Running ✔️ [UNEDITED]

Chapter 5: Oh dear...

AN: here's chapter 5. Enjoy people.

Lilas POV:
Well, that was dramatic.
I stood stock still for a few minutes after Drake and Vito left, a billion questions buzzing through my mind. It had started to get light outside and the room was bathed in a warm glow. Shaking my head, I exited the room and made my way to the kitchen, putting a happy facade on.
"Liiillaaa!" Zoe bounded up to me like an overexcited puppy, nearly bowling me over with the hug I received, "Come on, come on, come on! I wanna go to the park!"
I chuckled, "Sure thing, Zoe. Let me get my coat."
X
The park was beautiful. Trees were interlocked, forming patterns of green and brown. The playground was filled with little children running and parents laughing in the sun. Zoe sprinted to the direction of the swing, jumping on it and begging me to push her.
I smiled and obliged, remembering how I met Zoe.
Flashback:
I went to my new room and locked the door, groaning as I flopped on the bed. I was glad I didn't have a roommate- they would only annoy me.
Sighing I pulled my phone out and aimlessly scrolled through the messages. 10 from Will, 8 from Reece and 5 from Solomon. I rolled my eyes- those guys were really protective.
"You shouldn't roll your eyes," I heard a little girl's voice say, "your eyes could get stuck behind your bwain!" The speaker crawled out from under the other bed.
"Holy cheese nuggets!" I yelped, jumping on my bed.
The 5- year- old girl had brown hair and intelligent grey eyes. She was wearing a blue dress with matching shoes and surveyed me intently, "Hi, my name is Zoe."
And that, was the start of a beautiful friendship.
Flashback over.
I turned my attention back to Zoe after my little trip down memory lane. It turns out, my flashback took longer than I thought as she was running about, laughing and playing with other children. I let my guard down and tried to imagine what it was like being a normal teenager.
Checking the time, I realised we had to go, "Zoe! Come on, we have to go now!"
She pouted, but agreed and gripped my cold hands with her small, warm ones.
As we were waking past, an elderly lady stopped us by saying, "Oh, what a sweet girl! Would you like a sweet?" She proffered a bright orange sweet.
"Sorry ma'am," Zoe said in her adorable little voice, "but I'm allergic!"
The old lady fake pouted, "Oh, that's a shame."
"Come on, Zoe," I murmured, pulling her along. When we were out of earshot, I asked, "are you really allergic to sweets?"
Zoe giggled, "No, I just didn't want to take something from a stranger," she sobered up, "that's how mummy and daddy died."
My heart ached, it was unfair that a cute bundle of joy had to suffer so much. The world really was cruel. We walked in silence until we reached the Orphanage. My thoughts where overwhelming me and I needed to run before I exploded.
"Hey, Zoe," I said, my voice slightly tight with emotion, "I'm gonna go for a run, m'kay? See you soon."
Zoe nodded and with all the seriousness she could muster, stood on the top step and looked me in the eye saying: "stay safe, okay? And don't accept rides from strangers." Before skipping off inside.
I exhaled sharply. Feeling claustrophobic, I ran.
X
It turns out, running was a bad idea.
It was dark, cold and I'd forgotten my gun so I had no protection. A creepy clown could abduct me and force me to join the circus where I'll be paraded around and no one would know.
Calm down, my mind hissed, you're gonna be fi- oh dear...
Four men in hoodies stood in front of me, examining me up and down. I wanted to hit them there and then but I was heavily outnumbered.
"Well, lookie here boys," the leader whistled, "what do we have here?"
"Can we keep her? Please? Please? I promise to feed her and everything!" A boy with childish green eyes begged.
I looked in disbelief. What was I? An animal? Nuh-uh, I was not going to go down to without a fight.
You may be wondering why I'm not freaking out. If you've been reading up to so far, you know I'm not a damsel in distress. I liked to keep calm and try to think rationally. I'd been in these types of situations before. Well, not exactly like this. I had back up last time.

"Oi! Don't I get a say in this?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Idiot no 2 and 3 surround me, grinning evilly.
"Nope," Leader said and reached for my arm.

Not for the first time, I was thankful the boys had taught me self defence moves. 'It's a bad world out there, especially for girls' they'd said. What type of world are we living in?
I grabbed Leader's arm and twisted it, kneeing him in the stomach while doing so. He groaned and doubled over. Idiot no2 ran forward and I neatly kicked him in the shins. Idiot no3 managed to get close enough to grip my arms so I kneed him where the sun don't shine. I noticed that the kid who was there before had run away. Maybe to get help or just because he was scared. Whatever it was, I wasn't eager to find out. I ran as fast as I could- not looking back and praying that someone would help me.

I rounded a corner and stopped in my tracks. Three men were stood in front. They all wore immaculate suits and had guns. I couldn't see their faces since it was dark. I tried backing up but idiots no2, 3 and their leader had me surrounded.

"And this is how I died," I said aloud, looking up to the heavens.

End of chapter 5.
Thanks for reading! Did you guys like this chapter? I tried to give a bit more insight into Lilas character.
I shall be updating tomorrow or day after so keep safe and have fun!