The building was on fire, and it was only kind of my fault. Actually, it was my fault. I did it for a good reason though. The Majesty, King Charles said that he would kill off all elderly folks after they reached the age of forty-five. I think it is a ridiculous rule, so I set the training building for the kingdom on fire. Oh, also, the “citizens” don’t usually last past the age of forty-five. In school, we learned about this age of peace, the age of the “Millenials”. Long story short, it ended. It ended when “The Majesty” took over. He apparently took an army and forced everyone to be in his “kingdom”. At least, that’s what we’re told. I don’t believe it though. There are many stories, but my favorite is “The Storm”. “The Storm” is apparently a warrior that even the King can’t control out in the open. So, he locked her up and puts people who defy him in her cell. Then she kills them. She’s just a legend though. The guards are coming, so I start running. The footsteps are getting louder and they’re catching up. I turn the corner and I run right into a dead end. I must have turned onto Governors street instead of Jefferson Ave.
As the guards catch up to me, I know this will be bad. I’m also surprised at how many there are. I think there are fifty, and more coming. I guess burning a government building down is a big deal. Especially if it is a training center for the king’s guards. I’m definitely trapped, and I throw my hands up in defeat.
“Well, I’m honored to have caused this much of a disturbance. Although I must say, you are quite slow. You couldn’t even catch a sixteen-year-old girl,” I chuckle at that. Little Hunter almost outran the king’s guards. I would have if I hadn’t taken the wrong turn.
“You look 14,” one of the guards mutters under his breath. I glare at him, but I know why he thinks that. I have always looked young for my age. With long, blonde hair and bright green eyes, I look like a 14-year-old. I try as hard as I can to play down how young I seem, so I usually wear leather jackets, ripped old jeans, and that sort of stuff. It’s very impractical, but I wear it anyway.
“Alright, grab her,” the guard closest to me says. “Get the cuffs on her too. She’s a threat.”
“Ooh, I’m a threat now. Does that mean I get an audience with the king?” They didn’t respond. All they did was put the paralyzation cuffs on me so that I couldn’t move, and threw me into the squad car that was there. There were no windows, and the car smelled horrible. All I can say is that is wasn’t a pleasant ride.
When the car stopped, I sadly didn’t get to see the king. They basically took the cuffs off and took me to a  small room where they chained me to the wall. Once they left I started pulling on the chains as hard as I could, but they wouldn’t give.
“Don’t bother.” A voice said. I looked at the other side of the room to see a thin girl bound with only ropes. Although it was dark, I could see her bruised eyes and bloody wrists. “I’ve already tried.
"Who are you?" I ask.
She responded with "You’ve probably heard of me. The Storm maybe?” I couldn’t believe it. The Storm was my age. Maybe a year or two older. “Oh, so you have heard of me then,” she was smiling slightly, like a hunter getting ready to kill its prey.
“So you’re the Storm. As in The Storm the legend?” There is no way this thin girl was the king’s best warrior. That’s like saying I was the most feared criminal in the kingdom. Like I said, impossible.
“Why is everyone so surprised by this? What you think I am not strong enough to kill someone? Even for survival? Let me tell you this.” She moved toward me, as quick as a fox. I backed up against the wall, but she was behind me and quickly had me in a chokehold. She then whispered threateningly “If you can’t catch me, I can kill you. But I’m not going to. I’m done being locked up in this room like a rabid animal. I say we escape, and kill my dad. He’s caused enough damage.”
“Wait. Did you just say, dad?” She ignored me and kept talking.
“By the way, in case you’re wondering, my name is Victoria. Victoria Bridley. Yes, that is the king’s last name. And yes, I am a princess. Hello. I’m Victoria Bridley, heir to the throne. I want to end my father’s reign of terror. Will you help me?”I had to think about that for a second. It’s my best chance to escape, so I might as well.
“Yes, Victoria. I will help you. What is our plan to escape?”
“Well then, first I need to know your name.”
“Hunter.” I don’t say my last name because I hate it. Sweet. Who has heard of a rebel with the last name Sweet? Hunter is much more terrifying and rebel-like.
“Okay Hunter, first, let me unlock those chains, and second, how good are you at acting?”
We kept talking about how we would do this. Vic would pretend she killed me then act injured. When the guard took her out I would slip through the door and escape. Once I left, I would cause a disturbance asap. Once I did, Vic would attack the guard who was watching her and escape. After that, we would meet at the abandoned factory on East Biker Lane. Once we talked through the plan one more time, we got ready to set it into action. I went to lay on the floor, pretending to be dead.
“Ready Hunter?” Vic asked.
“I think so. Are you?”
“Definitely. I can’t wait to get out of here,” after she said that, Vic went to the door and shouted, “HELP! HELP!” She pounded on the door until a guard came running.
Beep, beep, beep, click. Once the door opened, she collapsed and started twitching; like she was having a seizure. The guard panicked and called for help. Once others came they picked her up to get medical help. Before the door swung closed and locked me in, I slipped through and quietly walked the other direction. Once the guards disappeared around the corner, I started running towards where they brought me in.  I turned left, then right, then left again. When I turned left again, I saw a door leading out of the palace.
“Yes!” I whisper. I ran out the door and sprinted in no direction in particular. Just away, away from that horrible place. I saw a farmers market, so I ran there and stole something from a stall. If I actually needed to steal, I wouldn’t have gotten caught. This time though, I had to be obvious. The woman running it caught me of course and shouted for guards. I took off and ran as fast as possible. Stealing was a very big deal so I caused quite a commotion. AS the guards were chasing me I ran and prayed it was enough to get Vic out of the palace. I ran down a few alleyways so that the guards would lose my trail.
Once the guards’ footsteps had faded I went to the abandoned factory and waited for Vic to get to get there.
After an hour or two Vic burst in, out of breath.“Th-thanks Hunter. I lost them a little while ago but wanted to be sure. Now, how are we going to end my dad’s reign?”
“I’m not sure. I was thinking that we could try to find some weapons in here then go to the palace to kill him? Tomorrow though, first we need some rest.”
“Yeah, tomorrow. I kind of want some food first. Have any?” Vic seemed so tired and hungry, so I tossed her the roll I stole at the farmer’s market. “Thanks, Hunter,” Vic took a bite out of it then laid down to sleep. I did the same and waited for sleep to take me.
It seemed only a second until Victoria shook me awake to search for weapons.
“Hunter, time to look for weapons okay? We have to be out of here as soon as possible.”
“Okay, Vic. How about I look upstairs and you look down here?”
After about a half hour of searching, Vic and I came up with two knives, a revolver, a shotgun, and two cases of bullets. We head out to the palace, ready to complete our task.
Once we got there, we ran in and shot the guards. No fatal shots, but enough to disable them. On from that, I was in a blur. White hallway after white hallway. More guards. Nothing made sense. All I knew was that we got to the throne room. Vic took the shot. It was that easy. One shot killed him. Vic and I were celebrating our victory, we had done it after all. Until a shot rang out through the air. A blossom of red spread across my chest. One of the guards stood behind me, lowering his gun. I fell to the ground, defeated. We killed the king, but I wouldn’t be there to see life after it. I blinked once, and couldn’t see anything after. It’s funny how that happens. Life always ends in the middle of the-