Page 18 of Loki
Ignoring the bugs, spider webs, and other creepy crawlers, we made our way through the dirt tunnel. Although, it was only wide enough for a person to crawl through on their hands and knees, it took us only minutes to reach the end and make our way out.
In an instant, the humid oppressive night air enveloped my skin. As I stood on the damp soil, the satin nightgown clung to my body and my bare feet sank into the wet dirt. This was going to be brutal. We weren’t dressed for this. But we had no other choice.
I looked over my shoulder only taking a glimpse of the place that had become a nightmare for me and a lot of other women. The massive antebellum house was picture perfect on the outside despite the horrors that took place inside and no doubt had taken place there in the past.
Lit up against the backdrop of an orange and blue sky as the sun disappeared behind the horizon no one would ever believe the horrors that took place behind its walls. Or maybe they would because it was definitely history repeating itself.
I grabbed Lila’s hand, and we ran. I didn’t know how far this road was from where we were, but I prayed it was close by. Despite the terrain, despite the dangers of the swamp, and the humidity, we kept running. However, within minutes of our escape shouts and footsteps began to sound behind us.
“Shit!” I shouted. “Come on, Lila. We’ve got to keep moving,” I said as my fear and our pace picked up. “If they catch us, we’re dead.”
As we ran for our lives, thundering footsteps behind us grew louder with each passing second. Time seemed to slip away from me, leaving me feeling disoriented and disconnected. I couldn’t tell you exactly how long I’d been stuck in the cage sitting next to Lila along with the other women. And right now, I had no idea where we were at even though I believed we were still in Louisiana. But it didn’t matter if we were in Louisiana or Mississippi, we couldn’t stay there. We had to find our way back home to our families.
We had to keep running.
I paid no attention to the pain of twigs and rocks digging into my bare feet. I disregarded the relentless bug bites that covered my entire body, as well as the painful scratches from the thorns and branches that grazed against my exposed skin. Despite the fatigue weighing down my limbs and the drowsiness that threatened to overcome me, I kept running. I had to save them. I had to save Lila. I had to save myself. That was what kept pushing me to keep going. To keep fighting.
I just prayed that we weren’t running in circles or back in the direction we had come. My source said stay straight until we reached the road because if they caught us, we were dead after they made us suffer.
I was sure we weren’t the first ones who tried to escape. No doubt if anyone had attempted it before us and had been caught, they were tortured, raped, then killed while they forced the remaining women to watch. To teach them a lesson. And despite all the consequences that came with running away, we had to try.
We stopped dead in our tracks when we reached the edge of a swamp.Black-trunked trees rose out of the murky waters. The croaking of frogs, and the buzz of insects mingled with theshouts of the men getting closer to us the longer we stood still. The awful smell of decaying trees, plants, and dead animals was almost too much for me to handle. However, I forced down the vomit inching its way up my throat. I really didn’t want to go through this water. I could only imagine what lurked in its murky depths, but it might just make them stop chasing us. Or at least I hoped it did.
“Fuck!” I mumbled, looking over my shoulder.
They were coming. The snapping of branches and their curses echoed in the darkness all around us. We didn’t have any more time to think. We’d already wasted enough as it was.
“We don’t have any choice,” I whispered to Lila who looked like she was doing worse than I was. “They’re getting closer. We’ve got to go through it.”
As I waded into the water with my arms stretched out away from me, the coolness enveloped my feet, and I heard the soft splashing sounds of Lila’s steps behind me. The briny water sent a chill down my spine, its coldness more intense than I thought it would be. Luckily, the further we moved out, the water wasn’t too deep, only coming up to our waists.
The dense cover of the trees in the swamp created an ominous atmosphere as the last rays of the setting sun were blocked, casting eerie shadows over the area. The darkness made it virtually impossible to see what lurked beneath the dark waters. And I didn’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
As something brushed against my leg, I suppressed a scream, so I didn’t give away our location just in case the men chasing us hadn’t spotted us yet.
My feet sunk deeper into the mud at the bottom of the swamp as we treaded through the cold murky water. When we reached the middle, I could see the other side.
I gritted my teeth as my body was wracked with shivers from the water and fear. It wouldn’t be long before hypothermia set in if we didn’t get out of here and get warm.
“There they are!” someone shouted as water splashed behind us. “I’m going to fucking kill you when I get you bitches!”
Shit! They were closer than I thought.
I sped up, treading water as fast as I could while pulling Lila along with me as I tried my best to get us to the other side before they reached us. If they caught us in the water, they might just drown us and leave our bodies for the animals.
I wanted to let out a sigh of relief when I noticed the bank getting closer, but we still had a few feet before we were safely out of this water.
“Come on, Lila,” I called out over my shoulder. “We’re almost there.”
She nodded, but I could see the weariness on her face. I was tired of running too but it didn’t matter how tired we were, we couldn’t stop.
When we pulled ourselves onto the bank, we didn’t have time to rest because we still hadn’t put any distance between us and them. We were running for our lives. We’d seen too much. We’d seen too many faces. We would have to split up.
“Run Lila!” I screamed, pushing her in front of me. “Keep going straight until you reach the road. Don’t stop running until you get help.”
The horror and fear in her eyes pulled at my heartstrings but there was nothing I could do. If we stuck together, we’d get caught together, and that wouldn’t be good for either of us. But if we separated at least one of us had a chance.
“Go!” I screamed again, pushing her away from me, causing her to stumble. “Run, Lila! I’ll find you later! Go!”
