"Do you think they heard?" I asked, very quietly.

"I don't know. We'll stay quiet."

It was crazy how fear and sickness, I still felt nauseous from last night, made time crawl. We all sat there, all three of us, squished into the space under the building, with barely enough height to stand up when we needed to stretch. Not many people passed by here and I wondered why, when I could hear cars, but I had to assume it wasn't next to a street.

I may have slept though. I wasn't sure- it was surprisingly cosy and peaceful. Maybe it was the warm summer day, reminding me of a bath, or the breezes that seemed to be attracted to the gaps under the building and that added to the 'warm bath with ticklish cool breezes' feeling. Or maybe it was the warm body beside me. Prince Wilifred remained there, though he managed to find a way to shift across a little so he had more space for his body, and Roberto sat just in front of us. I felt oddly at ease with these people. Awestruck, sure, but at ease.

Roberto seemed to talk more when he was nervous but at least... at least he kept it down. None of us might have admitted we were watching the gaps outside the building for more movement but we were.

"Oh. Look." Roberto breathed out, suddenly, one half of his face pressed against the crack in the wall.

I shuffled closer and breathed in slowly, stunned by what I saw, some of my anxiety fading at the sight.

Sunflowers.

Thousands of them, golden orange under the setting sun, contrasting against an incredible indigo, orange and purple sky. Not a single cloud in the sky. It was beautiful. It also explained why we didn't get so many passer bys- there was a path here. I could see it led past some buildings. Did it go to a busier street?

"It's a farm? So the street I hear is …"

"It's on the other side of this building. We moved to the back." Prince Wilifred explained. He had an apple out, I noticed, and was slowly biting into it with barely any noise.

"Joshy told me to come back here because I talk to much." Roberto frowned. It was clearly a fake frown though because his face brightened as he shifted over. "You hungry?"

I was actually and when he held out an apple I accepted it, sniffing it, flushing red as this action caused his teasing grin to return.

"It's not poison."

"I just … like to smell my food." I muttered, glancing away, and hesitated. Usually … I'd lick it next. Sniff. Lick. Nibble. I loved to experience everything about food. Maybe that was why I was a 'plus size'. I took a bite and savored the crisp juicy sweetness of the apple. So good.

It was only now that I noticed I was in Pjs. Still. I flushed, staring at them, a big black cat staring back. They weren't exactly embarrassing... just a pair of sweat pants and a top with a cat on it... but I had even thought about it till now. And someone had added a man's shirt.

"Um..." I said softly, face flushing with blood at this discovery, tugging at the edges of the shirt. It smelt like someone too. Someone had been wearing this. "When did-"

I didn't get time to ask. There was movement at the other side of the building, we could all hear it, and then Alberto finally returned. He half bowed, a strange little dipping motion when he was already bent over in the cramped space, and gestured to us.

"We think it would be wise to move now."

"Now?"

"Have you not heard sirens here?"

Sirens?

That got our attention. The sleepy haze that we'd fallen into must have dropped away at this point. Roberto got up, tugging Prince Wilifred up, and then offered his hand to me. I was already getting up by this point though.

Now that we listened- we could. Barely. But as we followed Alberto towards the front of the building we could hear them more and more clearly. The sound may have come from a fire engine or an ambulance or something. I didn't know. But the wailing sound forced the anxiety back in and wedged it there.

As soon as we'd joined the others, Prince Joshua, Prince Glenn, Claude and Jen, they were slowly pushing open a side door into the space and vanishing outside into the dusk. I followed after them, Prince Roberto right behind me, and they started a quick jog towards the sunflower field.

I hated to admit it but by the time I made it to the sunflowers I already felt like panting. I wasn't as fit as them. I followed, as best I could, watching the backs of them vanish. Athletic Princes? I supposed all they had time for was gym, riding horses, and dancing.

Prince Wilifred seemed to be the first to notice towards the middle of the field. He paused, suddenly, turning back, and waited patiently as Claude skidded to a stop beside him.

The others took a few more seconds to stop and I paused at Prince Wilifreds side, face flushed with embarrassment and the need for oxygen. The sirens were behind us though. Now it was even clearer we could hear the squealing tires as well. Speeding cars. Heading straight for us.

"Quick." Claude snapped, suddenly, shoving me into the sunflowers as Prince Wilifred stepped inside.

We were surrounded by them now, crowding in them as we heard the screech of breaks and then shouts about 'clearing the area'. Clearly not ambulance.

I breathed hard into my sleeve... well, someone else's sleeve that they lent me... trying to muffle my hard breathing as we listened to them. Someone's hand grasped my arm and remained. Claude? Apparently so. He was standing, slowly, bent down, and pulled at me without so much of a warning. I nearly stumbled as I followed him and Prince Wilifred through the tall sunflowers, our bodies sliding in and out of them. I felt like cursing everytime I accidently knocked one of them tall slender flowers and sent a shower of golden petals over all of us. I was sure that the police back there would notice. Sunflowers being moved in a line.

It almost seemed as if my worst nightmares had been confirmed when a sudden heart stopping sound filled the air. Crack! Crack!

Claude really ran then, shoving Prince Wilifred in front of him, tugging me behind him as something actually whizzed past us and sent a sunflower toppeling.

Were they shooting at us?

I blinked, staring at Claude's back, as he forced me to stay right on his tail. ...wait. Was Claude using me to protect his own backside?

This triggered some sort of anger which seemed to only help my running. I moved faster, yanking my wrist free of the butler, as random bullets seemed to be fired towards us. They didn't seem to know where we were. It was as if they were just... testing.

Suddenly we'd burst through the field and shouts, far down, made me hesitate. There was a road along the back end of the sunflower field and there was a police car. Guns.

"Move!" Claude's hand re-grasped my wrist and yanked me into the bush on the other side. I yelped as something smacked into my calf from below and he just pulled harder, shoving me in front of him, running so damn fast behind me that I was sure he was about to step on my already hurting calf.

Bush went from 'a few trees' to full on thick bush, suddenly, and I nearly tripped over roots more than I like to admit as my hurting calf just got worse. Before I knew it I could barely step on it and I heard an impatient noise from Claude behind me as I kept slowing down, despite his shoves. Ahead of us the others had already started to vanish into the bush, a strange kind of sight, and I suddenly felt panic as Claude moved past me to run ahead.

When he vanished too I paused, suddenly, hearing feet behind me. When I saw a fallen log I went for it.

I slid down, suddenly, heart in my throat, face draining of blood as I heard those police just metres back there. All I'd found to hide in was a tiny nook against a fallen tree, apparently dug into a little bit by an animal, but not a handy little human sized hole or something. Had those guys just abandoned me? I supposed... It wasn't surprising. But it still made me angry somehow.

There wasn't time to be angry though. I curled against the log, breathing into my sleeve again to muffle my hard breathing, trembling all over for some reason, with only ferns and scrub to act as a 'cave' to hide in.

The funny thing was that I could still hear the Princes, sort of, or at least … someone. Ahead of those police gaining on me. I could hear only 'crash crash crash' ahead. They weren't very graceful for Princes. In contrast the police behind had slowed. They seemed to be jogging now, calling to each other in softer whispers, more in control than they had been in the sunflower field. Had the shooting been an attempt to scare us out of hiding? There'd been a police car at the other side of the field on the road. It must have been planned. Smart cops.

I curled against the rough bark, eyes shutting and then opening again, staring up through the fern and brush towards where we'd just been running. The feet were closer now. Just feet away. The crashing ahead, where I assumed the Princes were escaping, was growing quieter too, and the police called something before their pace picked up again.

One of them paused right beside me. I stared at him, his eyes ahead, heart pounding so loud that I was sure he'd hear it, but he was speaking on his radio.

"...road blockade. That's right. Safety off."

Safety off? Guns?

As if to answer me he'd already tugged his own gun out.

For lack of a better word... fuck. A tremor ran through my body, one that caused my calf to burn all over again, at that seemingly casual move. Seriously? My entire body was trembling suddenly, head to toe, and I felt my skin sweating for a totally different now. Cold sweat. Fear. I was seriously afraid of this guy.

They weren't kidding. They seriously were trying to hunt down their own Prince. Was it crazy that I hadn't … really understood what I'd been getting myself into? Father pretty much controlled everything right now, or at least I assumed he did, and if he'd intended on playing off three Princes as dead...

The man was still speaking on the radio. Some of it was some kind of code, I got that, but even his 'normal' words didn't seem to reach my brain. Maybe it was fear? I had to really concentrate on his words, instead of my own fear, to understand.

"...be there in a moment... breather..." He was saying, his breathing fast still, bending over to lean on his own legs.

I mean, I'd realized that before, but there was nothing like a gun happy policeman to kind of slap it into me about how dangerous this was actually going to be. And what would Father have done to me? Okay. We'd known each other for six years, that was it, but …

The man stood up suddenly, sending my heart racing again, and I was sure he was going to turn around and stare back at me. I was sure that he already knew I was there. He was teasing me. Screwing with me. I was sure this was all a game. And I couldn't stop staring at his gun.

It must have been how animals felt when they were being hunted. I had an urge to go vegetarian suddenly.

As the man stood, stretching his arms and legs briefly, I couldn't tear my eyes away from him, waiting for his eyes to meet mine. Waiting for the complete lack of shock on his face, the laughter, and the gun. He had a pimple but his hair was also greying. Did middle aged men get pimples? A light sheen of sweat was on his forehead too, his breathing a little faster, as if he wasn't quite as fit as the others. Maybe he was used to desks. The man grasped a bottle of water, drinking, reminding me of my own thirst as he carelessly dribbled the water all over himself.

I flinched as a sharp pain rocketed through my calf, as if something had just suddenly burnt its way inside my flesh but froze, as he slid his radio in and continued onwards through the bush at a faster pace than he'd stopped at. It seemed almost unreal- the man hadn't noticed me at all.

Even as he vanished ahead, as his feet faded away into the sounds of the bush, I was frozen with fear and pain. I was sure that he was about to turn around and come back. It had to be a game. Fuck with her mind. Make her think she hadn't been noticed and then appear. And the others had gone. Long gone. Run off. I probably would be angry about that later. I might also consider whether it was worth going back to Father and saying sorry.

It wasn't easy. Staying all courageous all the damn time. Some part of me, however ashamed I was of it, was starting to yearn for the easy life he'd given me for the past six years. The 'ask for it and you'll get it' lifestyle. I detested it but …

Right now, while I knelt there, trembling, my calf on fire, waiting for the policeman to come back and shoot me or something, I missed the safety of it. The soft easy comfortable life.

I knew that I should run right now. Some part of my brain was starting to kick back into gear. Run. Get up. Run.

Every part of my body shook. Even my teeth were chattering. I still had my sleeve against my mouth, the fabric half between my teeth, muffling the sound.

No. Wait. That wasn't me.

I blinked, aware that something was against my mouth, something fabricy... but my arms were wrapped around my stomach. Someone knelt behind me, a hand over my mouth, warmth against my back, and as I knelt there trembling, they were making soft 'shh' noises against my ear. I hadn't even noticed them.

Or the blood all over my calf. Huh. Something really had scratched me then.

When I turned around I blinked in surprise, dazed, as my eyes met theirs.

A/N ...but who is it?

bwahaa. : D

I don't mind guesses or suggestions by the way. Go for it. This is a story for amusement.