these walls; frankel

k e m a l i .

"I can feel your reign when it cries
Gold lives inside of you"

Death followed him like a shadow. It clung to his heels, wrapped itself around his skin and he couldn't shake the feeling of steel against his throat. As he stepped through the streets, the gunshot rattled the inside of his skull. Io's attacker had screamed so much, collapsed to the ground holding his leg as they'd turned into nothing but shadows in an alleyway.

("They'd probably kill you though – rest in peace bro.")

He told himself he wasn't that scared. In the weeks that passed, he'd kept himself to himself. No loitering around street corners, no hanging out in public places where he'd be spotted, he only left to get from A to B. He'd kept his head down - nothing to worry about.

And they still found him.

He spun in his heels and sprinted with death personified on his heels. "Oi! Come here!" Like fuck was he doing that. His eye caught a glint of metal in one of their hands before he ran. The world became a blur and the sound of his death rattle ran through his mind as he ran through grey jungle he called his home. I'm dead. I'm dead. I'm dead.

Somehow, it kept him sprinting for dear life. How Io looked, how he would look if they caught him. Everyone he'd lose, everything he'd cease to be. So kept running, nothing but pure panic forcing his mechanical joints to turn.

It was when one of the reapers stumbled and hit the ground did Kemali see hope - they'd all slowed down. The gap grew and Kemali suddenly turned and vaulted over a rusted metal fence. He kept running until he turned and he kept running then.

It was only when he stopped did the world stop spilling before his eyes. He was on a street, a street with houses on it that he'd never seen before. Some random street he didn't know. He wondered if they knew where he was.

"Ah shit."