She pounded the soles of her sneakers on the hard ground and focused her brown eyes with laser-like precision ahead of her. Sweat beaded and ran down her face, also trickling down the indentation of her spine. Her ponytail swished in time to the movement of her body. Strands of hair grazed her neck and shoulders—but nothing could distract her. Focusing intently on placing one foot in front of the other as fast as she could manage, she ignored everything except her actions. She couldn’t falter now. Emily disregarded the burning in her calves, the fiery contraction of fatigued muscles. She rasped, struggling for breath as she continued through the pain. Everything had narrowed to outrunning her demons. To escape. To freedom. Doubts, questions and fear mingled with the pain. What the hell am I doing? Or more importantly—what am I going to do now? Emily glanced at the treadmill’s readout. She slowed the pace from a flat out run to a fast jog. Her usual half hour of running had finished more than ten minutes ago, which explained her physical exhaustion.
