Gotta' Be You

Chapter 1

Gotta' Be You

Chapter 1

I panted as I ran. But it was nothing new. I was always on the run. But more on that later. Right now I was focusing on my current destination: the bus station. I rounded the corner of the street, almost to the bus stop. I could hear the hard foot steps of the large man chasing me. The bus was already leaving the stop.

"Stop!" I yelled at the bus, waving my ticket in the air. If the bus driver saw me, he didn't care; the bus rounded the next corner and dissapeared, along with any hope I had for escaping.

Maybe I should explain the situation at hand. This mess all started when I was thirteen years old. You see, I'd ran away from my father. He was an aweful alcholic and drug abuser. He abused me constantly to keep me from telling anyone about his drug dealing business. But I cracked one day. I went to the police. I told them everything. But somehow my father found out before the police could arrest him. He ran, but not before he left me a note warning me:

"I will hunt you down. I will kill you. But before I do, I will make you wish you had never been born, bitch."

I had kept that note with me for the past three years as I ran from place to place. Running, I had been all over North America. I never stayed in one place for more than a month. The only reason for that was that my father had people looking for me. For drug dealers, they were pretty smart. They always found me, no matter how careful I was. And I was super cautious. I never gave anyone my real name and I always made sure I wasn't recognizable. Now what's my real name? Like I'm gonna' tell you! For all I know, you could be another one of my fathers spies! Every time I changed locations, I would change my hairs style and color and I wore colored contacts. And I absolutely never, ever returned to a place I'd been. But they always found me, and I always ended up running for my life. I'd never been captured, but I've had some pretty close calls.

Back to the present. I was choking for air as I raced around the corner, trying to get to the next bus stop before the bus did. Luckily, I knew a shortcut. Looking behind me, I noticed that the guy was gaining ground. Quickly, I cut across the street and vaulted over a fence. I'd had some parkour training and was paying off. I vaulted over several fences and came to a stop at the next bus stop. Glancing down the street, I saw the bus turning the corner. I grinned triumphantly. I'd beat the bus.

Just as the bus was coming to a stop, I felt a hand close on my arm. I was dragged backwards and thrown back over a fence. I sailed over and managed to land on my feet. My attacker jumped over the fence to face me. I backed away from him, stalling for time. I had a plan, but I needed room and time to catch my breath.

I swore violently as I heard the rumble of the bus leaving. I'd have to beat it to the next stop in town. If I missed that stop, I'd have to wait another day for another bus.

"You're gonna' regret making me miss that bus, dickwad!" I shouted, anger taking control of me and wiping out my fear. Unfortunatly, that was all bluffing. I didn't actually know how to fight. All I was good at was running away.

He just grinned and said, "Daddy misses you, sweatheart. Time for you to come home!" He advanced on me and I continued to back up, gaining distance from the fence.

"Bullshit! Do you actually think I would believe that load of crap?" I yelled. He snarled and charged me. I smiled. That was just what I wanted. Seeing my opening, I ran full tilt toward him. Using his ducked shoulders, I launched myself over him and towards the ground. I hit it and rolled back up to my feet, racing for the fence. I was about to vault over it when I felt a hand on my ankle. I fell, face planting the ground. I twisted around and kicked the man in the head. He yowled in pain and released me. I scrambled to my feet and climbed clumsily over the fence.

I ran, but I wasn't running as fast. This escape was harder than the others had been. Luckily, on the first day in this town, I had located all the shortcuts to the bus stops. I turned a corner and ran into a back alley. I raced through the back allies and made it to the final bus stop. But all my running had been of little importance, for the bus was already driving away. I almost screamed in frustration.

I heard that mans' voice behind me, "No where for you to run anymore. That was the last stop, sweatheart!" I turned and continued to run. I rounded a corner and was passing a theatre when a group of guys stepped out in front of me. With no time to stop or shout a warning, I collided into them, knocking one guy down. I fell to the ground on top of him. I heard a gasp and shouting above me. I was pulled off of the guy by one of his friends.

"Oh, my, gosh! I'm so sorry! But I have to go - " I turned to run, but one of them, the one I fell on, grabbed my arm and stopped me. He looked at me with concern and said, "What are you running from?" I tried to shake him off, but he wasn't letting me. He expected an answer.

"Nothing! I'm sorry for knocking you down, but I really have to go!" Just then, my pursuer came around the corner. He was out of breath and panting.

As soon as the guy holding on to me saw the man was out of breath, he looked at me then back at him. I could see that he was putting two and two together. Quickly, he pushed me behind him, gently.

"Why are you chasing her? What did she do?" he asked. As they were distracted, I turned to leave. But I walked right into another of the boys. Walking into people was becoming a bad habit. He grabbed my arms and spun me around so I was facing the boy talking and my attacker.

Speak of the devil, my attacker was speaking, "None of your business, dumbass! Just get out of my way!" And he charged at us. But for some reason, the five boys formed a wall in front of me. When the guy was close enough, the boy with curly, brown hair punched him in the mouth and the blond boy tackled him to the ground. I was stunned. My attacker didn't get up. He looked unconcious.

The boys ignored him and turned to me. "Who are you?" One of them asked. I recognized him as the one I first ran into. "Thank you so much for helping me. But I have to leave before he wakes up.," I motioned toward the unconsious man. Bug he was no longer unconsious.

With an evil grin, he pulled out a knife. He threw it at the guy who punched him, the guy I had ran into, my savior.

"No!" I cried. I ran in front of him. I gasped as the knife plunged into my stomach.

Then everything went dark.

A/N: Please leave a comment. I would really appreciate it! :)