I found you

[1] Running away

"Hey, you guys! Stop!!!" A flashlight shined through the dark alleys. It was after midnight. There were no stars in the dark sky but the moon was shining brightly over the whole city. Two policemen were running, trying to catch a group of people who were caught red handed while spraying a new graffiti image on a wall.

The group of four people dressed completely in black and wearing face masks packed their things as fast as they could and began to run away. They parted their ways, hoping to escape the police. They all went different directions and the policemen decided to follow the smallest one of the group. The weakest in their eyes.

Ayan ran as fast as he could through the alleys, climbing over garbage cans and fences. Fuck! They were after him! But Ayan was pretty sure he could get rid of them. He was the fastest runner among his gang. He had always managed to escape even when it seemed impossible. As now, he managed to leave a big gap between them. But as he was running, he suddenly saw someone in the distance in front of him.

Fuck! Another policeman?! Ayan didn't expect a third policeman coming out of nowhere, trapping him. Ayan stopped and tried to turn back when all of the sudden he heard a gunshot.

Peewww! Ayan felt someone grab him from behind and throw him to the ground hard, hitting his head on the ground. He cried out in pain. The two policeman from before caught up to him and tried to arrest the boy who resisted strongly and tried to flee.

"We finally got one!" The policemen were holding Ayan to the ground, giving him no chance to escape. For months now the police had been searching for the gang known for their illegal graffiti, where they often had criticised the government and society. They had always done their work at night and had never been caught once. And now they finally had one.

"Let go of me! You've got the wrong one!" Ayan screamed in panic as he struggled to get up. But the two men didn't believe him. They were waiting for back up so they could at least take one gang member to the police station for interrogation.

They tried to take off Ayan's mask to see his face but Ayan fought back, giving them no chance to see his face. He tried once more to escape from their grips. However the two men were much stronger than him, so after a long fight he gave up.

Ayan was exhausted. He couldn't breath. His whole body hurt because the policemen kept beating him although he had already stopped resisting. It was really over now, wasn't it? Ayan closed his eyes, waiting for it to end. He was afraid of what would happen to him now.

But suddenly there was this uneasy feeling Ayan was familiar with. The feeling of someone holding him tightly and giving him no chance to escape. The feeling of being trapped and helpless. Panic and fear quickly overcame him. Ayan was terrified and couldn't stop shaking while being vividly reminded of his past.

Ayan was about to lose consciousness when he heard someone being hit by something hard. Baaaamm! He felt the policemen getting off him. Ayan gasped for air and tried to stand up. He saw someone in front of him but his vision was all blurry. He heard him saying something but couldn't make out what.

Ayan got up slowly and tried to run away. But he only managed a few steps while holding onto the wall. Ayan stopped and rested his head in his hands. Everything around him was spinning. He felt like throwing up.

"Are you ok?" Ayan heard a deep voice behind him and turned around. He saw the two policemen laying on the ground. Both seemed to be unconscious. But Ayan had his eyes now on that someone, standing in front of him. The one who seemingly had knocked off the two policemen. Ayan couldn't see the boy's face because of the darkness but he noticed, as the other boy was approaching him, that he was much more taller than him.

"Hey, are you ok?" The boy repeated slightly worried. He became more anxious when Ayan wasn't responding. The boy then turned on the phone flashlight which blinded Ayan who already couldn't see clearly because of the dizziness. He tried to run away again but fell when he felt a painful sting in his leg.

"Hey, stop! You are wounded. Look at your leg! You were shot!" The boy was kneeling next to Ayan and pointed at his bleeding leg with his phone. He was right. Ayan hadn't noticed that he got shot. The bullet had only grazed his leg but it still burnt.

"Come with me before they wake up. I can help you." But Ayan refused. He didn't want this stranger getting involved with him and the gang. He couldn't be trusted. Ayan shook his head but stopped as it made the headache worse.

"No, it's fine. I don't need your help. I can go by myself." He mumbled quietly. He tried to get up but failed. His leg was numb.

Ayan began to panic again. He didn't have much time until the two policemen were waking up again or back up was coming. But he couldn't take the boy's offer. It was too dangerous for him to get involved with his illegal businesses. Ayan didn't know what to do. He tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down and clear his mind. But he couldn't breath properly because of the mask and he started hyperventilating. He tried to take off his mask but his hands were shaking violently. Fuck! Why was everything going wrong now?

All of the sudden Ayan felt someone gently patting his back and whispering into his ear: "Please come with me. Trust me, I won't do anything. Let me help you." The boy helped Ayan removing his mask. Ayan could finally breath und he slowly stopped shaking.

But suddenly they heard steps in the distance followed by calls. The back up was there. Ayan knew he couldn't escape on his own. He had no choice except trusting the boy. The boy who had saved him from getting arrested and probably killed. And even now he was offering him his help to escape.

They looked at each other and then the boy kneeled in front of him. His back faced to Ayan and his arms stretched backwards, implying Ayan to get on his back. Ayan stopped for a moment. What was he doing? He couldn't be serious! No way he could run away while carrying him on his back!

Ayan almost regretted for accepting his help when they heard the steps coming closer. So Ayan did as he was told and the boy immediately stood up without any struggle and started to run as if he wasn't carrying a nearly grown adult on his back.

Ayan closed his eyes. Although he had never met this boy there was something familiar about him Ayan couldn't explain. The boy was treating him with such gentleness Ayan only knew from someone he knew a long time ago. His presence was comforting. He kind of felt safe with him.

They heard voices behind them screaming at them to stop but the boy managed to disappear into one of the smaller alleys where it was difficult to get found. Especially at night. The boy let Ayan carefully down and looked out for the police. Ayan sat in a small corner and tried to stand up again but his leg hurt too much. He felt his bleeding got worse. He was nauseous. Everything around him started spinning again.

"Hey." He called weakly. The boy turned around seeing Ayan in an even worse condition. He walked over to Ayan carefully to check up on him.

"I don't feel so good..." That was the last thing Ayan said as he closed his eyes, loosing consciousness and hitting his head hard on the cold ground.