A Rising Star of the City

Ch.35: Dawn Office

"I got out... I finally escaped that dark room."

My mouth quietly muttered those words as I ran. My legs were burning and my throat was dry, probably because of all the air I took to make my escape but I didn't care. If it meant I could become free, losing limbs was a fair trade.

My mind had a simple goal: get out. I don't care what awaits me outside. As far as I know, the many warnings I was given by the one who locked me inside could be fake... No, they HAD to be fake.

If I believe so, it'll give me the strength to reach what I want.

After running through what felt like an endless corridor, my adjusted eyes were able to see a dark kitchen with blinds covering the windows. On the counter, many knives caught my attention.

As much as I would have liked to reach for one, the fear of getting caught overwhelmed me and pushed me further. The only thing I needed was an exit, a door. Fighting was pointless against that monster.

I hurriedly turned a corner upon reaching the end of the room and saw a worn-out couch in the next one alongside many layers of dust covering every surfaces. During the brief seconds I wasted traversing the room, the faint sounds of footsteps coming from behind grew from quiet to terrifyingly loud in worriedly short amount of time.

I was sweating bullets, the mere thought of getting caught sent a boost of adrenaline in my legs.

"Ah... ah... ah..."

My tired gasps were met by a double amount of efforts from me. In a fit of panic, I turned my head to scan my surroundings and faintly noticed the outline of a door in the corner. My heart was beating so fast that the possibility of it stopping was not that unlikely.

This had to be it, my way out of this prison. That self-made conclusion pushed me over the edge and made my running speed practically double. My breathing came to a halt and my body shifted to the side as I took a jump.

All of these steps were made for that one moment, that single chance I had for freedom.

The side of my body collided with the door and, with the outrageous speed I was able to maintain, the metal keeping it in place cried in pain and released itself.

The next thing I knew, I was completely blinded by the light coming from outside. After spending what felt like an eternity in a dark room, my eyes couldn't endure a second of it.

However, unlike them, my stress could and made me take a sprint into the unknown while my eyes adjusted to the scenery around me.

"What's going on?"

"Did he break through that door?"

"Why is he dressed like that?"

"Is this a prescript?"

All around me, multiple unknown voices showed confusion in their words as I kept going. I blinked a few times to make my eyes grow accustomed to the blinding world outside before turning my head around.

...And there, right on my track, long red hair fluttered in the wind. A faceless abomination that I refused to accept as a person was chasing after me. Despite its lack of face, the gaze I could feel from it made me sick.

The pitch black outfit it wore was definitely not made for running but it didn't seem to stop that monster from keeping pace with me.

The more I ran, the more horrifying the truth following my every movements became: I couldn't run away from it.