The rain pelted her harshly as she ran through the treeline. She was cold, in her bones she was cold. She hugged herself, her clothing soaked, as she ran in spurts. Her best bet would be the city outskirts, she knew. She could find water there, food maybe, and if it all went well, a way to get her collar off. Then she'd just have to find someone to forge new documents for her and she would be free again. From there, she could... do something. She wasn't sure of what. None of her plans had ever made it that far. Maybe she could find help with the Railroad. If she could find them at all.

Eventually, she slowed to a walk, and the rain slowed a bit too, and instead of assaulting her, it gently grazed her gooseflesh prickled skin. She ducked under the trees, trying to stay dry as best she could, but that was an idea long gone at this point. She blew hot air on her hands, rubbing them together to get some semblance of warmth. She'd need to find a place to sleep tonight. Her body felt heavy and slow, and her eyelids kept dropping. She was falling into microsleeps.

Unsure of how long she'd been walking, she looked behind her. She'd gone far enough that her Mistress's house was nowhere in sight. Long enough, then. She walked a bit further, staying back in the trees as she walked near the road. A small bridge came up ahead, and beneath it, a small stream ran, fresh with rainwater. Still, there was some dry ground beneath it, and after some looking around, she found it deserted, and slipped underneath the bridge. Huddling up into herself, she shivered.

So, she'd run. Again. The thought struck her tired mind like a gong. She'd left. She'd disobeyed her Mistress, ruined her party, and then run. A pang of shame ran through her. If she were caught again, she'd surely be beaten. Again. Oh, it'd come. Finally, it had come. Her cheek still stung from where she'd been slapped, but she was sure it was just in her head. Still, she rubbed it gently, wiping the rainwater off of it. Her hair dripped, her clothes dripped, she was soaked and freezing, but the worst pain came from within. She'd made the first mistake, she knew. But how could she not? Mistress Alexa had said the punishment for abuse was chains. Yet, there he was, in all his rotted, fetid glory. Her Master. Strutting about as though nothing had ever happened.

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And to add onto that, Mistress Alexa had promised, promised to never strike her. Well, that'd been a lie too. Mistress Alexa had hit her so hard she'd sent Kat tumbling. So much for "I want to love you," then. She should've seen it coming. She should've known. Her cheeks reddened with embarrassment and shame at the thought. She never did learn, did she, she thought, listening to the babbling of the stream at her feet. If she'd just learn, she wouldn't even be in this mess. There would be no Master, no Mistress, no slave collar around her neck. She would be a free woman still. If she knew how to learn. But she didn't.

A weariness finally settled over her as she leaned against the brick of the underside of the bridge. Her brain felt hot, overworked, stressed, even if she still shivered. She closed her eyes and sighed, feeling the palms of her hands for any remaining shards of glass in them. She was pretty sure she'd gotten them all out, but they still stung, so she couldn't be too sure. Each time one of her fingers crossed the cuts on her palms, she winced.

With another sigh, she gave up. She was pretty sure she'd gotten the last shard out anyway, somewhere back along the road. So, head leaning against the wall, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, internally stuffing the pain down and pushing back tears. Some strange feeling, some anger, welled in the back of her mind. The feeling that she'd done something wrong this time. The feeling of loneliness and sadness.

Idly, she twisted the azurite emblazoned ring around her left ring finger, thinking of her Mistress's face when she'd realize that Kat had run. All Kat could see in her mind was sadness. Pain. Regret.

And then the tears came anyway.

And she cried, under the bridge, as it rained around her, and as the night grew darker.