Escape in the dark

Shruti's lungs burned as she ran, her bare feet slamming against the rough, unforgiving asphalt. Her breath came in ragged, uneven gasps, each one laced with agony as her ribs screamed in protest. The cold night air cut through her like a blade, but she didn't feel it—couldn't feel it. The only thing that mattered was running.

Behind her, the world was still burning.

The fire she had barely escaped from raged in the distance, painting the night sky in violent shades of orange and red. The thick stench of smoke clung to her, filling her nose, coating her throat like poison. Over the crackling flames, she could still hear them—the men hunting her.

"FIND HER!"

The roar of a man's voice tore through the night, an order laced with pure fury.

Shruti didn't dare look back.

She pushed herself harder, ignoring the stabbing pain in her side, the sticky warmth of blood seeping from the deep gashes on her arms and legs. Her body was beyond broken—skin charred in places, her wounds raw and open, her ribs threatening to collapse with every breath. But stopping wasn't an option.

She knew what would happen if they caught her.

They wouldn't make the mistake of keeping her alive again.

Her surroundings blurred. Trees loomed around her, twisted and gnarled like skeletal hands reaching for her. Branches lashed against her skin, ripping at the delicate fabric of the tattered dress barely hanging onto her frame. The ground beneath her was treacherous, littered with jagged rocks and broken glass. Each step sent fresh waves of pain shooting through her feet, but she didn't stop.

She couldn't stop.

The voices behind her grew louder. Heavy boots pounded against the dirt, closing in.

Her pulse thundered in her ears.

She wasn't fast enough.

Then—a gunshot.

The sound tore through the silence, deafening in the emptiness of the night.

Shruti flinched, her body twisting mid-step, but no pain followed. A warning shot. Or maybe they had finally decided to end their little game.

Terror clawed up her throat, but she swallowed it down. She forced her legs to move faster, even as exhaustion began to sink into her bones, dragging her down like a weight.

A sharp, metallic scent filled the air—her blood, fresh and thick.

Then—a misstep.

Her foot caught on something sharp, a jagged piece of metal hidden in the dirt.

White-hot agony flared through her leg as she stumbled, barely managing to catch herself before she collapsed completely. A strangled cry slipped past her lips as she pressed a shaking hand against her torn flesh. Blood poured freely, soaking the ground beneath her.

No, no, no.

She couldn't stop.

Biting down on her lip, she pushed forward, ignoring the shooting pain that spread through her limbs like fire. The trees thinned ahead, and beyond them, a sliver of hope—a road.

A lifeline cutting through the darkness.

If she could just reach it.

If she could just—

Headlights.

A blinding glare swallowed her vision, freezing her mid-step.

A car.

A dark shape barreling toward her at impossible speed.

She barely had time to react before the world slammed into her.

The impact was instant. Brutal.

Her body folded over the hood, the force of it shattering through flesh and bone. Air wrenched from her lungs in a silent scream. Then—weightlessness.

For a fraction of a second, she was airborne, her body suspended in nothingness.

Then—the crash.

She hit the pavement hard. The world tilted, pain erupting in violent bursts as she rolled, her body twisting in unnatural ways. Bones snapped, a sickening crunch that sent another wave of agony through her battered form.

Then—stillness.

For a moment, she couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

Pain became her entire existence. It was everywhere, wrapping around her like chains, dragging her deeper into the abyss. Her chest heaved, her breaths shallow and uneven, each inhale more excruciating than the last.

Somewhere in the distance, screeching tires.

A car door slammed.

Voices—muffled, frantic.

She struggled to focus, her vision swimming with black spots. Was it them? Had they caught up? Or was this a stranger? Someone who could help?

It didn't matter.

The cold seeped into her bones. Her fingers twitched, reaching for something—anything.

Her mind clawed for a name, a lifeline to hold onto.

Dev.

Dhruv.

Her lips parted, a whisper barely escaping, too soft, too weak.

Darkness loomed at the edges of her mind, pulling her under.

She didn't fight it.

She was so tired. So impossibly tired.

And then—

Everything faded to black.