Chapter 14. Mad Man

JULIAN

The sound of barking dogs kept resonating in my ears as I tore through the forest, leaping over logs of wood and heaps of snow. My heartbeat seemed to be faster than usual, and I could hear every decibel of sound around me as if it had been amplified by nature herself. The smell of rotting leaves and cowering animals was even more disturbing. It caused nausea to grow in my lower regions as the night embraced me.

That familiar energy splitting my insides seemed to be the power behind my heightened senses. It was like the faster I moved my legs, the more it pushed me further, and with more energy coming from a mysterious yet inexhaustible source. I could tell I was gaining extensive distance from my pursuers from the way the sound of the hoofs of horses and barking dogs kept fading into the distance with each stride I took.

The groveling in my restless belly soon became unbearable, forcing me to a halt. Suddenly, some mucoid substance followed. It began to pus