I stared into the cauterised hole carved through his chest and glimpsed the pavement on the other side. The laser pulse had gone straight through, burning a grim tunnel in the exact spot Ty's heart had just been. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils and I gagged.

Screams erupted from somewhere behind me, snapping me from my daze. I glanced up in time to see our attacker lurch forward. Instincts kicked in and I ducked his sweeping attempt to grab me, legging it down the path.

His heavy footsteps were right on my heels, faltering only momentarily as I led him into the thick of a nearby queue. I laced through the crowd, hoping to melt into the throng and lose him—or at least make it too difficult for him to use the gun. I didn't dare turn around as I squeezed my way through the crush of bodies.

My eyes were streaming and the rushing air felt icy against my wet cheeks. I couldn't stop myself bumping blindly into people, stumbling over my own feet in a panicked attempt to push onward.

I broke out of the crowd and, through blurry eyes, spotted another souvenir kiosk ahead. My legs felt like lead as I willed them toward it. Behind me, grunts and cries from the crowd told me my pursuer was still on my tail.

I dashed around the kiosk, catching sight of the man as I rounded the stall and created a physical barrier between us. We eyed each other wildly and I noticed he'd hidden his gun again.

He made a sudden move to the left and I countered him, keeping as much of the kiosk between us as possible. We began a tense game of cat and mouse—moving back and forth. I didn't let him gain an inch on me, making the most of my barrier. Eventually he retrieved his gun, setting off a tirade of screams as customers scattered.

The confusion and panic spread to the nearby queue and I took the opportunity of the cover created by all the moving bodies to make a run for it. As I hit the eastern path again, a bright flash indicated another laser shot. I felt the heat of the pulse, but hadn't been hit. Instead, a woman ahead of me fell to the ground clutching her stomach, her shirt singed away around her wound.

I sucked back a sob as I ran past her, fighting away the urge stop and help. I pushed my legs harder, repeating to myself that she was alive and I wouldn't be, if this guy caught me.

I'd end up just like Ty.

The thought simultaneously brought tears to my eyes and spurred me on. The path changed from concrete to cobblestones as I entered the Steampunk village.

Tall, imitation gas lanterns lit the streets in the fading evening light, casting shadows on every lopsided doorway. I hurtled past the intentionally crooked buildings, bumping into more people on the crowded cobbled paths—even knocking one lady over. I jumped over her flailing limbs, too out of breath to apologise.

With each step I was slowing, my legs were burning and I was dizzy from so much wheezing. It was clear there was no way I was going to outrun him—I needed to find somewhere to hide.

I glanced around and couldn't see my pursuer. With relief, I pushed on the nearest door—it was heavily adorned with metal fixtures and a giant faux brass knocker. Inside was a coffee shop, the walls covered in piping and gears as though it was the inside of an old-fashioned engine room. I closed the door behind me, my panting drowning out the slow murmur of customers sipping coffee at industrial style tables.

A nearby couple stared as I scampered through the café, heading past the central counter which had been fitted out with some kind of bizarre coffee dispenser, made from a hyper-vintage pipe organ. In the back corner was a set of metal stairs. I took them two at a time, only realising once I was at the top that they led to a caged loft.

I'd cornered myself.

There was a commotion below, people cried out as cups smashed and cutlery tinkled across the floor.

He'd seen me come in here.

Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs and I shrank against metal grating of the back wall. I couldn't have picked a more stupid hiding spot—I'd practically done his job for him.

A surge of adrenaline-fuelled defiance came over me as I saw the sheen of his bald head nearing the top step. My veins tingled and my muscles sprang to life. I hurled myself at him, throwing my whole body into an attack that I hoped would catch him off balance on the stairs.

It was my second mistake of the evening.

He caught me mid-air—as though I weighed nothing. I shrieked and struggled against his crushing grip as he turned and descended—carrying me, scrunched uncomfortably in a ball, out in front of him.

The café was upturned and empty, with all the commotion I had heard laid out visually. My captor adjusted his grip on me, pinning my arms behind my back as I struggled against him, kicking the air and pleading him to let me go.

We were nearly at the door when I felt a thump reverberate through the man's body. He let out a grunt and I felt another thump land on his back, right between his shoulder blades.

I dropped to the floor the instant my captor released me. Unprepared for the fall, my hands remained twisted behind my back and I landed hard on my face. A warm metallic trickle filled my mouth as my tooth punctured my lip. 

I scurried back against the wall as two bodies violently collided above me. The bald guy was getting his ass kicked, literally. As he fell to his knees, I got a look at his opponent. I don't know why, but I screamed when I saw his face.

It was Zaphron.

Two sickening kicks to the back of his bald head, and my pursuer was out cold. I stared in shock at his slumped body and swallowed down the vomit climbing my throat.

My eyes followed Zaphron's boots as he stepped over the man and stopped in front of me.

"Astrid?"

There was blood on the toe of his left boot. The dark crimson blending with the black—making it look wet and shiny. It made me shiver.

"Astrid, we have to go. Can you walk?" He offered a hand down to me.

I glanced up from the blood and boots into the shockingly bright blue of his eyes. The contrast was dizzying.

"I can walk." I didn't accept his help, instead I inched my way up the wall. Keeping my entire body pressed back against it.

"We're going to have to be careful, there'll be more." Zaphron reached past me and yanked open the door. Calling over his shoulder as he stepped out, "You coming?"

My brain was a scrambled mess, thoughts were bumping into one another and making no sense. I stumbled out the door after him, my mind in auto-drive.

He shrugged off his hooded vinyl jacket and handed it to me. "Put this on—and just go with it okay?" I jerkily pushed my arms through the oversized sleeves and he pulled the hood up over my hair.

I nodded, then shook my head. Go with what?

Before I could ask, he put an arm around my shoulders, the way Remi did with Celeste—the way Ty might have done, if this date had gone to plan. I blinked back tears as we pushed through the crowds, heading for the eastern exit gate.

A group of three sturdy looking men came sprinting down the stone path, pushing people out of their way.

"Head down," Zaphron murmured, guiding my head to his shoulder with one hand as he spotted them.

I did as I was told and he reciprocated by resting his cheek against the top of my head, angling his face away from them. My legs shook as the shock of everything started to sink in and suddenly, I was leaning far more heavily on him than I'd intended to. His arm slipped from my shoulder to my waist to hold me up.

The men ran straight past us and into the café where we had been moments before. Once they found their unconscious friend, it was almost certain they would be looking for me.

But by then, we were already through the gates.