Marionette

Cosmos, Chapter Seventy - Kyōi [脅威]

Nightmares should never step into the realm of the living.

And yet, every waking moment of her life was nothing else.

Blood-stained, tattered.

Like chunks of broken glass piercing her flesh, they were embedded in the forefront of her every waking moment.

Stagnant water splashed violently beneath her boot-clad feet as Amaya sprinted down sparcely-populated streets, weaving between startled pedestrians and stationary obstacles alike as she did her best to navigate the unfamiliar city streets.

It felt like she'd been doing nothing but running her whole damned life.

Like every momentary reprieve was just a staggered breath drawn mid-sprint through hell.

'Take the next left in 100 meters.' Mitsu's voice sounded through the earbud nestled in Amaya's right ear, a firm tone against the rushing of her pulse against her eardrums. 'Then turn into the immediate alleyway on the right.'

'This is hardly the shortcut I was betting on!' Amaya gasped out as she struggled to regain her footing mid-dash. 'Where the hell am I even going?!'

'Accelerated evasion tactics.' The modified Ai deadpanned as Amaya threw herself leftward at the aforementioned intersection. 'Vehicle access is not permitted down pedestrian-only access-ways.'

'Right, of course! How could I damn well forget about that?!' The albino shrilly sniped between haggard breaths. 'Funny how it didn't make a god damned difference when you had me leap out of a fucking moving vehicle!'

'I didn't realise a third kidnapping attempt was on your wishlist!' Mitsu countered, swiftly. 'I'm so very sorry! I'll make sure I don't intervene for attempt number four.'

'Fuck you and your new sarcasm module!'

The screeching of tyres sounded from a mere fifty odd meters back, prompting Amaya to pick up as much speed as she could. The duffel bag against her lower back clattered painfully with every rushed motion and her haywire, dyed hair caught in every turn. The sound of the vehicle tearing down the street after her drowned out the startled complaints of each and every pedestrian she shoved past in her hurry.

'You have to shake them in this stretch, Amaya-san.' Mitsu instructed bluntly, much unlike her bubbly purple-haired self before her re-coding. 'There aren't enough crowds to blend in with at this time of night.'

It didn't matter how many crowds there were up ahead.

Anyone without a damned death wish would run at the merest notion of a near-death experience.

Amaya chanced a glance back over her shoulder as she propelled herself over one of the dividing bollards at the mouth of the alleyway, scowling inwardly at the sight of a recklessly steered taxi tearing after her.

It looked just like any taxi she'd see on the street, right down to the company decals on the exterior and the mounted sign on the roof. Clean enough looking from the outside, and the driver didn't so much as slow down until she'd actually hailed him, like normal. The vehicle didn't even have any exterior damage that would elude to any danger... at least until she'd used her reinforced elbow to smash the window out.

Hell, the driver even looked normal enough before the guy started giving her unsavory glances through the rear view mirror when he thought she wouldn't notice.

Just what damned red flag did she miss when she hailed the accursed bastard down street-side?!

The haggard teen all but swore beneath her gasping breath as she returned her gaze to the pedestrian access way ahead of her.