STEEL (The Aurum Trilogy Book 1)

Chapter 3

THREE

Jonathan

I spent my birthday running away from each police station that I encountered. Obviously, my father had alerted the whole nation to find me. There were checkpoints in main roads and inspections in houses. They were probably thinking that I got kidnapped.

After two days of travelling, I finally got to Division 38. I was lucky that the security there wasn’t that tight. I’d taken with me a fake ID giving me the alias, Nathan The things that I heard about it proved to be true. It was indeed a barren land and there were only a few establishments. A voice in the back of my head reminded me that I could still turn back and leave but I pushed that thought away. I have to do this. This is what I wanted.

I strolled on the empty streets of Division 38. It was nighttime and there was a curfew. I didn’t mind. I didn’t live here. Now, all I needed was a place to stay. A house where nobody knew who I was and isn’t near another police station.

I continued to walk and reached to my pack for water. “Dammit.” I cursed. The bottle was empty. I was out of supplies. I threw the bottle on the ground and fell back when I heard a voice.

“You know, you’re not allowed to litter here.” I looked up and saw a man dressed in black, with a long coat and a hat covering his face.

“Who…who… who are you?” I stammered, half-brave, half-afraid.

He laughed. “My dear boy,” The man looked up revealing his scarred face. “It’s a pity to kill someone like you…”

I ran for my life. I wasn’t a coward, but I ran. I saw him bring out a gun. He fired but missed me. He fired again and this time, the bullet whizzed past my ear. I shut my eyes and ducked inside an alley. But immediately, he found me. I backed up and realized that it was a dead end.

“Any last words?” the scarred man asked, aiming the gun at me.

“I…I…I…” I stuttered.

“Too slow.” He impatiently said, applying pressure to the trigger. I closed my eyes and prepared for my death.

“But not fast enough.” I heard another voice emerge from behind me. Suddenly, I heard a whoosh and the sound of metal hovering near my left ear. The scarred man staggered and realized that a dagger was stuck to his throat. Before I could turn back and see who my savior was, I felt a cold blade pressing down my own throat.

“Who was that?” I started asking, panting heavily. “And more importantly, who the hell are you?”

“You either suck it up or you’ll find this knife three inches deep down your throat.” She aggressively answered, the cold blade still pressed against my perspiring skin. Now, I think it would have been better if the scarred man had killed me.

-------------------------------------

I opened my eyes. My vision was blurred an the image of the scarred man appeared out of my mind. I recalled what had happened and quickly put my hands on my throat. I’m still alive, I miraculously exclaimed to myself. All I could remember about last night was the knife pressed against my throat, the scarred man who had tried to murder me and the girl knocking me down using a syringe. No. I can’t stay here, I thought. I tried to stand up but I noticed that my hands were tied down to the chair I was sitting on. I wriggled my hands, struggling to break free but it was no use. The ropes that tied my hands to the chair were too tight.

“Golden boy,” a familiar voice called out. “It’s about time you woke up.”

I looked up and saw her. She had dark brown hair flowing down her back. Her irises were forest green and she wore a hardened expression on her face. Just simply looking at her sent a shiver down my spine.