The streets pulsed with tension.
Her lungs burned. Her legs felt numb. But she didn't stop running.
Not now.
Not when every shadow felt like a mouth waiting to swallow her whole.
Cold night air sliced across her cheeks as she darted through a narrow alley. Lanternlight flickered overhead like dying fireflies, casting long, claw‑shaped silhouettes on the walls.
Someone's watching.
She felt it — a prickling at the base of her skull.
The certainty that eyes followed her from window cracks, door slits, rooftops.
In this country, fear was not a feeling.
It was a currency.
And safety was an illusion.
People whispered, traded secrets, handed each other over for coins or favors — sometimes for nothing but the thrill of power. No law stopped them. No justice shielded the innocent. The government didn't need official spies when every citizen was hungry enough to become one.
And tonight…
The hunger was aimed at her.
Her breath hitched as she stumbled into a side street, pressing her back against the cold stone. The echo of boots pounded somewhere behind her — slow, steady, patient.
Move. Keep moving. Don't think. Don't remember.
"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
The voice snapped through the darkness.
Catreena jerked around, heart lurching to her throat. A girl stood there — short, sharp, wrapped in shadows with eyes that seemed to slice through the dark. A cloth covered her mouth, hiding everything except those vigilant, unforgiving eyes.
"I… I don't know you," Catreena rasped.
"You don't have to." The girl's gaze swept the rooftops. "But stay here, and you'll be dead in a minute."
Boots thundered closer.
The girl seized Catreena's wrist and pulled her into a narrow doorway.
"Stay quiet."
Catreena pressed herself against the wall. Her breath trembled in her chest, threatening to shake loose the memories she was desperately trying to bury. The patrol passed — shadows stretching like reaching arms before sliding away.
When the street fell silent again, the girl exhaled.
"I'm Saad," she whispered. "I saw you running."
Catreena opened her mouth, but the words tangled. Her throat closed. There was so much she wanted to say — needed to say — but fear had built walls inside her, trapping the truth.
There were things she had seen, long before tonight.
Things she never spoke of.
Things she refused to remember unless forced.
Those buried memories pressed against her ribs now, claws scraping.
"I don't… I don't know where to go," she managed. "They killed my uncle. My parents. And now—"
Her voice splintered.
But even that wasn't the whole truth.
Not even close.
There was a reason her fear ran deeper than death.
A reason she didn't dare speak aloud.
A reason her nightmares came with the smell of dust and smoke and something much worse.
Saad's eyes softened slightly. She didn't ask questions — and Catreena was absurdly grateful. She wasn't ready. Maybe she would never be.
A faint rustle made her flinch. Someone stepped from the shadows.
A boy.
He moved with a quiet confidence that made the air around him feel different — heavier, sharper. His silver hair caught the weak lanternlight, shimmering like frost. A black blindfold wrapped across his eyes.
Yet somehow… she felt him looking straight at her.
"Saad," he asked, voice smooth as water slipping over stone, "what's going on?" His voice was smooth, confident.
"She's being hunted," Saad replied flatly.
The boy tilted his head toward Catreena. A slow smile curved at the corner of his lips — not mocking, but curious… intrigued.
Catreena swallowed hard. She didn't know why her pulse jumped when he smiled.
"Catreena, this is my brother, Suad," Saad said briskly. "Move."
Suad shrugged, clearly unconcerned. "Whatever you say," he murmured, falling into step behind them.
As they moved through the twisting alleys, Catreena's thoughts spiraled.
Who were these two? Why were they helping her?
Saad's grip was firm, her pace quick, like someone who had done this before. Suad, on the other hand, walked with his hands in his pockets, his expression unreadable—almost amused.
Catreena stole a glance at him. His silver hair caught the faint glow of lantern light, and when he noticed her looking, he smiled again—lazy, effortless. Heat rushed to her cheeks, and she looked away, cursing herself silently.
"Where are we going?" she asked finally, her voice small.
"Somewhere safe," Saad said.
"Safe?" Catreena almost laughed. "There's no such thing here."
Saad didn't argue. She just tightened her grip and kept walking.
For the first time that day, Catreena's heart beat for something other than fear.