My lungs are burning… It hurts… a lot
It didn't stop Elliot, though, he continued sprinting through the trees, weaving in between them like he was playing professional tag.
He kept looking over his shoulder, looking for "It" despite it being too dark to see anything too far behind or ahead of him. Anything ahead of him except a small light that flickers slightly, leading Elliot to believe it was possibly a cabin or a campfire where he could get help.
Suddenly, while Elliot was silently praying, in his head, that the light was someone else's light, he heard an ear-piercing screech. That inhuman noise came from "It"; that thing wasn't far behind. This realization caused Elliot to push through the pain much harder than he was before.
As Elliot kept sprinting, getting closer to the light and further from "It", he saw a view, a cliff view.
No no no no no! FUCK!
Elliot had two choices: go down the cliff or let "It" catch him. In the seconds that he was considering the pros and cons of either option, he heard the wet grass being squished and twigs breaking.
Elliot quickly turned his head around, only to see "It's" vein-like appendages. The appendages reached out towards Elliot, causing him to push back against "It". This act made Elliot lose his footing, falling down the cliff. While falling, he looked back at "It's" face, a bright star-shaped face that didn't emit any light, staring back at his fall.
*THUD*
Elliot hit the ground hard, feeling his face and torso take the brunt of the fall. But at least he could feel something.
Suddenly, he realized how hard the fall was. Soft, wet grass wouldn't have caused such a hard fall." Elliot thought to himself.
He slowly got up, taking time to recover since he didn't hear "It". He didn't hear anything, not the wind blowing against the lush trees, not the movement of wet grass as he picked himself up. He rubbed his eyes, then opened them.
Where the hell am I? Elliot thought with almost the same amount of urgency as he had when running through the forest.
He wasn't in the forest; he was in the middle of a brightly lit, completely empty, stone-paved street. There were many buildings on either side of the street, all with their curtains closed.
This could be what that light was. Elliot thought, trying and failing to figure out where he was.
Elliot was entirely perplexed; he had never seen this place before. He looked up and saw a dark night sky, the lack of stars resulting from the bright lamps that illuminated the road he was on.
He hated light pollution, which blocked the beautiful stars, as he thought to himself, getting a second of something remotely close to normalcy. He heard hooves clicking against the stone on the road. Elliot turned around to see what seemed to be a police officer on a horse
"Oi! What're you doin' on the road tonight?" The officer said, almost angrily, "It's a moonless night, get inside now."
"Huh? Oh! I'm sorry, I'm not from around here. Mind if I stay at the station tonight? If it really is such a big problem." Elliot responded, trying to be as polite as possible. He didn't even know where he was; he didn't need to get into an argument or fight with a police officer.
"What do you mean you're not around here, Elliot? Are you ok? Do you need me to escort you home?" The officer responded with urgency but also concern
He knows me? How does he know my name?" Elliot's head raced with questions, but instead of prying, he decided to accept the officer's request.
The officer told Elliot to get on the horse and helped him up, while taking him home. Elliott asked what the officer meant by "moonless night."
After pausing, the officer said with increasing concern in his voice, "A moonless night is something that happens every month; it's why all the streetlamps are on. It causes hundreds of hostile creatures to come from Treynia. It's said that Sydos, the God of Darkness, causes the moonless night. You must've hit your head hard, kid."
"You saw me fall?" Elliot replied, since his question was mostly answered.
"Yes, you looked like you had a hell of a night, although you seem fine now. Where'd you get the drinks?"
"I wasn't drinking, I was-" Elliot stopped, he didn't know anything around here. Not the people nor the places, but they clearly knew him.
Would he even believe me if I told the truth? Elliot thought to himself, and he decided not to tell the officer.
"Uh… It's homemade. I got dared to come out here while drunk, I think… Won't happen again." Elliot said, trying to convince the officer.
After another uncomfortably long pause, the officer warned him not to do it again. As they turned onto another road, the officer stopped the horse and helped Elliot down. They walked up to a greyish-brown building with a large white door, the address labeled "19964 Greenwood St". The officer knocked on the door 3 times before someone yelled through the door.
"Who is it? You shouldn't be outside tonight."
"It's Officer Marcus. Your son was caught out here tonight. Please watch him to ensure he isn't out on another moonless night."
"Elliot?!" The voice from the door screamed as they creaked the door open.
Elliot saw the eyes looking at him and opened the door all the way.
"Get your ass inside now, Elliot Dove. You are in so much trouble." The voice, who is a woman of apparently middle age, with greying hair and a few wrinkles in the face, but not many.
Elliot walked inside while the woman thanked Officer Marcus, then started scolding Elliot.
He assumed he should be listening, but the only thing that stood out to him was when she said, "You need to listen to your mother."
So that's my mother… so the rest of the family is here.
Eventually, Elliot's "mom" told him to go to his room while pointing down a hall on the main floor. The hall was incredibly short and only had one door in it, meaning Elliot didn't have to go through several rooms to find his.
He walked into and laid down on his bed. Thoughts of the night and his family at his real home, flying through his head until he drifted to sleep, hoping he'd wake in his real bed in the morning.