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Nia walked until she got lost. Her mind, hopelessly planning, finding ways to live, to survive. There was something heavy on her chest, weighing her down as she thought the unthinkable. Everything felt black. Veins of fear hugged and curled every thought, until she couldn't see anything without also seeing a noose, a crown, a boy.
In the world outside her mind, night had fallen, a dark cloak drawn over the curve of the sky, stretching from horizon to horizon held up by glittering stars. Sea breeze ran through the streets and the cobblestones hummed in pleasure. She wondered what the foxes would tell her if they could talk. Would they tell her to run or stay? Would the Stealers invite her above or close the gates?
Her mother had once told her to never walk away from her troubles, to embrace them with open arms. Now, Nia was doing just the opposite. She hated her mother in a way only her endless love for her allowed her to. She hated her for letting them leave. Would she have stopped the Officials if they hadn't dosed her first? Or would she have just stood there and cried and begged them? Or would she have raised her rolling pin and chased them away the way she chased away the monsters in Nia's dreams?
Nia walked and walked and walked until she forgot. Walked between crowds and mice and space. Underneath stars, and short bridges and gold roofs. Over grass, and street and puddles of water. Esterham seemed to pave a path for her, new streets holding new people with new stories unfolding before her feet like a roll of carpet, diffusing everywhere like a drop of ink in water.
Nia's feet hurt and she dully heard a steady click of footsteps behind her. The street was entirely empty, running along sewer pipes that emptied into the bay. She sighed and turned around. She didn't know who she was expecting but it certainly wasn't a stranger. He walked towards her, a gun in his fist pointed at her. Nia stilled completely.
"Empty your pockets," he commanded in a gruff voice.
She snorted. "I'm wearing pyjamas. I don't have pockets," she said.
Not a single molecule in her bones was terrified or at the least worried. She was honestly prepared to fight and get hurt, there was little to lose other than her life and her cloak. The boy couldn't be saved, not from an entire country, not from an entire army. She didn't have that power to save him. She felt free, weightless even as she accepted her doom. Whenever it came, whosoever hands it came by. They knew so what was the point in hiding it. Even though she wouldn't go out and ever blatantly admit it, but they knew. The letter was solidified proof of that.
But the question still stood: Evade or Embrace?
The thief cocked his pistol. Nia grinned.
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Author's Note: I'm so excited for you guys to read the next chapter. I've worked on it for a while so yeah, that's basically it.
Vote and Comment and come back soon for the next part!!
Love,
Cora. ✮
YOU ARE READING
unraveled
Fantasy"I've seen rats with better attention spans than you," she said onto his face. And then the boy was there pulling her onto her feet and off of him. "But have you seen them with such beautiful faces?" he asked, standing up, brushing off th...
