She and JJ became close soon after we got here. I'm guessing it was the comradeship of being two of the dozen caretakers here. Maybe it was more, though. "Yeah, she's cooking up a roast."
JJ rubs his hands together and pats me on the head before jogging off toward the house.
I finish chopping up the last quarter and stack all the wood against the basement wall.I'm starving.I walk in through the back door and I hear Mom and JJ having a quiet conversation. Walking up to the far wall in the kitchen—the one adjacent to the living room, I place my ear against the wall, listening to what they're saying.
"He's going to come here," she tells him.
"There's no way he can get here," JJ tells her.
"You don't know this man."
"I'll protect you and Sinon," he says quietly to her.
I don't need to be protected. I can take care of the two of us. I walk around the corner, finding them in an embrace and kissing.Awesome.
"Dinner almost ready?" I ask, knowingly interrupting them.
Mom pulls away from JJ with a look of shock. She straightens her shirt and fidgets with her hair. "Sinon, I thought—"
"You said two hours," I remind her.
"This isn't what you might think..."
"No judgment," I say, turning away and walking back into the kitchen.
I grab the oven mitts and take the roast out of the oven, placing it down heavily on the stovetop. I then take the loaf of bread from above the fridge and begin to slice it up as Mom comes around the corner. Her hands are on my shoulders. "Sinon, we need to talk."
"About what?" I ask.
"Look at me," she says.
I place the knife down and turn to face her—the worry in her eyes. Then there's JJ standing behind her with his hands in his pockets, unable to make eye contact with me. "When were you going to tell me?"
"I thought it might be too much for you to deal with," she says despondently. "I didn't want to make things harder for you."
"I want you to be happy," I tell her. The look on my face might not confirm that, but I do. I'm just not sure how I feel about JJ. He's a nice guy and all, but—I don't know. There's something about him that bothers me.
"And I am. We are." JJ steps to the side of Mom and places his arm around her waist. "Are you okay with this?"
"Does it matter if I am?" They give each other a look, a look that annoys me, making me feel like I'm on the outside of this situation…which, I am. I'm irritated because I'm stuck here, miserable, with no friends and here she is, enjoying her time in this goddamned, confined town. She said this eighteen-month stint was for research to further her career. She said she had no choice. JJ isn’t research, though. And if anyone was left without choices, it was me.
"Yes, it does," JJ says. "We want you to be okay with this."
"I want to leave," I tell them. I want out of here. "Tell me how to leave. Do I have to call someone to make this happen?"
"It's not that easy, son." He did not just call me "son". Hell, no. "What can we do to make this easier for you?"
I take a slice of bread and barge out the back door. "Sinon!" Mom yells from the back door. "It's almost dark. You shouldn't leave the area right now." Screw them. Screw this damn town.
Darkness falls over me within the hour after I left. I've been walking aimlessly into the opaqueness of the dark canvas ahead of me. There's got to be a way out.
It must be hours by the time something appears in view, but since it's dark, I can't make out what it is until I'm in the shadow of the overwhelmingly large wall. It has to be at least ten feet high and surrounded by water. I didn't think there was running water anywhere on this compound. Good to know there is.
I approach the water, and step into the shallow end, keeping my focus on the wall I intend to climb over. As my foot makes contact with the water, every part of me begins to burn viciously, and I can't figure out how to make it stop. My body falls to the ground, and through incredible pain, I struggle to pull myself out of the water just as my muscles lock up completely. Groaning and writhing along the now damp dirt, I try to piece together what just happened. My mind is blurry, and it takes me minutes to realize the water must be poisoned or some shit. I pull myself up to my knees, but I feel too weak to stand completely.
"That'll kill you," a voice says. "Your body can only handle so much of that before it hits your bloodstream."
I look up, finding Dad standing over me. He offers me a hand, but it's still hard to move, so he yanks me up to my feet, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt. "Where is your mother?"
