No, no, no, no, no! I think frantically, tears forming in my eyes. Where the hell am I? What if he finds me? I have to get to Miami! I have to get that plane! I have to run! My breathing quickens and I start to hyperventilate. Calm down! But I can’t. I know he’s probably going to catch the quickest train to wherever I am. How did I even get here? Memories flash through my head. A man in a trench coat offering to buy me tea. Stirring what I initially though was sugar in the warm liquid. Me slowly sipping the drink, it burning the roof of my mouth. The man pulling me on a train, me too weak to protest. I look around nervously. The man has to be here somewhere. My breath quickens again. I can’t have a panic attack right now. I really can’t. “Okay. Okay, calm down, Caileigh. Calm down.” I whispered under my breath. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw the man in the trench coat. I lost track of my breathing and ran. I bolted through the crowd of people, knocking over luggage carts and being barked at by dogs. I sprinted through security, and several security guards joined in chasing me. I ran through the street, weaving between the cars now honking at me. I made a turn into an ally and dove in a dumpster. I heard voices, and I peeked through a small crack between of the lid and the dumpster. The man in the trench coat had slunk and the security personnel moved out of the alley and down the street. I waited a second more and then pushed open the lid and climbed out of the disgusting piles of trash. I looked around, hoping for any clue as to where I was. There were none. I stuck around the alley until it got dark, where I climbed back into the dumpster and tried to breath through my mouth to block out the smell. The adrenaline was starting wear off and I starting shaking and sobbing silently. How was the situation I was in any better than the one at home. My boyfriend getting drunk and screaming. Punching me and clawing me. Tears welling in my eyes. Purple bruises and blood rising to the surface of my skin. My boyfriend swearing that if I told anyone or tried to run, he would find me. He would find me and he would kill me. So I stayed silent. In the morning, I blinked my eyes open to see a rat hovering over my face with its scraggly whiskers and big teeth. I shrieked, hitting the lid open with my head and tumbling out of the dumpster. I rubbed my head, feeling for tue bump that I was sure had formed. I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt over my head and walked back to the train station, looking for the next train to Miami. I knew I had missed my flight, but I could book one when I got there. There was a train that was leaving for Miami at 1 o’clock. I hurried up to the desk and purchased a ticket. I shoved it in my purse, and wandered back to the alley I had spent the previous day at. My stomach groaned and I realized I hadn’t eaten since yesterdays lunch. I wandered the streets, sticking to the shadows and pressing up against the brick walls of buildings, only stepping into the sunlight when absolutely necessary. I found a hot dog stand and bought one. My eyes darted around and I spotted the man in the trench coat across the street. He hadn’t seen me, but he was crossing over in my direction. My cheeks paled, and before my hot dog was ready I darted off, running as fast as I could. I started feeling light headed from hunger and leaned against a wall to catch my breath when I felt something cold pressed up against my head. “Good morning, sweetheart,” A slick voice said in my ear. My blood ran cold. “I suggest cooperating. Unless you want a bullet through your pretty little head.” The man said, his voice smooth and dangerous. I cleared my throat and swallowed. “Who are you?” My voice cracked, making the man laugh without humor. “You know. He sent me.” My heart stopped. I should’ve known Miles would make good on his threat. Without warning, I whipped around and kneed the man in the groin, making him double over in pain. I had no idea what to do next, so I ran. Again. I heard the sound of a gun firing, and saw a bullet ping against the sidewalk under me, making me stop in my tracks. Fear had taken over me. My brain screamed at me to run, but my feet wouldn’t move. I heard the shot before I felt it. Overwhelming pain bloomed in my lower back and I fell to the floor. The man walked over and kicked me. “He warned you. He warned you that if you tried to run, you would die.” He smirked and stalked off. My breathing turned labored. God knows how long I lay there, in the alley on the far side of town. No one would find me there. The only I saw before I blacked was a woman in a white gown. I thought she was an angel. I drifted in and out of consciousness for a while. Will she make it? Is she alive. What happened? Who did this to her? I gasped in a breath of air. “W-where am I?” I rasped. “The hospital,” A woman in a white dress stained with with splashes of red said. “Who are you?” I asked. “Alyssa,” She said. “How did you find me?” “I was driving home from my wedding and I saw you curled up in the alley, lying in a pool of your own blood. So I stopped the car and helped you. I wasn’t sure you were going to make it.” “I ruined your dress,” I said guiltily. “Don’t worry. What matters is that you’re alive.” Alyssa smiled. “Why?” “Why what?” “Why did you help?” “Because you’re a person,” “But you don’t know me,” “So?” I pondered this. “I’ve never been treated like that,” I said. “You must never have met a decent person in your life,” Alyssa said. I nodded sadly. “Thank you,” I said softly. Alyssa smiled. She let me rest and I drifted off into a peaceful sleep. I lived in the apartment across from Alyssa and her husband Chris in Los Angeles. I finally called the police on Miles and the man in the trench coat. I never saw either one of them again. When Alyssa and Chris had their son, I was the godmother. I met a man you lived below me named Steve. I married him six years later and we had a daughter a year after. I was happy. Finally, I was happy.