My lungs were burning. Blood soaked the waistband of the stolen jeans I wore, sticky and warm against my chilled skin. My leg barely held me, the pain shooting up with each staggered movement.I didn’t know where I was. I just knew I had to keep running.Since the day I was adopted out of that godforsaken orphanage, it had been nothing but cages—new faces, new hands, new owners. Some liked to break me in. Some liked to return me when they were done.*

And now?

I was bleeding out in an alley, chased like an animal.

A shout echoed from behind. I froze, hand gripping the wall beside me just to stay upright.

“Left side!”

No. No no no.

I limped faster. The pain had turned to numbness a while ago, which terrified me more than the pain itself.

Gunshots cracked through the air. I dropped instantly, crawling behind a row of crates. The world tilted. My hands were slick with blood. My side felt wet—too wet.

A bullet bit into the wood next to my head, splinters flying. I covered my mouth before I could make a sound.

*Footsteps approached fast, heavy boots splashing through puddles. My body gave out, collapsing into the mud, cheek pressed to cold concrete.

Then came the voice—lower now, right above me.

“Intruder”

A pause.

“She’s bleeding. Badly.”

I could barely open my eyes, but i tried to, and he looked like the type who made people disappear. Like the ones I’d run from.

“She’s not with them,” someone said behind him. “She’s… I don’t know what the hell she is.”

I tried to speak, but all that came out was a rasp. Blood filled my mouth. He crouched lower, hand pressing to my side. I jerked, a sob escaping.

“Boss, she’s gonna bleed out.”

He didn’t move his hand.

“Get her in the car.”

“But—”

“Car. Now. We can’t trust a stranger”

No one argued again.

I was lifted—roughly. I didn’t know if it was rescue or just a new prison.

But the rain felt softer suddenly. And for once, I wasn’t running.