Holding My Breath [Wattys 2016]

9 2 ~ A n n a

                 

Flashback ~ January 1, 2011, to May 5, 2011

For the next few months, I find myself running in circles. The cops are chasing me. I'm chasing something I can't find. I'm running from the cops, and I'm hiding. The cops get close to me and I hide. I hide and then I keep looking. Then they catch up again.

Running, hiding, searching. Running, hiding, searching.

At first, I saw them everywhere. The people who work for Caesar. I could tell them apart from the crowd at times, and sometimes they blended in. They always looked nervous. Some looked scared. Scared like me. I wonder if this is what he meant by his other players.

Then I met a whole other class of his pets. Ones that wanted to make him proud. Ones that volunteered to help him out because they worshiped him. Like the man who was watching my house the night of the robbery. And they all know who I am. They know all about me, the one he calls his best player.

I travel a bit, making money with my guitar on the streets. It's not much, but I find my way by sneaking into rooms at motels or sleeping on top of buildings when they've shut down. Security never checks the roof. I've stolen food from kitchens of restaurants when I can't get money. I'm not proud of it, but I'm still alive.

I keep my face hidden. I cover up my red hair with my hat.

I keep looking, but after a while, I sort of lose hope and start to focus more on surviving as the prey rather than working for the predator. The ticket takes me months to track back to the theater.

As I get closer to answers, the ice starts to melt. Spring comes but I don't see the beauty in the blooms or light anymore. I'm too scared. Too focused.

I develop a habit of looking over my shoulder.

I learn how to use a gun. I meet a few others who are under Caesar's grasp. Others who are scared for their life. They showed me, but I don't ever want to have to use the pistol I've been carrying around. I eventually lost it one day, though, when I was being chased by the cops. Maybe they found it. Maybe that's strengthening their accusations about me.

But the other players always leave. They're always too scared to stick around and talk to me. They know Caesar's fascination with me. Everyone in his game seems to.

Except the police. They don't know.

The police found the car. They found two bodies. Toby wasn't with them because I lost him in the water. He wasn't breathing... He's dead, but I'll probably never know what happened to his body.

They think I did it. They think I killed them.

There is a ten-thousand-dollar reward for my arrest.

And people have tried to turn me in, but I make it out with only seconds to spare each time.

I've learned not to trust anyone. I've learned that this world is only out to ruin us. That people are evil, even if it is only beneath the surface.

But eventually, I get some answers. A name of a small town, population 789, soon to be 790. The theater was there, Roselle's theater. That's where I can start again. The problem is that I've run out of time, but I'll go there anyway. If I don't find Caesar's brother, then at the very least I might get the murderer off my trail. Wallen is too great of a hiding place to pass by.

But I won't expect too much. Caesar will come after me soon. I've lost his game, so now it's time to pay the penalty. Maybe if I just go into hiding, I can put that off as long as I can.

So, for now, I'm not sure what comes next.

For now, I'm holding my breath.