They came from everywhere, and they were fast. Faster than anything natural. Appearing like black shades in front of me, behind me and next to me. Making the grass and leaves rustle in their wake.

Every time I managed to distinguish a face, it was the same one. A face of a man from legends. He looked like a young man, but his eyes revealed the truth. He was ancient. As ancient, as the stories mothers told about him to frighten their young, bold daughters. Nobody believed those stories, of course, and neither did I, until tonight.

I could see the lights in the not so far distance. I was so desperately close to freedom. A couple of minutes more and this nightmare would end.

As I ran forward getting closer with each desperate stride, to what I thought was salvation, The Man's hands kept grabbing and pulling at my clothes and limbs. Each time he struck, he pulled a piece of fabric with him, leaving me with fresh scratch marks and fewer and fewer clothes to cover my trembling, youthful body.

The lit up path was within reach now. Only a couple of steps more. Proud of myself, I burst out of the thick bushes into the clearing, and my happiness turned into bitter disappointment.

The village, the place of my salvation, was, in fact, moon's reflection on the water. I found myself on the shore of the lake used as Fair Town's water supply.

The man was nowhere around. If the stories about him were true, he could only work his magic within the confinement of the forest. I started running again and hoped that was true. There was only a small patch of woods I needed to pass through before I reached the main road to Fair Town.

It took me a better part of an hour to cross the large, field underneath the lake and reach the last patch of the dense forest. Ten more minutes and I would pass on to the other side. I decided to sneak through the woods this time. I was too tired to outrun the bastard anyhow.

I ripped the bottom part of my dress, revealing my long, strong legs and headed forward. I considered myself daring and adventuresome person, but now I was scared shitless. I knew what would happen to me if I got caught. I didn't want to become an addict. Especially, a sex addict. I was too young for that. Although, I did know a couple of men in my village that would not mind.

Something cracked to my left, and I kneeled down quickly. My heart pounded loud and fast. I looked and saw The Man. Two of them. A couple of tense moments passed, and the third one appeared. They talked some and went separate ways.

I badly needed to take a piss, but I was scared they might hear me, or worse, smell me. I continued more carefully than before.

Two more times I heard them sneaking around, and both times I managed to hide in time. I knew if I wanted to run away, I needed to do it fast. My luck would run out eventually.

The men chasing me looked the same, and I knew they were the same person, but they weren't acting the same. There were at least five different clones, and they unmistakably possessed different personalities. From calm and collected to raving mad.

As I spied on them, I concluded they were indeed one person. The stories never told about anything like this. It was always only one man who came and took the girls to a place where he held them until he broke their spirits and turned them into addicts.

After another argument, where one of them demanded to burn the forest and me with it, they went separate ways again. I realized this was my chance. I stood up and went for it. I did not care if I made much noise. The road was so agonizingly close. Five more strides and I would be free.

At that moment, something grabbed my right ankle, and I stopped, barely managing to stay on my feet. I tugged my leg to no effect. I looked down and saw my foot tangled in multiple branches. I pulled again, this time using my hands as well. There was no way I could free myself alone without help.

Lucky for me a carriage was moving slowly over the bumpy road. I opened my mouth ready to shout for help when five dark shapes appeared from the blackness around me, making me lose my voice. Literally. I could not say anything. I wanted to yell, but nothing was coming out.

With my leg trapped and voice stolen, I could do nothing useful. I stared mutely at the carriage as it slowly moved away. My last chance of getting out of here safe. Gone.

"You sure made us work tonight, girl," The calm one said.

"Let's take her here and now," the one that wanted to burn everything said and grabbed my collar with both hands ripping my shirt apart exposing my large, unsteady breasts to the dark, cold night. "Look at those tits, brothers. We got ourselves a fucking cow."

"Calm the fuck down," the third one intervened. "Nobody fucks her until we get underground."

As the many hands descended upon me, I desperately wanted to say something. I wanted to yell and fight, but I could do nothing except piss myself. To the delight of everyone but me, that is what I did.

As warm piss spread over my crotch and started running down my legs, they picked me up and began carrying me like a log back into the forest.

They made me completely rigid by some spell. I could move my eyes, but that was it. They carried me for maybe five minutes when we stopped in front of what looked to me like a large oak tree. At first glance, there was nothing special about the three, but then, the tree suddenly started opening like a basement, and bright green mist rose from the newly made hole in the ground.

"In we go," one of them said, and we started descending into the ground. The tree closed behind us with a creaking sound covering us in total darkness.