Side Effects

3 - One Eventful Thursday Night

The moon was clouded by black mist, leaving the only light to the lampposts and building windows. Paciano Miretti strolled the streets as he did every Thursday, holding a wooden cane to help his tired legs. Wearing his emblem, a dusty green flat cap, he walked with pride even when there was no one to impress. These Thursday nights were a personal special occasion - a reminder of the day he entered New Orbis.

His chubby but friendly face smiled under the street lights. This was a beautiful city indeed, and he felt it a privilege to be brought to such a place as a healthier man.

Miretti did not wear a coat, instead he wore a the most expensive attire he owned. It was only on Thursdays when he wore such formal wear. But even without anything to keep him warm, the frigid temperature did not chill him. He chuckled to himself, wondering if it was because of his usual lack of exercise that made him sweaty in this lack of heat.

Light wind blew an eerie mist through the city, and the longer it blew, the more alone he felt...

***

Just around the corner, a young girl truly was alone. She had nowhere to go. No home, no family, no friends. She whipped her head around at all the possible routes she could run to without being seen, and she quickly made her decision, continuing to her left.

She jogged down the path with caution, still glazing her surroundings time and time again. The small apartment blocks, the lampposts, the shadowy alleyways. She swore that every shadow was watching her. She often mistook them for people.

Her paper face was a common sight, plastered on walls and posts around the city, all with her name printed on them.

[WANTED BY THE CITY POLICE FORCE:
TINA PETRENKO
SEX: FEMALE
RACE: WHITE
AGE: 16
HEIGHT: 5'3
CRIME: ESCAPED THE PERICULUM PRISON FOR DANGEROUS INDIVIDUALS.
WHEREABOUTS ARE UNKNOWN. REWARD IS $8000 FOR HER RETURN.]

She never stopped to read them - she could not even read the English language. But Tina knew what the posters were for. Never again was she returning to that unforgivable place. She had done no wrong. Her only crime was having an ability that she couldn't control. An ability given to her from the Somnesia treatment.

Was she still safe? She looked back again. She had already made it halfway down the path, and there still seemed to be no one following her. She backed into a thin alleyway to breathe.

Darkness devoured her body as she hid. While her breath was heavy, it released small samples of fog into the atmosphere. She watched as it danced away into the air, slowly becoming invisible as her pulse slowed down. Cautiously, she checked the street once more.

She waited a moment, and as it stayed empty, she paced forwards, breaking back into a sprint.

As she tried to look back again, a lamppost stood in her way, displaying her wanted poster. Quickly, she ripped the poster off the post and turned to her right. Was this what life would be like forever? Running from everything? Regardless of her own inner thoughts, she continued, coming across a set of iron stairs at the side of a flat.

Her heart racing from all this activity, she dashed up the many stairs all the way to the top. Climbing to stand on the bars at the edge, she pulled herself up onto the roof, and looked around at her view. The streets were empty. She was just paranoid. She took a breath - she had good reason to be scared.

It had been two days since she escaped the Periculum Prison for Dangerous Individuals, and she would rather die on the streets than go back. She was freezing, hungry, and lonely, yet she refused to show any sadness - it was a waste of her time.