The Monster's Stratagem (Lesbian Story)

58: Games at Midnight

Dawn's breath mingled with the air in harsh, white puffs as she ran around the empty track. She had been running for hours now, since before the winter sun had lazily risen over the horizon, needing some way of stopping her distracting and forceful feelings. She hadn't run in a while, and she had missed it sorely. Feeling the ground fly beneath her feet, the wind in her hair, the quietness of her mind, she could almost forget about the sleeping girl she had left in her bed that morning. She wasn't used to feeling so vulnerable and desperate, and she hated it.

Now that the drug Alani had injected her with was no longer in her system, Dawn was much faster now, using her Monstra strength to propel her forward. It was freeing to outrun her emotions. Her world stopped as long as she kept running, and so she did. Sweat poured from her body, her warmer clothes long since shed, now leaving her in her damp tank which clung to her torso and breathable running shorts which she had asked Gaige to include in his designs. The frigid air mixed with the heat from her body, causing steam to rise. She couldn't feel the cold, another reason why she did not want to stop.

The ground crunched nicely beneath her feet, her footfalls steady and sure despite their constant movement for hours on end. She did not know what was going to happen when she stopped, she tried to avoid dwelling on that thought for too long.

What she wouldn't give for a few days where she did not have to worry about a single thing; hell, she would even take one single day. Just one day where she could just be, one where her biggest concern would be figuring out what to do about her scary new emotions and not having a metaphorical axe dangling precariously over her head if she put a foot wrong. Dealing with this plot had been enough, dealing with that and her love for Syrena? Too much. It was all too much. She wanted one to stop, and she did not particularly care which one it was. Both were too distracting, but when had she ever felt so alive before?

Eventually, Dawn began to slow her pace, lack of motivation halting her movements as she collapsed to the ground. Her chest rose and fell in quick succession, the freezing ground rather pleasant against her burning skin. She brought her arm to cover her eyes as she attempted to regain her breath.

In, out, in, out. She did not want her thoughts to become clouded so quickly, and the bliss of a runner's high was still sweeping through her, distracting her. It was soothing to have something that was such an effective distraction, something that was so familiar to her; the sport was even calming now that she did not have to run for her life. Running was a part of Dawn that she could never escape, and she did not believe she would ever quit it. She was no longer a Venturer, but the training would stay with her until the day she died.

Moving her arm, she stared at the dull blue sky, the sun shining deceptively bright. She raised her hand, mimicking capturing that brilliant ball. Sunlight slipped through the cracks between her fingers, although she blocked most of it, preventing it from reaching her eyes. Staring at the sunlight, she suddenly longed for summer. She had always loved warm weather, and as she felt the winter chill seep in now that she was beginning to cool down, she craved heat.

The longer she stayed there in the silence, the more she became aware of a familiar thrum. She did not have to turn her head to know whose heartbeat it was.

"Stalking now, are we?" She called out to Syrena, pushing up from the ground to stand as the Commander came into view. She did not think she would face her so soon; it seemed she could not run away from her for long.

"No, I'm overseeing a class that will start soon." Syrena's tone was defensive, although she could not seem to keep her eyes from Dawn's long and toned legs, the way her shorts were sitting rather high on her thighs, the way her tank clung so tightly to her body that the outline of her shape was perfectly illustrated.