Betrayal Hurts

• Poppy Ware, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2022

The girl couldn't believe what she just witnessed. Knowing the information she now obtained, she knew there would be trouble and that she was next. She also knew that she shouldn’t be wearing her brother’s clothes (pants, boots & shirt), it being illegal and all, but it wasn’t ideal to run in a dress. Stepping off the porch, she was immediately hit with the icy breath of the wind. The wind howled and hair whipped her face. Snow rapidly fell from the sky above. And her breath fogged in front of her face.

She took off running into the night. Her boots made a loud noise on the cobblestone as she ran. She continued running after she left the path, knowing that her freedom lay out past the village and beyond the forest. Smiling, she clutched her satchel bag and ran faster.
She squinted in the darkness trying to make out the looming shapes ahead. Trees towered overhead, she’d made it to the forest. As the moon hid behind the treetops the more she ran the darker it got.

Running blindly, the girl’s foot connected with a tree root. A startled gasp came from her mouth as she was flung to the ground. A searing pain shot up her leg, glancing at the angle it was positioned, she knew it was broken. She rolled over grunting from the pain, her bags' contents strewn over the ground. A cloaked figure approached her. The crunching of snow under boots could be heard. The girl tried her best to get up but she wasn’t fast enough. The figure bent down and grabbed the girl’s wrist.

She struggled to escape but the stranger had an iron grip. “Who are you?” the girl shrieked. The stranger put a finger to her lips to silence her. The stranger, still holding the girl, reached into the cloak and pulled something out. A blade glinted in the moonlight. The girl stifled a gasp. She started shouting, moments later realising that it was a fatal move. More footsteps were heard, then rough hands grabbed her from behind. A hand clamped over her mouth. She couldn’t escape as they tied her wrists together. The stranger watched as an accomplice gagged her. Struggling madly to break from the bonds, the girl thrashed from side to side. The rope burnt her wrists as she struggled, her leg throbed. Her screams were muffled so no one could hear them. Tears streamed down her face as she knew her end was coming. The stranger bent down and drew a circle in the snow around her. They then held the blade above her and chanted in a weird language, the circle started to glow blood red. Shadows crept up to her and her bonds tightened. Her eyes widened as she saw who was under the hood of the cloak. The chanting finished and there was an eerie silence. Then she watched as the person she trusted with her life plunged the knife deep into her chest.