Word Challenge: Church - Fall

All she could do is pray.  Try to scream the desperate plea for divine intervention in her mind; her lungs failing to spare oxygen for spoken words as they struggled to sustain themselves.

It was too late to turn back, too late to apologize and too late to escape.  

Running was futile.  She knew it, but she couldn't bring herself to stop.  Human instinct for self preservation refused to let her slow in her fierce run and wouldn't let her look back to see if the hulking forms of the men who wanted her dead would show like silhouettes in the darkness of the forest.  

Her bare feet pounded like thunder against the mulch-y forest floor, ignoring the sharp jabs of pain that burst in her feet as they connected with rocks, thorns and sticks alike, setting her flesh ablaze with pain as it ripped the fair skin to blooded pieces.  But she didn't allow the pain to convince her mind otherwise, instead fighting the battle in her mind to push away the pain or let it drive her forward, reminding her of her mortality or the incredible pain her pursuers could inflict on her.

Her hands shot out blindly in front of her, knocking away the thick brush and branches that flung up in front of her vision and threatened to beat her face as badly as her feet where suffering.  Her hands attempted to push away the thick brush and were only partly successful.  Deep cuts that wept crimson liquid showing as testament to her struggles.  Her breath came rapid and harsh, making her vision blur even worse in the thin, filtered lighting of the moon shining through the thick canopy above.  

Their shouts met her ears, much closer than she had prayed or expected, forcing her heart to leap to her throat and a panicked yelp to escape her lips.  Her limbs finding whatever bit of strength they had reserved, they work frantically at their duties, driving her faster forward through the growth.

The foliage suddenly gave away without warning, making her stumble forward from the wasted force; her feet unable to find their balance quickly enough.  She fell. Her knees made contact with the rock solid dirt first, cutting deep into her skin and leaving a nearly unnoticed pain behind as the rest of her body followed suit, crashing into the ground helplessly and skidding to a halt in the loose dirt.  

Her heart jumped violently in her chest at her immobility and her hands clawed at the dirt to drag her to her feet.  Nails grinding into the dirt and breaking away in her urgency, she managed to claw her way to her feet, nearly falling again as her legs were forced to gain their center and dart off in a dead run once again.

She doesn't know where she's going, but she's going forward.  Away from the men chasing her, whichever direction that means.

She knows they're close.  She knows her vision is failing.  She knows the strength in her limbs are failing her.  She can't run much more and her pursuers are young, fit and honed.  

They will outrun her.  

She will die.

Suddenly a glimmer of unnatural light flickers in the corner of her sight and her eyes almost don't register it, like a phantom that quickly disappeared into the night.  Her legs warning her of their ill balance, she's hesitant to allow her gaze to follow the small flicker of interest, but she found herself desperate for anything.

She looked.

Her eyes meet darkness.  Hopelessness.  

But then the glimmer flashes again and her eyes ache to make it out in the darkness.  Her eyes burning in the darkness to discern the vision before her, suddenly they adjust and slowly, like a great unveiling, her eyes make out the silhouetted form of the massive building in the distance.  Sharp peaks and elegant curves, the structure showed like a beacon of her salvation.  Everything inside of her suddenly springing to life and tingling with hope as the colossal building showed before her.

A church.

An abbey.

Sanctuary.

Her lungs burned as she gasped the word quieter than a whisper. "Sanctuary."

Her legs suddenly stiffened to a halt, making her balance give away once more as gravity forced her to stumble to the ground.  Her hands darting out to the dirt to catch her weight as her feet struggled and managed to stay firm on the ground.  Turning on the balls of her feet, she leapt up from the ground and propelled herself sharply forward.

Everything in her beating and pulsing with a tempo that drove her forward towards her only chance.  

Her only salvation.

It was her only hope.  And there wasn't a fiber of her being that didn't know it.

Her breathing became suddenly harsh and erratic, a desperate whimper escaping her throat with each step she took closer to the church.  The building seemed to be a world's distance, drawing ever further away as she fought with all her might to reach it.  The voices and sounds of her pursuers seeming to grow louder and closer, while she felt as though an invisible force was slowing her.  

Heart pounding, feet aching, lungs burning, head throbbing.  She finally closed the distance to the church, flinging herself against the massive wooden doors that separated her from safety.

Desperation clawed through her throat as she screamed against the doors, "Help me! Let me in!  Sanctuary!"  Her hands, doubled into fists, pounded mercilessly against the doors, tears threatening to spring up from her eyes as she could feel her body ache in anticipation of her pursuers finally capturing her.  She was immobile and vulnerable as she beat harshly against the door, but it was her only chance.  Her only hope of survival.

"Please!" She begged, screaming her words against the door as her hands throbbed and bruised from the force she was exerting.  "Sanctuary! Please!"

The pounding in her ears and the painful gasps from her throat blocked out all sound and engulfed her in desperation.  She raised her arms high above her head and threw them forward with the weight of her body to slam them down against the doors again.  Just before they could make contact, the doors gave away and she was sent toppling to the floor.  

Her body crashed into cold and unnatural ground, her face connecting with the polished flooring and flashing with pain at the hit.  Her body slid a few inches on the carefully cleaned floor before her senses could register what was happening, sending her recoiling backwards and scrambling to make it to her feet.  But her legs felt weak and foreign to her, unwilling to rise.

The dim flicker of a candle met her eyes and the faint firelight illuminated an elderly face.  The shadows lined the deep contours from age of his face and added intensity to the defined crease of the man's forehead that radiated utter concern to her.  The whites of his eyes nearly glowed in the candlelight and emitting confusion as he stumbled backwards, taking tight hold of the door for balance against her intrusion.  

"Why, child, wha-"

"Sanctuary," She gasped, sounding like a breath.  Coughing, she tried to strengthen her voice and declared ardently, "Sanctuary!"

The elderly man's mouth moved without speaking words, floundering to grasp the situation, but seeming befuddled.  "But what do you-"

Sharp footsteps and the clattering of metal from outside the doors grew in audibility, making her eyes dart frightfully to the door.  The elderly priest looked around the door and glanced out into the night; his eyes straining and forced to use his ears to help locate the issue, finding the dim and nearly unnoticeable silhouette of two large men advancing quickly on the church.

Her heart leapt to her throat, forcing a yelp from her lips.  Her eyes darted pleadingly to the man. "Please."  The only phrase she could speak, the only help she could ask for as her mind went suddenly blank.

The priest's eyes moved from the two men running frighteningly quick towards them and fixed them on the woman lying pleadingly on the ground near him.  Pausing for only a breath, he turned his attention away, heaving the full force of his shoulder into the thick wood, forcing the door to slowly groan as it closed.  The great entrance closed shut with a resounding thud, sending the room into silence, even the harshness of her breaths silenced in shock.  

The priest paused, facing the door as though unsure of his decision, before looking over his shoulder to her.  His eyes fixed on her for a long while, and she mirrored his gaze.  The pounding of her heart and the pain slowly engulfing her body insisting that it couldn't be over.  

Somehow. Somehow it isn't over.

Her mind pounding with fear, anticipating the men to burst through the door any moment.  

But only silence and peace remained.

"Are you alright, child?" His soft tones asked soothingly.  

Her eyes didn't falter in their stare at him, her eyelids drooping in exhaustion and wearily holding his gaze.  Her voice didn't respond and only her harsh breathing broke the silence.  

She didn't answer, because she wasn't sure.  

All the strength draining from her, all the force in her body suddenly vanishing, her limbs failed her; letting her sink entirely to the floor.  Her head rested down on the carefully polished floor and her ears seeming to reject any sounds that met them -- blocking out the call of the priest as she collapsed fully onto the ground.

She was safe.  

For now.

As the darkness of unconsciousness engulfed her senses, she pushed away the worries that she wouldn't be safe the next day.  

Letting her mind be at peace with the fact that she was safe for now.