11 Chapter 11: Runaway

Dagger pulled away from me and looked to see where the sound came from, but there was no one in the room. "Who's there?!" When there was no answer, he stood up annoyed. "God damn it. I never get to have any fun." He walked to the door and locked it behind him as he left. I couldn't help but sigh in relief. 'That was close!'

I sat up and watched him look around for where the sound came from, then another demon came running down the stairs panicked. "There's an intruder! Come quickly!" Dagger turned to him. "What?! Who the hell would intrude a black market?!" Both of them went back up the stairs and I was left alone again. 'Don't celebrate yet. He's most likely going to come back and finish the job.' I curled in a ball and hugged my knees when I heard something in front of me. "Pssst!"

I slowly looked up, and saw Liem in front of the cage. I quickly covered my eyes so he wouldn't see my soul, and ran to him. "What are you doing here?!" He put his hands on the bars. "I saw some demons take you away, so I followed them to rescue you." I was happy to hear his voice again. "...Why would you do that for me?" I peeked through my fingers and saw him smile. "Believe it or not, you're the only person who has ever been nice to me, and if you were gone, the master would lose himself. So I've come to save you."

I sighed. "That's so nice of you, but I'm afraid that the keys to the cage are in one of the demons pockets." Liem then pulled out the keys from behind him. "Then it's a good thing I'm an excellent thief." I laughed. "I'm so lucky to have you!" Liem then unlocked the door, took my hand, and we both started to run up the stairs.

I was still a little dizzy, but I had to ignore it to put less burden on Liem. He had already done so much for me, I couldn't worry him anymore than he had to. We slowly made our way to the end of the black market, avoiding as many demons as we could. It was hard only being able to see through the small openings between my fingers, but I was able to follow Liem without any trouble. Then suddenly, he stopped, and quickly pulled me behind some boxes. "What's wrong?"

He peeked over the boxes and turned back to me. "The demon who tried to rape you, and a few others are standing right in front of the exit." I kneeled down. "Well perfect." I said sarcastically. Liem hesitated, then kneeled down in front of me.

"I have a plan. I'll cause a distraction in the opposite direction, then when you see an opening, run to the door and get out of here as fast as you can, and don't stop running." I looked up surprised. "What about you?" A sad look entered his face. "Don't worry about me. Just do what I say or it will all be for not." He got up and started to walk out from the boxes when I grabbed his arm. "No! They'll kill you! There has to be another way!"

He looked back. "I'll be fine. Just go." I started to well up with tears. "I am not leaving you!" He pulled off my hand. "Yes you are." He then ran away before I could grab him again and started to yell. "Hey! Over here!" the demons in front of the doors noticed. "Hey! It's the intruder!" They started to run after him leaving the door free to escape. I hesitated, tears running down my face as I saw Liem getting caught by one of the demons in the distance. 'No!' I was about to run to him when I saw him look at me shaking his head.

There was terror in his eyes, and the sight of a sword being drawn almost made me scream. I was shaking all over and couldn't move for the longest time. I forced myself to turn away, I was now balling my eyes out as I ran to the door as fast as I could, and ran out into the dark night, Liem's screams echoing through the streets of the black market. 'Liem no!' I hated myself for my decision even if I couldn't have done anything to save him.

'But, if I did try to save him, he would've died for nothing.' That thought didn't stop me from crying, it only made me cry more. But I still didn't stop running as fast as I could. Awhile had passed, and I was hurting so much in my heart, that the pain of running barefoot through a dark forest with dizziness and no strength was nothing compared to it. Fog entered the forest and it became so thick, that I couldn't see anything in front of me, but I didn't care, and kept running.

Then suddenly, I heard laughter and a voice. "Did you really think you could run from me?" Shocked, I stopped running and looked around. All was quiet, until suddenly, Dagger jumped down from a tree in front of me and I gasped. "I have some unfinished business with you."

I took a step back terrified. He smiled and started to walk towards me. Fear filled my entire body and my mind started to race of how to get away. Then, he quickly grabbed me and pulled me closer. "Looks like your friend died for nothing." I gasped and tried to push him away as hard as I could.

Even though I was using all of my strength, it didn't loosen his grip in the slightest. He laughed. "Give it up. It's obvious I am too strong for you." I didn't stop and kicked him hard in the shin. "Ah-!" He let go of me, and I stumbled running away from him. I was running faster than I had the strength to go, but he was gaining on me fast. Then suddenly, I tripped on a rock, and fell down a steep hill. I screamed as rocks hit me everywhere, and prickly grass and branches cut me up. The hill was huge, and it felt like I was falling forever until I hit a deep ditch at the bottom.

I trembled pushing myself up. Every part of me hurt, and it felt like I was on fire. I looked up and around to see if Dagger had seen me fall, but all I could see was fog. I didn't hear him anywhere, so all I could do was attempt to keep running. I looked down, and saw I was covered in cuts and bruses, and my dress was torn up. I sighed and stood up, starting to run again, thinking of where I am. 'I'm not in the underworld anymore, at least I know that much. But the problem is that I have no idea where to go, and I am all alone.' A few hours had passed, and I was so tired, I couldn't run anymore. I collapsed under a tree and started to cry again, thinking of Liem. "I am so sorry.."