Violet

I'm running. Wind blows through my hair and it feels like if I run fast enough, it might just carry me away. It wouldn't get me so far as I might hope. Not when Landon's around, anyway. My twin brother runs alongside me, his breathing ragged, looking forward and nowhere else. Sweat drips down his temples. He doesn't bother wiping it away. There is no point in looking back; we already know they're tailing us. Who's even tailing us? We've been running for so long I can't even remember what we're running from. There was nothing left to do but run. Faster. Faster. Faster. I am so scared. Terrified. I think of my father, telling me as a child to be brave. Fear is weakness, he would say. To fear is to fall, and once you've fallen, no one will care to pick you up.

Faster faster faster. They're running faster. I can hear their footsteps gaining in on us. I want to yell, but I can't. It hurts to breathe. Why am I still breathing? I should be dead. I would be dead, if they didn't want me alive.

I dare glance over briefly at Landon, nearly sending myself crashing into the bushes. He instinctively caught my hand, suffocating it in his. Calm, deep breath. In, out. In, out. Almost there.

He steadies himself, clenching his jaw. Then runs. So fast, so, so fast. He pulls me along and I try to keep up so I don't stumble and drag us both down by accident.

Until I hit a rock that sends me tumbling down the hill and I instinctively let go of Landon's hand, but he goes flying either way. The ground is hard. I'm pretty sure mud and dirt and leaves are getting caught in my skirts, not helping my mood. For the millionth time, I find myself wishing I didn't have to wear these goddamn dresses all the time. Landon gets to wear pants. Dad gets to wear pants. Why am I the one who gets stuck in the worst situations possible? I'm just glad I wore Landon's hunting boots instead of my own, heeled nightmares.

I growl in frustration until I finally hit the bottom of the hill, my head spinning and my dress torn. I don't even care. All I know is that we have to keep moving or else they're going to catch us and no one's going to save us. I like to think that I'm self-dependent, but I know it's a lie. Ever since I was little, I was always relying on Dad or Landon to get me out of trouble, because I knew they would. Just like I would do the same for them. But Dad isn't going to save us anymore, which means we're just going to have to save ourselves.

Landon continues tumbling down the hill until he knocks right into a tree and I can't imagine his head is spinning any less than mine. I get up and tie my dark hair into a sort-of ponytail that was really just a tangle of knots and branches, but it works as long as it keeps my hair from getting into my mouth. I really need a shower.

I roll back my shoulders, my back making sounds that should never be heard, and move to help lift up my brother. When he tries to walk, he has a limp, and it's bad. This can't go on much longer.

"Violet," he gasps, clutching to my arm helplessly. "At least one of us should get out of this. You have to go," he's speaking more urgently now. I no longer remember what it feels like not to be scared. "They'll bring me back, they'll fix me, okay? We know what they want, you can run." He blinks up at me, squinting slightly through the sun. I think I want to cry.

"They'll use you. They won't stop until they have me too and they'll use you just like they use everyone else. We'll get you help," I urge, trying to get him to understand. I'm not leaving him, I can't.

"Please, Violet," I think he's sobbing. "You have to. Please, you have to go."

"I'm not leaving without you!" I cry, though I try to keep my voice down so not to alert them to our location.

"You have to. You know what to do. You don't need me anymore. I believe in you, Violet. Go," he pushes me away from him with a strength I've never known before. Then he starts running in the opposite direction. He starts running towards them. They're going to kill him. They're going to kill him and he's not gonna save me and Dad's not gonna save me and I don't know if I can save me. They're going to kill Landon.

I don't know what to do anymore, so I run. I run and I run and I don't stop because I know they have Landon and I won't let him sacrifice himself for nothing.

They will never find me, but I'm going to find him.

And then we can be Landon and Violet again, and we will be unstoppable.

I hear shouting in the distances. "Tie him up," they say. "Find the girl."

I will never stop running.