The cold air is a slap against my face, a welcome shock that momentarily cuts through the suffocating panic clawing at my throat. We burst out of the church doors, running for our lives as if chased by a monstrous nightmare. The wail of the sirens pierces the peaceful morning, a relentless predator closing in on its prey. Each ragged breath feels like sandpaper on my raw lungs, but I push on, Niki's hand in mine as he carries my oxygen tank over his shoulder.
Suddenly, Heeseung throws himself to the ground, rolling behind a moss-covered log. We scramble after him, the harsh reality of our situation sinking in. The police car is visible through the trees, red and blue lights slicing through the morning mist like a cruel knife. Fear tightens its grip on my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs. But then, I look into Niki's eyes, and he pulls me closer, his body trembling ever-so-slightly. "Please," I beg, whoever God out there that can hear my pleas, please help us. Please don't let this be our end. We have a story to tell, a truth that deserves to be heard. Please, we're young and murder is not what defines us. Please, don't let this be our end.
I glance at Jake as he hides beside us, his eyes never meeting with ours, not even once. I don't want him to admit what he's done. I don't want him to spend the rest of his life behind bars because he was courageous and he fought against his pain. I don't want courage and hope to be punished like a crime.
The sirens grow closer and the beating of my heart becomes frantic. The sound of footsteps echoing against the trees makes me freeze and I'm nothing but a bundle of nerves and desperation. Every sound feels amplified, every rustle of leaves and snap of twigs a potential threat. I can barely breathe, my chest tight with fear and my mind racing with a thousand thoughts of what could happen if we're caught.
"Come out!" Someone yells, their voice cutting through the tense silence like a knife. The sound reverberates through the forest, sending a fresh wave of panic through me. My heart hammers against my ribs, and I feel Niki's grip on my hand tighten. The footsteps grow louder, closer, and I press myself tighter against the log, willing myself to become invisible. "Come out now, and we can talk about this," the voice calls again, closer this time. "We know you're out here. We just want to talk."
"I ki—" Jake's words die on his lips when Heeseung pushes him down and stands up.
"We're sorry," He puts his hands up and we all slowly stand up, watching as the police officers emerge from behind a cluster of trees. Two figures, one tall and imposing with a stern expression etched on his face, the other younger, with a flicker of empathy in his eyes. We stand frozen, caught between fear and a desperate hope the younger officer's expression might represent. Maybe they'd believe us. Maybe we wouldn't have to let Jake take the fall for something he did out of desperation. Out of the need to survive. "There's been a misunderstanding, officer. We didn't hurt anyone. We—"
"Hurt anyone? We're not here to arrest you," The younger officer says and we blink in confusion. His words cut through the tension like a misplaced melody. We exchange bewildered glances, unsure how to react. If they're not here to arrest us, then why are they searching for us in the woods? "Okay, so we're looking for a Lee Y/N and she looks exactly like this," I watch as he pulls out a picture of mine, the same one that hangs in our living room back home. The same one I took before I was diagnosed with my illness.
My breath hitches in my throat, a cold dread slithering down my spine. This isn't a coincidence. The fact they have my father's favorite photo of me means only one thing. He's been looking for me. "There must be a misunderstanding—"
"Y/N!" The scream from behind us makes me freeze and I want to run away, to disappear, to be anywhere but here. But my feet can't move and I'm frozen in place, watching as my father runs to me as if he's been looking for me everywhere while I was running away. And perhaps it's true. Perhaps I am indeed running away. "There you are." I let him wrap his arms around me and crumble to his knees, knowing very well what I'm about to hear.
The officers and my friends stand hesitantly a few paces back, silent witnesses to the raw emotion unfolding. I want to scream. I want to tell him everything and I want to run away somewhere no one understands my language so if my mouth ever betrays me, the words will tumble out in nonsensical gibberish. Yet, even if I do, how do I condense the fear, the betrayal, the desperate act that led us here?
Before I know it, my father pulls away, stands up and makes his way towards Niki who stands a few feet away from us, his eyes wide and his expression a storm of confusion. And I watch as he grabs him by the collar, making me gasp. "Dad, don't—"
"What have you done to her? Why did she run away?" My father ignores the police officers who attempt to intervene let alone me who stands there, tears streaming down my cheeks like two broken waterfalls. Everything in me screams at him to stop, to listen, but the words get tangled in my throat, choked by a sob. "My daughter never would have thought of running away if it wasn't for you—"
"Allowing her to have a life to remember? Yeah, that's what we did," Heeseung speaks, walking to him before he snatches his hand off Niki's collar. "She's not a child and she knows she's dying. You know it too. Perhaps it's time to stop treating her like one." The color drains further from Dad's face, replaced by a deep, wounded expression before he takes a step back and grabs my wrist, not even allowing me to fully grasp my oxygen tank.
"Wait—" I gasp, the protest yanked from my throat as Dad pulls me along even harder.
"If you ever meet these boys again, I will stop at nothing to report them for kidnapping," his voice is a low growl that echoes in the back of my mind. Report them. Kidnapping. Murder. Fear chills me, a cold dread slithering my spine as I stumble, breathless and panicked.
When my father opens his car's door and pushes me inside the back seats, I sit there, frozen, not able to muster a single coherent thought. He slams the door shut and through the back window, I see my friends standing there, faces etched with worry and anger. Niki's gaze meets mine for a fleeting moment and if he could talk, he would have screamed my name.
If Niki could utter a single word, it would have been drowned out by the roar of the engine as my father peeled away from the curb.
YOU ARE READING
✓ BECAUSE WE WERE YOUNG | NIKI
Fanfiction❝We're so young but we're on the road of ruin.❞
