felt such a terror and foreboding as she stared down at the young man. This was the man she loved, of that there was no question, but she also saw something alien underneath. It kept her frozen, confused, and afraid.
Confused by what she saw, by the dread that rose in the core of her being while gazing down at this face and by the love she felt for the owner of that face. Over it all was the shadowing, fearful knowledge that their pursuers still followed, getting closer all the time. It made this confusion and these emotions so much harder for her to deal with.

\"Please... I love you.\"

She looked into his face, seeing that something had changed the only person she had ever truly cared for and the tears began anew. \"Oh... no...\" She whimpered but she couldn't stop her own hand from stretching out to meet his. The only familiar thing in this gruesome existence, the only good thing in this ruined and fearful life. She reached out for him with shattered hope and pain, wanting to trust to something. Something that had always held her in the past. How could it have changed? It couldn't. Couldn't be lost when it was the only thing left.
\"I love you too.\"

Their hands reached for one another. Their fate sealed with a touch.