The darkness of the night wrapped around Audia like a heavy blanket that felt suffocating. She ran aimlessly, her feet tracing the empty sidewalk, lit by pale yellow streetlights. Her breath came in ragged gasps, mingled with painful sobs. Every shadow looked like a threat, every sound felt like mockery.
Nothing was right. Nothing could be trusted.
Those words spun in her head, a mantra gnawing at her sanity. Alvin's cynical face on the screen, his cold voice calling her "naïve," all of it burned into her retinas.
She didn't know how far she had run when her legs finally gave out. She leaned against the wall of a narrow alley, her body limp, sobbing. The world she knew had shattered into pieces.
In the distance, she could still hear police sirens, a sound that should have meant safety, but now only reminded her of chaos and betrayal.
Suddenly, a black car without plates slowed near her. The side window rolled down slowly. Audia lifted her head, terrified, ready to run again.
