❝𝐈𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚.❞
Selfishly fascinated with her own strength, Valen Ferreira is willing to do nearly anything and everyth...
Valésharply turned right, nearly losing her footing as she stumbled into an alleyway.
On her way in, she dodged a large dumpster container, disturbing the business of flies that buzzed around the opening. Though she ran as fast as her legs carried her, every step was so sluggish, dragged and restrained. She was moving, but not moving.
BARK! BARK! BARK! Sprinting, Valé's fastidious customs had gone out the window, and she didn't think twice dashing through dirty puddles and piles of trash. She weaved in between trash cans, sidestepped large clusters of animal droppings, and stomped on what probably was a litter of rats. It was astounding how dirty the City had gotten in the past couple of years, particularly the center— gentrification had pushed tens of thousands inward. The alleyways' characteristic soap and linen fragrance had perished since then.
"Where'd she go?! Fucking hussy's faster than the fucking canines!" A brood of termites crunched under Valé's worn loafers as she stepped over what remained of a rotting wooden crate.
"I'll show that broad a thing or two once I get my hands on 'er!" Valé vaulted over an abandoned bookcase blocking her way. Quickly, she rubbed the dust and grime over her uniform to impair the canines' keen sense of smell. Approaching an intersection, she continued straight ahead, barreling past the neighboring passageways on her sides. Where this alley would lead her? Beyond her. The sun blocked by the enclosing buildings, orientating herself was useless. All she could do was hope she wasn't racing towards Altagracia, which had been completely gentrified years ago.
BARK! BARK! BARK!
It'd started during class. Despite her friends dropping out of school long ago, Valé had continued attending, partly on the wishes of her parents, former professors in a once renowned university. But she no longer engaged in classroom discussions like she had years ago—in fact, she suspected she wasn't even allowed to speak. She'd also stopped raising her hand when she needed help—her brothers would explain the material, if they remembered anything; they'd stopped showing up right away, choosing the backbreaking task of sowing and cultivating the Republic's shrinking food supply.
Maybe she should have joined them, too. "Right there, up ahead!"
Valé quickened her pace.
The terrain began to slope upward, a good sign for Valé—she was bound for San Mares, one of the City's centermost neighborhoods, not Altagracia as she'd feared. But the journey uphill was winding her, especially now that she'd been running for a while. Regardless, she braved the changing landscape, her stamina from years of dancing kicking in—the land would even soon, if she continued.
