The Devil's Cure

          “Mama! It hurts!” the child cried after she fell on her knees. She was too tired to even stand. Her body trembled with exhaustion.           The poor child tried to keep pace with her mother as they ran through the woods. She didn’t know why they were running or what they were running from, but when she saw the fear and urgency in her mother’s eyes, she knew they were in danger. They’d been running for hours, not looking back even once. She knew it from the total darkness that now enveloped everything around them.           Her mother tightly gripped her hand in hers, pulling her up every time she stumbled on large roots or broken branches. With thirst and hunger already consuming her mind and body, she couldn't move one more step. Tears ran down on her cheeks as she felt the searing pain of her barefoot. She'd twisted her ankle, and the pain was unbearable for the six-year-old child.           “My dear child, we have to keep moving. We haven’t lost them yet!” Her mother sat in front of her, but her wary eyes darted around them.           “But, Mama! I can’t run anymore!”           “Hush... Don’t cry, love. I’m sorry you have to suffer like this. But if you cry too loud, the bad people will hear you and find us.”           As if on cue, they heard a rustling sound behind the trees.           “Come now, we can’t stay here anymore.” She gathered her in her arms and slowly stepped back, listening carefully for any movements around them.           The child clung to her mother’s dress, feeling the erratic beating of her heart in her chest. She was about to turn around and run when a man appeared in front of them.           “Sarah, give it up! Give me the child and I'll let you live,” said the man in a cold voice that sent a shiver across the woman’s skin. The child looked at the man, who was almost invisible in his black suit against the dark of the night, if not for his shimmering, blue, hawk eyes, eyeing them with intent.           “No! You can’t have her! Not while I'm still alive!” She stepped back, only to be startled as her foot nearly slipped off the edge of a cliff she hadn't realized they were standing on.           “Sarah, you don’t know what you're doing! She’s not yours and will never be yours! You're blinded by your emotions!”           “No! Stop it! She’s mine! She’s my daughter! And I'll never let any of you hurt her or have a drop of her blood! We’d rather die!”           The woman tightened her grip on the child and took another step back, falling off the edge of the cliff. The child, with her eyes, opened wide in horror, saw the man standing at the edge of the cliff, his arms outstretched while shouting, “Noooooo!”