The Unknown

xxx.

I shot off the couch, my mind ablaze with panic.

Jade was still lying on the floor, evidently unconscious. Jessie's eyes were wide open, but it looked like he'd also just awoken, judging by how he was slumped sideways on the couch. He stared into the kitchen, then met my gaze with a strange expression, like his lips were resisting a smile that his eyes couldn't hide.

Before I knew what hit me, a short figure rushed into the room, paused for a split second in the entrance, then embraced me in a warm, vanilla-perfumed hug. I was frozen stiff, my brain struggling to catch up with my surroundings. Then realization hit, and my legs nearly collapsed out of shock. 

"Oh, Tess," my mother sobbed into my shoulder, "I thought I'd never see you again."

Burning tears began to streak down my face, and my breaths came in muffled gasps. My mother loosened her grip to gaze into my eyes, my own watery blue irises reflected back at me, then embraced me even tighter.

After a minute, she stepped back and surveyed me from head to foot, barely masking a startled reaction. "My...have you been starving? I could cook something for you...and your friends." For the first time, she acknowledged the presence of the two strangers in her living room. I glanced over my shoulder at them. The smile had won out on Jessie's face, but Jade was rubbing her forehead, her eyes closed.

"We, er...helped ourselves, actually," Jessie said. "My compliments to the chef," he added, evoking an amused smile from my mother.

"Oh, perfect." My mother glanced at me hopefully. "Then we can...catch up for a bit?"

"I..." I trailed off. "I'm not sure how long we can stay—"

"Nonsense, Tess," Jade interrupted, throwing her arms into the air. "It's a family reunion! Sit down, tell her everything." 

I did my best to ignore her while my mother stared at me, pleading. "I've been safe," I explained. "I've been with friends. And I'll keep running as long as I need—"

I was cut off by a blaring screech that tore through the house, so loud that I automatically clamped my hands over my ears. We all stared at each other in a moment of pure dread, still as stone. It was a citywide lockdown alarm.

Jade seemed to come to her senses at once, shooting upright. "We need to go, now," she said, slinging a backpack we'd stuffed with supplies over her shoulder. "They know we've escaped. Our former homes might be the very first place they look for us."

My mother and I gazed at each other with countless unspoken questions in our eyes. "I've got to go now. I...I love you. I wish I could..." I trailed off hopelessly, staring at her anguished face, not wanting to hurt her any further. Then Jessie cuffed my wrist with his big, calloused hand, and began to drag me toward the door. My eyes broke contact with my mother only when we passed through the threshold.

Outside, the siren grew louder, drowning out all else. Blinded by the harsh glare of sunlight, I distinctly felt everything I'd longed to return to for years once again slipping out of reach. Jessie released me, and I worked hard to make my legs run despite the feeling that they'd crumple underneath me at any moment.

Ahead, Jade teetered dangerously but managed to stay on her feet. We sprinted down the quiet suburban streets without aim, doing our best to act casual whenever a car passed. Eventually, the blaring siren choked off; everyone was now supposed to be hidden within their safe, locked houses. 

At last, we spotted a grove in the distance—a dense patch of wilderness at the edge of a small park—and ran for it. Moments later, surrounded on all sides by leafless birch trees with flaking white bark, we were at least moderately concealed.

"What now? What do we do?" Jessie questioned, panting heavily.

No one answered, but all eyes settled on me. Begrudgingly, I stepped up to take the role of unspoken leader.

"Don't panic," I instructed, even though I was doing exactly that internally. "It might not seem like it, but we're doing okay. We've got plenty of supplies." 

I paused to take a deep breath, struggling to formulate a plan on the fly. After a moment of thought, I continued, "We'll lay low until tomorrow, then one of us can go to the meetup point. I'll volunteer," I added, noting their reluctant expressions. "If I don't come back, you two should carry on. Otherwise, I'll tell everyone to meet near the border at night, under the cover of darkness. We'll jump the fence and find somewhere new to settle. Then, I suppose things will...go back to normal."

My last words disconcerted me as I spoke them. Normal was not back with my merry band of runaways, as much as I enjoyed their company—it was at home with my family. But I had decided, for my parents' happiness and safety, that I could never show my face there again.

As we settled into our temporary hiding spot, I had the unfortunate opportunity to stew on my brief final exchange with my mother. "I didn't want any of that to happen," I spoke aloud to no one in particular. "I didn't want to give her false hope that I could ever stay. Now it's worse than ever before...Like slashing open a wound that had just healed." 

I paced between two tall trees, tugging at the roots of my hair. My frustration found a target as I whirled toward Jade. "You've made everything so much more difficult. Why did you have to suggest we go to my house?"

She merely stumbled, half-falling to the ground and resting her head against a tree trunk. Jessie sat down beside her, rifling through his pack for stashed food.

I ground my teeth with pent up emotion, but eventually swallowed my anger and joined them on the opposite side of the tree. This was intentional, to maintain a 360-degree view of our surroundings—just as Kyle would have done.