"No…please, I'll do anything", Ayla pleaded, stepping backward, attempting to run as a dark figure moved toward her.
He felt unfamiliar.
This person didn't feel like the others she was used to fleeing from.
This shadow of a person wasn't someone she had faced yet.
Fear was taking over as she turned to run and escape, but she wasn't able to process her thoughts fast enough to think of where to turn.
Ayla desperately looked around for a place to hide while running through the exit of the alley.
All she could see now was that she was out of options.
There was nothing but woods around her, because she had hit the edge of town and found the forest.
Trying to gather her courage as her eyes darted around, left, right, left, right, then straight ahead, as she realized her normal hiding places were all behind her now, as the town grew further from her with every step she landed.
She was starting to collect herself, mustering the fortitude to escape the danger, when the man grabbed her wrist.
His grip caught her by surprise, as her face twisted back to look at him instantly.
Fear and determination mixed together, present on her face as she did her best to look him in the eyes.
Her brief moment of hesitation was all it took for this threat to catch up.
Ayla turned to see that the man didn't appear to be much older than her.
In fact, he looked around the same age as her.
Even though it was dark, she could tell he was attractive with medium-length hair.
The moonlight crept its way through the trees just enough that she could tell that he had a handsomely defined and chiseled face, with a large, muscular build to go with it.
His grip was strong, and it stirred something inside her.
With every person that had pursued her prior, none had managed to lay a finger on her, but his grip made her question herself.
Question why she was running.
Shaking her head quickly, she knew she needed to snap out of it and run.
Run fast.
That only made the panic inside of her increase.
"LET ME GO"!
Her voice came out firm, forceful, but it still had a softness to it, as she demanded him.
She stomped on his foot, jerking her wrist simultaneously in an effort to get freedom as she yelled her demand.
To her surprise, her sudden outburst gave her just what she needed to break free of this brute of a man.
Once free, Ayla darted off into the thick brush in front of them.
Ayla knew she wasn't out of his proximity yet because she could feel his presence as he followed her.
She knew she had to keep going, but she didn't know where to go.
'Oh, come on, think Ayla. Where the hell can we go from here' she thought to herself.
The sharp branches attempted to grab her dress as she ran.
Hoping, as she ran, the thickness of the brush she had bolted into was dense enough to hide her light hair, and her fair skin that was showing while she fled in the moonbeams that peeked through the trees.
Thankfully, her now torn knee-length dress was a shade of darkness that matched the night and scenery around her.
The moon was high and bright in the sky, lighting the way, as she continued to run, looking fervently for a safe place to hide from her pursuer.
This was the furthest she had ever been when trying to run from anyone following.
Several people had chased her or were trying to kidnap her.
None of them had managed to get her to flee the town.
At the same time, none of them had gotten nearly as close to her as this new opponent.
Why did this feel different?
Was it only because of how close he managed to get?
Running for safety, thoughts creeping through her head, the feeling of his grasp rounded its way back to the front of her mind.
It was warm, almost inviting, and firm, but not tight.
He didn't feel like he was trying to hurt her.
She didn't have time to think about things like that, though.
Now, she had to navigate those damn woods.
The only reason she didn't go to where she had been staying was that she wanted to keep her temporary home a secret.
That was her home for the night, the place she felt would be the safest.
It was just a small, abandoned area, sheltered away from the world in the alley, but it was a temporary resting place.
Her temporary home.
This bounty hunter was a good one.
He seemed to be hot on her trail, and he wasn't giving up.
She knew that she had to do something quickly.
The effort of escaping was starting to take its toll on her, and she was beginning to tire out.
Plus, if she didn't figure something out soon, all her running would be for nothing.
Ayla was determined to be the winner of this chase, just like all the others she had been in.
It wasn't long before she heard the roaring and rushing of water near her, so she directed all her efforts to getting to the turbulent river ahead.
Ayla knew that if she could get across the water, she could make it difficult for the tracker to follow her.
Whatever method he was using to follow her would be less effective.
She pushed herself harder than she ever had before.
The closer she got, the faster she ran.
Faster and faster.
Ayla began to smell the damp dirt, earthy, and musky fragrances that the river emitted; she knew she was close.
Then, as she came to a clearing, Ayla came to an abrupt stop.
Her heart froze.
Before her lay two options, and she didn't like either one.
Ayla finally realized why the sound of the water was so strong.
She was realizing why the water could be heard so far away.
The young woman felt trapped deep in the forest with few options.
Fear consumed her even more at that moment than when the mysterious man had actually grabbed her wrist.
She was standing at the edge of a large waterfall, staring into the vast darkness.
The roaring of the water was all around her, but it wasn't as loud as she had originally thought.
It was calming in a sense as she started walking to the fate that awaited her.
Ayla proceeded forward and stood in the middle of the river, where a small area held a raised rock.
Unable to do anything else, she looked down with her feet, feeling the water rushing past her in an effort to help her with her choice.
To her surprise, the water wasn't cold.
When her feet met the river's embrace with pleasant, warm splashes.
She was reminded of bath water as she closed her eyes and let the moonlight wrap around her as she stood there.
Her delicate feet were inching closer to the edge of the river to give her the safest advantage and more time to consider her options.
Ayla knew she didn't have a lot of time because a strange man was chasing her, but she had a few seconds to calm her mind and think.
The man was nowhere in sight, but did that mean he was watching her, hidden somewhere?
This was scary, all of it was scary, and ultimately, she now had only a few choices.
Before she realized what was happening, her time had run out.
Whoever was chasing her was there, breaching the woods that lined the river.
The unknown challenger was now on the riverbank, staring at her.
He quickly stopped moving forward and looked at her curiously.
Whoever it was didn't want to rush her just yet.
'What is he waiting for' she asked herself.
His pause was mostly out of fear that she would jump immediately if he approached her, but he wasn't backing down and leaving either.
He feared they were both at a sort of stalemate, and he wondered how this was going to progress anywhere.
She clearly had no intention of interacting with him, but he couldn't leave her standing at the edge of a deep, dark waterfall.
To him, it looked like she would rather jump off a waterfall than introduce herself.
His interest was piqued.
'What's wrong with this girl' he thought to himself.
More than that, how could it seem like she was completely clueless that he was there?
Was she really unaware of his presence, or was it a trick to make him think that so she could catch him off guard?
Now, he was on alert, unsure of what to do.
Was she about to attack him again?
He had no problem taking a moment to catch his breath.
It gave him a moment to assess the situation to ensure his own safety.
Ayla was deep in her thoughts, so immersed that she was truly unaware of her surroundings.
Sure, she saw him breach the trees in her peripheral sight, but she hadn't truly registered that he was there.
The young woman had begun pondering her options over what felt like an eternity in her head.
One thing she thought was that she could always just cross the river and let the water wash away any trace of her if she were quick enough.
Maybe she could disappear forever this time if she just kept running.
Instantly, her tracks would vanish, and she would be untraceable, as she had originally intended when the sound of water hit her ears.
The man could easily anticipate that she crossed through the river, though.
He could keep following her, endlessly.
All he had to do was go to the other side and find her tracks there.
Ayla would have to keep running all night, and she was so tired of running.
She was so tired of running all the time, but especially that night.
Exhaustion didn't even begin to describe what she felt.
Ayla didn't want to run anymore.
Then, again, there was a chance for escape right there in front of her.
Sure, it was dark and scared the hell out of her, but so did living alone and running.
There was also the point that she couldn't see what lay below the darkness and water mist.
She would have to trust her instincts in order to know whether she should or could do it or not.
What were the odds of something that awful happening anyway?
Did that really matter?
The only people in her life were the people hunting her.
No one else would even know she was missing, no matter what the outcome was.
Both paths gave her uncertainty.
Which one gave Ayla the most hope that she could quit running at that point?
After she turned sixteen, it seemed like one person after another was always after her.
She had been hiding for years and evading capture for so long that she started to feel helpless.
Ayla didn't know why they were after her, and she didn't care.
People were always trying to kidnap her, and at that point, she wanted all the chasing games to come to an end.
Then, a lightbulb popped off in her head as if someone flipped a switch.
'What if I did just jump' she thought to herself.
Even if nothing happened and she was fine, it could maybe seem like she wasn't.
Maybe it would be enough for whoever was after her to leave her alone.
It would only work if there were a witness to think she was dead, she thought to herself as she peered over the edge of the falls, watching the water fall freely below.
Whoever was after her would surely stop coming for her, right?
Her thoughts were starting to solidify as a smile crept on her face.
Ayla's mind envisioned her body, flying as free as the water on the way down, arms out, feet pointed to the dark depths, peace in her soul, anticipating the upcoming collision with whatever lay below.
Just then, Ayla could feel eyes on her, as she officially noticed she was being watched.
She was now aware, too, of the sort of stalemate the two found themselves in.
He stood frozen on the river, and she, frozen in thought at the edge of the waterfall.
She nearly jumped out of her skin, making her lose her balance, just slightly, as her eyes flew up at her side, her body dancing unsteadily for a moment on the edge of the waterfall.
"NO" the unknown man yelled in her direction.
Not long before that, she had yelled the same exact word at him when their evening had just started, and with similar vigor.
He had blurted out so quickly that he couldn't stop himself, so he followed it with, "It would be a shame if you fell" trying to cover for his odd concern.
Ayla looked at him with confusion plastered on her face.
She was curious now, just who he was.
Who was this man who had chased her into the deep, dark, scary forest, just to turn around and seem concerned about her?
This man seemed different than the rest for many reasons.
First, he yelled to stop her with concern in his voice.
Then, he threw in a nonchalant phase to cover for it.
All of which made no sense, because he didn't have a clue who he was.
Ayla was starting to feel one of her moods coming on, where she was ready to play a little.
There were times when she rather enjoyed toying with the other sex, and she felt like this might be one of those times.
So, she inched forward while watching him, a sense of confidence strung across her face now.
His hand acted as if he was trying to catch her from the shoreline as his feet took small steps toward her.
Her eyebrow rose in suspicion, "And why shouldn't I jump? I would be free of you"?
Ayla's voice was cocky and confident, yet sweet underneath.
With every word, she studied his expression intently.
"Nobody sane would jump in these circumstances" he replied.
Clearly, he was thinking she was sane.
"What circumstances would those be? I'm supposed to just stop my plan because you say so. Why would any sane woman want to keep running from you and everyone else who keeps trying to capture them for no reason? This curse of a life is not one I wish to bear any longer. What kind of a life is that" she responded.
She had no intention of really doing anything crazy; she just didn't feel like running anymore.
Ayla had no plans of saying that out loud, though.
He was at a loss, as he continued to take baby steps toward her.
How could he respond when he didn't know what she was referring to?
She was clearly not sane.
She put her hand up as if to gesture for him to stop moving any closer, as she eloquently raised one foot over the tumultuous falls.
He reluctantly agreed, as shown by his pause in steps.
The unknown man started shaking his head.
"I can see how this seems like a solid plan to you, but my intent was not to chase you. I'm not sure about what you have been through before now, but I just wanted to talk to you because I saw you and thought that you were breath taking" he said without pause.
In his mind, if he could sweet-talk her just right, maybe she would come off the edge of the waterfall.
She squinted her eyes to look at him because she didn't believe what he was spouting.
"You're lying. You're a good liar at that, too. You are just like the rest of them. If that were the truth, you wouldn't have kept following me so deep into the forest. Why would anyone chase a girl so far into the forest alone? Where are your friends waiting" she asked.
He knew this was not going well.
"I was not chasing you per se, and there is no one waiting. I'm alone".
She looked at him, raising an eyebrow, pushing her foot further over the edge, his hands pushed out closer to her as if he were trying to catch her again.
"I followed you because I was worried about you being out here all alone. I felt guilty because I was the one who caused it. I didn't know what to do".
Her lip lifted slightly on one side.
"So, you admit this is all your fault, then"?
He didn't exactly say that, but he agreed to an extent.
"It's my fault you came out here alone. Since you were a female all alone, I wanted to follow and make sure you were okay. It isn't right for you to be out here like that. What if something happened"?
Ayla started laughing at his words.
"You mean like if I happen to get attacked by a wild animal, or kidnapped, or fall off the edge of a waterfall"?
He didn't know whether to agree or not.
"My point is, I'm alone. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you because of me. Clearly, I was wrong to worry about you, yet completely valid at the same time if people are after you" he said, looking at her with concern.
She thought about it for a second and felt he might be sincere.
Even if she was being a smartass, he was still worried about her.
Maybe he wasn't like the others after all.
The only problem was that she had no way to prove it.
That gave her an idea.
"How do I know you are telling me the truth" she asked.
"You don't" he replied.
A small pull upward on the side of his mouth revealed that he wanted to smile, but he was scared to.
The last thing he wanted was for her to get the wrong impression now.
He continued, noticing that her defenses might be lowering.
"You would have to trust me and take a step back off the ledge. It looks like you are attempting to take a leap of faith. Trusting me would be a leap of faith, and you seem like you are about to take one just as risky. Instead of this one being off the edge, it would be to trust me" he pointed toward the waterfall as he finished speaking.
Her head moved to direct her eyes at her foot, glistening from the water and moonlight.
She thought about his words as she watched it hang over the open vastness and what lay beyond underneath for a moment before pulling it toward her to stand on it again, looking back up at the stranger she was speaking with.
Suddenly, her eyes changed from wanting to trust him to pure fear all over again as she looked at the sight before her.