Aubrey hated crowds.

Sweaty, stifling bodies packed together, swarming like ants and flooding the earth. She could feel them breathing and chatting and laughing around her as she shoved her way through the mass of people. She kept her head down, praying that no one would notice her. She didn't want to exist anymore. If she could just dissolve, if she could just unmake the world...

Aubrey took a deep breath, trying to keep her head from spinning. They were after her. The Wardens. They knew who she was. They knew she'd run. And they were coming for her.

She couldn't stay here. 

Her heart thudded heavily like a drum in her chest. Every time someone brushed up against her, it felt like a thousand needles sinking into her skin. She was floating, floating away, mind untethered and bile in her veins. 

She wasn't quite sure how she managed to end up in the dusty alley without being caught. 

She stumbled against the cool, crumbling brick walls and hugged her arms around her chest. Her hair, heavy with grease, fell in front of her face, splitting out sections of the world. She was red hot and shivering and trembling like a leaf, the worst kind of electricity arcing through her limbs. 

A rough, calloused hand reached forward and brushed a strand of hair from Aubrey's face before she got the chance to shove the person away.

She peered up, eyes wide, and found herself face-to-face with a tall older man. He smiled, and thin tendrils of dread slithered down Aubrey's spine. 

"H-hello?" She asked tentatively, sliding along the way in an attempt to get away from him. 

"You're that girl." His eyes followed her every movement. "From the poster. Killed two Wardens."

Aubrey felt the magic sparking in her veins. "I..." 

"There's a nice shiny bounty on your head," the man said casually. "Could make a lot bringing you in. Dead or alive." His smile curdled into something filthy. "But you're a pretty thing..."

Aubrey swallowed as his gaze slipped over her, openly lingering on every dip and curve. She could feel every frantic beat of her heart throughout her whole body. She should run. She knew she should run. But something about that way he was looking at her—

He wouldn't hesitate to give away her identity and location. She'd be dead in thirty seconds or less. 

Her heart sank as she weighed her options. 

"What are you suggesting?" She asked, voice wavering and dangerously close to breaking. 

"Well, isn't it obvious?" The other hand reached towards her. 

Bitterness welled up in her. Impulsively she grabbed his wrist, suppressing a scream as she felt the magic race from her veins up into her skin, from her wrist to the palm of her hand to the soft pads of her fingers, sparkling and crackling and vengeful and merciless and Aubrey fought back a sob as that wickedly cheerful blue light started to spread through him, too, and he stepped back, looking as fragile as Aubrey had before, and there it was, the fear igniting in his eyes, and somehow Aubrey knew what was going to happen a split second before it did, and—

She looked away, but she still heard the gut-wrenching sound of flesh tearing. 

Still smelled the iron and death in the air, sharp and metallic. 

Still felt the warm blood as it splattered against the hem of her tunic. 

Aubrey slowly turned back to face the man. Her stomach twisted and lurched as she took in the sight: his broken body, limp and lifeless, sprawled across the ground. His skull had been split clean in half. Blood burbled like a broken fountain from the gaping wound, pooling in the dirt and sinking into the mud. 

She squeezed her eyes shut, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Her stomach flipped one final, sickening time, and she couldn't stop the bile from rising up her throat this time. She hunched over and threw up. Aubrey had barely had anything substantial to eat, so the liquid rivulets of vomit splattered against the ground, not much more than acid. 

No, no, no... 

People would show up soon. They'd see her, covered in blood, and they'd see him, helpless and dead. And they'd hunt her down as if she was an animal and kill her. 

And she couldn't help but wonder, at this point...

Well, was survival really worth it? 

She shook her head quickly. She couldn't afford to think about that. Especially not right now, when there was blood smeared across her face and matted in her hair and oh great gods above she could still hear the sound of his skin ripped to shreds under the force of her power—

Aubrey's magic pulsed in her veins, ruthless and steady. Though she felt helpless and her head was spinning, she was aware of the sound of footsteps nearing. She sucked in a breath. Her stomach was still in knots and the smell of her vomit on the ground made her want to do it again, but she needed to go. 

She tugged off the bloody tunic and used one of the clean parts to try and wipe the blood off her face, but it was half-dry already and did nothing but smear. She sighed and discarded the useless tunic on the ground. The cold air bit at Aubrey's exposed arms. She was dressed in nothing but a flimsy white undershirt and a thin pair of tights now. 

Feeling oddly unburdened now, Aubrey allowed for just one moment to gather herself before she started to run.