Chương 9: 009

My head felt like stone, too heavy to lift, but I forced it up anyway, blinking grit from my eyes as the room came back into focus. Stone walls closed in around me, damp and unforgiving. Storage boxes were stacked haphazardly along one side, casting deep shadows. For a heartbeat, I almost gave up, the sight of them draining what little hope I had left. Then I saw it. A glimmer. A window. The glass was cracked, most of it hidden behind the boxes, but a thin shard of moonlight slipped through a splintered corner.

There's a window. It's busted though. Relief flooded Karma's voice. Thank Aol and Uen. Can you reach it? Every limb felt encased in cement. The room tilted nauseatingly, my stomach lurching in warning, but I nodded anyway. I'll try. Pain flared the moment I moved. The cuts along my back pulsed hot and angry, but I clenched my teeth and pushed myself upright. The floor swayed beneath me, threatening to drop out entirely. I caught the wall and staggered forward, inch by inch, until I reached the stack of boxes.

The window sat a few inches above my head. Maybe if I climbed the boxes… It took nearly everything I had to haul myself up, muscles screaming, vision swimming, but eventually I stood face-to-face with the pane. Or what was left of it. The glass had been shattered inward, a tree branch laying half inside it. I eyed the jagged glass edges, then solidified my resolve. This was my only chance. I had to take it. That was easier said than done. Getting my head through was easy. The rest… wasn't.

Glass bit into my arms and chest as I wriggled forward. Longer shards scraped down my back and sides, tearing at already ruined skin with every inch I forced myself through. You've got this, kid, Karma soothed, her voice steady now. Just a little more. Then you find help. Then that piece of shit gets arrested. Just get somewhere safe. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. A dry, broken laugh clawed its way out of me. Safe.

I've never been safe a day in my fucking life. She inhaled sharply. The day I finally find you, that changes. No more of this. You're getting the life you should've had from the start. Full belly. A safe place to sleep. A real family. The image struck like lightning, warm, impossible, and painfully vivid. She couldn't make it real. But god, I wanted it. I clung to that picture through the nausea, the agony, the creeping dark at the edges of my vision until, finally, I spilled out onto the lawn.

Cool dew brushed my skin, easing the feverish heat. I sucked in a breath, and relief hit so hard my legs gave out beneath me. I made it out. The sky stretched wide above me, endless and clear. I'd never seen anything so beautiful. Karma's relief nearly matched my own, her words trembling. Good. Now move. Don't stop for anything. You said you wanted to be a healer, right? You can't do that if you die here. I did.

One foot in front of the other, teeth clenched, until the house–my personal hell–shrank into the distance. The police station was only a few minutes away. Maybe, if I was lucky, Mr. Locke would be working tonight. Karma kept talking, a steady stream anchoring me when my thoughts threatened to scatter. Hell, with how often you stitch yourself up, you'd make a damn fine healer. Just gotta train a bit, get your stats up and learn the different spells. Nikolas, the Chosen of Karma, greatest healer of our age.

How's that sound kid? I huffed a laugh. Does Nexus really work like a videogame? Stats, levels, magic? All that? She hummed. Yup, and you'll see it for yourself… just as soon as I figure out how to bridge dimensions and get you here. Death has been working with me on that. We're close to something, just you wait. If you say so. I responded. For now though, let's just focus on getting help. We can worry about all that other stuff later. It would be nice, helping people. Planning for something beyond next week.

Beyond survival. For once, maybe I could think about the life waiting after I escaped the system. Only one more year. And after this? I'd fight tooth and nail before letting anyone drag me away from the group home again. At least there, I was relatively safe…