I kept running.
All that mattered now was running. Putting one foot in front of the other. I needed to concentrate on that. It was both the safest thing to focus my mind on, and the one thing I needed to focus my mind on.
I had to get away from them, get away from everything that had just happened. Nothing else mattered.
The cold, fresh air hit my face with every step I took.
After a length of time, I finally allowed myself to think properly for the first time since it happened. What I had done so far was purely on instinct. I had surprised myself with how clearly I was able to think, how i knew how to act, all on a simple sentence from my father.
I didn't know why I couldn't sleep when I went to bed last night. I didn't know why I had pretended to be asleep when someone put their head round the door. I didn't know how I could tell they were not my father. I didn't know-
I cut myself off mid thought. I was heading towards thoughts that I had already encased in a shell, though that shell would break and shatter if I went there, the shards piercing my heart. Now would not be a good time for the shell to break.
Now was about surviving.
I kept running, one step, two steps, three steps, four steps, five, six, seven, eight... I looked over my shoulder to see if I was being followed.
No - the only thing behind me that I could see were the bright lights of Moscow and the characteristic shape of its tall towers, and even they were fading into the mist.
The sun was coming up now, and I needed to stop running before I was sick.
I needed to think.
I didn't want to think. Thinking meant I had to accept what had happened. I didn't want to accept what had happened.
I sat down, and pulled my rucksack off my back and tucked it under my head so as to be a makeshift pillow. I rubbed my hands together, cold even through my gloves.
I tried to keep my eyes open, but they were closing without my consent. I started seeing memories. Memories of before things became dangerous, when I was still young, oblivious to the harshness of the real world and most important of all, still happy...
YOU ARE READING
A Drop of Black
Action"I hadn't meant to fall asleep - last night had taught me that sleep was dangerous. It made you vulnerable, and that was something I couldn't afford to be, if I wanted to win, and at the moment I did want to win. I wanted to beat them, prove them wr...
