The One Who Chose To Run

I wasn't sure about uploading this at first, but these sort of accidentally formed a loose narrative for Cleo here, which I quite enjoyed.
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Cleo knew the forest was a dangerous place to walk into alone. But she couldn't bear the betrayal of her body as ugly fur seeped through the cracks in her flesh and vicious thoughts teethed the edges of her mind. She didn't trust herself to stay in the safety of the town, despite the precious few who begged her to stay. She first arrived by sea, but she couldn't leave that way. But the forest was there, a dark and gnarled path, but a path of her own choosing, if nothing else.

She ignored the dog standing guard at the wall built to protect the town from the things that lived in the forest. She undid the jacket around her waist, and slid it over her shoulders, hoping it would stop the shivering. Cleo refused to think of it as shaking. With her jaw clenched, the girl walked headfirst into a place where midnight never ends.