I cursed as the sleeve of my jacket got caught on the jagged edge of a metal fence, forcing me to a complete stop. As soon as I dislodged myself from its grip I started off again picking up my speed until I could no longer hear anything but the sound of my feet thundering against the pavement.

I don’t know how long I’d been running, only that I had to, according to Emory. He was about 200 yards in front of me now after I lost speed from my run in with the fence.

With each step I took, my auburn hair completely unraveled itself from the messy braid I put it in this morning. The loose, fiery tendrils whipped around my face making it hard for me to see the path ahead.

Panic spiked in my chest as Emory began to pull away from me. “Em, wait up! I yelled. I hadn’t the slightest clue of what what we were running from, much less where we were running to. If I lost him, well, I am absolutely positive that he would not come back for me.

Emory arrived at our foster home two weeks ago. We were not exactly friends, but rather we were just two parentless kids who bonded over the their hate for their foster parents and wanted a way out.

Esther was a mean old hag who had countless years of experience playing the system. We were her money makers and I was done dealing with her phony facade. I turned eighteen next week. I was basically good to leave. They were going to kick me out anyway. That’s what Em told me, at least.

“Don’t call me that!” His voice sounded farther away than I was comfortable with. His retort snapped me out of my daze and my blood drained from my face when I saw the empty road in front of me.

Where did he go? Did I miss a turn? I halted and frantically looked around. Ignoring his previous comment I yelled. “Em!”

I heard the sounds of shoes stomping to my right. I whipped my head towards the sound and gasped. It was Gerald, Esther’s boy thing who lived with us. He was no better than that witch. My heart pounded in my chest as I turned on my heels and took off towards the woods, leaving the empty road behind.

“Get back here girl!” Gerald screeched. I wondered if he heard us sneak out early this morning. Id be quite surprised if he did since he was drunk off his ass last night. Maybe he still was.

I cursed silently as my hair whipped my face. Damn I should have put it up in a pony tail. I kept running until I heard nothing but the sound of leaves crunching beneath my feet and the sound of the air whirring past me.

I was so focused on avoiding being captured by Gerald the geezer that I didn’t see the hooded figure shoot out from my left.

I slammed into it full force and it knocked the wind out of me. I lay there on the damp earth accompanied by the sound of loud ringing in my ears.

“Sol” I heard my name. It sounded like the person was underwater. Eventually I came to, blinking back the tears that blurred my vision from the impact.

“Em” I muttered deliriously. I shot him a dazed smile.

“I said don’t call me that” he snapped. He reached his arm out and pulled me up. The action made me dizzy and I bit back the wave of nausea that overtook me.

I hunched over with my hands on my knees and looked up at his tall frame. His hair was black and it reached the bottom lobes of his ears. His nose was slightly crooked but his eyes were a piercing gray.

He was average looking at best but right now he looked like a Demi-god. He stared at me with an unreadable expression on his face. I looked down at my dirty jeans and white—now brown—converse. My hair was matted against my cheeks and my shirt was drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, heat rose to my cheeks. There’s no way I was self conscious right now. Not during our getaway.

Em — Emory looked behind him from the direction I came.

“Let’s go. He probably passed out somewhere but we can’t be too sure” he stated gruffly. I nodded. Gerald was an unpredictable drunk. I stood up and followed Em.

“Where will we go?” I asked after a few minutes of trailing behind Em through the forest.

He didn’t answer for awhile. I almost forgot I even asked the question until he replied.

“Far from here”.