I can hear the sirens. A howl of a hunter in the night air.

The streets are as empty as a graveyard, littered with tattered newspapers and abandoned drink cans. Yellow streetlights flickered, a stark contrast from the red and blue lights.

Heavy footsteps thudded on the stone gray ground.

A lone street cat darts hissing into the safety of darkness, startled by the sudden intrusion.

Keep going and don’t look back. Run like your life depends on it.

My breath billowed out in warm clouds in the cold air. Perspiration lined my forehead and ran down my back. Breathe, breathe. There was a constant burning at the back of my throat as I struggled with each painful breath.

They are catching up. Faster!

Willing my lead-laden limbs to move faster, I turned a corner, sprinting down a dark alley. I could feel blood seeping out from the wound on my left side. The wound must have re-opened when I was running. I don’t have the luxury to slow down stop the bleeding. They could catch up any moment.

How had they found me in the first place? I had covered all of my tracks carefully, even to the extent of laying a false trail. Yet they had showed up to the unassuming hotel within the hour, with even the room number I was given.  

It was as if someone told them where you were.

I had barely managed to escape from the barricade of officers. Now I just had to lose them in the maze of these abandoned streets.

A game of hunter and prey, and the trail of blood is the breadcrumbs.

Exhaustion had started to set in and my limbs felt stiff. There were stabbing pains from my left thigh and shoulder: I must have taken a few shots back then. In the mad rush, I had not realised but the pain was starting to set in.  Gritting my teeth, I turned another corner. If I give up, I lose everything.

Like a tiny butterfly trapped in the white sinews of a spider web, she struggles.

“Going somewhere?” I whipped around madly at the voice that came out of nowhere. Squinting through bleary vision, I could make out a dark figure ahead of me. My hands grasped for a weapon, anything that I could use but came up empty. Crap. This is bad.

Stumbling backwards, I blurted out, “Stay away from me!” The person simply kept walking towards me. As he came closer, I could see a faint silhouette of a gun in his hand. I shook my head, taking another step back. “Stay…stay away…” The walls were spinning now; I had to lean on the wall for support. Rough concrete walls scraped my back as I slid to the ground, gasping. Heavy footsteps approached from the other end of the alley.

The hunt is nearly over.  

“There she is!” I heard the voices of my pursuers. I twisted around to look at the squadron of men stomping towards me, one hand holding the wound in my side. My legs would not obey me. All I could do was wait for them to come and get me.

I can’t let it end like this. Not like this.

Summoning the last of my energy, I staggered to my feet, tense and ready to lunge at them. There was a low chuckle next to me.

I never liked sharing. 

“Who is that?” The officers sounded confused. One of them yelled, “Hey! Put your hands in the air and-“ There was a gunshot and the officer crumpled to the ground. The leader opened his mouth to give an order but before any of them could do anything, another few shots rang out in the narrow lane and three officers went down, including the leader.

At some point I had collapsed back onto the ground, barely conscious. The last thing I registered before passing out was the maniacal laughter as he shot down each and every officer present.