CHAPTER ONE - LOST

Dark, cold, wet. He could hardly see anything in the weak, dying streetlight except for the fat, filthy droplets of rain that dribbled down from the black heavens. The pavement beneath his battered, soaking shoes was dotted with chunks of old gum and used cigarettes as he stumbled clumsily down the street.

He shivered as the cold wind laughed at him and tugged at his tattered black cloak. He clasped it close to him with a pale hand, but the wet garment could offer him little warmth.

Anxiously he glanced behind him, his eyes darting about the gloom in case he was being pursued again. Nervously his frightened orbs lingered upon every shadow in the darkness and then he began to shuffle forward again, desperate to find his way out of this maze of streets.

For now he was alone, but he could find him at any moment.

He coughed and sneezed as the wind blew a few splatters of rain into his face. He wiped the back of his grubby hand against his face, trying to ignore the small dribbles of blood that had escaped his pale pink lips. It was nothing, he told himself. There was nothing wrong with him. It was normal for one to cough blood…

He pulled the hood of the cloak closer to conceal his distinct, light hair as he slunk in the shadows of the dark alley, trying to remain hidden as much as possible, but it was awkward when every limping step made a noise and when each movement brought pain to his stomach that made him want to cry.

He hurried along, keeping close to the dark walls of the alley, not wanting to allow himself to be seen in case his movements were being watched. He did not like being confined in a place with so few exits and space to run, but it was better than walking by the exposed, open road. Anybody could see him there… He could be found there…

‘He’s not following me… He doesn’t know where I am… He can’t follow me… He can’t…’

Or could he? Had he tracked him here and was he waiting in the shadows, to leap and catch his prey when it least expected it?

He came to the end of the alley. He peeped around the corner tentatively, his heart fearfully pumping in his chest and bringing nervous sweat out on his forehead.

There was no one in the dark street as he swept his eyes over the weakly lit pavement. He crept out of the alley quickly, his cloak clasped tightly to him. He glanced up the street and then back down. Now which way? There were no street signs anywhere.

The old dilapidated and shabby buildings reared up either side of him and their dark windows seemed to laugh at the lost soul that dared to tread between their black walls. One building had a sleazy, neon sign flickering weakly in the window and there were several cheap posters that showed women wearing little more than strips of glitzy cloth. He must be in the wrong part of town. This couldn’t be right…

He shivered again and he felt a weakness tugging at his stomach as it wriggled inside of him. For a second, his vision blurred, turning everything into a brown mess dominated by the sickly orange streetlight that fuzzed everything. He gripped the post beside him to prevent himself from slumping to the wet floor as his legs began to wobble uncertainly. He coughed again as he felt the horrible tickling in his throat.

He couldn’t walk for much longer. It was cold and his limbs were aching after roaming the streets for hours. He rubbed his freezing hands with his fingers, but they only served to hurt his knuckles and send them red. His teeth were beginning to chatter as the light rain continued it’s descent and soak into his clothes.

He raised his head to watch as a wheeled monster with bright white lights ran by roaring at him. He stepped away from the edge, crying out as water from a muddy puddle sprayed up over his cloak and soaking him even more.

He hated the roads. He had never seen so cars move so fast or viciously before. The huge, bright monsters screamed and growled as they dashed along the roads, leaving nothing but foul smells in their wake. At one point he had found himself overlooking an uncrossable road which was packed with cars. He had been forced to turn back to the grubby streets which seemed to lead nowhere but in circles.

He still held the street light post in one hand, his knuckles turning white as he felt the pain erupting over his body. It was unbearable. Hot pain that flowed through his veins and the freezing cold of his limbs that made it difficult to walk.

He gasped slightly and forced his fingers to uncurl from the post. He couldn’t stay6 here in the open street. It was too dangerous. He needed to find somewhere to rest… somewhere where he could clear his mind and think. He needed to come up with a reasonable plan that would help him and get him to what he wanted.

He watched another strange, bright blue car run by rocking the street as the beat of music vibrated through the paving slabs. He stared about him and bit his lip before dashing across the black road.

He screamed as he saw the lights heading towards him. They were so bright… his eyes were almost burning with the pain. The tears fell and split the light into hundreds of different shards as he felt his feet glue to the floor. He couldn’t move… All he could do was watch those lights as they came ever closer to him… ready to crush his body any moment.

There was an awful screech and the lights came to stop only a metre from his quivering body. He almost sunk to his knees as his eyes remained locked with the lights…

“Kid, what the hell do you think you’re doing?” an angry voice roared.

He wanted to run, but the lights still dazzled him and rendered him immobile. His fear paralysed every part of him, locking his joints up and refusing to let him move.

“Well don’t just stand there! I could have hit you! Next time you’re stupid enough to walk out in front of my car, I won’t stop! I’m in a hurry! How can I hurry home when stupid kids like you are trying to kill themselves!” the coloured man yelled as he leaned pout of the car window.

He whimpered slightly as he backed away and then there was another tortured squeal of brakes from behind him. He spun around, his eyes wide and bulging with fear as they took in the colossal red truck.

“Fuck kid, get out of my fucking way!” a voice screamed hatefully. “I’ll fucking mow you down if you don’t move your sorry, stupid ass!”

Finally his feet seemed to be working again and he found himself limping across the road, desperate to escape the cruelty that was being hurled at him. The tears streamed down his face as the angry shouts followed him.

“Where the fuck are you going? I’m not finished with you yet! Get the fuck back here now!”

“Hey, he’s bleeding!” the voice of the first driver called. “That wasn’t me, I didn’t hit him!”

He ran down the road sobbing audibly and hearing the cries as they echoed about the darkened street. He dodged down a small alley and didn’t stop running until he had exited out the other end. He stopped for a second and gasped as the pain throbbed inside of him and his heart hammered so hard that it hurt. He stared down at the floor, his throat dry and painfully sore. A few beads of blood had found their way onto the slabs… He gulped slightly and tore his gaze away from the red droplets, taking himself away to his own world where everything was safe.

He staggered back until his back hit the firmness of a wall and his eyes flickered closed as he breathed deeply. He had to stay calm and think logically… but it’s hard when you’re scared.

“You looking for something, baby?”

He turned at the sound of the seductive voice and saw a dark haired woman staring at him. She smiled at him, her lips coated in bright red artificial colour and she wore a thick fur coat to keep off the cold and the rain.

“Hey, he really is a baby!” a blonde haired woman laughed as she stepped out beside her friend, her tight black top showing most of her chest. “You looking for your mommy?”

They both laughed and the blonde lit up a cigarette and blew a thin curl of smoke at him while her eyes drifted down his tattered clothes in disgust.

He tried to speak, but his mouth seemed to have frozen and wouldn’t form any words. He wanted to inch away, but he was trapped. His back was pressed up against a wall and the blonde and the dark haired women stood either side of him.

“Maybe we could show him a good time,” the dark haired women said. “That’ll make him grow up faster!”

He whimpered slightly and then ducked beneath the blonde arms as she tried to touch his shoulder. Both of them began to laugh loudly at his ran in terror away from them and half tripped over an abandoned trash bag on the sidewalk.

“Aaww, poor baby!” one of them screeched. “Go home to mommy!”

He was crying again as he turned down another alley way, his feet slamming down hard upon the slabs of concrete below him. He sobbed as he stumbled over, falling hard on his bad arm. He sobbed as he crawled over to the wall and hid himself in the shadow of a huge garbage skip. He curled himself up into a ball, his cloak tangling about his legs. He pulled his feet out of sight and crouched down between some trash cans, trying not to rattle them as he tucked his feet under him.

He raised his head to the dark sky above, but he couldn’t se a single star winking down at him from the murky gloom. Stars were supposed to protect people but tonight there were no start to take care of him. As a little boy he used to count the stars watching over him and he had known that he was safe.

Now there were no stars and that seemed like an awful omen. He dropped his eyes away from the sky and the shower of rain it offered and pressed his head against his wet knees. Slowly the tears began to dribble down his cheeks as he thought of what he had lost.

He was never going home again.

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