Chapter 1: Leaving Home
🖤 Chapter 1: Leaving Home
Spain felt smaller on the day she left.
Not because it changed.
Because she did.
Her name was Bella.
An orphan—not by nature, but by life.
The people she called parents weren't blood, but they were all she had ever known. They raised her with quiet love, simple meals, and a home that never truly felt like hers.
And now… she was leaving it behind.
France was waiting.
Or at least, that's what she told herself.
The goodbye was short.
Too short.
Because if she stayed any longer, she might not leave at all.
Her mother—no, the woman who raised her—held her hands tightly.
"Be safe," she said softly.
Bella nodded.
But her heart didn't feel safe. Her eyes filled with tears.
It felt empty.
Like she was stepping into something unknown and irreversible.
The bus station was loud, full of movement, full of lives going everywhere except where she was.
Bella boarded her bus.
She didn't look back.
If she did… she knew she would break.
🚌 Arrived to France
The air felt different the moment she arrived.
Colder.
Heavier.
Unfamiliar.
Bella stepped down from the bus, her suitcase rolling behind her as she looked around.
This is it.
A new country.
A new life.
But she didn't feel freedom.
She felt lost.
She decided to walk.
Just to clear her head.
The streets slowly changed as she moved deeper into the city—clean roads fading into narrower paths, louder voices turning rougher, strangers watching too closely.
Her steps slowed.
Something was wrong.
She could feel it.
Then she heard it.
A roar.
Not of celebration.
Of violence.
Bella turned her head.
Down a side street—
a crowd had gathered.
Men shouting.
Betting.
Screaming.
And in the center—
A fighting ring.
Not professional.
Not legal.
Something else entirely.
A man stood inside it.
Older.
Late 30s.
Long hair tied loosely back.
His body was massive—built like he had been carved from punishment itself.
He didn't look like he belonged in a normal world.
And yet… everyone obeyed the space around him.
Like even the air avoided him.
Bella froze. She thought she saw something she shouldn't have seen.
Her breath caught.
A fight began.
Fast.
Brutal.
The man moved like he didn't feel pain—only calculation.
One hit.
Two.
The opponent fell.
Too easily.
Too quickly.
Bella stepped back instinctively.
Her heart raced.
This isn't normal…
She turned—
and started walking away fast.
Then faster.
Almost running.
She didn't stay long enough to see the man lift his eyes.
She didn't notice the silence that followed his fight.
She didn't know that his gaze had briefly shifted toward the crowd.
Not searching.
Not interested.
Just… aware.
And she definitely didn't know his name.
Kevin.
Not yet.
