"We can chase the dark together. If you go, then so will I..." Anthem of the Angels by Breaking Benjamin

Harper was in the library, covered with a Christmas-red blanket and a hardback book in her lap. Wheat-colored locks fell against her cheek as her finger slipped beneath a golden edged page. The sound of rustling paper, the smell of old books, and the serene picture she was part of made it seem like everything was fine.

When Hayden released my arm, I took a step forward, hand reaching outwards, eyes watering. "Harper!"

She yelped. Her head jerked up. With wide eyes she searched my face. It was like she didn't recognize me at first. Eventually, her pale hand lifted to her trembling lips. "Kender?" she whispered.

I didn't wait for her to get up from the leather loveseat. Instead, I took the remaining steps towards her. My heart thumped with something I hadn't felt in a long time. My arms instantly wrapped around her thin shoulders within a vice-like grip. The tiny grunt that escaped her rumbled in her throat, causing vibrations against my damp cheek as I pushed my face against her neck and inhaled. She smelled different, like freshly laundered cotton with a splash of lime and coconut.

"You smell... good," I said, leaning forward to sniff again.

Ah, there it was... that smell that made Harper. It was hidden under clean clothes and fancy lotions. There was just enough burned coffee grinds and sugar to tickle my nose and ignite a bout of memories of Harper playing in the small meadow of flowers we had in our back yard. Of Harper getting ready for school and stealing my favorite hoodie because it was cold outside.

Everything I'd done, everything I'd been through so far was all seemed worth it in that moment, but would give almost anything to go back in time. When things were easy and we could just be us again. It didn't work for all families, but it worked for ours. I sniffled and it was loud, sounding like a baby elephant with a cold. Crying usually wasn't for me, but lately there seemed to be a need to cry more than usual.

"I can't believe you're here," Harper said into my neck. Her breath ruffled strands loose from the beanie cap on my head and the gasp I'd been waiting for came. The shoulder smack I could've done without.

"Hey, you heavy handed harpy!" I said, giving her a warning squeeze. Really reprimanding that hit wasn't going to happen because I was too comfortable to pull out of the hug.

"Did you dye your hair?" Her hands clamped on my shoulders, and she pushed me away enough to glare at the strands of my now dark violet hair. "Oh my God, take off that hat!"

Wiggling my shoulders from her bruising grip, I shrugged and pulled the beanie off my head, shaking my hair out. Not only had I changed the color, but it had gotten longer since Harper had seen it last. It was now to the middle of my back. "I wanted a change."

Her eyes widened, her mouth dropped, and her shoulders and arms lifted in an over-exaggerated shrug. "Mā de. Mā de! Get a mani-pedi like a normal girl, or at least highlights and a haircut! The length is nice, but good God that color... I can't believe you did this, Kender." She made a grousing noise and reached forward, gently taking a handful of my hair into her hand. "You had such beautiful hair... and now it's a gaudy purple! Wǒ jiějiě shìgè báichī!"

"Normal people dye their hair all the time."

Harper rolled her eyes. "Normal people don't have hair the color of liquid gold on fire either. You look like a freak!" she said, heaving a tired sigh. "What did Momma say?"

It almost hurt how far back my eyes rolled. Harper and her need to fit in always got pushed on me. It used to hurt my feelings, as though I wasn't good enough for her and the standards she set. Now it felt familiar and I was happy that she cared enough to notice so quickly. "I don't look like a freak, and Momma loved it! Plus, it's a lot cheaper spending ten Yuan than two-hundred."

She made a popping noise with her tongue against the roof of her mouth and scratched at her wrist. "If you'd gone Downtown it would've been three and you wouldn't have had to pay that damn surcharge."

In order for a poor individual to enter a shop in Uptown an outrageous surcharge had to be paid. This achieved two things: it kept poor people out of their stores on a daily basis and it racked up a lot of debt. The surcharges were varying, but grocery stores were the most expensive to get into because Downtown had only two shelves filled at a time and it was mostly rice. Uptown grocery store owners kept surcharges up because of that. It ranged from six-hundred Yuan or higher, and these prices were just for entering the store. It didn't include the merchandise that had to be purchased.

"I know. They didn't have the color I wanted," I said. "You know Downtown's supplies are lacking. Last time I went for a hair cut it took hours because the dull scissors wouldn't cut through my hair."

"But why purple?" she whined.

The corner of my mouth lifted before I could stop it. If she wanted to tease me about my hair then I guess it was time for me to make fun of her name. It was an old game of mine. Childish, yes, but a lovely past time of ours that I used to get on Harper's nerves.

"Why not purple? Hey! I haven't seen you in two months and this is what I get? Harped on?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face.

Harper inhaled as she started to speak, but paused. Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped slightly open. Harper scratched her wrist again before her arms folded over her chest and her chin lifted towards the ceiling. "Are you making fun of me?"

I shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about, you harpy.

Harper rolled her eyes. "Don't have any new material?"

I tapped my chin. "Hmm. Don't like Harper the harpy?"

"Oh, Kender," Harper said, shaking her head in mock disappointment.

"Well, you aren't around to keep me on my toes anymore. Wǒ yǐjīng dédàole shēng xiù."

"Rusty is an understatement. Harper the harpy? That was just lame," Harper said and finally let out the chuckle she'd been holding in. Happiness lit her watering gray eyes. "You've no idea how much I've missed you. All of you."

"Probably as much as we've missed you," I said.

Harper smiled and rubbed at her wrist... again. What in the hell is she doing? I squinted and resisted the urge to yank her hand away. Gesturing rapidly towards Harper's scratching fingers, I spoke through my teeth, "Do you have to do that?"

Harper frowned as she continued alternating between rubbing and scratching. "What?"

"That!" I pointed to her busy fingers. "You've been doing that since I got here. Scratching and scratching. Stop it! You're driving me crazy."

Harper's face flushed and she placed her hands against the book in her lap instead. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't even realize. I-um," she cleared her throat, "I got my bar-code removed."

I shook my head and wiggled a finger in my ear. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Harper's teeth sunk into her bottom lip to stop the smile playing over her mouth. "Hayden removed my bar-code. I have real cash now."

If you're born poor, you're made to stay poor. There was no removing the bar-code... or so I'd thought. Stunned, all I could do was blink at her.

"Do you want to see it?" Harper asked, holding her scarred wrist out.

All I could do was nod and reach blindly forward.

Harper's smile was wide as she looked up at me. "It's itchy and scabbing, but I feel different with it off." She shook her head and her hair bounced as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I can't really describe it."

My fingers played over the roughened pink patch of healing skin and my eyes burned with tears. "Like you're finally free?" I asked. My voice cracking with emotion sounded foreign even to me.

I was happy for her, but it seemed like Harper didn't need me to save her. I'm in this mess because I'm a selfish person. No. That wasn't it. It was Hayden. He did do this on purpose. If I could've spoken to her, just once in the beginning, maybe I wouldn't have assumed he'd been mistreating her.

"Like I'm free," she said with a nod. "I don't have any tags either!"

I glanced down at her tag-free neck. "Harper, do you know why I'm here?"

Her eyes widened and she jerked her wrist from my hand. Nibbling on her bottom lip, she slowly nodded. "Hayden showed me the recordings. What were you thinking, Kender? Do you know what he could do with that?"

I swallowed and took a step back. She didn't know he was blackmailing me.

"Was it - I mean - did you even want me to get you out of here?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.

"In the beginning I did. I felt like my world was ending. I lost my family, my friends... everything I loved all in one day. It took some adjusting, but-"

"But?" I asked. Red was blurring my vision and the one person I wanted to strangle wasn't there. Hayden Marks was going to pay for this. If I survived, I would make him pay for sure.

Harper tilted her head and sighed, her shoulders drooping. "When he told me I was getting my barcode removed I—I don't know—I guess I started looking at him a little differently. I know what he wants from me and I'm not to that point yet, but I could be soon. He said we could do it at my pace." She lifted her bent head and looked at me. "Are you mad?" she asked

I scoffed. "Not at you. It's his fault. If I could've talked to you maybe none of this would've happened. I would've just-"

Harper stood up and folded me into a hug warm enough to melt me. "You would have still tried to sneak in and steal me out from under his nose. You wouldn't have taken my word for it, and you know it. So don't be mad... at me or at Hayden. I think we should cut him a little slack."

I sneered. "Cut him some slack? Did he tell you to call him Hayden too? What a slime ball. You're already experiencing that captive mentality. You know the one, where you start to like your captor."

Harper shook her head. "I'm not experiencing Stockholm Syndrome."

I snapped my fingers. "That's what it's called!"

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Rough translations:

Mā de! – Oh shit!

Wǒ jiějiě shìgè báichī. – My sister is an idiot.

Wǒ yǐjīng dédàole shēng xiù. – I've gotten rusty.