POV: Grace

When the door opened, I tried to hide underneath the blanket that was on top of me, but it was torn off before I could think on what to do. I was looking into eyes that looked caring, but I cannot trust them. I cannot trust anybody right now. Not after what happened to me and what happened to my family. I look at him, and he starts shouting.

"AHHHH!!!" we both shout at the same time.

Then comes around three more guys, but before they could get back, I jump out of the back of the van. One of them chased me and grabbed my arm.

"We won't hurt you," I hear this gruff voiced one say as he looked at me, or at least I know he is trying to make me look at him. I cannot look him in the eyes because if they are not as trustworthy as I am feeling they might be, I cannot allow this happen. I must get away. "Are you okay?" he asks me.

I take a step, but he won't let go of my arm. I drop to the cement, and then he goes to sit by me. I take this chance and lift my arm from his grip. He eases his grip from my arm, and he doesn't move after that. I just look up at him, and I see his eyes this time. I can feel tears in my eyes as he looks back at mine.

I shake my head as I stand up. I am faster than he is, and I take off and start running past the other three who were standing by the van. I accidentally ran stumbled into the side of the van as I attempt to run. The guys try to grab my arm to try to stop me, but I do not know if they truly want to help me or are just like the guys that kidnapped me and my dad..... possibly my mother? I cannot figure out what happened to my mother, but I am going to do anything to find out. From what the burnt letter my dad wrote said, I have a feeling that my mom is closer than I know. I need to find both of them.

I know that one of them almost had my shoulder, but I darted across the street and down the road. I know that I lost them and that they ran back to get their van, but I just keep running. I do not know where I am running to, but I know what I am running from. I am just running to feel free again. Feeling locked inside the van felt like the worst feeling anybody could ever feel. I never want to have that feeling again as if I am trapped.

I keep running without a sense of direction. It is as if my feet know where they are going before I do. It takes me a minute to realize I am running to the one place I can call home.

My Escape...

I am running and don't stop for a few minutes. I only have some awareness of where I am as I slow to a walk. It must be a longer walk than I thought. I see a grassy hill, and I decide to sit down and take a breather of what just happened.

I lay back in the grass as I start to cry. I cannot think about how my life has gone completely different in the past 24 hours. My dad is gone. Even the "evil wicked witch" in red hair is gone. Did she have anything to do with this? Or did she get kidnapped too? My dad was finally saying something about my mom and then I watch all of my answers burn right in front of me. Even about my...

Wait....

WHERE IS MY NECKLACE???

I feel my neck and I shake my shirt to see if it fell down, but I can't find it. I then look back at what happened in the past few hours maybe I dropped it and can go back to get it. I close my eyes to get a better picture. I travel in my mind of what happened, and then I remember last night what happened.

I remember my necklace was loose on my neck as if the clasp unclasped, but I was too weak from being tired to do anything. My necklace fell off IN THE VAN!!!! Oh no! If my dad ever finds out he I am going to be in gargantuan trouble. This is not good at all. My dad told me one thing, and that was to not lose the necklace, and I didn't even obey that ONE order. I had no idea what the necklace did, but I trusted my dad... at least I hope I can trust him, yes I have to trust him. I do not know what to do.

I am laying in the grass, and then I see a vehicle coming. I do not want to be reported as a run away or something, so I run to the top of the hill act like I'm cross country training as I realize who the... how did they find me???

I get to the top of the hill as I look down on the other side. I decided the easiest way was to roll. I lay on my side and roll like I used to when I was five. This time it was a different feeling. I don't think a five year old has to worry about what was on the other side of the hill, they just roll with it. I, on the other hand, have to try to stop myself before...

I didn't stop to check from the top of the hill, the river that was waiting at the bottom. I landed in the river with a giant SPLASH!!! I decide to take the river down a little bit. I am swimming down because I want to see where the water takes me. My dad taught me all of what I know about swimming in a pool, then a lake, ocean, and river. My dad taught me a lot of what is going on to me today, I have no idea how or what my life will be like, but I have to be planned for the unexpected.

I follow the river, and before I get to the end, I realize there is a waterfall!!! I swim to the edge, but the current is taking me.

I am so close now, but then I manage to grab hold of a low branch on a tree... that happens to break.

Then there is a big rock near the edge of the river and on top of the waterfall. I have one shot to make this. I grab the rock, and dangle from the top of the falls. I have to move smart, one wrong move and I plunge into the water again.

I somehow manage to use the last bit of strength I have and pull myself onto the rock that was shaking as bad as I was. I jump to the dirt as the rock tumbles, and I hear a giant splash at the bottom. I am in the woods! I can use my senses to hopefully find my way back to where I hope I can lead up. I hope this path can lead back to my second home that I now call my Escape.

It does not take me long to find out that this place was not far from a river! My small wooden plastic Escape was near a river? I have to use that as an advantage now if I need a quick route to get out of here. I don't go up into the small house yet. I scan my surroundings, and then peer through the plastic windows just to make sure the coast was clear.

I see that no damage was done to the place, so that makes me feel a little relieved. I keep my mind alert just in case. I grab everything that I feel I need. I grab my guitar (which had all of my music, poems, and my picture of my family from earlier) and bat and radio. I grab a small duffle from the corner that I had, but I feel I need something else. I think I need to go back... I need to be careful, but I need to go back. I need to go back to my first "home" where all of this trouble started. I need to know what I can do. Where I can go. If I can be safe.

My mind hasn't stopped thinking, and my heart has not stopped pounding since this morning. Last night everything was in slow mode, but as soon as my eyes opened and I hear a yell from that guy, everything has been on edge.

I take my stuff, and I go down from the few steps. I walk a little then look back at what I called my Escape. If this is the last time I see this place, I want a good picture of it to remember in my head forever. I turn away for this time away from my place hoping it won't be the last, but I cannot be certain. I am not certain of anything right now. My life is unknown of what is going to happen right now.

I run away like the song that was on the radio said, the rest of the world won't break as I make my escape.

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I walk back for what might have been an hour. I notice from the angle of the sun slightly. It is hard to tell for there are occasional clouds blocking the rays, but I am just estimating. I learned to tell time from sun and stars, the date by the moon, and how to find my way around. It is easy to learn as I have all the time in the world when I was not doing chores for Sophia. Now I do have all the time in the world.

It is not hot out, but it is a little muggy from the storm last night. Me being wet does not help, and everything feels heavy as I carry it.

I am almost home, I think, I am almost home.

Or at least what I used to call home, for I do not know what to expect when I get there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I get home, but I do not go around to take the front door. I take the back. I have the woods in the back of my house that I just came through, so I head to a tree nearby and hide my guitar, bat and small radio in my duffle behind a tree.

Then I climb the tree near my room, and I use this way because I do not know if there are guys in my house. It all seems quiet, but I do not let my guard down. I am cautious as I find my room window unlocked. I jump through the window, and I find everything like it was when I left it.

I quickly change into dry T-shirt and jeans. I throw a couple pairs of shorts, couple T-shirts and a sweatshirt in a larger duffle bag and cautiously walk down the stairs listening intently.

I don't hear anything, but I am still walking and watching. I walk to the kitchen because I haven't eaten since we had pizza last night. My stomach is turning from all of this that is going on and confusion and frustration and sadness that I don't feel like eating, but I am going to need energy later if I am going without any sense of where I'm traveling to.

I grab a bagel and then stuff the rest of the bag of them in my bag. I grab bag of animal crackers, protein bars my dad keeps in the cupboard, and a bunch of things that don't need the fridge.

I then look over at the letter that was burned last night right under my nose. I bend down and try to make out any of the words that were written on there, but I don't have any luck as the entire thing is just black. There is not a single word I can make out, and this I feel I cannot take anymore. I cannot stay here though if anybody decides to come back.

I speak soon enough as soon as I get to the top of the steps and end up in my room, I hear the door burst open. I hear there are guys shouting, and my heart is pounding in my chest. All emotions are on go now, but I cannot allow them to control me or I won't be able to stop. If I do, I will go into shut down mode, and I'll never get out of here. I calm myself and tell myself I'll be able to listen to music later. Looking forward to listening to music later will calm me now.

I try to move as quickly and as quietly as I can. I open up the window and climb on the tree with my bigger duffle in my hand. I climb around to the other side of the tree where I can't be seen from the downstairs window. I can here lots of crashing from inside, but I cannot allow it to bother me as I grab my bigger duffle and put it on my back around my shoulder, my smaller duffle in my left hand, and carry my guitar in my right hand.

Where I am going is a question I cannot answer for I do not know either. I could walk for days or weeks and not know where to start to look for anyone in my family. I have cousins or aunts and uncles, but they live in other states, and I do not know how I would get to any of them. They live far away but for now I think I'll just walk and see where my feet take me.

After a while, my feet start to get tired, and I do not know where I am. It all looks like road, and I feel this is going to be a loooooong journey. I can't stop believing that something good might happen, but it is going to be hard. So far I keep thinking of everything that has been going wrong, and I don't know where to go.

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I keep walking, and I feel like it's the end of the road. There is a long way for me to go out to no where, but I need to sit. All of this that I am carrying is getting heavy. I am in this town that I do not recognized. I have been walking a long time, and I do not know where I am. I go to sit down on the nearest bench to rest myself.

I pull out my radio and my earbuds that I use all the time. I keep them in my backpack all the time to block out the world. When I am at school nobody pays attention to me. I am invisible. Well I am not completely invisible, but I might as well be. I do not want to hear the conversations that go on, so I just block them out with my music. The music I listen to is like Demi Lovato, Jonas Brothers, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift and some artists/bands like that, but I feel that I need other music. I just don't want to spend the time looking for any music that will give me false hope for anything. I just try to fill my head with noise to block out anything that makes me feel invisible. It keeps me under control too, and that is why I like the notes and the strings I can play that sit beside me. It is all an escape for me. People would call me a nerd because I think I am smart, and I would be called old for carrying around a radio instead of the new fancy phones at which I do not have. For some reason my dad didn't want me to have a phone or anything like that. I am confused by his ways sometimes, but the thing that helps me the most is my guitar. I would just leave it somewhere for it is the heaviest thing I am carrying right now, but something deep inside is saying do not leave it. Somehow it has became a part of me I cannot let go no matter how heavy it is sometimes.

Then a song comes on again that I recognize from before, but it feels different than before..... it was the same song again as before!!! There is one voice I recognize or at least I think I do... it can't be. No, it can't be. No, no way. I was about to hear who the song was by when my battery died!!! The radio announcer literally just said, "And that song was...." and my battery died. Dumb radio battery. I throw it in my small duffle bag as I start to lose it. I don't have my mom, my dad, my home, and now I don't have my music or anything. I don't have my Escape.

Wait... I do have some music. I pull out my guitar.

I was about to start playing when my heart was full of confusion. I don't know if I should be or not, but I am terrified. I heard a voice that nearly made me jump...

"I've been looking for you everywhere."