Prologue
Her breathing was constricted as she ran breathlessly through the city. Neon lights from the buildings above blurred into streaks as she darted past them. The noise of car horns, engines, and voices was disorienting, but she couldn’t stop. She had to keep moving. She had to hide.
Her chest ached, legs burning with the strain. She wasn’t familiar with the streets, every corner unfamiliar, every shadow feeling too close. Panic gnawed at her ribs.
She glanced over her shoulder, just once, and that was all it took. Without thinking, she cut across the busy street.
Headlights. Screeching brakes.
Impact.
Her body hit the asphalt, a dull thud drowned out by shouts. Figures rushed forward, voices clashing in alarm. A woman called for help, someone else demanded a phone, a siren wailed in the distance.
Her vision blurred, colors bleeding together into a whirl of red and white. The world tilted sideways as silhouettes crowded over her, yelling, organizing, trying to save what they thought was just another girl in trouble.
Her vision dimmed. Darkness bled in from the edges, swallowing the colors, swallowing the noise. The last thing she saw was the blur of faces above her before everything went black.
