Illumina

Chapter One: Hunted

Chapter One: Hunted

The cold autumn rain hit her mercilessly as she carefully ran down the slippery sidewalk, trying not to fall. Her completely drenched clothes clung to her body and in her eyes there was a desperate need of finding a shelter away from the suffocating cold. She frantically spun her head from one direction to another, only to find no one willing to help her and no place to hide whatsoever.

Get used to it. This is what the real world is like. She thought to herself bitterly biting her lip. You can’t be naïve in this kind of world.

A few tiring minutes later, she managed to locate an abandoned playground.  A wave of relief immediately washed over her. Finally, I can rest. She thought to herself with a soft smile.

Using her last stamina she ran toward the metallic slide and stepped behind it. The absence of hard, icy rain made her feel a little warmer, even in her muddy and drenched state.

Removing her hood, she let her dark and soggy locks fall across her shoulders. She shook her head lightly, letting the rain drops fly. The girl smiled sadly, looking up at the grey, cloudy sky. I’m free. She thought in sudden burst of happiness. I’m free…

It didn’t take long however, for reality to hit her, wiping the long awaited smile off her features.

What am I going to do? She thought, desperation hitting her full-on. I’ve got nowhere to go. She bit her lip, fighting the tears that were building up. This isn’t a time to be crying, idiot. She scolded herself, angrily wiping the few tears that managed to escape her eyes. 

Like hell I would ever go back there again. I have to make sure they’ll never find me…

After a few minutes of simply staring at the rain pouring down onto the sidewalk, she finally decided to just take a break and sleep. Who knows the next time she’ll have the chance to do so…

Awoken by a loud sound of dogs barking, she felt fear pierce through her entire body.

No, they couldn’t have found me already. She felt her heart speed up. She wasn’t going to let them take her, not when she tried so hard to get away.  She looked around and noticed that the dogs weren’t as close to her as they sounded, so that brought some relief. But the canines’ nose bared a strong sense of smell, she wasn’t gonna be hidden from their radar for long.

The girl stood up and without thinking ran towards the first and the closest destination her legs could carry her. In less than a minute she found herself in her hometown.

Crap. She cursed in her mind. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse…

She desperately scanned the area in hopes of finding yet another place to hide. Her eyes landed on an old library that was run by a very wise, but strange old man. Some of his habits were weird, but he was incredibly kind.

He’s my last hope. She thought running up to the big, wooden library doors. The barking was not that far away from her, so without hesitation she pushed the doors open and ran into the building. The sounds behind her were gaining closer so she hid behind the front desk. 

The doors opened with a loud and swift movement and echoing footsteps came closer to the desk she was hiding behind. She heard some sniffing and gentle whining. It’s the dogs… I’m dead. She thought.

“Hey! Animals aren’t allowed in the library!” a deep and raspy voice bounced off the walls and filled the entire library. Curtis. She thought in slight relief. He was the wise, but odd librarian.