The sirens were getting closer.

Taşkın was still kneeling next to Elif's severed head.

"Taşkın! You really need to get up now. Do you want to get caught!?"

"You've been living a captive life for as long as you can remember, but now you're free. Do you have any idea what will happen if the police catch you?"

"They'll send you to a juvenile detention center or an orphanage."

"Either way, you'll lose the newfound freedom you just gained."

"Pull yourself together!"

"O-okay. I'm leaving right away."

I quickly left through the way I entered, careful not to step on the blood, and hurried away.

I had walked for a long time. There was no trace left of those houses with gardens. I was wandering through narrow alleys. Since it was late, there weren't many people around.

I started looking for open spaces. Constantly wandering through these narrow streets was reminding me of bad things.

In the distance, I saw a park. The ground was sandy and there were many playground structures. Spring horses, swings, and slides.

I went to the swing and sat down. Everything had happened so suddenly.

J-just minutes ago, I had killed a person! And the only important person in my life had died in a horrible way.

Milaz. What are we going to do now?

...

You still don't get it, do you?

I guess you still haven't fully come to your senses.

Why do you say that?

Look at your clothes.

When I looked at my clothes, I saw that they were covered in blood in many places. Elif's blood must have spilled on me. Also, I was very dirty. After all, I had crawled out of a pit in these clothes, so it's not surprising.

Your first task will be to find some clothes.

Look, there are garbage bins further ahead in the park. Rummage through them. People throw away their old clothes, spoiled food, and belongings there.

Okay.

I went straight to the garbage bins ahead.

It smelled bad, but honestly, it didn't bother me much.

The garbage bins were overflowing, and the trash was piling up on the ground. I kept rummaging through the bags. Some contained spoiled food, others bottles. Nothing useful was coming out.

"What are you doing in our territory, kid?"

No need to be scared. Just a group of kids.

Did I say I was scared?

...

h̵̜̰̯̲̮̳͕̎̍̎a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕h̵̪̘̜̫ͦ̽à̶̖͓͕ͥͩ̊.

I continued rummaging through the garbage, ignoring them.

"Look at this little brat! He doesn't care about us at all."

"Turn around and face us, you bastard!"

It seems they won't leave me alone.

I turned around and looked at them. There were three of them. They were all about the same age.

They took a few steps back when they saw me.

One of them stepped forward.

"W-what happened to you?"

I didn't want to talk, but they didn't seem like they would leave. I decided to answer.

"Nothing happened. Please leave me alone."

They all looked at each other.

They were whispering something among themselves.

Meanwhile, I was looking at the light from the street lamps and examining the place I was in more carefully.

The boy who spoke earlier started talking again.

"Look, we might have scared you earlier. We're sorry for that."

"We're like you. Some of us ran away from home, some were unwanted by their families. Some of us never had a family."

"Actually, we can help each other. There's a place where the four of us stay. You can stay there if you want. We can give you new clothes. You shouldn't wear those anymore. If the police see you, you'll get in trouble."

What do you think, Milaz?

Go with them. Our clothing problem will be solved. You won't have to rummage through the trash. And you'll have a place to stay.

"Okay. I'll go with you."

They took me in and we started walking towards the place where they stayed.

They asked me questions along the way. What's your name? Why are you in this state? Where did you come from?

I only told them my name.

When I asked how much farther it was, they said we'd be there soon.

One of them started to warn me.

"Look, Taşkın. These places aren't safe at all. Especially at night, you shouldn't wander around here alone."

"There might be people who want to harm you or do even worse things."

h̵̜̰̯̲̮̳͕̎̍̎a͇̪̣͒̄̃͂̕h̵̪̘̜̫ͦ̽à̶̖͓͕ͥͩ̊. Let them try. Let's see who harms whom.

"Okay, thank you for the advice. What's your name?"

"Ahmet."

Just like Ahmet said, while we were walking, I saw people giving us nasty looks in the alleys or on the benches. None of the people here seemed safe.

When we arrived, I was met with a familiar sight. The place where they stayed was quite old and decrepit.

It wasn't a problem for me. I had lived in worse ruins than this.

And it wasn't as small as the shack I used to live in. It had three rooms. A kitchen, a bathroom, and a large common room.

We took off our shoes outside and went inside. We sat in the large room. They were all looking at me.

The three of them were sitting across from me.

Ahmet started talking first.

"Then let's introduce ourselves first, shall we?"

"You already know my name since we met on the way here."

I nodded my head in agreement.

"Now, let's introduce you to the other friends."

Ahmet was sitting on the far left. The other two were lined up next to him on the right.

The first boy sitting next to Ahmet started talking.

"My name is Cengiz."

"I'm eleven years old, I think. My family used to beat me all the time, so I kept running away from home. Then the police would somehow find me and take me back home. Even though the police saw my bruised body, they didn't do anything. My bastard of a father must have bribed them. The last time my father was beating me for running away from home again, I hit him on the head with a plate from the table out of reflex and self-defense, and then I immediately ran away. They haven't looked for me since. Of course, it worked out for me. I got rid of them."

"You did the right thing. I would have done the same in your place."

When I said that, he smiled at me.

"Thank you, Taşkın."

Then the one next to him started talking.

"My name is Kerem. I'm fifteen years old. I've been an introverted child for as long as I can remember. I don't know who my father is; my mother raised me. I was constantly bullied at school. They would come and pick on me for no reason and beat me up. I told the teachers, but they only scolded the bullies. They didn't give them any real punishment. This made the bullies even angrier, and they did even worse things to me."

"Why didn't you tell your mother?"