The Drowning Girl

six

I looked up at the list against the wall, my eyes flickering along the list of cities. The list of places I can go, where no one has any clue to who I am. I bit my lip as I smiled gently, smiling as I began walking forward when I felt myself begin to pitch forward.

I stumbled slightly, turning around and looking up at the tall figure. My eyes widened as I met wild eyes hidden behind a mask, a black hoodie covering his lanky body. His hand jerks forward, grabbing my arm in a tight grasp before leaning down.

"Come with me, or you get shot." It was a mechanical voice, almost like he was speaking through a fan. I furrowed my eyebrows when I heard the distinct click of a gun cocking, my eyes glancing down to a small handgun hidden beneath his other sleeve.

I stumbled as he moved, weaving through a crowd of people at the bus station. Every time I'd slip behind he'd tighten his grip even more, to the point where I quietly whimpered every time he'd tug on me. I felt my breath catch as we walked past the entrance, and I saw Mr. Toma and his team opening the door.

"Fuck." The mechanical voice spun us around, pushing me directly in front of him with something pressed against my back. His other hand gripped my side right over my cuts, forcing me to straighten up and grit my teeth.

"Oh, I know all about those my little cutter." I grit my teeth as he pushed me closer and closer to the platform off the side. "I know all about you and your little friend Sang."

"She isn't really my friend." I muttered as we got to the terminal, the air whipping around us slightly.

"Doesn't matter, what matters is the fact you're hanging out with that, fucking Academy." His mechanical voice bit out, his hand spinning me around. "Take this ticket, leave. You've had a shitty hand given to you, take this opportunity."

"But what's so wrong with the Academy?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowed as the masked man shook his head.

"There's no time, the other stupid team is already here. Take the fucking ticket and leave, they're not worth your time. They can't save you, no one will be able to save you." I grit my teeth at that, my hands fisting by my side.

"Let me see your face." If this guy was bothering Sang, I at least owed it to her to try and figure out who he was.

"What?" His voice sounded as if he was in disbelief, even through the stupid mechanical machine.

"I'll leave, if I see your face." Stall stall stall. I kept screaming it in my head, I could stall and hand this guy off to Mr. Toma and then leave. I watched his eyes stare at me through the small skits before narrowing on me, flickering behind me for a second before looking back at me.

"You think you're so smart, but you're just like them." His hand stretched back before shooting forward, the metal of his gun smacking across my cheek. I felt my body crumple more so than realized it, pain radiating through my cheek as such an intense rate I didn't think I could breathe.

I pitched forward, on my knees and one hand as the other clutched my cheek the best it could. I tried sucking in a breath but I didn't think I could, such an intense pain in my cheek as I made the most horrible noise. I looked up to see him watching me for what felt like seconds, his head shaking slightly before he turned.

My legs shot forward, wrapping themselves around his ankle and forcing him to trip onto he hard concrete. His hands caught himself biting heard his mask hit the ground, a loud plastic thunking noise as he made a guttural growl. I forced myself forward, my face growing wet as I tried shoving myself on top of him to keep him down.

"Rowena!" I heard Axels smoky voice cut through the loud engines from the busses around us. 

The man beneath me shoved me, twisting so his entire body weight was placed onto my chest. I tried sucking in a breathe, my eyes staring up to his crazed ones. He leaned in slightly, his plastic mask with a huge crack stretching from the center off to the side.