Run VIII

May's heart started to beat faster. 'Is she going to cut my hand? Is she going to stab me? What is she doing with that knife?' She tried to pull her hand away from the mother but she firmly held May's wrist in place. With the knife, she did the same motions. Ran it from the wrist to the palm to the fingers without cutting anything, sending May more chills down her spine. The knife went up and around her hand before the tip landed on the tip of the index finger. A sharp pain shot through May but it was only momentarily. Someone else came with a small golden bowl of clear water. The mother squeezed May's finger to make more blood come out and then flipped her finger over the water. A few drops fell into the water. She then let go of May's hand. May quickly wrapped it in somewhat still damp shirt to stop the bleeding. Everyone had become silent and watched intently on the bowl.

As May watched her blood mix into the water, she could tell it wasn't any normal water. Her blood slowly changed from red to blue. She looked at it in confusion before looking at everyone else. The boss's parents remained the same while everyone else's eyes grew bigger. Some even gasped at the change of color. Small murmurs filled the silent air.

May unconsciously took a step back only to hit the Boss behind her. She looked at him and he looked at her with pleasing eyes. The deep feeling that she had been trying to ignore since she entered the mansion rose again. The feeling of knowing something bad is about to happen. Something terrible. He grabbed the hand that his mother poked her finger and took it up to his mouth. Before she could take it away from him, he squeezed it some and a small blob of blood appeared. He then licked it leaving a heavy slob of saliva on it. Gross. The sudden blood licking surprised May so much the dark feelings she had were replaced with disgust. She quickly took her hand back and wiped it on his shirt and then on hers to clean it some more.

"This is a good sign. She may actually work," his father spoke again in confidence. "We may finally get my grandfather's wealth with her and take control of the kingdom!" His eyes gleamed and everyone else seemed to be nodding with agreement and speaking in small voices out of earshot.

"What do you mean? I can't do anything!" May said, starting to feel scared again.

"You will be sacrificed to the lord of the night! And become my sister-in-law!" said the young girl nearby. The look in her eyes was scary. It gleamed with ulterior and greedy motives. Her smile was very creepy too. Big and wide, revealing the pretty teeth she has. She was serious.

Suddenly everyone burst into laughter. They were laughing so hard some even snorted and started to tear up. The boss was chuckling hard too, even the servants were chuckling. May looked at everyone in astonishment. 'What are they laughing about?'

"I'm sorry, dear child. We always do this whenever a new person joins the family for dinner. It is a great way to break the ice. The look on your face is priceless!" said the elderly woman between puffs of laughter.

"I'm so lost… What is going on? I'm not going to be sacrificed, am I?" May asked.

The boss was still chuckling when he said, "No, you won't be sacrificed. This is just a joke." He took a deep breath to calm himself down and continued seriously, "But if you do actually pass the test, it can become real."

That sent shivers through May's body.

"Oh, hun, don't scare the child. Come, let us have dinner," said his mother.

After dinner, the Boss and May were left alone outside on the patio. Their backyard was gorgeous at night during a full moon. Little light creatures fly about in the dark. Sometimes it even looked like they had their own way of traveling. If one looked close enough, one could almost see someone directing traffic even though they all went in separate ways. The bushes and flowers were lit up by the clear full moon, a glimmer of silver everywhere. A small water fountain maintained its beauty from the moon's light. A beautiful sight to see indeed. There was also a hedge maze behind all this. They were quite tall, almost seven or eight feet in height. The boss said the maze was magical. It was able to take you where you needed to be but mainly, it just gets anyone who goes in it lost for hours before letting anyone go back to the entrance. He said he's been in it several times and that was what happened to him.

The two ended up walking along the hedges and chatted for a bit.

"You know, even though I've been here for several hours and I've been kidnapped, I still don't know your name. What is it?" May asked.

"I never told you?" He looked at her, puzzled.

"Nope."

"Butú."

"Butú. Nice. What does that mean?"

"Night. I was born on the brightest day of the year around noon. My parents thought it'd be funny to call me that." He chuckled a bit. "I do honestly like the name though. Very befitting of my nightly habits."

"Kids do like to play at night the most. I know I did, and I would've had my parents let me. It's dark and dangerous but that is what being a kid is all about. Adventure. Being fearless. Being a troublemaker." May laughed a bit thinking of her younger self. "You don't seem to be that bad of a guy. Scary when you're mean but overall, you're pretty kind."

"'Kind', huh? Thanks for that. I really appreciate it. No one ever said I was kind before," he said after a while.

May looked at him like looking at a child who doesn't know what to do. He seemed almost hollow. A sudden howl interrupted the night. May turned towards the direction of the sound. It was behind her. Butú grabbed her hand and started to run ahead. She ran with him.

"Does that howl mean something bad?" Silence. Another howl could be heard, closer this time. "Why aren't you answering?" Silence. "Slow down a bit!"

After a few moments of running too fast for May, she finally tripped over her own feet and slipped out of his hand, fell down hard on the gravel. She huffed and puffed sitting there trying to catch her breath.

"Get up! We have to go now!" He said sternly and lifted her to her feet.

"I can't run just yet, I'm hurt! You ran too fast for me!" She said out of breath. She shakily walked along the hedge, using it as support, instead of running. Her knees were in pain the most from the hard fall.

"Tsk! You're too slow!" He lifted her up and placed her over his shoulders as he ran along the hedges.

"Hey! This is uncalled for! I can walk! Put me down!" May struggled some before stopping. A sudden flash of movement caught the corners of her eyes. Another howl in the moonlight showed a black creature running after them. Two heads, red eyes, two tails. It looked like a cerberus but two heads instead of three. It was getting closer and closer.

"Butú! That dog looking thing is getting closer! Put me down! I'm too heavy!" May shouted over trying to push herself off so that it'll be easier on them to run away.

"No! You're hurt and too slow and Rust is too fast for you to outrun him! If he catches you, you're done for!" He responded. His grip on her waist tightened and he suddenly started to run even faster.

"How are you running so fast while carrying me?!" May asked while grateful for not having to outrun this creature. She noticed the grip Butú had on her seemed to have widened. She couldn't see his hands but she could see his horns and longer hair. He transformed and that is why he is faster. Rust was still gaining on them though. "Hey! Rust is closer now!"

Tsk! May could hear him click his tongue as she felt him try to make another dash, still running along the hedge.

"Why don't we go into the hedge? We can lose Rust there, right?" May asked.

"No, it's too dangerous for you to be in there. Once we get past these hedges, we'll reach his cage and trap him back in." He finally gave a worthwhile answer.

As the short moments passed, May just watched Rust get closer to them. Her body is awkwardly moving out of places as Butú continues to run as well. Rust looks scary but the closer he got and she got a better look, the cuter Rust seemed to appear. He was much bigger than she thought. He was about as tall as she was from what she could tell on all fours. Both heads had different eye colors. Each head had a blue eye and a red. The blue eyes were on the outside and red eyes were inside, making it look like there's a third head with red eyes in the middle. His black fluffy hair puffed all over the place and his large body looked like it'd be the perfect body pillow and warmer! May subconsciously reached her arms out to him once he was a few feet away.

"What are you doing?!" Butú shouted as he jerked May forward a bit knocking her arms down a little. "Don't reach out to him! You don't know what he'll do to you!"

May retracted her arms quickly and apologized. "I didn't know I had reached out to him! But he's only a few-!" Before she could finish the last sentence, Rust curved his body and his tail came swinging right at them. They flung left into an entrance of the hedges. The sudden impact upon hitting the ground loosened Butú's grip on May and she fell out of his arms, rolling on the ground. Butú's body was still rolling a few feet away by the time she stopped. She could feel her arms and legs tingling a bit from the sudden impact and rolling. Rust slowly walked over. His drools rolled out non-stop. He looked hungry, not cute. May got to her feet. A sharp pain tugged her right leg but she continued to limp over to Butú who was on his knees, glaring at Rust.

"What do we do now?" May asked as she helped him up.

"Run into the hedges. He won't be able to chase you down there. The hedges will protect you. I'll distract him for as long as I can and get him back into his cage. I'll find you once I'm done dealing with him." He said as he gave her a slight push to the left.

"But you're hurt, Butú! How can you distract him when you're barely on your feet?!" She worriedly said as Rust came closer and closer. May subconsciously scooted backwards as well. She didn't fear Rust but her body was moving on its own. Rust started to give out a low growl.

"Go! He won't hurt me!" He said again.

She looked at them both before turning to flee. She limped as fast as she could. Rust growled and when May glanced back, both Butú and Rust were dancing in a circle. Rust would try to bite Butú while Butú dodge and tried to grab the collar on his neck. May continued to limp away and once she entered a new hall of hedges, she could hear some rustling noise behind her. Her heart sunk as she thought something was coming behind her. She turned to see what was behind her and only got a surprise. The hedges started to move closer, closing the opening she just came from. She kept walking away, but backwards, to see the sight in front of her.

Rust's right head saw the closing hedges and turned to her. He barked a few times. Butú almost had the collar but it slipped out of his hands when Rust suddenly turned and moved in May's direction. Butú made a daring jump at Rust but Rust's tail swiped Butú to the side. Rust then dashed and jumped through the closing hedges, landing where she was at a few moments ago. She quickly turned a corner and tried her best to run away from Rust. She ignored any pain she received from the sudden tumbling and hard fall earlier. The rustling noise could be heard all around her now. It is like the hedges are helping her. Every turn she made, a new opening appears and the one behind her starts to close, but Rust is too fast for the hedges and always makes the dash through. By the time she thought she finally lost him, she heard him howl nearby. He wasn't behind her anymore but she could hear him walking and growling around. The hedges finally got him blocked off but he was a dog. His sense of smell was much stronger and with his height, he could always climb over the hedges.

She quietly walked away from the howls. The hedges were still opening and closing in front and behind her. Everywhere looked the same. She eventually reached somewhere with a fountain. This must be the center. Usually the center has some kind of water fountain. She walked closer to inspect it.

Crystal clear water. A breeze passed through and it brought a nice and cool sprinkle towards her. The moonlight made the fountain look magical. It wasn't anything special like the one in front of the mansion. This one was simple. The base color was silver white, it was big and round with two smaller round bowls going up, and there were flower designs all over it. She stepped over to take a closer look. The water was really crystal clear. She could see the bottom perfectly. Someone most likely cleaned it out every day. She touched the cool water. It was very refreshing for her warm skin from running. She dipped her head and arms in for a bit before taking them out. The water ran down her legs. Such a refreshing feeling.

After freshening up, she walked around the fountain in awe. Her right leg didn't seem to hurt anymore. The howling stopped a while back so she was not sure if Rust got caught or if he was still searching. She decided to see if she could see anything above the hedges by getting up on the fountain. Once she climbed on it, she could barely see past the tops of the hedges but it looked clear. She saw the mansion far away. She started to count how many hedges she would have to pass through to get to that side but remembered that the hedges move so it was useless to count.

CRACK!

The sound came behind her. May froze where she was at, her heart stopped for a moment. Soft shuffles on the ground could be heard. Someone or something was walking over. She slowly turned her body around to see who or what it was that was coming. A big black figure walked over. Its snout was sniffing around on the ground and then she saw the head lift up. Blue and red eyes stared at her. 'It's Rust! But only one head?' She looked at it confusingly but dared not move, pretending she didn't exist. Suddenly another shuffling sound came from her side. She could feel her pulse pulsing through her fingers. A cold shiver ran down her back. She swung her body around. 'Rust! The other Rust!'