It shoulld have been a shocking sight for any bystander. I was dashing in and out of stores, between clothing racks and isles of miscellaneous items. I was trying my best to not knock anything over, but there were times were it could not be helped. I bumped into a few shoppers and threw open countless doors. It should have been an alarming site to anyone who witnessed my panic. But with him hot on my tail, everyone seemed to turn a blind eye. He was on my heels, trying to grab at anything that was considered part of me. I was ahead. Enough so that none of me was within his reach.

I was ahead.

That sheer fact granted me a dash of confidence that I shouldn't have basked in. Because when I did, I didn't pay attention to the name of the next store I entered. I didn't pay attention to the fact that this store had only one door, the door I had just entered through. I didn't pay attention to the fact that the store owners, his parents were ready, waiting. I dove behind a rack of coats, dodging the waiting arms of his mother. My palms met the cold tiles as I tried to crawl away as a last resort. But in a split second, I was flat on my stomach with his weight ontop of me. I felt all the air leave my lungs, and my eyes watered as he sat up with me in his arms. The tears begun to fall freely down my cheeks, and he shushed me in response.

Gentle thumbs stroked my face, the same fingers of the man who had ruthlessly body slammed me less than five seconds ago. He held me in his arms, my back pressed against his chest and his lips whispering words that were meant to be comforting into my ear. Looking up, I could see his parents cooing at the sight of us before going back behind the register to assist customers. Customers who ignored the fact a grown man was sitting on the floor with a girl trapped in his grasp.

I only noticed I hadn't yet caught my breath when the leather coats we were sitting next to started looking fuzzy and the room suddenly seemed darker. I choked in a gasp, which resulted in more coos of comfort spilling into my deaf ears. Even if I wanted to hear his words, the thumping of my still-racing heart wouldn't allow me to hear a rocket taking off. After finding air to fill my lungs, I became aware of the hot breath on my ear and neck. The uncomfortable feeling caused me to squirm in his grasp, but it only resulted in sickingly sweet whispers and tighter arms.

"Quit squirming. You know I won't let you go. Not now that I have you here."My tears multiplied when I felt him raise me up. He carried me to a hallway at the back of the store, where multiple fitting rooms were located. My adrenaline kicked in again, panic setting into every fiber of my body. I thrashed in his arms while his guard was down, and I was on the floor again. I was back to crawling. My spinning head didn't allow for much proprioception, and I found myself crawling in the direction I ended up facing when I was dropped. I only noticed I crawled into a fitting room- a dead end- when the sound of the curtain closing screamed at me like nails in a chalkboard. I turned around and faced him as I let my body go slack against the wall like a sack of potatoes. A hyperventilating, sobbing sack of potatos. He looked at me with a furrowed brow, a sign of impatience. His deep teal eyes contained betrayal mixed in amidst adoration. He approached me careful and kneeled down in front of me, piercing through my soul with his gaze.

"Why do you keep running?" He breathed out as he reached to wipe my tears yet again. I wanted to scoff. I wanted to spit at him. I wanted to slap the lovesick look off his face.But instead I sat still, a melancholic statue being harassed by a near-stranger's touch.A kiss on my nose warrented more silent tears from my eyes.

Struggling wasn't working. I was trapped in the lion's own den. He pulled me back into his arms and I relieved my muscles of their tensness, giving up. My head rested against his chest and I felt him smile on my scalp as he realized I had lost hope. He planted a kiss to my head and held me like I was fine china. That was when something clicked inside of me. My compliance resulted in him dropping his guard. If I wanted to truly get away, I had to play into his game.

I sniffled as I brought my arms up to hug him back, a motion that caused him to inhale sharply. He held me closer and planted more kisses on my head, clearly content with my movements. I stayed like that with him for what felt like hours before I decided to test the waters. I let my arms fall back to my sides and I pulled away from him. He blinked and furrowed his brows, but he didn't tighten his grasp or try to restrain me.

I told him I wanted sleep. I asked if he had a bed I could use. His face lit up at the implication of me staying at his house, in his room. He held my hand and helped me up before leading me out of the fitting room and out of the store. I forced the bile back down my throat and cast my eyes downward when his parents sent an adoring look our way.

I followed him through the mall, past the various stores and the food court. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the sun rays poking through the exit doors. I was ready to run, I just needed to wait until I was out the door. I looked up at his expression. He was calm. Unsuspecting. He met my gaze when he caught me staring, and I gave him a weak smile before squeezing his hand and resting my head on his shoulder.

"I love you," he breathed out. I knew he had that bittersweet, lovesick expression on as he said it. It was ingrained in my brain, and even though I wasn't looking at him anymore, I could invision it right in front of my closed eyelids. I suppressed a shudder as he opened the door. The sun rays kissed my face and I couldn't help but smile. I was finally out. Almost free. Freedom... The rush of adrenaline that overtook me came without warning. Before I had even opened my eyes to assess my surroudnings, I had snatched my hand away and my legs had taken off. I threw open my eyelids to find a small parking lot littered with cars. Oh. He led me to the back exit, how had I not noticed earlier?

This lot was for the employees, and it was enclosed behind the mall. The only way to exit would to a little back and to my right. But I would risk getting caught by him. I kept running forward. The lot was enclosed by a brick wall covered in vines. Maybe, just maybe I could climb it.

A voice to my left caused me to snap my head in its direction. There was a lady ontop of the barrier, beckoning me to run over to her. I let out a cry of relief and turned toward her. I don't know if he was catching up. I didn't want to find out. But as I approached the wall, I used the momentum to jump and latch my fingers onto the edge. The lady grasped my forearms and helped pull me up. I stood on the thick bricks and heaved. The lady kept a hold of my arms, keeping me steady. I croaked out a thanks and she nodded. She started tugging at me gently, leading away from him.

Him.

I snapped my head back around to look at him. I had expected to see him at the base of the wall, at least. Maybe attempting to climb the wall. But there he stood. Motionless, right where I had left him.

The lady was still tugging at me, and I let myself follow. Perplexion settled in, but I chalked it down to shock. He would be chasing me soon when he processes what I just did. The wall I had just climbed enclosed a sort of platform filled with soil. It was meant for bushes, but there were only dead vines littering it. I was no being led across the enclosure, the dry leaves crunching beneath my shoes. Upon reaching the other side, I gazed down. Behind the mall was a giant grass field awaiting construction. Directly in front of the wall I was standing on, the grass had been uprooted. Instead of the green blades that danced in the breeze, there was brown, crumbling soil and an earthy smell. Someone had dug a (quite deep) hole here.

Before I could question it, sudden pressure was applied to my back and I fell face-first into the soil. I scrambled onto my hands and knees and gasped. What the hell? I turned to face the opening of the hole, which was way out of arms reach. The hole was much deeper than I had expected.

The lady peered down at me with a soulless stare before turning and walking away. I called out for her, but instead of her features meeting my gaze, it was now him staring down at me. His stare was just as blank, if not more blank than hers. Tears made their way down my cheeks when I noticed the shovel in his grasp.

"Wait!"

I tried begging. I tried crying. I tried bargaining. But he didn't respond. Not with words. Not with his face. All he did was stare.

I started sobbing at his lak of a response, and that was when I finally heard him speak again.

"You tricked me. I already gave you enough chances." With that, he raised his shovel and got to work.

I froze at his words, but when the first heap of soil landed on my calves, I started begging again.

I promised I'd stay. I promised I'd never fight. I promised I'd never try to leave again. I promised I'd love him.

But with each promise came another shovel-full of soil. And with each shovel-full of soil the realization that those promises wouldn't even get the chance to be fulfilled became more apparent.

I choked on one last sob before I choked on soil. It was in my mouth, down my throat. It had made its way into my nostrils and into my lungs. Even as every last oxygen atom left my body, I felt the weight of more soil on my corpse. Even though I could no longer ehar my breathing, I could hear him patting the dirt dry with the back of his shovel.

Even though all I could see was black, the image of his face was ingrained deeply in my mind. It was the last thing I "saw" before it all slipped away.It's unfortunate that some people bury their emotions.