𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝙀𝙑𝙄𝙇'𝙎 𝘿𝙀𝘼𝙇 - 𝙔𝘼𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍𝙀 𝘼𝙇𝘼𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍 𝙓 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝘿𝙀𝙍

2.

━━━

This is the only time I've ever despised being alone.

Rain puddles pool the nooks and crannies of the concrete pavement below my heels, the road sidewalk riddled with cracks and fractures of age. 

I'd never done something this spontaneous, but during that short, awful moment, I knew that if I didn't escape then, I wouldn't at all. 

I wouldn't have another chance such as that one. 

So as I watched Angel Dust excuse himself from the bathroom and leave me their to clean myself up, I slipped through the window, and as soon as my feet reached the ground outside, I ran. 

I don't know how long I ran for, but I know that it was long enough for my feet to ache and my body to grow tender with exhaustion. I look like a wreck. I feel like a wreck. 

The streets of hell envelope me, dark and uncomfortable, broken glass scattered across the concrete, needles scattered across building alleyways, graffiti painted and lined across building walls. 

It's cold, my breath shakes with fear of the unknown. I have nowhere to go, nobody to see. I've gotten used to the lonesome streets, this life, but as it comes to times like this, I wish I had someone to lean onto. 

The pressure of my feet against my heels loosens as my body lowers, sinking down and sitting by the curb of the sidewalk. Among streets I've never seen, among buildings I'm not familiar of. I don't know where I am, I don't know where to go, and I don't have enough money to sustain myself for long. 

My arms wrap around my tightly brought knees, held with defence as my mind whirls with overwhelming panic and emotional warfare. I can't think, nor do I want to. Because as soon as I do, I immediately think of the worst.

I thought I'd get used to this the more I performed, the more I worked for that demon. But I never did. It feels new, raw, and excruciating every single time. But as I sit here, I know sooner or later, my disappearance will be noticed, and it'll anger Valentino. 

I swallow my stomach back down, waves of anxious nausea washing over me with every shaky exhale, my eyes attempting to water as I sink my nails into the skin of my legs tightly. Tensely. 

"...Hey, um, I know you...!" 

A meek, yet hesitantly excited voice chirps towards me, and as I huff and slowly my head to the core of the voice, my eyes meet an also familiar face.

Blonde hair, red suit jacket, black slacks. 

"...And I know you,"

I force a kind tone and a soft smile, as tired as my facial muscles are from crying. She flashes a touch of confusion across her features, before settling into her natural smile once more. 

"I, Well, I don't usually approach strangers like this, it's just, I've seen you on TV, your performances and your posters, and I think you're amazing...!" She expresses quite genuinely, naively, but genuinely. It's sweet, she seems sweet. 

"Your too kind... princess," I sigh softly, my head lowering back to the rain puddle which has collected against the curb by my feet, my smeared makeup looking back at me through the puddles reflection.  

I've seen this girl on TV and such. The princess, Lucifer's child. Charlie Morningstar, a bubbly girl with bright ideas. 

But I didn't expect to be approached by her in person so suddenly, especially with me looking like this. 

"Um, may I ask... are you... okay?" 

She's noticed my wretched display, and quite frankly, I would be concerned too if I saw someone look in such a state as I do now. My heart pangs with a heavy, potent wave of sadness, to hear someone ask me if I am okay in such a tone is a rarity. Especially with the industry I'm surrounded by every day.

My mind ponders with what to say to this girl, and as I think, I speak. 

"No, honestly."

"May I ask why...?"

"Well... I don't know where I am, I don't have anywhere to go... and if I don't hide somewhere soon, my boss is probably going to kill me, if I am being honest with you," 

I admit with a sigh, cutting to the chase. This is something I don't want to dawdle over, and if she asks, I'm going to tell her. 

And as she stands close to my sitting figure, I can feel her stunned, buffering thoughts accumulate in the sharp air between us. 

"Are... are you serious?" She questions with taken aback tension laced through her words, my eyes lifting and meeting hers, smudged, smeared, unhiding. She takes in the sight of my terrible appearance. 

"Very."

"And you don't have anywhere to go?" She continues, attempting to search me for complete clarity, and as I nod, I watch her chest rise and fall quite deeply against her breathes. 

I watch as she's clearly in a muddled train of thought, before she approaches me. I feel myself naturally attempt to shift away against the sudden closeness, but as she reaches and grips me by my wrists, she yanks my body up to my feet. I stumble and the pressure of my feet against my heels painfully arises once more, my eyes nervously searching the girl against her sudden physical interaction with me. 

"You do have somewhere to go, I promise," She assures, this stranger of a girl still clutching me by my wrists as I can feel my eyes shifting over her, analyzing her as if she's a possible threat. Her cheeks lift against her smile. 

"I know you may not know me well, and I may not know you or what's happened to you, but I want to help you." Her words seep under my skin and pulse against my body, the sudden yet raw kindness from someone who'd just met me without judgement warms me. It comforts me, as unfamiliar as it is. 

She can see how hesitant I am, yet she doesn't judge me for it, rather, she takes her time. As she begins to slowly make her way down the sidewalk beside me, I notice how her fingers naturally continue to wrap around my wrist with each step, almost soothing. 

I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing. 

I've just met this princess, and now, she's taking me back to wherever she speaks of without a drop of judgement in her eyes against me. And with her sudden, yet natural act of kindness, I attempt to adjust to it and hope that wherever she takes me is safer then the last place's I've had to reside in. 

━━━