GREY

Prologue

    I couldn't stop crying, my body shaking yet paralysed at the same. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him pull his knife out and I whimpered, too scared to look at any of them.
    "Get. Out." She growled, and I fled, running out of the front door and down the stairs, running as fast as I could in the opposite direction. That's when I heard them calling me back, telling me my bags were there. Reluctantly, I stopped and turned around, preparing myself for the worst. I walked towards them, stood on the balcony screaming at me, and picked my bags up from where they'd been thrown from the front door. Then, I started running again.

--

    "Soph?" I whimpered, the tears still falling as I slowed to a brisk walk, my bags weighing me down.
    "She just called me, saying that you're a compulsive liar and that I shouldn't trust you. What's happened?" I heard my girlfriend say through the phone. I tried to dry my tears but soon realised that it was pointless.
    "We got back from leeds and Marcus told Steph all of the stuff he said last night. But he said that I said it all. She went off on one, I told her he said it, he got really angry, they told me to get my stuff and leave, so I was packing and they kept telling me to tell the truth. He pulled a knife. And I ran," I sobbed, struggling to keep walking but knowing I needed to put as much distance between me and them as possible, "I... I can't stay here... they've put a bounty on my head. Please, I need to get away..."
    "I'll get my mum, hang on."
As I held the phone to my ear tightly, I carried on walking, in the general direction of the shopping centre. I heard shuffling and then Sophie's mum.
    "Sophie explained. You need to go to the police and-"
    "I can't. They'll only get a warning and I'll be dead quicker. Please... I need help."
    More shuffling, then, "We're getting in the car to come get you. Go to the shopping centre and stay at the bus terminals. We'll be there in an hour or two."
    I sank to the floor in gratitude, tears still rolling down my skin. I kept mumbling my thanks until they said they were in the car and hung up. I picked myself up and sprinted to the centre.

--

Almost two hours later, and multiple phone calls with my dad and best friend, I saw my girlfriend round the corner. I ran to her, pulling her into a tight hug and sobbing into her jacket. She didn't say anything; she didn't need to. She'd come for me when I needed her the most, and I was so grateful to her and her mum. She simply held me as I cried, tracing patterns on my back and pulling me closer until I'd calmed down enough to stop crying. I looked at her as she picked my suitcases up. I took one, she took the other, and hand in hand, we walked to the car.
    As soon as her mum saw me, she pulled me into a massive hug, and once again, I started to cry. I pulled away, looking around; we were only maybe fifteen minutes away from the flat, and if they were looking for me, it wouldn't be long before they tried here. With my explaining that, we piled into the car and left the city for good.

--

    When we finally got to Bradford I started to relax. True, Marcus knew where Sophie lived, but he had no way of getting up there. As we got out of the car, I saw Sophie's sister looking out of the living room window. I ducked my head and followed the other two women into the house. Our first stop was the kitchen, and when Sophie's mum had left, my first stop was to the utility room for a can of anything alcoholic. And I remember thinking: 'Life's a bitch".

A/N: Either I have a vivid imagination or I've got a really fucked up life. Good luck finding out which it is.