"Pippa! Run! Run and don't look back!"

I didn't know what to do. My whole life was ending, and I couldn't do anything.

"Dad, please no," I cried, but he gave me a hug.

"It's gonna be OK, Pip. But you need to go."

"But this is all terrible! I don't want you to go!"

Dad wiped my tears, and getting some soot on my face.

"I know. And I don't wanna go either. But people are in danger. I have to go."

I nodded and grabbed my backpack. I ran out of the building, and didn't stop. I kept running until I felt a pain in my side. I turned around.

Even in the distance, I could see the smoke. I could smell the burning building. And I had abandoned my family.

I gasped for breath. I was tired, starving, and alone. Alone in London, with no help at all.

"Excuse me? Young lady, are you OK?"

I saw a young woman, slightly taller than I was, walk up to me. She had brown hair and looked concerned.

"I- I-"

I fell into her arms, exhausted from running, and in pain from leaving my family behind.

Christina's POV:

The young girl fainted in my arms, and I got a good look at her. She had curly auburn hair that was choppy, but long. She had a splash of freckles across her nose, and she seemed well-fed and fit.

So what happened to this poor girl?

I called 112 and hoisted the girl on my shoulders. I called Jodie too, and told her to meet me outside the theater.

"Christina? What- Who's that?"

She helped me hold up the girl, and I shook my head.

"I don't know. But look."

I pointed to a long scar across her right arm. It was an untreated burn mark.

Jodie gasped. "What happened to her?"

"My guess, something bad. Tell the cast that we may need some understudies for us tonight."

The ambulance came and picked up the girl, and instinctively I climbed in, but the paramedics stopped me.

"Do you have any relation to her," one asked.

"I'm her foster parent," I said quickly. The words came so naturally. The paramedic nodded and let me in.

I ran a hand through the girl's auburn hair. "I don't know you," I said quietly, "But I'll protect you."