I was racing through the streets in search of my friend, Roanne.

I was carrying a large college book with me as i tore through the town. I raced inside a building that had my friend inside.

I ran up the steps and turned to face the door, and knocked repeatedly, panting.....fearful.

"Come on, Ro! Open the door!" I shouted as I looked down the steps.

I couldn't be seen! I couldn't be noticed by them. I HAD to hurry!

I continued rapping on the door, until suddenly, Roanne opened.

"Let me in! Let me in! Let me in - " I cried. Immediately, Ro let her slip inside and locked the door behind her.

My friend turned to face me and hugged. I cried in relief.

"Did you get it?" Ro asked. I showed the notebook to her.

"Yes." I replied. The notebook contained information about business stuff. Me and Ro were college students. We planned to have a future business together.

Ro nodded. "So, is this it? You're finally free from her?"

I sobbed in relief. This all felt too unreal! Like a dream. "Yeah, but not for long. We need to hide!"

To put a hand on both my shoulders and looked into my amber eyes. "I'm not going to let that psychopath hurt us. Let's wait until midnight, then we can pack the apartment and move. I already have a sorority house that is ready for us."

My mother had kept me in her house for years after I turned eighteen. Never to leave. She only wanted me to herself. Her control began to take a toll on my life at age ten. I've been wanting to go to college with Ro, but my mother wouldn't let me go.....physically. I had to do it all on a laptop and a big notebook.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

How I escaped her you ask? I lied to her by saying that I'm going to have Ro help me out, since she was wiser than me. I told her I would be gone a couple of hours, but in reality...it was my grand escape. I had to leave everything in my room behind. I had a rough life with that narcissist. And my father has always sided along with her....adding more hurt to my internal torture. My father and I had a good relationship...way apart from her.

I shivered as my old life flashed before my eyes. This is a new phase. I looked at the clock on the desk. It was almost eleven at night.

I smiled. The psychotic mother she had surprisingly allowed her to be up late hours into the night.....as long as I was studying.

.................................................

Spent only those two hours hauling ass as we were desperate to beat the time we had.

We were able to sneak out in the dead of night. As Ro drove...she spoke to me about something about something new happening in our lives.

A pandemic that will spread worldwide.

I laughed and looked in her direction. "What is it? Are the locusts from the Revelations finally coming out?" Most of the viruses that we've had were all false. Only leading to the common cold or allergies.

Ro shook her head in disbelief at my tease and smiled. "Maybe they'll inject clouds of pollen into the air and make us sneeze until we turn red and swollen!"

I laughed louder this time.

If the weatherman can lie...so can the news......

...................................................

We made it to the house and as we packed our bags, our concentration was broken as we heard the sirens. We stopped to listen in to the far away sounds.

Ro and I looked at each other.

"Is that a firetruck?" Ro asked.

"It honestly sounds like a mix of police, firetrucks and ambulances! Sounds like clusters of them!" I replied.

The noise grew louder and louder. Soon, we were able to see hundreds of ambulances, firetrucks and police, all in a line, tearing through their street and sounding off the alarms.

What was going on?

Ro and I looked at each other with confusion...until suddenly, way from afar...we heard the sound of the alarm going off by the city's military base.

It grew louder and louder, alerting everyone...making them come out of their homes to examine the chaos that waited them.

I tilted my head and looked at Ro.

"What's going on here? What was said on the news?"

Ro shrugged. "Some kind of deadly virus that will wipe out the world.  It's coming from Maine...and spreading here?"

"What? Did the laboratory release a monster into the streets?" I questioned.

Ro shook her head. "I have no clue."