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☾ 𝐹𝐼𝐹𝑇𝐸𝐸𝑁
The nights and next day went by exhaustingly slow and Anna had spent half of the remaining money she had on whatever food she could get for cheap. It seemed the guilt was starving her, as she had never felt as if she could eat so much food in her life. She put it down to karma and for leaving such nice people in pursuit of another life. But it was something she had to do, she would remind herself on the hour.
She had seen neither Mr or Mrs Bagley despite the fact she hadn't left as abruptly as she had planned. Though she believed Elliot might have had something to do with it. She felt guilty about Robert too, having not even told him that she was leaving for England. She hoped he had found his family.
When she did sleep, she did it soundly, with no dreams. Anna was thankful, as she knew that without it she wouldn't have been able to cope. But on the morning of the day she would hopefully depart, Anna was waken by a gruff shout at the end of the street. In a blurred hurry, she opened her eyes, heading whipping up from her suitcase and looking toward the sound, seeing a man in a uniform edging toward her. A policeman.
Anna swallowed. Had she been sent for by someone? It took her seconds to start running again, suitcase held in both arms to her chest as she sprinted toward the docks and around the market stalls effortlessly. Her chest was heaving too- from both panic and breathlessness. She couldn't be caught again, not after the last thousand times that had shoved her straight back to the starting position, damning her to lose the race time and time again.
The woman had told her to meet her by the edge of the docks, but what would she say if she saw her finning with the coppers straight in her heels? Anna dodged a corner, slipping away from the path and tucking herself around a building. Holding her breath, she watched the man run past, slowing as if he had given up minutes ago. She was surely not as important as the other things his job entailed. Anna sighed in relief.
After waiting a few moments, she pulled herself away, arms scratching against the harsh brick she was pushed against. It was a miracle that her suitcase was still holding together, even if it was just by a single thread. The clinking from within had been ignored- she didn't want to acknowledge the damage that the running may have made.
The dock was in sight, the ship behind a massive mountain looming within the background, clouds of smoke pummelling like a lurking storm. It didn't make her feel any better, but she headed toward it still, eyes wide in searching for the woman that offered the job.
By the time that Anna walked to the boat, the workers were already bustling, piling the remainder of the passengers' bags onto the back deck and pulling ropes and such that Anna had no idea the purpose of. As expected, the red-haired woman was with her clipboard, staring at the workers with a clean and scrutinising eye that sent a shiver down her spine. Anna steppes forward, clearing her throat and watching as the woman swivelled on her heels, eyebrows raised in displeasure.
