Chapter 2

My legs were probably jelly by now, but a burning rage was rising inside me.

Why the hell should I? Why the hell must I do what they say?

"Move it, mutt!" I snapped.

I was done holding back. Before he could react, I shoved past him, not giving him a chance to stop me.

I bolted into the elevator and started slamming the close button like my life depended on it.

The doors slowly slid shut.

Through the narrowing gap, I saw Austin just standing there, frozen.

He didn't come after me. He just watched me go with an icy look in his eyes.

The elevator started to descend.

I leaned against the cold wall of the elevator and gasped for air.

My heart was pounding like it was about to explode.

I glanced at the blood on the back of my hand. It had smeared onto my clothes.

Step one down. I had finally taken that first step.

Even though the start was rough, and I had to face Austin, the biggest obstacle, there was no way I would go back to the Alden Villa, that gilded cage of a home.

Going back would be like signing my own death warrant, waiting for the plot to kill me off.

I headed straight for the nearest mall.

With the last bit of cash I had left in my bag, I grabbed the cheapest workout clothes I could find, a pair of sneakers, an oversized backpack, and a baseball cap.

I stood in front of the mirror and stared at the stranger looking back at me.

My hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

I wasn't wearing any makeup and was practically drowning in the baggy workout clothes.

I looked like some student who'd snuck into the grown-ups' wardrobe.

It works for me.

That designer-drenched, stuck-up villainess from the Alden family was about to vanish for good, just like this.

The next step was to get some cash. Then, I could get the hell out of here.

Colette was someone who had cash to her name. It was a pretty hefty sum, too. But every last cent is locked down tight by the Alden family.

The moment I tried anything, they'd be onto me in a heartbeat.

Austin would know, too.

I couldn't touch a cent. I was on my own.

I found an internet café and rented out a private booth.

The air was thick and stale, and the keyboard was greasy to the touch.

I pulled up a job search site.

My eyes were swimming with all the listings.

I had neither a degree nor work experience. The original Colette made her life revolve around two things: spending money and getting in Lyra's way.

I rubbed my temples, feeling a headache coming on.

My eyes caught a small ad in the corner of the screen.

[Urgent: Game companion wanted. Just be fast with your hands! Daily payment.]

Might as well give it a shot. Anything would be better than starving to death.

I signed up for an account and downloaded the game.

I fumbled my way through the tutorial.

The game was called Crossfire Null. It's a first-person shooter game that was all the rage right now.

I selected the cheapest character. Then, armed with a busted old gun, I clumsily crashed into the rookie training zone.

The recoil had my hand buzzing like crazy.

My shots all flew straight up into the clouds. Not a single target got hit. Then, I nearly took myself out with my own grenade.

The guy in the next booth poked his head in and chuckled, "Yo, newbie, right? Your gameplay is such a joke."

I glared at him. "Shut up."

I kept struggling with that busted gun.

All I had to do was practice. I grinded as if my life depended on it, from afternoon straight through to midnight.

By the end of it, my fingers were so stiff I couldn't even flex them, and my eyes were so dry and sore they burned.

The smell of takeout lingered in the cramped booth.

Finally, I could actually land a shot on the moving targets.

I pulled up the game companion platform and set a rock bottom price for myself.

[Newbie coach, dirt cheap! Easygoing, won't rage or trash talk.]

I thought about it for a sec, then tacked on one more line to my introduction.

[Will listen to anything you say. Won't fight back even if you scold me.]

Business was painfully slow, and sometimes I'd only snag a job or two.

Most of my clients were real pieces of work. They were always pissed off about something.

"Do you even know how to play this game?" One of them questioned.

"Dodge, come on! You just gonna stand there and get killed?" Another yelled.

"With skills like that, why are you still in this business?" Someone had chided.

I just kept my headset on and hummed in agreement whenever they started yelling at me.

"You're totally right, boss," I would say.

"I'll do better next time," I would promise.

"Your aim is insane, boss!" Sometimes, I would praise them.

But in my head, I kept repeating to myself that I'm only doing this for cash and for my freedom. All I had to do was suck it up.

After a few days, I actually managed to save up enough to get by.

It wasn't much, but it was enough to buy a train ticket for a place far away, and for some food for the journey.

That was all I needed.

I pulled up a map and settled on a small town way down south. It was a town called Stonefall. It had a nice ring to it.

They said it was surrounded by mountains. The roads were supposed to wind all over the place, and the signal kept cutting in and out.

There was no way the group of main characters would find me there, right?

I bought the cheapest ticket.

The train ride would last over twenty hours.

When it was time to pay, my fingers shook a bit.

It made my heart hurt to see my cash vanish like that, but the sense of relief won out.

I was finally about to get out of here, away from those lunatic main characters and escape this damn story.

The day I was set to leave, the sky was heavy and gray. It looked like it was about to rain.

I slung my stuffed backpack over my shoulders. My baseball cap was pulled low, and a mask covered most of my face.