Sleep, something she didn't even come close to getting last night. Throughout her time in bed, bad memories haunted her thoughts. She was ashamed of them. She was especially ashamed of herself.

Earlier that morning, she found herself in all of previous day's clothes with half her body off the bed. She must have dozed off for a good 15 minutes, because she couldn't seem to completely wake herself up, considering that quarter of an hour was the only time she slept all morning.

Currently, it was 7:39 AM, and once again, she was up against the balcony railing a few doors down from her own room. Her eyes got heavier to the sound of the endless rain, the cold liquid splashing against her pale skin.

After a minute of being hunched up against the metal bars with her head dangling over the drenched atmosphere, she forced herself back on her feet. She looked over to see the somber room that injected her with that strange, familiar feeling. It almost seemed as if it hid behind every corner she turned. Room 207.

No sign of any light came from the suite. It wasn't hard to notice, since the door was left open again. Without another thought, she pushed it open with her hand, exposing the room. No one to be seen, no sounds to be made, nothing really unusual this time. The only thing that seemed a little out of place was the shoe box full of the origami figures. Either that or she just couldn't keep her eyes off of it.

She stepped inside of the cave-like room, inspecting it cautiously. At the desk in the corner, she squinted at the dust-coated cardboard box, the lid plopped down beside it. Beside it laid fern-green paper that appeared to be unraveled. She reached out for it and gently felt it in her grasp, noticing small words printed on the crumpled sheet.

"ARE YOU PREPARED TO MAKE A SACRIFICE TO SAVE YOUR SON? 9711 MARBLE STREET"

She didn't know what speed she was driving at, though she always seemed to be going too slow. It was all a waste of time, anyway. She probably wouldn't even be able to do anything to help Ethan once she arrived.

And there it was, in a blink of an eye, 9711 Marble Street. Honestly, it didn't look like anything but an apartment building, along with a few similar ones next to it. It just looked like some casual neighborhood there in Philadelphia, groups of cars scattered out front, and handfuls of people walking along the streets.

She parked lopsided with a tire about to touch the curb, but still slammed the door behind her without making any adjustments to the position. As she made her way towards the filthy building, she noticed the rows of cars lined up against the sidewalk, most containing uncanny amounts of men in identical uniforms. It... it was the police.

She kept walking, faster and faster, feeling as if a spot light was on her. She could feel the burning glares coming from each car as she swiftly moved past each one. Why were they even here? What did they want?

Her heartbeat sped up after every question flashed into her mind, right before they dropped into her stomach. Suddenly, a thought that made her cringe appeared in her head. They couldn't be! No! That's crazy! Why would they want anything to do with Ethan?

In front of her stood the large doors to the apartment, rust and white graffiti uncovering from its original blue paint. With relief, she puffed out the air stored in her lungs before giving the town around her a final inspection. She casually pulled one door open and slithered inside.

She didn't even care to react to the poor decorating, but instead, let out another relaxed breath when she saw Ethan inside. He was making his way towards a ratty brown couch in the corner of the room. Then she saw that his hands were dripping with an unusual amount of blood.

"Ethan!" He fell to the couch, facing the other way as she approached him. "Dear lord!" She gasped, nearly falling backward. His finger... it was... gone.

"Plea-please, d-don't touch it-t." He croaked, obviously in a lot of pain. She was too shocked to make any immediate movements, yet she still wanted to comfort him.

She stopped herself before she reached out to him. This wasn't the time to replay the "guardian angel". This time, she had to actually warn him about what was going on outside. Unless she was completely paranoid, she knew that the cops were most likely looking for him.

"Oh my god, uh..." She shuddered, kneeling down beside him, watching him rock back and forth while concealing his wounded hand behind his right arm. She was still scandalized and the muscles in her face tensed, but she still forced herself to speak up. "There are tons of cops outside surrounding this place, and I have a feeling they are here for you. We have to leave, but we ain't got a lot of time." And she was right.

Without a lot of thought, she sprinted to the staircase in the right corner, which was surprisingly difficult to find due to the stacks of dusty boxes leaning against it.

"No, you can't get out that way." He spoke incoherently with pain.

"I know, but there should at least be somewhere to hide." She called from the steps, making her way up. Hiding was a terrible idea. Cops search everywhere, but from the looks of it, they had no other choice. She had to figure this out quickly, and wisely.

A row of three similar windows were the first to catch her eye, allowing the slightest amount of light to hit the top room. The floor was tiled, ashes topped off with dead bugs and mouse droppings piled along the wall. Her eyes traveled slowly, cautiously, yet her feet took another, quicker path.

Clink!

She hopped back, her foot being prickled by the uneven blades of broken glass. It laid beside a deformed porcelain statue of a lizard, it's metallic green reflected the hidden sun's rays. There were identical models laying on the ground, some of them broken to pieces, while others still in one.

When she lifted her head back up again, she noticed an open door at the end of the hall with a lizard painted on it. Before jumping to conclusions, she took a deep breath, soon enough to find herself standing in the doorway.

Her chest felt hollow as she brought her hands to her face, her eyes widening in horror. Blood. It was splattered on the little table in the middle of the room, coming from the butcher's knife beside an open bottle of disinfectant, and scattered along the wooden floor. Fresh blood.

She couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she couldn't even breath. She was distracted by the ringing in her ears, until she was startled by a hard bang that came from the bottom floor. Forcing herself out of the trance, she flung herself towards the stairs at the opposite side of the hallway. What was that sound? Was Ethan okay? With her heart pounding through her chest, she opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was a faint squeal.

Her view was foggy, but she still saw it all happen. Two cops huddled over to the couch, and a couple of men in suits followed their footsteps. One of them pushed through the policemen in front, making a couple of comments before snapping the handcuffs around Ethan's wrist.

She saw the pain in his face as they took him out of the building. She imagined all the distrustful looks he would give her the moment he saw her again, if he ever happened to. She wanted to push them all away from him, or even yell at them to stop, just to keep him safe and finally prove herself useful, but she just buried her face into her hands as she leaned against a railing, completely unseen by anyone. She knew if she was caught helping him, she would be in just as much trouble.

She was now beyond embarrassed and ashamed, and thought of herself only as a selfish cry-baby.

She was a now monster. She was a now criminal. She was now a fugitive.

A/N: Before writing this chapter, I was thinking of including the whole subway fiasco, but then the chapter would seem kinda pointless. The next chapter, though, is mostly different from the original, and is coming along pretty well in my opinion.

Also, I am aware that even if Ethan is arrested, he still has that scene with Madison where she brings him groceries & they talk about his blackouts, yadda yadda yadda. I didn't write it in because I thought it would take away from the next chapter, and.. well, in all honesty, I don't really like it.

Anyway, I hope you all like the story so far, and sorry for such a short chapter.

P.S. Thank you all SO much for the favorites, follows, and reviews. It makes me happy to know that some people are actually interested in this shit pile of a story, and it's just a lot of fun to read new reviews. Speaking of those things, if you have your own opinion on the story, don't be afraid to leave me a review, because they help me improve upon the story so much!