Light

Chapter One: Run!

Hope ran as if her life depended on it, and as a matter of fact. She ran like never before, ignoring the complaints of people on the streets who bumped into her and ignoring her own despair. All that mattered was to run far away. Away from danger. Away from them. This was her last chance. If they caught her, Hope would have a worse fate than death.

Her lungs burned inside her chest, begging for air. Her legs could hardly bear her own weight. and her head was light together with her doubtful sense of direction. Before the girl knew it, she was on the floor of the busy avenue.

The pain of the impact of the fall on her knee made her want to scream. Hope had barely registered a few people approaching and asking if she was okay. She didn't hear a single word. The voices were very distant, everything seemed to be in agonising slow motion.

She could hear her own heart beating desperately in her chest, her heavy breathing, her tortuously blurred vision, but none of that mattered. The only thing Hope's mind screamed was that she needed to get up, she had to run. Run. Run. Run!

She needed to continue until she was sure they wouldn't find her.

Hope got up slowly, her injured knee protesting with each movement. The people around her tried to stop the girl from getting up, but she jerked them off and ran again.

After more agonising minutes, Hope knew she had reached her limit. Black dots filled his vision as her head spun. Just a little more... Just a little more and she would stop, she would allow herself to breathe.

Hope felt the impact of the collision with something in front of her, going to the floor once again. She couldn't feel her legs anymore, her lungs were on the verge of collapsing, and the floor suddenly looked so comfortable. All she wanted to do was close her tired eyes.

"I'm sorry, Are you alright?" A voice reached Hope's ears. She didn't bump into something. She bumped into someone.

"Shi. Shit. Shit."

Hope tried to open her eyes quickly but the sunlight almost blinded her. She had to continue, she needed to get up. Hope couldn't risk being taken back. But all the forces had left his body, causing the darkness of unconsciousness to try to reach it.

"No! Not now ... Please, not now! " Hope silently begged.

" For all Gods, are you okay?" A tone of urgency penetrated the man's voice. Hope needed to get up, and quickly. "Can you hear me? What happened to you?" He asked with a strong accent that reassured her. None of her henchmen had accents. The man was trying to help Hope to get up, but the girl avoided his touch at all costs. "I won't hurt you. I'll call for help, okay? Can you tell me your name? Where are your parents?"

Silence. Hope began to feel her eyes filling with tears. The darkness was growing closer and closer, and her whole body trembled and everything hurt. "Please don't take me back ... I don't want to go back ..."

"You need help, little one. I'm calling an ambulance." He said softly. Those words made her wide awake again with the desperation growing inside her. She shook her head frantically trying to make the man understand that she couldn't be taken to the authorities. She couldn't. The action only made her feel another wave of dizziness, this time stronger, her body was giving up on her.

"Hey, hey, stay awake. Stay awake. You don't want me to call an ambulance?

Hope shook her head slightly, thanking every god that ever existed because the unknown man had understood.

"Okay. Okay." He seemed to think for a few minutes. "Alright, I'm going to... Hey, little one. Look at me. Little one!"

Hope felt herself being taken into the frightening darkness. Her last thought before she lost consciousness was a prayer, fervently pleading with anyone who heard her not to be taken back.