The Maiden of Air

Chapter 1

Gee, living on the run sucks. It’s cold, wet, and just gross. But I don’t have much of a choice. I ran away from home, and there was no going back. I ran away for a reason, and I stick to my reason. Now, I didn’t run away from home because my living situations were terrible. My Family had money, with my dad being a surgeon and my mom being the owner of the hospital he works in, along with many other buildings. But trust me, I do have my own reasons.

You must be thinking that I’m crazy for running away. Me, an innocent, sixteen-year-old, rich girl. Well, you might be right. But I had been thinking of running away for a long time.

Ever since I was born as one of the candidates to be the Twelfth Maiden, (A girl born with the abilities to control all the eleven elements) my mother homeschooled me, hiring different tutors who put me through rigorous studies as soon as I was able to read. She hired very strict tutors, so if I ever asked to take a break, they’d yell at me. If I ever asked to go out and play with the neighbor kids, they’d scold me.

I cried a lot, because I was lonely. Whenever I went to my mother for comfort, she’d say I was being a baby and I should be strong because I’m destined for greatness. She would never comfort me, like she did for my fourteen-year-old younger sister, Layla. (Who she had put in public school because she is not a Maiden candidate)

Layla was my only friend in the world. But I never got to spend much time with her, because I was doing my studies almost all day, every day. So, whenever she came to hang in my room, my mom would soon find out and send her back to her bedroom.

My parents were sure that I was going to be the Twelfth Maiden, and they were right.

On December first, my birthday, when the first sliver of light shown in the morning, I was woken by a burning sensation on the back of my right hand. As I stared at my hand, waiting for the inevitable, the mark of a star, appeared on my hand. It was the mark of a Maiden of the Stars. At that moment, I made my final decision to run away. I didn’t want to be my mother’s puppet anymore

So now, almost a month later, I am somewhere in Whitney, Nevada. I am tired, hungry, and in dire need of a shower. It was probably three or four in the morning, and I was trying to find a place to rest while the sky was still dark.

I’m not going to lie though. There had been many times that I had thought about going back. Back to my own bed. Back to the three meals a day. Back to all the luxuries I had. But mainly I wanted to go back to my sister. I missed her a lot. She had helped me run away by distracting my parents, as I gathered my stuff and escaped through my bedroom window. Whenever I remembered the look on her face when I first told her that I was going to run away, that’s when I turned around to head back home. But then I remember that I had run away for a reason, and if I turn back now, this would all be in vain. It may be selfish, but I promised I return in two years. Because that is when I would no longer be allowed to be a Maiden, for reasons that are too long to explain right now.

But back to present.

I was walking down an old street when I felt them following me.

I took a quick glimpse behind me, and saw two men, probably in their early twenties. They both had battles of beer in their hands, and they wore jackets with hoods that shadowed their faces. I didn’t like the feeling I was getting from them, so I slowly picked up the pace. When I turned the corner, I started to run. I found an ally in between a pawn shop and liquor store. It seemed abandoned.

Hiding behind a dumpster, I tried to catch my breath. My heart was racing, and the blood was pounding in my ears.

“I think she went this way.” One of the men said.

I pressed myself behind the dumpster as far as I could, and doing so, I accidentally knocked over a wooden board, and it banged on the dumpster. I froze. Holding my breath, I waited. Maybe they’ll just go away.

Yeah, fat chance.

I yelped as one of them pulled me out by my ankle, causing my back to scratch against the cement.

“He-he. Found you.” The sleazebag said. Looking at his face, he looked older than early twenties. He looked like he was more into his early thirties. His eyes had huge dark circles under them, and he looked as if he hadn’t shaved the morning before. When he smiled, he revealed a row of smoke and beer stained teeth, and his voice was very gruff and scratchy.

His friend, on the other hand, looked a little better. He had dark skin, and his face was clean shaven. But his smiled revealed the same as the other guy. Smoke and beer stains.

Still laying partially on my back with him holding my ankle, I used my free foot and kicked the first guy in the face. He cursed at me as he let go to try and stop the bleeding from his nose. I tried to get away, but the other guy was too fast. He locked his arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides.

“What’s the hurry, Sweetheart? We just want to play a little.” I gasped, and felt totally disgusted as he sniffed my hair, then brushed my ponytail aside and kissed the back of my neck. “You don’t smell too good, but we’ll make the most of this anyway.” He chuckled.

I smirked and said. “You smell worse.”

I brought my heel down on the top of his foot, then hit his nose with the back of my head. Wasn't really a bright idea. The impact left dull pain in the back of my head. He groaned in pain as I tried to escape again, but the guy I kicked in the face, grabbed me by the hair, and punched me in the jaw. I spun, and tripped over a bag of trash, scraping my knee as I fell. Sitting up to face them, I licked the corner of my lip, and tasted something warm and coppery. “Ow" I mumbled.

“You'll be hurtin' a lot more once we're done.” The first guy said.

Both of their noses were bleeding, but the one I had kicked probably had it worse. The tip of his nose, I could tell was crooked slightly to the left. Slowly, they approached me. As they got closer, I backed up till I was against the back wall of the ally.

“You know, I’ve had a long day. Just go away!” I shouted, as I put my arms out in front of me, with my palms facing them. A harsh gust of wind blew through the ally, knocking the men at the entrance, onto the sidewalk. As they were hit by the realization of who I was, they stared at me with wide eyes.

“Bro, is this that girl on the news?!” The second man asked his friends.

“I think you’re right, man. It's her!” The other one exclaimed.

The sound of police sirens pulled their attention away from me. I could faintly see the glow of flashing red, and blue lights, coming from down the street.

“We gotta go!”

“Right behind you!”

They took off running in the opposite direction of the sirens, and flashing lights.

I quickly grabbed my backpack, (that was still behind the dumpster) and ran out of the ally. I looked down the street, and a cop car was speeding in my direction. I was going to run in the opposite direction, but there were two more police cars, blocking any exit.

I saw that some policemen were pinning the two men, who assaulted me just a minute ago, to the ground.

The first police car stopped behind me, and two officers emerged from it.

“Are you alright, young lady?” The driver asked. He was a tall, plump man. Probably in his early fifties, with gray streaks in his hair.

I looked down at my banged-up knee and licked the corner of my lip again. “I am perfectly alright, officer” I said, sarcastically.

“Hey, aren’t you that girl from the news?” The other officer asked. He was an average sized man, with short buzzed hair. He was probably in his mid-twenties “Erin Holt, right?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “Maybe.” I didn’t want to get caught. I couldn’t get caught.

“Would you come with us, Miss Holt?” The older officer asked. I looked around for an escape. There was just enough room on the right side of the vehicle for me to run past and avoid the two cops. Just enough…

“Nope.” I said and took off.

“Hey! Get back here!” The officers ran after me, and the older one just barely missed grabbing onto my arm. The younger officer, on the other hand, was fast. Too fast. He caught up to me without breaking a sweat and tackled me to the ground. So much for “just enough”.

I landed on my elbow, and my scrapped knee, making the wound open more. “Sorry, Miss Holt. We didn’t want to use force, but you left us no choice.” In a swift motion, he cuffed my wrists behind my back. “All of the stations in the state of Nevada were given direct orders to find and take you to the Moon Palace at all cost.” He picked me up, off the ground, and stuffed me into the back of the police car. It smelled like sweaty old men, and a dirty taco shop. He shut the door, but I could still hear the muffled voice of the older officer, as he spoke through his radio.

“This is Officer Jameson. We found the missing girl, Erin Holt. She has sustained minor injuries. on route to the hospital” He turned to his partner. “You take her to get patched up. I will stay to make the report.” Officer Jameson tossed his partner the keys.

“Sure thing.” He said and ducked into the car. He started the engine and headed down the street.

Dang it! All this running, for nothing!