Chapter 1: A Risk I'm Willing To Take

“Run.” That was all Blair could think, all she could do. She grabbed the duffel bag of weapons next to her and sprinted. It wouldn’t take long for the Sombres to figure out what had been taken, and chase after her. A ringing filled the girl’s ears, so the shouts behind her were muffled and all she could hear was the thuds of her feet on the floor and screeching of chairs being pushed out. They had noticed, and she was in deep trouble. But that much was expected.

 

Not looking back, Blair sprinted as fast as she could, out of that room, out of the door, out of the building. Leaves crunched underneath her feet and it only took around ten seconds to hear several pairs of footsteps behind her. Granted, ten seconds wasn’t much of a headstart, but a small lead is better than no lead. But Blair knew the woods she was in, her father took her to them as a child, meaning she had the upper hand. Or so she thought.

 

She saw where she was heading for, a clearing about a kilometre away from where she was now, bordered by a fence of densely packed trees. To anyone who hadn’t been here before, it was almost invisible. “Home stretch, B.” she thought, smiling to herself slightly “Almost there, then you can rest. Come on.” Blair’s overconfidence got the better of her, it seemed, as she began to slow down and grin fully, a smile spreading across her dark cheeks. That’s when she felt it.

 

The pain was faint at first. Dull. As if she had merely knocked her knee on a coffee table while walking past. Then it began to really hurt. A searing pain spread across her whole calf, and she felt a hot liquid trickle down her leg. Carrying of in this state would be unbearable. Her knee buckled and she fell to the ground like a rag doll. 

 

Bad move. The handle of the knife in her leg was pressed into the ground, pushing it further into her leg. The girl winced, hands shaking as she tried to do something. Taking a knife out would potentially mean major blood loss, but it was thankfully a small blade. She took it out with unsteady hands, pressing her palm on the wound and burying the knife under the leaves.

 

The ringing in her ears hadn’t subsided, meaning Blair didn’t notice when a girl almost twice her size from the Sombres tackled her, pinning her to the ground, and pressing her fingers on the wound. Blair gasped, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists, attempting to throw the other girl off her. “Nu-uh.” She mumbled, pinning Blair’s hands above her head. “What did you take?” She spat, looming over her. Blair squeezed her eyes shut, willing it to just be a horrible dream, for it to just go away.

 

A sob escaped her lips, and a half-hearted cry for help earned her one hand clamped firmly on her mouth by the dark-haired girl above her. “I won’t ask nicely again. What did you take?” She removed her hand and placed it back on the wound, making Blair cry out again. “Nothing, I swear. Please, please…” she begged quietly, tears leaking out of her eyes. She opened them finally, to see the other girl’s top lip curled upwards in a sneer, a dark glint in her eyes that meant trouble.

 

It seems to go in slow motion, she could barely comprehend what was happening. A pale blonde boy from behind the girl had pulled her off Blair and slammed her against a tree. Blair scrambled to sit up, her fingers closing on the handle of the knife she had buried, the other finding the handle of the duffel that the girl had failed to notice. Clearly, brawn doesn’t equal brains. “Aiden, what are you doing?” the blonde boy hissed, making the girl, Aiden, presumably, look slightly frightened, but agitated. She stared upwards at the blonde boy, snapping back, “Figuring what the hell she was doing there.  What she heard, if she took anything, Dean.”

 

Blair wasted no time in scrambling upwards, finding her feet with as much grace as Bambi on ice. She limped as fast as she could, away from the quarrelling pair, and finding the concealed brick building in the clearing, that hosted her four other allies, not knowing she slipped out. The lack of pursuers chasing her managed to convince her that she was safe, she could rest, she could assess the damage and recover.

 

The wound on her leg had bled, a lot, and dark red stains congealed around it, the metallic smell making Blair gag, but it was worth it.

 

She finally had time to think things through. What she had done was dangerous, putting her life, her family’s lives, and her friends’ lives in jeopardy. The truth was, the Sombres were a deadly pack, who had a vendetta against Blair. It was a risky game, taking the weapons, but in a world where five teenagers are on the run, fighting for their lives and outrunning death, it was the only option. As much as it pained her to admit, Blair’s mother was once part of the Sombres.

 

That was before she left. Betrayed them. Living that life was deadly, dangerous, and it seemed the only way out was to disappear, find a new life, start a family. Getting caught wasn’t the plan, however. A scuffle went down between the leader of the Sombres and Blair’s mother, Scarlett, and it was the leader that got the worst of it, smashing his head on a rock after Scarlett pushed him. That was it. He died. And now they were coming after Blair for revenge.

 

At least, that was what Blair had been told by her dad, who raised her as a single parent after Scarlett fled the country, started a new life, and left Blair to pick up the pieces, to pay the price. But now, with the help of her friends, she was in the middle of a feud between groups, just trying to stay alive.

 

After all, she had survived this day, earned another scar to add to her collection. It was time to enter the group of teenagers’ hideout and explain herself. They didn’t know she had gone, and it was time to face the music. Pulling herself up reluctantly, she limped towards the concealed door of the old, brick building, and pushed it open slowly, immediately engulfed by her friend’s arms.

 

“Blair!” a girl’s voice cried out and hugged her tightly. Blair hugged back, smiling to herself. “This is belonging,” she thought, and let the door click shut behind her.

Author's Note

First chapter! I have the next two written already, but I just need to proofread and fix a few mistakes before posting :)