, panting, running.

gracen jones' bruised and bare feet slapped the black concrete of a road, water splashing as they broke the surface of a puddle now and then.

running, running...

gasping for air...

gracen hadn't seen a road in years. in fact, she hadn't seen the outside world in years. the sun shined so brightly under the rainy clouds that it seemed too good to be true.

she wanted to scream, but her voice didn't allow her to. not after what she's been through. not after what she's seen.

she didn't deserve to scream. the shrieks of those people played once again in her head. all of them, at once.

gracen used the fear to run faster. he'll be looking for me. he's probably looking for me already.

the thought of him finding her again after trying to escape drove her mad. she felt sick to her stomach and choked back a sob at the thought of it. so many emotions at once...it drove her insane.

fear was what stood out the most. she wasn't going back. gracen jones was now running like the world was collapsing behind her.

maybe it was.

gracen, once seeing the vast road end, found herself in a bustling area, full of cars and noises and buildings and—

people.

other humans. they were there. there was someone that would help her.

"help...me..." a raw voice left gracen's body, one that she herself couldn't even recognize. "someone...help me..."

by now, the exhaustion was hitting her. loosing leg strength, she wobbled and caught herself on a brick wall. people stared at her like she was crazy.

no one wanted to help.

they all avoided her with looks of disgust. mothers moved their children away from gracen, whispering to their husbands.

in virginia, seeing a homeless looking person like gracen wasn't out of the ordinary. the civilians ignored her cries, deeming her as another person living on the streets addicted to heroin.

gracen, for once in a decade, thought about how she looked. what did she look like right now that made these people look at her this way?

maybe i'm acting crazy.

suddenly, a sharp noise interrupted all her thoughts. a loud bang, of a gunshot.

it took her back to the cellar. the gunshots. the ringing.

the blood.

the corpse.

gracen screamed and covered her ears. "stop! stop it!"

she took off running again, away from the gun. away from whoever was trying to murder her. she knew it. he had come and it was finally her time to go.

after ten years...

gracen reached the handle of a glass door, throwing it open and stumbling inside. i have to get away. i have to hide. she thought, panicked.

there were people inside, people in business clothing, and that's when she realized this was an office of some sort. a public place, thank god. tears burned in her eyes. gracen hadn't seen so many humans at once, for such a long time.

gasping for air, she stumbled, wobbling around. her heart was pounding fast, expecting to hear the door open behind her and more gunshots fired, this time at her. "he's coming...he's coming for me..."

"HE'S GOING TO KILL ME! HE'S GOING TO SHOOT ME!" gracen mustered every bit of her strength to shriek these words, clinging onto the nearest person she could find and collapsing into their arms, crying and shrieking inaudible words.

gracen felt a sudden burning feeling in her arms. it didn't hurt. had put her through that already. but it scared her. was she being shot at right now? gracen lost her hearing, not knowing where the sensation came from, but she didn't care.

gracen thought she was dying before she slipped into an unconscious state.

—