CHAPTER 1
Ember
It was time. Time to leave. Time to start a new life, a real life.
Taking a deep breath, I quietly slipped out of bed. I arranged the pillows and blankets to make it look like I was still in the bed in case anyone decided to check on me. I knew they wouldn’t. No one ever had.
I grabbed my backpack and slid it over my arms. The thing was almost too heavy for my small frame. I had crammed it as full as I possibly could. Once I left, I was not coming back. Ever. I didn’t have many things, but it was a lot harder than I thought it would be to fit everything I wanted to take with me in one bag. After tightening the straps, I grabbed the gun I had hidden under my bed and tucked it into the back of my jeans. There was also one in the bottom of my backpack, but that wouldn’t do me any good if I needed it during my escape attempt. After I strapped a knife to each ankle, I took one last look around my room.
I felt...nothing really. No happy memories threatened to bring tears to my eyes. I just felt empty when I looked at the room. My eyes fell on the window and a sense of excitement rushed through me. It was time to go.
I carefully raised the window in my bedroom just enough to climb through. When my feet hit the ground, I reached up and gently pulled the window back into place. Scanning the area, twice, I saw nothing but darkness ahead of me. Steeling myself, I walked as quickly and as quietly as I could toward the tree line. The farm I grew up on was located in the middle of nowhere and was completely surrounded by forest. It really was its own little hidden hell.
Once I made it to the tree line, I got my compass from my bag and started walking the route I had mapped out weeks ago. The cover of the trees allowed me to move faster, shielding me from sight while the sounds of the animals in the forest hid the noise of my movements. Even though I was blindly moving through the forest with nothing but a cheap compass and a sliver of moonlight, I made it to my destination in less than an hour.
I looked up at the large tree in front of me. Taking a deep breath, I started to climb. The farm property was surrounded by a 10-foot concrete wall topped with several feet of electric wire fencing. In order to get out, I had to climb up and over using the trees. I knew there were motion sensors and cameras scattered along the fence, so I had chosen to start with a tree that was several yards away from the fence. I moved from tree to tree without issue, refusing to look down. If I saw the fence below me, I would pause and start overthinking things, which would likely lead to me misstepping. I wasn’t going to let that happen.
I kept moving and kept count of the trees. When I made it to the 10th tree, I finally looked down. I was on the other side of the fence! I had done it. I took a quick moment to catch my breath and tried to steady my nerves before I started climbing down. Once my feet hit the ground, I started running as fast as I could toward the tree line.
As soon as I emerged from the trees, I saw the car pulled over on the side of the road. It matched the description, but I remained exactly where I was, just outside of the line of trees. With only the tiniest bit of light from the moon, I could only be seen if someone was specifically looking for a person. I knew I had been spotted when the headlights on the car flashed twice. Breathing a sigh of relief, I jogged across the road and opened the passenger side door.
Reese turned to me and smiled, “You made it!”
I dropped into the seat, “Yes, I did. Let’s get out of here.”
“Okay. Duck your head below the window until we get closer to civilization.”
I laughed at Reese, but did as she said. I crouched in the front floorboard and looked up at her, “Thank you so much for doing this for me. I…”
She cut me off, “You don’t have to thank me, Ember. I know something weird goes on at the farm. I was happy to help you get out.”
“Still, I couldn’t have done it without you.”
We drove in a comfortable silence and my mind wandered to when I first met Reese.
About a month into my senior year at Croftridge High, a new student named Reese joined our class. I was asked by our homeroom teacher to show Reese around the school, help her find her locker, and make sure she knew where all of her classes were located. It was all I could do to contain my excitement. See, as a “farm kid” I was only allowed to associate with other farm kids and even with them, it was very limited. We arrived at school together, we ate lunch together, and we left school together. We even sat together at every event that took place during school hours. If any one of the farm kids tried to make friends with “the locals,” one or more of the obedient farm kids would tattle and the kid who broke the rules would be punished. I had heard that the punishment was a whipping given by one of the council members, but I had never broken any of the rules or seen any evidence that any of the other farm kids had been whipped.
Needless to say, it was near impossible to befriend someone outside of our circle of lunacy. I had been working on a plan to escape and get as far away from the farm as possible, but I couldn’t do it by myself. I needed help and that help had to come from someone outside of the farm. For me, that help came in the form of Reese Walker.
As soon as we stepped out into the hallway, I introduced myself and started quickly giving her a brief explanation of my situation. She didn’t laugh at me or look at me with repulsion like I had expected. She just stared at me with a sort of vacant look in her eyes and asked, “Why are you telling me all of this? You want me to help you or something?”
I could have cried right then and there, but I managed to hold it together. “Yes! That’s exactly what I want, what I need. Would you be willing to help me?” She started to nod, so I continued spewing forth as much as I could before we ran out of time. “I’m not allowed to talk to anyone who isn’t from the farm. If I do and get caught, I will be punished. So, when we go back to class, I won’t be able to speak to you anymore, but it isn’t because I don’t want to. I have to obey their rules, but I do want to be friends with you. I hate having to follow their rules and do what they say. I know it is just going to get worse the older I get. I want out, but I can’t do it without help. We are almost out of time. I’ll drop a note in your locker explaining more. If you want to help me, write back and drop it in my locker, just don’t let anyone see you do it. I’ll show you where it is. But if you don’t want to help, I will understand, just please, please don’t tell anyone else about this. Please.”
The expression on her face never changed. She seemed sad or maybe lost, but I was too wrapped up in my own misery to ask. She responded almost robotically, “I won’t tell anyone. I’ll try to help you. Drop your note in my locker and tell me what you need from me.”
I wanted to hug her and break out into a happy dance at the same time. Instead, I reached out and squeezed her hand, “Thank you so much. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
She nodded and we walked back into the classroom.
Reese’s voice brought me back to the present, “Ember?” I looked up at her, still crouched in the floor. “We’re here.”
I blinked up at her, “Wow, that was fast. Um, is your brother home?”
“No, he’s out for the night. It’s just me and you.”
This news eased a little bit of my anxiety. I was so worked up I was practically vibrating with nervous tension.
We entered the condominium she shared with her older brother and it was like entering a completely different world for me. I had never been in a home that wasn’t on the farm. The houses on the farm looked exactly alike, inside and out, with the exception of one house. White siding, no shutters, small front porch. The inside walls were all white, all hardwood floors, all furniture was made of wood, any bedding or linens were white, almost no color of any kind anywhere. The buildings on the farm were very much the same.
