Te Ressa sprinted as fast as her short legs would move her. She dodged branches, ditches, and fallen trees until a lake blocked his path.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Te Ressa breathed, glancing around for a way to cross. She had to cross.
Angry yells and heavy footsteps approached behind Te Ressa. She had to keep the distance between them. She could imagine what would happen if they caught up. Te Ressa had been through it only a few weeks earlier.
She jogged by the side of the lake, hoping to see a shallow place for her to cross without getting wet to her thighs. The longer she looked, the louder the voices sounded. Te Ressa scrambled under a thick bush and had no choice but to cross the water, soaking her jeans to her knees, but at least she still had a chance to outrun her bullies.
She ran for a few minutes more until she realised she had been going the wrong way. The woods were coming to a clearing when they should have been getting thicker. She wasn't near his town yet, but a clearance this early could only mean one thing. Te Ressa was near the institute for the elite.
Well, that's what his uncle called it.
Nobody dared to get close to the institute because of the horror stories. Te Ressa would have to run for ages to pass it. She couldn't turn back, not when she could still hear footsteps behind her.
She wanted to cry out when she reached a metal fence tall enough it tripled her height. She kept running despite her lungs screaming at her to stop or at least slow down. If Te Ressa stopped now, many fists would meet her face and ribs.
My face deserves better, she thought bitterly, struggling to inhale because of her burning lungs. Te Ressa tried to move faster, hoping the fence would end and she could turn a corner, and those who chased her would get confused.
"Oh, Te Ressa!" A voice called out behind Te Ressa, and she almost tripped. They were closer than she thought. "We can see you! Just give up, it'll be over soon!"
Te Ressa heard their laughter, and she felt hot tears pooling in her eyes. Don't give up. Don't give up. Don't give up.
Te Ressa was getting desperate. If the fence didn't stop soon, her legs would abandon her. If the fence didn't stop, then Te Ressa would have to climb. She looked up as she ran, seeing the coiled barbed wire wrapped around the top. She heard that the fence was charged with electricity to stop anyone from breaking in. She heard that the institute was heavily guarded, yet she passed nobody.
Te Ressa dared to trace her fingers along the metal. Her legs were slowing down. The crunching of leaves and branches behind her were not. Her bullies were catching up, but Te Ressa wasn't getting electrocuted, which only meant one thing.
She had to climb.
She stopped to reach up, and her legs almost caved. Get over the fence, Te Ressa, she yelled in her head and pulled herself up. She was just over a metre high when two guys and three girls ran from the woods.
"Get her!" The shortest girl yelled, cheered on by her boyfriend.
Te Ressa would have lobbed her shoe at him head if she could. She yelped when Mark, the tallest boy, grabbed her ankle with a grin that darkened his eyes.
"Where do you think you're going-"
Te Ressa hauled her ankle back and stomped on Mark's head. Mark fell to his knees, and Te Ressa scrambled up the fence until she was too high for them to grab.
"Climb after her!" one of the other guys yelled, but Mark silenced him.
"No, look what she's climbing into."
When Te Ressa reached the barbed wire, she peered down at the people who had chased her through the woods all evening. Whatever punishment the institute gave her for trespassing, Te Ressa was sure she could explain her situation. She was positive the horror stories about the place were just rumours.
"Once she goes in there, she'll be in worse hands than ours," Mark smirked.
They watched Te Ressa struggle to swing her leg over the fence without getting cut. The snags from the little spikes were worth it if it meant that Te Ressa would return home without a face full of bruises.
She climbed down the other side, and as soon as her feet touched the nicely trimmed grass, she almost smiled at her bullies, staring back. She had escaped them, for once.
"Just wait until you get out, Te Ressa," Mark said her name with such disgust, the satisfaction dissolved until all Te Ressa felt was fear.
He backed away, and the bullies turned and disappeared into the woods, leaving Te Ressa alone in the darkness. She waited a minute or two before pressing her back to the fence. Te Ressa edged around the perimeter. If she were going to climb back into the woods, she didn't want it to be in the same place, and she wanted to be facing her town so that the moon could pave her way.
