*”Mile 16.”*
*”Mile 17.”*
Jasper’s legs were getting heavy.
The blue pill’s buzz was thinning out.
His energy was dropping.
The monster behind him noticed.
Its footsteps got faster.
Closer.
12 feet.
10 feet.
Then it spoke.
A deep, raspy voice, right behind his head.
“Why are you running from me, sweetie? Don’t you wanna give me a kiss? You’re hurting my feelings boo hoo.”
Jasper nearly tripped.
He looked back over his shoulder, panting.
“Kiss you?” he wheezed.
“Have you looked in the mirror lately? You’re horrifying.”
The monster clutched its chest dramatically, still running.
“Oh, sticks and stones, darling. Now give me a kiss.”
On the sideline, Leon heard it.
His mouth twitched.
He pinched his own thigh, hard, trying to hold it in.
It didn’t work.
He turned away from the track, shoulders shaking.
Tears were forming in his eyes from how bad he wanted to laugh out loud.
He covered his mouth with one hand.
Failed.
The monster kept going, voice getting flirtier as it gained ground.
“Continue chasing, Jasper. We can get married, sweetie. Come to me, baby.”
*”Mile 18.”*
Jasper’s face went red.
From panic, not romance.
The pill was almost gone.
The monster was 8 feet back now.
And it wanted a kiss.
“Master Leon!” Jasper yelled without looking.
“Are you laughing right now?!”
Leon’s voice was muffled, still turned away.
“I’m… I’m focused, Jasper. Run faster.”
*”Mile 19.”*
*”Mile 20.”*
Jasper’s legs felt like stone.
The last of the blue pill drained out of his system.
A cold wave of dread flooded through him.
The monster behind him was now 6 feet back.
And it wasn’t growling anymore.
It started singing.
_”I’m in love with the shape of you~ We push and pull like a magnet do~ Although my heart is falling too~ I’m in love with your body~”_
Off-key.
Loud.
Echoing across the 365,000km track.
Jasper’s brain short-circuited.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!” he yelled while running.
The monster didn’t stop.
It swayed as it ran, 5 feet behind him now.
“_’Cause boy, you’ve got a way with me~ Day or night, speak the tongue of love~”_
On the sideline, Leon lost it.
He doubled over.
One hand on his knee, the other over his face.
He wasn’t even pretending to be “disciplined” anymore.
He was full-on laughing.
Tears in his eyes.
“Jasper!” he gasped between laughs.
“Just… just keep running! Don’t listen to him!”
*”Mile 21.”*
The monster got closer.
4 feet.
Still singing.
“_’Last night you were in my room and now my bedsheets smell like you~'”_
Jasper’s face was pure horror.
“Master Leon! It’s 4 feet away! It’s serenading me to death!”
Leon wiped his eyes.
“Then run to Mile 70, Jasper! That’s the only divorce I’m offering you!”
*”Mile 22.”*
The monster was 4 feet behind him, still singing Ed Sheeran.
“Oh come on baby,” it purred, voice dropping.
“There’s no need to keep running. You know you want this. Just turn back.”
Jasper didn’t break stride.
He looked back, panting.
“Have you looked in the mirror lately? You look like something out of my nightmares. Besides, why are you being so zesty? Aren’t you a man?”
The monster slowed for half a second.
Then grinned, all teeth.
“Oh, sweetie,” it said.
“I’m not a man. I’m a woman.”
That hit Jasper harder than the monster’s claws.
He forgot he was tired.
He forgot the pill was gone.
He forgot Mile 23 even existed.
He _cut a rug_.
Jasper shot forward with desperate speed.
Legs pumping like the blue pill was back.
*”Mile 24.”*
*”Mile 25.”*
The gap went from 4 feet to 12 feet in seconds.
On the sideline, Leon saw it.
The second Jasper heard “woman” and activated turbo mode.
Leon doubled over again.
He couldn’t hold it in anymore.
He walked away from the track, laughing so hard he had to lean on a stone marker.
“I’m coming back, Jasper!” he called over his shoulder, wiping his eyes.
“Don’t you die to a marriage proposal before I return! Keep running!”
He left the training area still laughing.
*”Mile 26.”*
Jasper was alone on the track now.
Monster 10 feet back.
No Leon.
No pills.
Just a woman-monster who wanted a kiss and 44 miles left to the turn.
*”Mile 27.”*
*”Mile 28.”*
Leon returned to the track.
He was still laughing.
His eyes were bloodshot.
Tears streaming down his face.
“Oh man,” he wheezed, leaning on the marker.
“I haven’t laughed this long in over a hundred years. This is too funny.”
Jasper ran past him with pure terror on his face.
*”Mile 29.”*
The monster behind him started to shift.
Bone cracked.
Flesh rippled.
Claws softened.
The horrible, toothy thing melted away.
In its place: a beautiful woman.
Alluring figure.
Perfect voice.
Running right behind him, 6 feet back.
She spoke, voice smooth and sultry.
“So baby… you didn’t like my other form? What about this?”
Jasper looked back for half a second.
He saw it.
He processed it.
He kept running.
“Not bad,” he said between breaths.
“That figure does look… gorgeous. But deep down inside, you’re still a monster.”
The woman’s face dropped.
“Aw. That hurts my feelings.”
Then she smiled again, catching up to 5 feet.
“You’re the man I love. Stay with me, and I promise to give you nine children.”
*”Mile 30.”*
And then she started singing.
_”Just the two of us… we can make it if we try… just the two of us…”_
Jasper’s soul left his body.
Leon, still on the sideline, saw Jasper’s face and lost it again.
“Nine children?! Oh Jasper, you’re doomed!”
*”Mile 31.”*
*”Mile 32.”*
Jasper kept running tired and exhausted
Jasper’s breathing was wrecked.
His feet felt like lead blocks.
But he kept moving.
The beautiful monster was 5 feet behind him, still sultry, still singing.
“You’re still a monster,” Jasper spat between gasps.
“You have a heart. And you ain’t gonna eat me.”
Leon was on the sideline, red-faced, hand over his mouth.
He was losing the war against laughter.
Again.
*”Mile 34.”*
Jasper found a last burst of speed.
Pure panic fuel.
He pulled ahead a few feet, panting like he was about to collapse.
*”Mile 35.”*
Everything froze.
The track lit up blue.
The monster stopped at the 5-foot line and waited.
A system voice echoed across the field.
“Congratulations, Marathon Runner Crimson. You have reached Mile 35. Would you like to take a break? Refresh yourself and come back. Or would you like to just continue? You have one minute to decide.”
Jasper bent over, hands on his knees.
Sweat dripping.
The monster stared at him, smiling.
Leon finally got his breath back enough to speak.
“Jasper! One minute! Choose fast before she starts singing again!”
*”00:59…
00:58…”*
Jasper hit the line and dropped.
Face down on the track, chest heaving.
Sweat in his eyes.
The blue pill was gone.
His legs were cooked.
The monster stopped 5 feet behind him.
No singing.
Just watching.
Smiling.
The track voice continued counting down.
*”57…
56…
55…
54…”*
Jasper didn’t move.
He just breathed.
Hard.
Ragged.
*”53…
52…
51…”*
Leon was on the sideline.
Not laughing this time.
Watching.
*”50…”*
Jasper pushed up on his elbows.
Took one long, shaky breath.
Looked at Leon.
“Master Leon,” he rasped.
“I’ll take a break.”
The track voice stopped.
*”BREAK INITIATED – 15:00…
14:59…”*
The blue light covered the lane.
The monster folded her arms.
“Smart boy,” she purred.
“I’ll be right here when you get back.”
Leon exhaled.
He walked over and handed Jasper water.
No pills yet.
Just water.
“Good call, Jasper,” he said quietly.
“35 miles down. 35 to go. You’ve got 15 minutes.”
*”14:58…
14:57…”*
Jasper sat up, dripping sweat.
The monster was still 5 feet away, waiting.