Prologue
... 8 years ago
28 November 2015
"There she is!"
One of them shouts as he spots me running not too far ahead of them. I immediately increase my speed, not paying attention to the blazing pain in my lungs.
Stopping was definitely not an option at this point.
And besides, I would much rather pass out and die from lack of oxygen than going back and eventually dying a slow and painful death at his hands. He would punish me if I ever went back there and I, of all people, would know that his punishments very much exceeded every safety limit.
Thirty minutes down the line and I am still running with his men far behind. My five years of training under his watch caused my little ten year old legs to take me so far. I take the next right turn into a dark and narrow road and slow down to a light jog. Turning back to look at the open road, I hear no sound and let out a breathy sigh that is short-lived for as I turn back to look ahead I bump into a hard stomach belonging to one of his men.
His hands reach out for my tiny ones but I am quick to dodge out of the way and land a punch to his side. He stumbles to the side before coming at me with full speed and anger.
For a child my age, I am able to take out a man three times my size which I was grateful for at the moment.
He throws his punches at lightning speed which I counter with my own. My adrenaline starts to wear down fast and I can already feel my muscles aching. The man in front of me takes advantage of my weakening punches and gives me a hard one to the side of my head causing me to fall to the ground, hitting my head in the process. My vision might have been disoriented but I can still see him stalking towards me as though I were his prey, which at the moment, it seemed so.
I shuffle back until my body comes into contact with a cold hard surface belonging to a dumpster. My heart races as the distance between us shortens with every step he takes. Thankfully, my wondering hand grabs hold of a steel pipe just underneath the dumpster. And when the man gets close enough, I quickly rise to my feet and whack him on the side of the neck. He is out cold in an instant, still breathing, and I take the chance to run towards the main road.
Not too far away from me is a huge truck which is parked at the side of the road. The driver is standing outside, a little ways away from the truck, taking a bathroom break. And so with the little energy I have left, I rush to the truck and jump into the back which contains stacks upon stacks of boxes. I crawl between two large boxes that are successful at hiding me from sight. Seconds later, the driver comes back and starts the truck, continuing on with his journey without any knowledge of the 10 year old in the back.
As soon as we are out of town, my shoulders sag and exhaustion finally catches up with me.
I knew that from then onwards, my life would be that of a person on the run. But I was okay with that as long as I never saw him again. I was saying farewell to the old me, Summer Michelle Kingston. From now onwards, I was to be known as Michelle Summers. Wherever the truck was going to be offloading, that was to be my new town; home.
That was my last flitting thought before I finally passed out.
