Never Alone Again |N.R|

In the beginning.

The air was so cold. Rue's nose was numb, along with her fingers and toes despite them being wrapped up in two pairs of socks. She shoved her hands into her pockets, and dipped her chin as to nuzzle her reddened nose in the wool scarf that was wrapped tightly around her neck. New York was always cold this time of year, and the snow had begun to fall so finding a place to sleep under shelter would be tough. It had been a week since she lost her bed in the shelter because of a kid one year younger being in desperate need. Being one year older than him didn't magically make her an adult, but the shelter refused to listen to Rue's complaints and threatened to call the police when she refused to leave. Sleeping in a cell would've been nicer than the ice cold pavements of New York, but she'd been in trouble with the law recently and couldn't afford another run in so soon. She had stolen a chocolate bar from the local corner shop, but she felt that he deserved it since he doused her in freezing cold water when she'd fallen asleep by his shops door a couple of days prior. The police had been right around the corner when he'd called so Rue had no time to make a get away. A tall, muscular officer had tackled her to the ground as she sprinted down the street, bringing her crashing down on her face. She was arrested and held overnight before charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence. That's because she had eaten it in the back of the cop car (cuffs were easy to unlock if you knew how).

It had been two weeks since that incident, but she still had the marks to show for it. A thick scab covered most of her chin and right jaw where her face had made impact with the ground, and the officer had taken extra care in pushing her head against the pavement. She also had a dark purple bruise covering her left ribs where the female officer "accidentally" tripped and kicked her in the side to stop her wriggling in protest. It had knocked the wind out of her lungs in an instant and her breath still hitched now from the pain of inhaling. But none of those ailments competed with the harsh cold and bitter wind that whipped around her. She needed to find an alley way somewhere with just a small patch of ground that wasn't covered in thick snow or ice. It would be even better if no one else was using it, as trying to sleep around strangers was almost impossible. Rue knew the desperation they felt, so she was always terrified of what they'd do to a small teenage girl like her. Or what they thought they could do.

Just as she started to lose hope, she spied a dry spot under some metal steps that clung to the side of a tall apartment building. Before settling down she found some almost dry cardboard behind a bin and placed it on the ground beneath the steps. It wouldn't do much to stop the cold seeping through, but it would help a little. Rue then pulled the tattered blanket out of the top of her rucksack and wrapped it tightly round her legs. After making sure it was well tucked in beneath her she pulled her rucksack close to her chest and hugged it beneath the blanket. This was going to be a cold and long night. The wind howled, cars honked, melting snow dripped onto her face often and the constant shivering kept jarring her awake. But somehow, she drifted off long enough for the sun to climb atop the horizon.

It was really early, with people only just starting to make their way to work or school or wherever their presence was required. Rue was so jealous of them as she so desperately wished to find such purpose in this world. But for now, she'd have to accept her life of going day by day and not knowing where she'd be sleeping each night. As she climbed to her feet every inch of her body groaned in pain. The cold was tough on her, as well as the occasional beatings she had to endure either from police or strangers who found entertainment in it. Rue knew fully well that she could fight off said strangers, even go as far as to severely injure them, but she'd promised herself long ago that she wouldn't fight back unless her life depended on it. And even though she was stronger than the average person, enhanced some would say, the lack of food and sleep rendered her advanced abilities useless as she barely had the strength to walk let alone fight.

Rue spent most of the day wandering the streets looking for vacancies in shelters and for leftover food in bins. That was how most days were spent. But today she decided to wander across to Manhattan as the sun began to dip below the tall buildings. She did this every now and then, mainly because she loved the tall buildings and the bright lights that stayed on all night. When she found herself unable to sleep, or find somewhere to sleep, Rue would wander around Manhattan all night admiring its stature. The skyscrapers that loomed over her and the vibrant lights that forced her to squint on some occasions. Another reason she loved Manhattan at night was because there were always people out no matter the time, and many of them were tourists who'd come out for a drink or two so were very generous with their money when Rue sat on a corner with a grubby cap out in front of her and a sign asking for their generosity.

As she wandered through Times Square and then down a side street she admired the many restaurants and bars that lined the road. What she would do to be able to escape into the warmth of one of them and order herself a freshly cooked meal. But there was no use in dreaming of these things, imagining what they'd feel like, as they would never happen. She had no money and her clothes were grubby and torn in places. She'd be run out of a fancy restaurant quicker than she'd walk in looking like this. So instead, she wandered along the kerb and sat down where it was fairly quiet with her back leant against a lamp post. People watching was one of her favourite things to do, so she'd have to settle for that and an empty stomach tonight. Rue didn't always people watch for the right reasons. Sometimes she'd watch for groups of people all dressed pretty nicely who'd had a few too many drinks and she'd follow after them, waiting for the right moment to reach into one of their bags and take what she could. Sometimes this meant grabbing a whole purse, taking all of the cash out and then handing it in at the bar they'd just stumbled out of. That made her feel a little less guilty about the whole thing.

Loud laughter caught her attention. Turning her head to the right she saw a group of men and women step out onto the street from one of the more expensive restaurants, chatting loudly and tripping over each other as they keeled over from laughter. They'd had a good night, and that meant good things for Rue. One of them was bound to have a bag that she could dig her hand into.