1 Prologue

Thunder rolled above me like a battalion of drums backed up by the melancholy cloak of dark night. The rain fell down a thousand diamond tears or a million blood pearls and a discordant harmony of wind whistled a high-pitched cry like a mother who'd lost her son. Inside my room, the smell of purple rose perfume from mum's room hovered in the air, dimly lit by the LED bulb which was about to blow. I could feel every painful pinch of the bitter cold that managed to sneak through the windows, piercing the comforting heat of the radiator.

"Mum, is dinner ready?" I shouted across the house toward the kitchen.

"Yes Amari. I'll be five minutes darling."

It was five minutes later that I decided to venture to the kitchen only to hear mum and an unknown, low, grunting male voice.

"You bitch!" The man shouted; his voice boomed through the house.

"I told you I'd find you sooner or later. You should have known you'd never escape from me. Now the day has come when you will pay, and I will take everything that belongs to me." His heavy dragon-like breathing filled the silence between his frightening thunderous voice.

I inched a little closer, so the kitchen door's hinge gave me enough sight but not as much as to get noticed easily. My mum was on the floor in front of 4 men. The ones that caught my eyes were all dressed in black suits that failed to hide their bulldozing figure. There were 3 of them, all easily 6 feet tall and each caked in muscle. In front of them was obviously their leader.

The booming voice didn't really match the body it came with. The sinister man was a grotesque, little figure, clad all in black. His shiny bald head could almost serve as a mirror but one glare at his face sent a shiver down my spine. His wrinkled face was worsened by his serpentine grin. But what scared me was his deep black, droopy eyes. It was almost as if there was no life in them at all. My eyes ventured to his hand only to see a gun pointed at my mum's forehead.

I hissed with fear and 5 sets of eyes locked unto me.

"Amari, Runnnnn!" My mum's voice cut through the air like a knife and in that instant a bullet ripped through her skull splattering blood on the bone white kitchen tiles.

So, I ran.

"What are you standing there for, you fools? After him!"

The men chased me - I could hear their heavy footsteps thud against the hard concrete. The air was stiff with rain and blood. But they were no match for me – I knew every building, alley, and backroad like the back of my hand. I'd been running through them for long enough that I was expert but none of that knowledge meant anything that night.

I ran till I could run no more. I didn't know where I was going but still, I ran till I reached an alley sheltered from the rain and the chilly wind. Tired, my eyes drooped but I didn't want to sleep; my mind was riddled with confusion and distress. After a while I fell asleep - my belly rumbling, my hair tangled, my body soaked in rain.

When I woke up, I was in a cosy baby blue bed in a room and there was a man sitting next to me. The first few seconds were bit of a dazzle for me as I tried to understand what just happened. Then all the memories of the previous night came flooding in like a storm.

"Hey kid. Don't worry, I'm not a bad man. Look I made breakfast." His smooth, gentle voice was kinda nice, but I was still wary. Man, the food smelt good. Fried bacon, eggs, toast, the aroma caused my stomach to betray my stubborn mind rumbling a deep, low growl. The man ate a bit of the bacon he'd made and chuckled to himself.

"You sure you don't want some, kid? It's really good." I was hungry and he looked like a nice man, so I persuaded myself to eat. Technically, if he wanted to kill me, he would have done so already, right? That's what I told myself as I gulped the food down like a wolf.

"Woah, take it easy kid. The food's not gonna run away and if does then I'll make you some more." The man's voice was really comforting, and it made me forget all that had happened last night.

"So kid, what were you doing all crunched up in the back of the alleys?"

I stopped eating and my face began to fall as the image of my mom's blood swarmed into my head like a swarm of bees. I started to cry and once the first tear dropped the rest burst out from the floodgates.

"Sh-She's d-d-dead!" I could barely stutter the words out. When I finally calmed down, I told him everything that had happened the previous night.

"Don't worry kid. You'll be ok. I'll look after you. And you know what, I have the best remedy for sadness."

"Really? What!" I smiled as the tears began to slow down.

"Hot chocolate!" the man said comically as he left the room and went to the kitchen.

***********

Since that day, Jay has been like a father to me. He got the police involved in the case, but they didn't really come up with anything and they gave up after a month of investigating, which Jay got really upset about. He helped me move on from the incident though I keep getting these horrible nightmares. For a while, he used to sleep beside my bed at night so he'd be ready when I woke up wailing. Even though I've been getting less nightmares, a few weeks ago I still caught Jay sleeping next to my bed to make sure I was okay.

He managed to get me a place at a private school when I'd recovered from my trauma and he became my running coach. I still don't know how he managed to do everything he did. Most mornings I would catch him with a mug of coffee doing lots of business reports and stuff like that but during the day he always had time to spend with me and help me with everything I needed help with.

I've become an athletic champion at school now. During every competition I manage to win at the 100-metre sprint, the high jump and the 10, 000 metre run. I am also somewhat capable at high jump and long jump.

In September, I'm gonna be joining the best sports college in the world, Emerald fire College. I'd trained every day and every night for the assessments. Jay helped me practice and improve my agility and speed.

I still remember how I felt on that day. There was a senior in the year above who found me trembling with nerves on a bench before my exam.

"Hey, you good?" he asked as he walked over to my bench.

"Yea I'm just a bit nervous is all."

"Oh. You're doing the assessments today aren't you. No wonder I've never seen you before. Look, I still remember my assessment day. I was literally just as nervous as you are but all you've got to do is breathe and find your rhythm. Look -"

He took my unstable hands and talked me through a breathing exercise to help with my nerves and they did. I felt so much better talking to him than I was before he came. We talked for a bit before I had to go off for my physical test.

"By the way, I'm Mike." he said with an outstretched hand.

"I'm Amari." I replied shaking his hand noticing that I'd stopped trembling completely.

"Look, I've got a lesson now, but I think I'll be out by the time you start your practical assessments. I hope I don't miss it."

The physical was a breeze as expected (Jay has a gym at home so I work out almost every day) and I think my results were all good though I never got to see them. The actual assessments were a bit tougher and the tension as I walked onto the track for my favourite race (the 100m sprint) was overwhelming and my knees began to buckle. Before the race began, I saw Mike and three of his friends in the VIP booth. Mike nodded at me which I think meant good luck. My tension had calmed a little.

As the race started, the gunshot startled me, setting me back a little, but the adrenaline coursing through my legs propelled me forward place by place until by the end of the race I came fourth. The other races weren't bad either, but I didn't come first in any of them. In fact, I was quite surprised when I opened the envelope to find that I'd been accepted.

Now I'm spending all summer training, so I don't get left in the dust when I start college. Every morning I go down to the field and run. I run until my legs give way and I can't run any more. I'm waiting for the day I look upon those gates, feel the cold bars around my hand and walk through them into my new school.