Chapter 1🥀
My dear gentle readers or should i say violent readers .....Hope you enjoy the book.
This book is also available on wattpad
Rain had been falling for hours.
Not the kind that arrived with thunder and lightning, demanding attention. This rain whispered. It drifted from a sky swollen with heavy charcoal clouds, coating the abandoned streets in a thin sheet of silver that reflected the sickly glow of dying streetlights.
The city looked deserted.
Not sleeping.
Abandoned.
As if every soul had heard something terrible approaching and locked their doors before disappearing into the darkness.
Wind sighed through the empty buildings, carrying the damp scent of wet concrete, rust, and something metallic that clung to the back of the throat.
Blood.
She staggered around the corner.
Her breathing came in ragged bursts, each inhale burning her lungs like broken glass. Rainwater streamed through her tangled hair and down her face, washing crimson trails over pale skin. Tiny cuts covered her arms and legs, fresh and old alike, as though the night itself had claws.
One foot landed on the cold tar.
Then the other.
Bare feet slapped against puddles, each step sending sharp pain shooting through her ankle. She stumbled, caught herself against a brick wall, and bit down on a cry.
Don't stop.
Please...
Don't stop.
The street stretched endlessly ahead.
Closed shopfronts stared back with dark, lifeless windows. A faded bus stop leaned crookedly beneath a flickering lamp that buzzed weakly before plunging everything into darkness again.
No cars.
No voices.
No help.
Only the rain.
And the sound behind her.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Unhurried.
Patient.
She looked over her shoulder.
Nothing.
Yet every instinct screamed that someone was there.
Waiting.
Watching.
A narrow alley opened between two crumbling buildings. Without thinking, she darted inside, her shoulder scraping against rough brick.
The alley smelled of damp cardboard, mold, and overflowing rubbish.
Near the end sat a rusted dumpster.
She crawled behind it, trembling so violently the metal rattled beneath her touch. Pulling herself into the tiny gap between the dumpster and the wall, she wrapped both arms around her knees and forced a shaking hand over her mouth.
Breathe.
Quietly.
Please...
The rain softened.
For one impossible heartbeat...
Silence.
Then-
Scrraaaaaape.
Metal dragged lazily across brick.
The sound echoed through the alley like fingernails across bone.
Closer.
Scrraaaaaape.
Closer.
Every muscle in her body locked.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
No...
Please...
Not again.
A man's voice drifted through the rain.
Warm.
Gentle.
Almost playful.
"Come out..."
The scraping stopped.
"...come out, Little Birdie."
Her heart lurched so violently she thought it might betray her hiding place.
The nickname.
He knew.
He always knew.
Her fingers fumbled for the phone hidden inside her soaked hoodie pocket. The screen was spider-webbed with cracks, but it flickered to life.
One battery bar.
No signal.
Then-
A single bar appeared.
Her thumb shook uncontrollably as she opened the only conversation she hadn't deleted.
She didn't have time to think.
SOS
Her finger hovered over SEND.
Please...
Please work.
She pressed it.
The tiny loading circle spun.
Once.
Twice.
Sent.
A silent sob escaped her lips.
Maybe She would see it.
Maybe-
Silence.
Even the rain seemed to stop breathing.
Then she heard it.
A slow chuckle.
Right beside her.
"There you are."
A hand shot beneath the dumpster.
Cold fingers wrapped around her ankle.
She screamed.
The force yanked her across the rain-slick ground. Her nails clawed desperately at the pavement, breaking against the rough concrete as she fought to hold on.
"No! Please-"
Her phone slipped from her grasp.
It struck the ground.
The screen burst into a spray of fractured glass.
A heavy boot came down.
Crunch.
Darkness swallowed the display.
For the briefest moment, the cracked screen reflected the blurred silhouette of someone standing over her.
Then the rain washed everything away.
