"Where are we going?" I ask Aunt Elizabeth.

"The train station," She answers, matter-of-factly.

"How? That's on the other side of town, we can't drive without them tracking where our car went, and we can't get on the train without tickets, which we also can't buy becau-" she cuts me off.

"Just be quiet, we don't want to wake anyone up, plus, I know what I'm doing."

I scowl, and dodge the light shining from an oncoming street light. Aunt Elizabeth and I have been walking for about an hour, and it was now the middle of the night. She made me dress in all black. Black leggings, black tennis shoes, and a black hoodie. She'd insisted that I pull my hair up, and put my hood on as well. As of right now, I feel like more of a ninja than a fugitive.

She'd also tried to get me to wear a black ski mask. I refused that. Where did she even get a black ski mask? I'd never once been skiing, we don't have any slopes anywhere nearby.

"Velia!" Aunt Elizabeth whispers, "Bushes!" She says, before jumping into the bushes on the side of the road.

I furrow my brow, confused. I finally realize what she means when I see a pair of headlights turning down onto the road we're walking on right now.

"Velia!" Aunt Elizabeth hisses, and I jump into the nearest bush. Which, with my luck, is a thorn bush.

I huff, and pull my hood, which fell off,  over my head again, and wait for the car to pass.

It seems to take hours, but when the car slowly passes me, I notice the label on the side,

Aytorían National Crime and Defense

The police. I pull my hood on tighter over my head, and hide deeper in the bushes, ignoring the thorns scratching my arms and legs through my clothes.

Once they pass, I release a breath I didn't realize I was holding, and wait a few minutes to come out.

"Velia?" I hear aunt Elizabeth whisper, "You can come out now."

I crawl out of the bushes, again, ignoring the thorns stabbing me. Aunt Elizabeth chuckles as soon as she sees me. "What?" I ask, confused.

She says nothing, just points at me. I look down at my torso and legs, to find them covered in thorns. I grumble and start to pick them off.

How long does it take to pick off practically a whole bush of thorns? The answer? Too long. After five minutes of me standing, trying to get them off, aunt Elizabeth urges me to continue moving.

As I'm walking, I pull my hood off, earning a scowl from aunt Elizabeth. I begin to run my fingers through my long red hair, pulling the thorns out.

"Aunt Elizabeth?" I ask, remembering something.

"Yes?"

"Why have you never shown me any pictures of my mother?" I ask.

She immediately stops walking and whirls around, "Because we never needed to."

"What? That doesn't make sense, I've asked you many times to tell me about her."

"The less you knew the better. If we told you anything, you could have told what we said to the wrong person. It was for your own safety."

"You should have trusted me! Ever since I was little you've told me that I was illegal! I've known that if anyone ever found out about me I'd be killed! I've known that my whole life!" I say, my voice beginning to rise.

"We couldn't risk anything!" Aunt Elizabeth whisper-yells.

"You've risked your whole life just by knowing me!" I whisper-yell.

"I've risked everything for you!"

"Well I'm sorry I was born!" I yell out loud.

"Shush! Someone could hear you and then we'd all be dead!" Aunt Elizabeth whisper-yells, putting her hand over my mouth.

I open my mouth to talk but she cuts me off. "Listen, I think we better find somewhere to hide, and cool down."

I nod in agreement.Right now, there's nothing I'd rather do then sit down and forget about the fact that the whole country wants me dead.

After around ten minutes of searching for a suitable hiding place, Aunt Elizabeth pulls me into a narrow alley.

I sit down on the cold cement and and look around. There is ivy growing on the wall in front of me, spreading out like paint splattered across a canvas.

I close my eyes, and lean back against the wall. I hear aunt Elizabeth sit down across from me. "I'm sorry," I tell her, feeling guilty for yelling at her.

"So am I," She says apologetically.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," I tell her opening my eyes again.

"Yes I do. I'm sorry for not trusting you."

"I wouldn't trust me either," I chuckle, "But I've learned how to be careful with my secret."

"What you said earlier, about being sorry for being born," aunt Elizabeth starts, "That's not true. You're not a mistake, and I know you'll do amazing things for Aytoría," she says.

"Thanks Aunt Elizabeth, but I think I'm better off not getting involved with the Aytorían government, because I'm not supposed to be alive," I tell her.

She stops smiling and her face changes to a more serious expression. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"What?" I ask her, totally confused.

"You'll find out what I mean soon."

§§§

After a few more hours of walking, we get to the train station. I pull my hood on and glance at the clock above the ticket station. It's three o'clock in the morning, and still pitch dark.

"Aunt Elizabeth?" I ask, "How are we going to even get on the train platform without being noticed?"

"We're not going to the platform," she says, turning away from an oncoming car.

"Well then how are we getting on the train?"

"Just follow me."

We turn past the stairs to the platform, and keep walking. Aunt Elizabeth leads us to a patch of trees and bushes about a hundred yards away from the
platform.

From what I can see, the platform has very few people on it waiting for the next train. There's three guards, and a man and woman sitting on a bench on the opposite side of the platform. They both have their heads down.

However, before I have time to be confused about that, the woman looks up. She appears to be a few years older then me, with long black hair, and violet eyes just like the man who saved me from that clerk did.

I study her for a few more moments, until she looks straight at me. I duck into the bushes, hoping she didn't recognize me. Her eyes scan the area around the bush I'm hiding in, and she smiles. I continue to watch from the bushes as the man sitting next to her nudges her with his elbow. She puts her head down again.

"Velia!" I hear my aunt whisper, "Get ready to run!"

"What?" I whisper.

She puts a finger to her lips, silencing me, and gets out of the bush she's hiding in and stands at the edge of the train tracks. She turns to be and beckons for me to stand next to her.

I get out of the bush and stand next to her. She points further down the tracks to oncoming lights. A train is approaching.

"What are we doing?" I ask.

"We're jumping on that train," she says, getting in a running stance.

I open my mouth to protest, but she cuts me off, shouting "Run!"

She bolts past me, heading in the same direction that the train is heading.

"Velia! Come on!" She shouts.

I take a deep breath, and run. The train is coming fast behind me. I wonder how the train operator hasn't seen us, but then I remember it's pitch dark out.

The locomotive zooms past me, and I turn my head to see that there is an open door to one of the boxcars.

Aunt Elizabeth runs ahead of me, and runs right beside the open door. I scream as I trip over something, and fall to the ground. Aunt Elizabeth shouts something and jumps into the open door. I scramble to get up, and start sprinting. My ankle throbs, but I ignore it. If I miss that door I miss my chance at escape.

I'm right along the open door now, and I see aunt Elizabeth shouting something from inside the boxcar. She reaches her hand out, and I grab it. I try jump into the boxcar, but my ankle stops me from jumping very high, and my feet miss the opening. I run faster and grab aunt Elizabeth's other hand, and jump again. I hit my head hard on the side of the door, and aunt Elizabeth me pulls in.

I stand up, and immediately notice somethings wrong.

"Velia are you alright?"

I shake my head, and stumble to the wall.

"Velia! What's wrong?" My aunt shouts.

I collapse to the floor, and black spots surround my vision, and everything turns dark.

§§§

I know what you're thinking... "oh my gosh she actually updated!"

Yep. I did. Sorry it took so long, was seriously procrastinating. I hardly had anything written this morning, but as soon as I got home from school I sat down and told myself that I couldn't do anything else until I had this chapter done.....

I'd like to thank Chinese food for this chapter, because I'm currently eating it.

Comment and vote!! Thanks for reading!!!!