This came from a dream I had...

It's okay if your really confused. This will be in the middle of a book. Enjoy

The only image in my mind was the gate as the searing pain in my side blurred my thoughts. I stumbled several times, my legs aching under the stress of running at full speed. I could feel my blood soaking through my shirt, making it cling to my skin, and then streaming down my leg in a warm, crimson ribbon. I tripped and tumbled to the sidewalk, falling on my wound. I tried to scream, but only a small gasp slipped from my mouth. I just wanted to stay on the ground, lying in the sun. I wanted to die, to escape everything.

I pushed myself up from the ground, tightly closing my mind as if that would soften the pain. I broke into another excruciating sprint for the gate. It seemed so far away, and no matter how fast I ran, the gate never seemed to get any closer. My whole body throbbed in rhythm with my racing heart. Each step pounded in my head. When I finally reached the gate, I pushed through it without stopping to find Lucy sitting in the courtyard, examining a rock.

She looked up with a smile that was shot into terror. I didn’t waste time to explain anything to her. I had to get inside and hide all the girls before the authorities found me. I grabbed her around the waist and held her by my side as I leaped over the steps leading to the front door of the house. Swinging the door open, I yelled into the house, “Everybody upstairs, now!”

All of the girls immediately halted and stared at me.

“Now!” I put Lucy down and gave her a shove towards the staircase. A sudden burst of panic struck the girls and they all scrambled to get to the stairs. After counting to make sure they were all there, I hobbled up the stairs, gritting my teeth to suppress a cry of agony with each step and trying not to leave a trail of blood droplets. When I reached the top of the platform, most of the girls had already slid through the trapdoor into the rooms below. Standing next to the open door, holding up the rug, was Lucy.

“Hurry,” she whispered. “I hear someone coming.” Fearful tears shimmered in her eyes as three loud knocks pounded on the door. I lowered Lucy into the room below with quivering arms, then slipped through the hole myself, moaning with each subtle movement. I recovered the hole with the rug and pushed the trapdoor back into place. At first, I couldn’t find Lucy, but then saw her cowering in a corner, staring at me through her big hazel eyes. She stared at the blood that drenched my entire right side.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, even though she knew the answer.

“I’ll be fine,” I said, forcing myself to smile. She knew I was lying.

My hands and legs were shaking violently, and I started to feel dizzy as if I were floating several feet off the ground. Suddenly, my knees buckled and I collapsed onto the floor beside the bed, reaching for some invisible object to help me keep my balance. My fingers grazed the surface of the scratchy quilt on the bed, and I grabbed at it in vain. I tried to gasp in agony, but I couldn’t breathe, I was caught between inhale and exhale. My lips moved slowly, forming inaudible words. Terrified, Lucy rushed to my side, but didn’t know what to do. I gripped her arm and released it, leaving a bloody imprint of my hand on her pale skin. As if a small bubble in my throat had been popped, I gasped loudly and choked on my breath. I tried futilely to control my breathing and calm myself. I couldn’t bear Lucy seeing me in a vulnerable state. After a while, my voice weakly crept from my mouth, slurring my words as I asked, “Lucy, did you see where the other girls went?”

She shook her head and started to cry.

“It’s all going to be fine,” I assured her. “I need you to do something, okay?”

She looked up and gazed into my eyes as if searching for an answer to a problem that couldn’t be solved. I lowered my voice to a breathy whisper, pausing slightly between each word as I said, “Go out into the hall and find the third door on your right. In that room you will see a small closet. At the back of the closet is a small door. Do you understand so far?”

She nodded silently and twisted the hem of her shirt in her fists nervously.

“Good. Now, I want you to go through that little door onto the ledge between the real wall and the fake wall in the house. Follow that ledge until you come to a set of stairs. Right at the base of those stairs is a metal door. That door leads outside, and if the other girls aren’t waiting for you just outside the door, I want you to run.”

Her eyes widened and she stuttered, “But where will I go?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. Just get as far away as you can.”

“Will you come with me?” She grabbed my wrist with both hands and squeezed it as hard as she could, hoping that if she held on tight enough, I would never leave her.

“I can’t. I have to stay here.” I shifted a little to pull my arm from her grasp, but stopped and bit the insides of my cheeks to keep from screaming in agony.

“I-” Lucy started, but her words choked and died. We could hear the thundering footsteps of at least twenty policemen in the hall.

How did they get in here? I thought. “Lucy, you can’t go into the hall anymore. I don’t want you to get hurt.” I pulled my arm away from her grasp as quickly as I could to limit the pain and reached for the trap door. I froze when the same sound of footsteps pounded overhead. Suddenly, silence crept into the room. I couldn’t move as if someone had just punched me in the stomach and I was momentarily unable to breath.

“Lucy,” I whispered so low that she could barely hear. “Open the door to the hall and run.”

“But Vyla-”

“Hush.” I warned. She bit her lower lip and looked back at the door.

A flood of light poured through the ceiling, but was quickly blocked by the shadow of a tall policeman.

“Lucy, run!” I yelled, pushing her forward and clutching my side with my other hand.

She flung the door open to find more men standing in the doorway. One of the men seized her by the arms and dragged her towards him. Lucy started bawling and reaching for me screaming, “Vyla!” the room was filled with cops, like a swarm of black bugs with countless numbers. Each of them had a gun pointed at me, but I didn’t care. My attention was on Lucy. The man holding her started to pull his captive back into the hall. In one swift movement, I reached under the bed, pulled out my gun, and aimed it at one of the men. I sat up as best I could, trying not to show the pain on my face.

The policemen shifted uneasily, tightening their holds on their weapons.

“Let her go,” I demanded. One of the Policemen pushed his way through the sea of officers. Bent over his arm was a black-haired boy. He lifted his head slowly to look at me.

I dropped the gun.

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Okay. I hope the description was better, but it still needs work. Any suggestions on titles are welcome, but I know it's hard to come up with a title for a piece you know nothing about. Let me know if you like it in first person. I usually write in third. And I named my black-haired boy. Yay me!

-Sea-