1 Lace

Freedom,

I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to have its sweet self-drenching my entire being, and consuming me whole until it's taken over me, forcing me into its self-induced coma of deception and false safety.

Yet here I was, so close yet so far away from it. I could almost taste its sweet honey dripping of my, but not exactly.

I could hear their footsteps behind me, like drums banding against my ear, overshadowing the unbalanced thumping of my heart that only added to the overall gravity of the situation.

My throat was a desert, making it hard to breathe but my unhinged panic left me no time to focus on that. I need to run.

To run from the clutches of despair that awaits me at the dark end of a wrong turn if I even think of stopping.

As fast as my feet could take me, against the winds blowing my way, I blotted through every twist and turn that I could find. It was my only shot at losing them.

I was tired; my body too tired and energy-deprived to focus on another step. my movement was weak and floppy and I could barely carry my own weight. my malnutrition and lack of physical strength posed an issue in the one time I actually demanded it.

My only advantage right now was the adrenaline rushing through my veins, and my termination to survive.

I turned left, then left again, bolting through the dimly lit streets. I think that it's safe to say that I'm lost. I'm lost in the streets of a city that I've grown to call my home, but that doesn't matter right now, just as long as I lose them: the two buffed up men determined on making me pay for my futile attempts of survival.

But I can't go, not yet. I haven't endured my whole life to have it thrown away on the putrid streets by two goons who seem no different from the duo: thing one and thing two, whom I've heard stories about.

It seemed as if faith, on the other hand, has other plans, when I tipped on a crack on the chapped pavement and landed on my knees. I stood up as fast as I could, not grieving over the pain itching through my scraped knee. But I was not fast enough. Thing one and thing two were at my side before I could catch my breath, with wickedly, sinister smiles dawning their pinched faces.

Thing one grabbed hold of my arm in an iron grip before nodding towards Thing two, who spoke in a language alien to my ears, into thin air whilst holding his ear.

They didn't kill me yet. They weren't even handling me as if I was a threat. Just making sure that I don't leave. Other than forming a dent in my ego, it gave me a chance to escape. I stopped my struggle to break free and kicked back my leg to have it make contact with thing one's manhood, then running towards the broken pipe hanging from the wall when he buckled over from the sudden pain.

Thing two was fast to move when he heard his friend's grown of pain. He darted forward just as I yanked the pipe from it's loose hinged and swung it straight at his head.

This wasn't my first rodeo, and certainly not my last.

The pipe was rusted and started to break off with the impact. While he tried to grab me, I swung the pipe once again, aiming for his facial features this time.

It bought me enough time with swing back at thing two, mistakenly having it just hit his eye. He howled out in pain and I began my past trek once again. Only this time, I didn't make it as far.

my sudden hopeful confidence consumed my judgment and overcame me as it distracted me from the shadows. I starting running with much haste, failing to notice a silhouette emerging from the shadows. I'd missed the tall, dark-haired man with sharp features and an aura that radiated a dangerously divine authority and vigor until I ran into him and looked into the unforgiving eyes of the beast himself.