Running on Fear
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Andrei's POV
We finally finished practice, and the others were already heading back to their dorms. Lucky them—no need to travel far or walk long distances. I should've stayed in the dorms too… I should've listened to Mama back then.
"Drei!"
Someone called my name, and I turned toward the voice.
"Oh, Justin!" I shouted back.
"You should stay in the dorm so you won't have a hard time," Kristine called out to me.
"Yeah, exactly!" Justin chimed in.
"Fine, tomorrow just come with me then," I told them.
"Alright, I'll wait for you," he replied.
"I'm heading out first—it's already getting dark!" I said.
"Okay, take care. Bye! See you tomorrow!" Kristine waved, and Justin did the same.
I waved back at the two of them. "Bye!" I said, then continued walking while they went off in the opposite direction.
I quickened my pace, thinking Mama must be looking for me by now. It was getting so dark that I really had to hurry.
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Then—unexpectedly—I noticed two men had been following me for a while. I couldn't recognize their faces because of the darkness, and they were wearing black hoodies and masks.
No matter how much I sped up, they kept matching my pace. The street I was taking was deserted and unlit. I had no choice but to walk faster.
"Hey!" one of them suddenly shouted.
I didn't stop, didn't look back—my heart pounded hard in my chest.
All I could feel was fear. In that moment, I knew I had no one to rely on but myself.
My feet ached from walking and running, but I couldn't stop—if they caught me, I didn't know what they might do.
"Stop!!" the man yelled again as I kept running.
"I said stop!" he shouted, his voice laced with anger.
"What do you want from me?!"
I was running out of strength. My body felt like it was about to give in at any second. My pace slowed—not because I wanted to, but because my legs just couldn't take it anymore.
Then, out of nowhere, one of them grabbed my hair. He yanked so hard that I fell to the ground.
"Aah!" I cried out, clutching my head from the pain. The force of the pull and the impact on the ground sent a wave of dizziness through me.
"Serves you right! You made things harder for us!" one of them shouted, his voice full of anger.
I couldn't get up—my head and body were aching so badly.
"Just give us your bag if you don't want to get hurt!" the man demanded, trying to snatch it from me.
I held onto it tightly, wrapping my arms around it while they kept tugging at it.
"Oh, so you're not giving it up?" the man said, his voice sharp and angry.
I didn't answer. I just kept clutching my bag—until suddenly, he kicked me in the head.
The blow knocked me sideways, and in that moment, he managed to grab the bag. But I immediately lunged forward to take it back.
We wrestled for it, but he was too strong. He yanked it away and kicked me hard in the stomach.
The pain made me collapse again, my whole body screaming in agony.
I forced myself to get up and rushed toward the man holding my bag, but his companion grabbed my shirt and pulled me toward him.
"Still acting tough, huh?" he growled, gripping my collar.
Even in my weakened state, I struggled to fight back. I shouted for help, but my voice seemed to vanish into the emptiness—this place was too remote. I had no idea where I even was anymore.
"Help! Help!" I cried.
"Shut up already," the man snarled—and then he punched me in the face, hard enough to knock me out.
I barely heard someone shouting in the distance before everything went black and I collapsed.
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"When the world turns dark and your voice fades into the void, all you can do is hold on... and hope."