Protector (TFP)

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴏɴᴇ -ᴡʀᴏɴɢ ᴄʀᴏᴡᴅ-

Adrenaline surged through Astra's body like a bullet. Her feet slapped against the sidewalk, jetting past the buildings around her. Even though her lungs burned with each breath, she didn't dare stop. The two cars speeding behind her prevented her from that. 

The corners of her eyes became a blur as she continued to surge forward, and she barely registered the footsteps that followed her from close behind. Astra didn't know how far behind the cars were, but she didn't dare look for fear she would fall flat on her face. Instead, her piercing green eyes desperately searched for somewhere to go.

Finally, they landed on an alleyway that was to the right. Focusing on the alleyway, she sprinted quicker even though her legs screamed at her for doing so. Her foot nearly slipped beneath her as she skidded into it and her heart dropped at the sight before her. She had made a grave mistake. 

The alleyway was blocked off by a huge fence that was too tall and slick to climb. She pulled on the fence desperately, but it was no use; it wouldn't open. The heavy padlock on it made sure of that. Heavy breaths came behind her, but she didn't acknowledge them, even as they hit the fence in anger.

"Scrap." They muttered, their chestnut brown eyes meeting Astra's. Pushing her messy hair out of her face, she desperately tried to search for another way out. But there was nothing. Bile rose in Astra's throat as she heard the growl of the engines as they approached. Her body trembled as she turned, watching as the twin cars moved closer. 

She couldn't help but feel like they were predators who knew their prey was trapped. She felt a hand grab hers and quickly squeezed it in false reassurance. Astra tried taking a step back but was met with resistance, her mind flooding with fear as she realized her back had hit the fence. Only one thought filled her mind as the cars painfully inched forward.

I knew I should've said no.

~ᴇᴀʀʟɪᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴅᴀʏ~

A loud beep echoed throughout my brain, drawing me from the peaceful darkness that enveloped my senses. I pulled my blankets over my head to dull the noise, but it didn't work; instead, it seemed to make it even louder. 

Reluctantly my arm moved from the warmth of the bed and hit the object responsible, finally silencing its terrible screech. Groggily my eyes opened, and I stole a glance at the alarm clock on my nightstand. An irritated groan escaped my lips, and I turned away from the object in spite. The blasted device had woken me up an hour early.

In reality, I knew that it wasn't the alarm's fault. I was the one who forgot to set it to the proper time zone. But the way it sat mockingly in front of me just made my hatred for it grow. My eyes closed again to fall asleep, but it was no use. With a tired sigh, I rolled out of bed, the blankets around me joining me on the floor. 

As much as I wanted to fall back into dreamland, I couldn't. Once I wake up from slumber, it's almost impossible for me to fall back asleep—another thing I inherited from my dear old mom. Pushing myself off the ground, I shuffled to my closet with a yawn and slipped on the pre-made outfit from last night.

 Usually, I didn't bother to plan my clothes, but today was special. Today was going to be my first day at Memorial High School. However, it was only the first day for me. For everyone else, it was the beginning of the second quarter. Which meant I was practically joining halfway through the year.

And on my Sophomore year, no less. I thought as I aggressively combed the rat's nest on my head. It's only been a few days since I moved to the small town of Jasper, and to be quite honest, it was pretty dull. After we had unpacked and put everything in place, I took the chance to wander around the town, and unsurprisingly, there was nothing noteworthy that I found.