Running to Lia

Marie was caught.

It was midnight, the full moon was illuminating the tiny village where Marie and her young sister, Lia, lived.

She ran as fast as she always did: she was wearing a black tight dress, her long black untied hair covering her back and shoulders. That was Marie usual night routine: dressing to charm the rich men to get a living, or to be more accurate, thieving, for the sake of herself and her sister, Lia, to find anything to eat. 

Her victim today was a bald man, probably in his early 40s, wearing a grey suit, his suit jacket was on his lap. Marie walked gracefully straight to him, shoulders back and head up. She sat next to him, the man noticed Marie, he was obviously interested. 

“a glass of champagne to this beautiful woman, please” said the half-drunk man to the barman, smiling clumsily at Marie.

The walls of the bar were painted with dark warm green color, the dim lightning was illuminating the long table on the middle of the bar, on which the barman was behind preparing drinks for costumers, and where Marie and the man were sitting. Small circular tables and seats were placed randomly on the rest of the remaining space, and Jazz music was playing on the background. The bar was quite empty today, it was Monday, which is probably early for people to express their frustration with work or life as the new week had just begun.

The barman delivered Marie her drink, she raised her glass of wine to the man sitting next to her, and he raised his, both smiling, they drank at once. 

It didn’t take as long as Marie had expected, within a few minutes, the man was completely drunk and fell asleep.

Marie decided to not waste more time, Lia was waiting for her return to be fed. She slipped her hand slowly to where the suit jacket was, searched in the many pockets, and took the man’s wallet. She put it inside her purse, which was also stolen from her previous visits to different bars.

Marie stood up, she was heading to the door when she realized that there was a tall wide man, wearing a fierce expression, blocking the way out, evidently waiting for her.

He saw me, Marie thought. 

Form her experience in the field of thieving, he was the bodyguard or the driver of this man now drooling on the barman table. 

Think, she told herself.

She took her wine glass and went straight to the man standing in front of the door, trying to act as normal as she can. Leaving a three-feet space or so between each other, Marie threw the glass at his head, where she aimed correctly. The man screamed with pain while holding his now injured forehead. She opened her purse, and sprayed a vision blocking liquid, which she found once on a garbage near her home, very easily on his eyes as he was busy dealing with pain. The barman came running to see what was causing all the noise. People were not paying attention nor interested in what was happening as they were drunk and unaware, some were even asleep like her victim. She ran to women’s bathroom, entered one of the cubicles, opened the window situated above and escaped without any trouble as she was too thin. 

Marie took off her black heels when she touched the ground after jumping from the window, then she ran and headed to the dark, narrow, and long corridor that led to this bar. She heard footsteps running behind her, the man has managed to follow her. Everything was quiet at this time, except if you count the drunk ones mumbling or shouting offensive sentences on their way home, and this didn’t help the situation Marie was on. She reached the end of the long dark corridor, then choose the left path. 

The full moon was clearer in view as this path was wider and surrounded by small shops. The tall street yellow lamps were going on and off, producing a buzzing noise. She looked behind her and saw the man trying to catch up with her, apparently already feeling tired.

She remembered Lia being sick, her green eyes shining with suppressed tears from hunger, saying to her before she opened the cracky door to leave “come fast, okay?”

Marie ran faster, clutching her purse tightly. 

The man was walking considerably fast now, Marie decided to take him to what will surely make him give up chasing her: the largest hill in this village.

Climbing will surely make him tired if he decided to not give up, Marie thought. 

Marie never chose to live like this, she and her sister were left to live alone in their home. No one wanted to give Marie a job. Whenever she tried getting a one, they would tell her “how dare a diseased one like you to even try and talk to me!”. She has always been the favorite gossip for this village’s women. “Diseased, I bet that’s why their parents left them, and I surely can’t blame them! They had a valid reason” Marie once heard.

Marie was now running in the quiet, yellow-illuminated road that leads to the cafés beside the hill. 

“stop you thief!” Shouted the man, behind her, his voice was trembling and wheezy yet it was getting nearer.. 

It didn’t take Marie long to reach the hill, as the village was already small. The full moon was shining above her and her chaser.

Marie remembered Lia crying, locking herself in their small, broken wood walls, shabby home.”she called me diseased, I was playing with her daughter. She said I shouldn’t get out of home, that we deserve to die alone so that we don’t infect them!”

Marie felt her face turning red. Anger and hate spreading through her body. She wanted to destroy this evil world that treats them like this. Tears of rage were now falling across her cheeks, while she was climbing the high hill. She looked below, the man was still figuring his way to climb the hill. 

Marie reached the top, the wind was stronger there, blowing her long hair behind her.

A memory struck Marie, she suddenly couldn’t breathe. She felt the world was spinning around her. Her eyes went blurred, she was trembling so violently. 

Lia was too thin due to malnutrition, she was coughing blood all over the place while crying loudly. She was scared, she told Marie while she was clutching her heart “I don’t want to die”. She was suffocating, it was like every word Lia tried to say was stabbing her heart with immense pain. Then, Lia’s face went pale, she stopped crying, she was suddenly so calm and quiet. Then, she closed her eyes, and never woke up again.

Marie took a few slow steps to the edge of the hill, she was looking at the sea below her. Marie laughed as she never did before. 

The man had managed to climb to the top. Seeing Marie laughing hysterically, he took his gun, pointed it at her, and said “hand me what you took”. Marie looked at him and laughed even more loudly, yet tears were now falling. 

“I told to hand it! Fast!” shouted the man. 

Marie stopped laughing. She looked him in the eyes and scowled at him. She turned her back on the man that kept shouting threats to her. She didn’t care. There’s simply nothing to care about anymore. Marie took a deep breath, and jumped.

The water was very cold, yet it surprisingly gave Marie a warm, slightly burning sensation when she finally opened her mouth…