Song Bird

Prologue

Shouts ring out into the air as a woman desperately runs away from what she once called a home, now burning in ashes as fierce flames surround the building. Footsteps of the pursuers echoing in the forest as they try to find their target within the darkness, making it hard to distinguish whether they were near or not. Not that she'd be able to anyway, what with her heart hammering against her chest.

Suddenly, a shrill cry grabs her attention before she's looking down at the baby clutched in her embrace.

Looking down, her heart nearly breaks at the frightened look on her daughter's face. She grips her tightly, firmly hugging her closer, "I'm so sorry baby, I promise this will be all over soon."

But she was fooling no one, not even her. She knows she's not fast enough to lose them. She knows she only has a matter of time before they both get captured.

She slows down, whipping her head in every direction in a panic, trying her hardest to find something, anything that could help her. Her eyes light up at the sight of a fallen tree, she knows she's taking a risk, but she was willing to do anything at this point. In the next second, she grabs her daughter and nearly shoves her under it.

"Y/n, baby," she says softly, trying to hide the urgency and desperation in her voice, the tears were beginning to well up in her eyes as she gently caresses her daughters hair, "I'm sorry, but mommy's gonna go away for a while," she sniffs, her bottom lip quivering as she tries to ingrain her child's face to her memory.

She leans in closer to place a gentle kiss to her cheek, "I love you so much, please never forget that," she pleads in a quiet and shaky voice.

"I see her!"

She gasps loudly, and with one last longing look, she turns and makes a dash for it. Running as far from her daughter as she can. Soon, multiple pairs of feet quickly approach, but to the child's luck, they all run past her. Completely oblivious that their main target was just under their feet.

And soon, it's quiet within the area as the men's shouts die out the further they get. Though there would be occasional yells from a distance as the near the woman.

Confused, the baby squirms at the darkness and discomfort, feeling creepy crawlies all around her. One moment she was sleeping soundlessly in her crib, then the next second, she was harshly pulled away from her dream.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the sound of multiple gunshots echoes throughout the forest, successfully silencing any living creature within the vicinity. Every creature except for one.

The baby flinched, their whole body jumping at the booming sound. Scared and confused, the child could do nothing but let out a cry. And just like that, the forest was alive once more.

She cries, squirming in her spot, completely oblivious to the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching her. Her cries die down when she feels herself getting lifted into the air, expecting to see her mother she opens her eyes, but she instead comes face to face with a man smiling at her.

"Found you," he whispers.

Not having recognized the man, the baby twists and writhe in his arms, crying out of fear of the stranger before her as all she wanted was her mom.

The man lets out a 'tsk' at the sound coming from the child, wanting to do nothing more than shut her up, but he doesn't seem to know how to do that. So instead he tries moving her around in hopes it would do something.

"Cal, you can't hold the baby like that," another man approaches with a lopsided grin, amused at the sight of his colleague holding the child with outstretched arms like he would get the plague if she got any closer to him. He wipes his hands that were coated with fresh blood on his clothes.