~1~

Prologue
“Mummy, mummy!” Harry shouts at
me, tugging at my sleeve. Once I turn
around, he looks at me, suddenly shy.
He twiddles his thumbs and whispers,
“Mummy, can you tell it again?” I
sigh. Could a child never get enough
of one story? Although I always told
him, how could I not? It was such a
major part of my life, without it he
wouldn’t be alive. Neither would I
really, inside. To him it is just another
~2~
made up story; to me it was my life. I
always left out the sad bits though;
he’s only five after all.
I don’t feel like telling it to him today
though. November the seventh is a
sad day for us. Of course Harry
doesn’t know that part of the story,
doesn’t who he’s named Harry after.
I’ll tell him one day. Not today though.
That’s why I’m writing this book. So
one day, when I’m finished, he’ll be
able to read it and finally understand.
My life. The important part at least.

~2~
 Chapter One
Suddenly, I found myself being
thrown onto a hard, cold, dusty floor. I
~3~
was shivering all over. What had
happened? One second I was sitting,
lazily reading a book in the
suffocating heat of my room, and the
next I was laying face down on the
floor of what seemed to be an old
cellar.
I sat up and looked around cautiously.
That is when I realised I was not
alone. The first child I saw was a girl,
about seven years old, and she was
staring at me. Her blue eyes were
wide with curiosity and her pale
blonde hair was wild and dirty. Her
skin was unusually pale and she
looked very worn out but, ignoring her
altered skin colour and poor state of
health, I realised that I recognised
her. It was as if I had seen her before,
but could not quite work out where. I
decided that I would remember
eventually, and decided to investigate
more. I turned my eye to another
~4~
child, about ten years older than the
last. This boy also had fair hair and
light eyes but his gaze was not very
inviting so I turned away quickly
before I got to analyse him further.
What I saw next terrified me. Sitting
next to a small, dripping tap was a girl
who must have been about sixteen
and at first sight looked like a ghost!
You could see her thin bones through
her almost see through skin and her
light blonde hair hung loose over her
bony shoulders. She was wearing a
very torn, dirty white silk dress. The
only thing that finally assured me she
was not actually a ghost was her
eyes. They were bright blue and
unaltered by her stay in this dreadful
place.
I was scared to investigate any
further and decided just to ponder
over where I had seen these children
before. I had been home schooled so I
~5~
wouldn’t have seen then around
school and I was hardly ever let out as
my nurse did not have enough time to
be chasing me up every few minutes.
The only times I was let out was when
I went for a walk with my nurse. I had
been used to my lonely life, and had
always been pleased at getting
whatever I wanted, although I always
felt something was missing. I was
getting sidetracked; I needed to get
back to the point.
Then it hit me. These children had
been advertised as missing on
lampposts, milk cartons and on TV.
These children had gone missing, and
now so had I.
*****
I sat there, considering this point and,
when I realised how serious the
situation and was on the brink of
crying, looked up. The boy was still
giving me a defiant look. I was taken
~6~
aback, and what he said next shocked
me even more.
“You know, when most people enter a
room they at least introduce
themselves, they don’t just sit there
staring at us like we’re circus freaks!”
“Keeran, have you looked in the
mirror lately!” a voice to my left
spoke. I turned to see it was a boy,
about my age, with dark hair and
brown friendly eyes. I recognised him
as Harry Billington. He had been on
the news only a month before,
reported missing. Keeran interrupted
my thoughts by exclaiming bitterly,
“What mirror?”
“Just stop it, you’re making Alex
nervous!” exclaimed the young girl. I
decided that I didn’t want to know
what she meant, or who Alex was. It
was all strange enough already.
“OK. So what’s your name?” Harry
asked nicely.
~2~
“Err…” I paused, feeling stupid for
forgetting my own name. I’d only
been there five minutes and the dimly
lit, dusty room had made me forget
my own name. Who knew what else I
could forget, my parents, my home,
my nurse. I shivered at the thought.
“Hurry up, we don’t have all day!”
Keeran prompted rudely.
“Well, we do.” Harry smiled. How
could you smile in a situation like
this? “So, what is it?”
“Jess,” I decided, though I still wasn’t
sure, “my name is Jess.”
“Jess. Pretty name. I’m Harry, he’s
Keeran,” he jerked his thumb at
Keeran who glared at me then turned
away, “That’s Abby,” he pointed at
the little girl who smiled and waved at
me, “That’s Maya and the girl next to
her is Shelly” he nodded at the ghost-
like girl, who smiled but her friend

~2~
ignored me totally, “and then there’s
Alex, behind you.”
I swivelled round and instantly
blushed. The contrast between his
Dark hair and green eyes was
stunning. He was so mysterious and
good looking, and what’s more, he
was staring right back at me. My
breath caught in my throat and for a
second, I was completely unable to
speak.
*****
Once I had caught my breath back, I
asked a question I had been meaning
to ask my whole time here.
“Where are we?”
“You don’t want to know.” Harry’s
answer just made me more
determined to find out. I was scared.
How were they all acting so calm?
“I do!” I exclaimed, hoping to get my
point across.

~2~
It was Alex who answered my
question this time. I didn’t dare turn
to look at him, as I was scared I would
concentrate on the way his lips
moved more than the actual words he
was saying, and I had to know.
“Ok,” he paused, probably wondering
how to explain. I imagined him biting
his lip at that moment, puzzling over
how to put this in a way that wouldn’t
frighten me and a shiver went
through my body. How could I like
someone so much when I had only
Just met them? I did though, there
was no denying it. He was perfect.
“We are trapped in a cellar.” He
explained carefully, interrupting my
thoughts, “Every so often people take
us away and do experiments on us.
None of us really know what they do,
because they put you to sleep before.
They feed us one piece of bread to
share a day, if that. We have to drink
~2~
out of a dirty tap. We’ve tried to
escape but it’s no use. Then they lock
us away on our own for a week with
no food or drink. There used to be
more of us but they… disappeared.” I
knew what he meant. They had been
taken away, and probably killed. I
nodded, unable to speak. I felt his
hand hover over my shoulder then,
when Harry whispered at him to let
me have a moment, it being
withdrawn. In any other
circumstances, I would have kicked
Harry but I was in a state of shock
and unable to move.
A tear rolled down my cheek. Then
another. Before long I was sobbing
uncontrollably, not bothered about
the fact that I was being watched by
six other people. I felt someone lean
down beside me and put their arm
around my shoulder.

~3~
“It’s Ok. Take deep breaths.
Everything is fine. I will not let them
hurt you.” He whispered into my ear. I
shrugged him off and jumped up.
“No it’s not! It’s not Ok at all! How
can you even pretend…? We both
know that we’re in serious danger.” I
ignored the voice inside me that was
telling me to shut up and let him hold
me, “And how exactly are you
planning on stopping them hurting
me? There’s got to be at least six of
them, and they’ll be grown adults,
trained to deal with un co-operative
kids, how are you going to beat them?
Get real! And it’s all very well you
saying it’ll be fine but I don’t see you
making any plans for us to escape.”
He sighed,
“I told you, it’s impossible.”
“Well, I’m not just going to sit here
and do nothing because some stupid
person got it into their head that
~4~
kidnapping a load of helpless kids was
a good idea! Now unless you have
some excellent plan on how to get out
of here I suggest you don’t tell me
everything’s fine, because it isn’t.”
On the last word I collapsed to the
floor, crying uncontrollably. Alex put
both arms around me and held me
tight, stopping me from lashing out.
Even though I was still upset, I
couldn’t help feeling embarrassed by
my outburst. Now there was
absolutely no way he would want to
even be friends with me, let alone feel
the same way I felt about him. My
pain doubled. Not only had I lost my
family and my home, I had now also
lost any hope of fitting in in this
strange place. I felt Alex wince
slightly.
“What.” I sniffed, looking up at his
perfect face. How could one person
be so perfect? I had watched TV at
~2~
home and read magazines, but I had
never come across anyone quite like
him.
“Of course you belong” he insisted. I
had forgotten my question; I didn’t
even remember asking one. I’m sure I
had been thinking in my head, how
did he hear?
“How do you… oh never mind.” I
couldn’t take any more shock in one
day. I just leaned my head against his
shoulder and tried, unsuccessfully, to
get some sleep.

~3~
 Chapter Two
The door banged open and Alex
jumped. He had clearly had more luck
sleeping than me. My head slipped off
his shoulder and into his lap. I looked
up, expecting to see Alex’s face
smiling down at me, but instead saw
him staring at the door, panic
stricken. I sat up and looked around
to what all the fuss was about. In the
doorway stood a huge, bald, fierce
looking man snarling at us. He looked
around and his gaze settled on me.
He chucked a piece of bread on the
floor, without averting his gaze, and
then walked over to me.
“You’re the newcomer aren’t you?
Don’t get too used to this place,
you’re coming with me!” He growled
~4~
at me in a low, menacing voice. On
the last word, he grabbed me by my
pyjama top and pulled me away.
My feet dragged along the floor as I
stared back at the others. Abby, Maya
and Harry were staring back at me, a
little worried but not surprised. I
guess this was a regular event for
them. Shelly and Keeran were just
sitting there as if nothing had
happened but Alex, only just got over
his panic, tried to mouth what was
happening. I wasn’t very good at lip
reading so all I saw was “They…
tests…fine.” As I was pulled up the
stairs, I hoped this wasn’t the last
time I ever saw them again.
*****
I was thrown onto a white table in a
large white room. People in white lab
coats started prodding me and writing
things down.
“Hey,” I shouted, “Leave off!”
~5~
One of the people said in a mocking
voice “Ooh, she’s feisty. We’ll soon fix
that.” I didn’t even want to know what
he meant. The man walked away and
I heard a draw opening. He came
back holding a small blue pill.
“Open wide!” he exclaimed. I pushed
my lips together so hard they went
blue, like the pill, and shook my head
hard. He held my nose so I couldn’t
breathe. I opened my mouth a tiny bit
in the corner and struggled to
breathe. He stuffed his finger into the
corner of my mouth, his finger tasted
of chemicals and rubber, and prising
my jaw open. He quickly dropped the
pill into it and held my mouth shut. I
had no choice but to swallow.
I felt woozy. My vision started
blurring. Light danced in front of my
eyes, none of it making sense. I could
hardly see what was going on, and I
felt dizzy and sick. Just before I fell
~2~
unconscious, I heard one of them
mutter quietly,
“Wow, I know what he meant. She is
special.”
*****
I opened my eyes slowly, aware of the
throbbing pain spreading through my
body. Was I at home? Had this all
been a dream? The pain suggested
otherwise, but I may have fallen out
of my bed. I wasn’t sure how I felt
about that theory. I would certainly
not miss that dingy cellar, and I could
live without those horrible scientists.
However, the friendships I had formed
would stay with me forever. I had
hardly been there a day and I already
felt at home. Alex, Abby, Harry, Maya,
I would even miss Keeran’s bitterness
and Shelly’s ignorance. How could I
go from a place where I had friends
who cared about me, back to my

~3~
lonely world where no one gave a
damn?
“Please let it be real, please let it be
real.” I muttered to myself.
Finally my vision cleared and I could
see Alex staring worriedly down at
me. I sighed out of relief, but also
annoyance. I was with the people I
loved, but in a place I despised. I tried
to sit up but was pushed back down.
“You need some sleep” Alex
whispered, then added to himself
“god knows what they did to you.” I
ignored his last comment and
nodded, though I knew I wouldn’t be
able to sleep. What had they done to
me? I had no idea. All I knew was that
I had to say something to him before
he went. I had to let him know that I
appreciated his help.
“Alex,” I whispered, loud enough for
only him to hear.

~2~
“Yes?” He replied in his soft, beautiful
voice. Just hearing it convinced me he
would take no notice of whatever I
had to say.
“Thanks.” I muttered meekly. He
nodded. It hadn’t come out quite as
gratefully as I had wished it to.
*****
I lay there pretending to be asleep. It
was impossible to get to sleep with
the uneven dripping of the tap and
everything that was on my mind.
Everyone was asleep, except me,
Maya and Shelly. Shelly was just
sitting there, staring into space, and
Maya seemed to be talking to herself
but, it was very strange, she seemed
to be saying half a conversation and
waiting for an answer that, as far as
I’m aware, never came.
“What do you think,” she started. I
had never heard her voice before. It
was very quiet, almost a whisper. I
~2~
had to strain my ears to hear her and
even then I didn’t understand. Also,
this struck me as a weird way to start
a conversation.
“I know what you mean. He thinks
about her a lot, and she adores him.”
Who adores who, I wondered. She
paused for a second, as if awaiting an
answer, then whispered “Yes, but it
really is none of our business.” She
waited a few seconds, and then
ended the conversation. “Yes, now
let’s get some sleep.” And with that
she lay her head down carefully on
the stone floor and, after a few
minutes, was quietly snoring.
I longed to hear the other side of that
conversation.
*****
After a few hours of tossing and
turning, I was finally asleep.
I was standing on a vast blue
landscape. I looked around; there was
~2~
nothing but the blue, hard ground and
me. Suddenly the ground disappeared
and I was falling through the dark,
cold air. A voice whispered to me,
“All is not what it seems, it seems, it
seems,
While you lay there engulfed in your
dreams, your dreams, your dreams,
A child above you surely cries, it cries,
it cries,
You are lost in a world full of lies, of
lies, of lies,
You have been sent to save them all,
them all, them all,
Save them quickly or you will
FALLLLLLLL”
*****
I woke up quickly, coated in a layer of
sweat. I sat up promptly, ignoring the
throbbing pain in my head, and,
breathing rapidly, looked around me.
Everyone was asleep except… where
was Abby? I wiped the sweat off my
~2~
face with my sleeve, brushed my hair
out of my eyes and crawled over to
Alex, not trusting myself to stand
upright. I tapped him on the shoulder
and, ignoring the electricity running
through my body when I touched him,
leant down and whispered into his
ear,
“Where’s Abby.” He took a second to
realise what I was asking. When he
did, he sat up and looked me in the
eyes, although his were barely open.
My heart raced.
“They took her about an hour ago.
You were fast asleep so I told the
others not to wake you. To be honest,
I didn’t think you would ever be able
to get to sleep after the day you have
had, so I didn’t want to risk waking
you and you not being able to get
back to sleep.” He muttered sleepily. I
was about to tell him about my
dream, but decided against it. The
~2~
dream had seemed somewhat
personal. I didn’t feel right telling
anyone, even Alex. I just had a feeling
it was something I couldn’t share, like
it wasn’t mine to share, like... like it
was, I don’t know, put into my head
by someone else? Something I
needed to know. Something
important. Something I needed for the
future.

~3~
 Chapter Three
As I was washing my hair under the
dirty tap, unsuccessfully I’d like to
point out, it was impossible, I thought
about my old life. At home I was quite
an ordinary girl really. The only times
I came across circumstances like this
was in books. I never dreamed I would
be in this situation. But, it’s weird,
although we are in this horrible place
with dreadful people doing terrible
experiments on us, I feel more at
home than I ever did in my actual
home. I fit in more here than I ever
have anywhere else. At home I was
ignored, only acknowledged when my
parents work friends came round and
my parents wanted to make a good
impression. I would have to come
downstairs and my mother would
proceed to tell everyone how
“brilliantly” I was getting on with my
Spanish, I don’t even learn Spanish,
~4~
and how she had paid hundreds of
pounds for me to go to a private
school, I had never actually been to
school in my life, I was tutored at
home, and not very well I might add. I
turned the tap off and sat leaning
against the filthy wall, pulling my legs
up closer to me and hugging them
like I used to hug my teddy bear when
I was seven. Even so, I couldn’t help
missing my parents. They were such a
big part of my life, and now I might
never see them again.
“Don’t worry.” Alex consoled, “You’ll
see them again soon, I promise.” I
wondered how he knew what I was
thinking, but then decided I must
have been thinking aloud to myself.
How else would he know? My
thoughts were interrupted again by
the sound of the door banging open. I
saw Abby flying through it. I could
think of nothing, other than
~5~
preventing that little girls’ head from
hitting the hard floor. I stood up and
ran over to where I knew she would
fall if I didn’t catch her. I didn’t think
what I was doing was unusual. So,
when I had caught her and lay her
down carefully on the dust covered
floor, I was astonished to turn around
and see every-one gawping at me.
“What?” I asked. I hadn’t really done
anything special. I mean, she had
come at me quite slowly and she was
a small girl, hardly difficult to carry.
Saving a little girl from falling was
more logical than amazing! These
were strange people if they wouldn’t
even have tried to save her!
Alex looked around at the others.
They nodded at him to tell me.
“Erm… You… Abby… really fast.
How…” he stopped and took a deep
breath. “You… you ran like really fast.
I didn’t even see you get up and you
~6~
were already over there. She was
flying at you at such a speed… and
you just caught her. You didn’t even
fall or anything. How did you… How
did you do that?”
“Do what? I didn’t do anything. She
was going really slow, and she’s really
light. I didn’t do anything special.
Come on, any-one could have done
that.” I stuttered. It wasn’t true. He
had to be lying! I wasn’t special.
“No. Only you, and I’m not lying. Ask
anyone.” I turned around and looked
at all the others. They all nodded
slowly, even Keeran and Shelly. How
could this be happening? I’m not
special. I’m not!
Suddenly, I felt myself falling… then
nothing.
*****
I was falling through darkness again.
The voice was starting whispering to
me again, faster this time. More
~2~
urgent, like it had something
important to tell me before I woke up
again.
“These children have powers, as do
you, you, you,
They have powers, you never knew,
knew, knew,
Maya reads minds; Abby sends
thoughts, thoughts, thoughts,
Alex reads feelings, he knows when
you’re distraught, distraught,
distraught,
Harry talks to animals and Keeran can
fight, fight, fight,
Shelly knows when you lie, but why’s
she uptight, uptight, uptight...”
*****
I opened my eyes, annoyed that I had
been woken when the voice had been
about to tell me something important.
I groaned. The small light bulb was
shining right into my eyes. Suddenly,
the light disappeared. My eyes
~2~
adjusted to the sudden darkness, and
I realised it was because someone
was leaning over me. At first I thought
it was Alex and my heart jumped into
my throat. Then I realised it was only
Maya.
“Alex was watching over you, but you
have been unconscious for quite a
while and he hasn’t slept in ages!
He’s really worried about you
though.” She muttered. I grunted, not
quite feeling up to a whole sentence
just yet.
“He… he likes you too.” She stated.
My cheeks burned but I tried to hide
it. I didn’t even know if I liked him yet,
so how could she? I mean he was
perfect, and wonderful, and caring,
and...
“I…I don’t know what you mean.” I
lied. It was worth a shot.
“Alex. He likes you too.” She
repeated, matter-of-factly. I didn’t
~2~
know what to say, maybe I did like
him. However, even if I did I wasn’t
going to admit it straight away, was I?
“Yes…” I said carefully, wondering
what to say, “But I like you all. You’re
like the only friends I’ve ever had!” I
hated admitting that but it was true,
and the only way to distract her from
the Alex conversation.
“You know what I mean.” She
insisted. Then, turning to Alex, she
whispered, “He’s dreaming about
you.” I turned and looked at him. He
looked so peaceful and untroubled.
There was no anxious look in his eyes,
he just looked like a normal, trouble
free, boy. When he was awake,
however, you could see in his eyes
that he was worried about what would
happen in here. He was scared, I
know he wouldn’t admit it if he asked
but he was. I could tell.

~2~
How could Maya tell what he was
dreaming anyway? Suddenly, I
remembered the dream.
“Maya reads minds.” so she knows
what he’s dreaming? What if Maya
could see my dreams? Did she know
that I had to save them? She wasn’t
letting on if she did.
“Maya… Can you see my dreams
too?” I asked carefully. I didn’t want
her to know but, in a way, it would be
nice if someone else knew what I was
going through. There might not be
quite as much pressure on me.
“No, it’s strange. Sometimes I can’t
read your thoughts at all. Sometimes
everything just goes blank. Do you
know why that is?” She asked.
“No,” I lied, although I knew exactly
why it was. Someone was tampering
with my thoughts so that no-one
found out about my responsibility. I
shivered. Some-one was controlling
~3~
my thoughts. Some-one was sending
that voice to my dreams.
My thoughts were interrupted when
Abby stood up and walked clumsily
over to me.
“I can’t sleep” she murmured.
“Come here,” I whispered, pulling her
onto my lap. I sang a lullaby that my
old nurse used to sing to me when I
was a baby. The nurse had died when
I was only five and was replaced by
the mean old woman who my parents
hired next. I missed Darcy, my old
nurse. I don’t remember much about
her but what I do remember is always
nice. She used to sneak me chocolate
and read my books at night. She gave
me the love a child needs to be
brought up with, unlike my parent or
my new nurse. None of them cared
about me. Darcy did. So, I sang the
song that Darcy used to sing to me to

~2~
get me to sleep. It always worked. I
always obeyed Darcy.
“Go to sleep,
Go to sleep.
When you wake up,
A new day will dawn.
So the sooner you sleep,
The sooner you wake,
The sooner you can get up,
And enjoy a new day.” She was
asleep before I had finished but I still
held her tight realising there was no
chance of her enjoying the next day.
She would still be here, in this cellar,
without food, drink, family. She was
younger as well. As I said earlier,
children need love. She wasn’t getting
enough, but then again, who was to
say she would have got any more at
home? If her parents were anything
like mine, she would feel, like me,
more loved here than she ever had in
her life.
~3~
 *****
The door swung open and I jumped.
Abby was awake again and we both
looked over at the door. Standing
there, smirking was the man who had
dragged me out of this room only a
few hours earlier. He said nothing,
just walked over to Alex, who had
only just woken up, and picked him
up, by his hair.
“Hey! I can walk you know!” he
screamed, while kicking the man’s
shins. The man didn’t react; he just
dragged Alex up the stairs and
slammed the door behind him.

~1~
 Chapter Four
When I first met Alex and he was
telling me about this place, he said
that some of the people who had
been taken here had “disappeared”. I
keep replaying that sentence in my
head. What if Alex doesn’t come
back? Isn’t it strange how when
you’re waiting for something to
happen, time seems to go slower?
Time dragged on and every second of
it I wished I had gone after him or
done something, anything.
“It’s not your fault.” Maya whispered
into my ear. I had gotten so used to
her creeping up on me that I didn’t
react. “They would have taken him
~2~
whatever you did, and he would have
hated it if you’d got hurt. Don’t cry.
He’ll be…” she stopped talking as
Keeran walked over.
“Hey Jess, what’s going on between
you and Alex? He’s always staring at
you and you’re upset that he’s gone.
He is coming back you know...” He
exclaimed. I blushed and looked
down, not knowing what to say.
Lucking Maya answered for me,
“Mind your own business Keeran!”
she scolded. Thank you I thought,
knowing she could hear me. She
turned and nodded at me, smiling.
“Calm down, I was only asking.”
Keeran muttered, walking away. I
knew he could have started a fight,
and easily won, if he wanted to. He
obviously cared more about his
friends than he let on.
That realisation still hadn’t distracted
me from my worrying about Alex and,
~3~
as I sat and sobbed quietly, Maya
hugged me. Her arms somehow didn’t
feel right around me. Only Alex’s did
and ever would.
*****
“Jess, Abby is crying. I think I should
go over and see her.” Maya let go and
her arms were replaced by a new,
warmer, more comfortable pair of
arms. It still didn’t feel right though. I
turned to see who it was and saw
Harry staring at me.
“I don’t get why you’re so upset.” he
muttered. “You weren’t this upset
when Abby disappeared.”
“It’s different.” I whispered my voice
hoarse from crying so much.
“How’s it different.” He asked. Why
did he care so much?
“It just… It just is.” I whispered back
then burst into tears again. Why was I
worried? Abby came back so why
wouldn’t Alex? It wasn’t so much that
~2~
I didn’t think he would come back, I
thought, it was the thought of not
having him hold me when I’m upset.
The thought of not having him near
when something important happened.
The thought of not having him
altogether, I realised. Oh dear. What
was going on? I couldn’t love him
could I? I hardly knew him! He was so
perfect though, different than the
others. He cared about me, wanted to
protect me. But still, it was too soon...
wasn’t it? Oh god, I thought. I need to
stop thinking about him. As if he knew
what I were thinking, Harry whispered
into my ear,
“You should get some sleep.” I
nodded. That was the one sure fire
way to stop thinking of Alex, but did I
really want to think about what I knew
was coming next?
*****

~2~
I was falling again and the voice
finished off its last poem,
“You are here to save your friends,
friends, friends,
But if you tell them your power will
end, end, end.”
A bang woke me up. Alex was flying
right at me looking worried. “You are
here to save your friends” the voice
rang in my ears.
I stood up quickly and he landed right
in my arms. He was right, I didn’t
even topple over. Looking into his
face, those eyes, those lips, he was
perfect, I realised how much I loved
him, and how much worse it would be
if I fell in love with him anymore. I
collapsed to the floor, let go of him
and blinked, trying not to cry. I’m
going to start getting a reputation as
a cry baby I thought, but why does it
matter. Nothing matters but him. I
couldn’t hold in my tears any longer,
~1~
so I muttered something about going
to sleep and lay down, burying my
head into my arms and cried. I
thought he had gone, but after a
minute or so he talked,
“Jess, are you Ok? Why are you
crying, and why are you hiding it from
me? Maybe I could help.” He seemed
concerned. I couldn’t tell him why I
was really upset, so I muttered
something about missing my family,
and not wanted to bother him about it
again.
“Don’t worry, I don’t mind. I like
comforting you. I… oh don’t worry.”
He was obviously going to tell me
something, but had decided against
it. It was probably just something to
do with his family, so I sat up and
prompted him.
“So, what was your family like?” I
asked, trying not to look into his eyes.

~2~
I didn’t want to start crying again,
especially not in front of him.
“Erm… I didn’t really get the feeling
they cared about me. I know it’s
horrible to say but… I didn’t really
love them. I hardly ever saw them
and when I did they ignored me. It
was like I didn’t exist.”
He just summed up my feelings
exactly. I was astonished.
“What about you?” he asked
carefully, not wanting to upset me
again.
“Exactly the same.” I said smiling.
“Then why were you upset?” I looked
over at Maya for help. She nodded.
“Jess can you come over here a
second?” she shouted at me, winking.
“Can it wait?” Alex asked.
“No, it can’t. Sorry.” Shouted Maya. I
smiled apologetically at Alex and
walked over to Maya.
*****
~3~
“Thanks,” I said.
“Don’t mention it. So, what’s going on
there?” she nodded towards Alex and
my heart skipped a beat.
“Oh leave it Maya.” I really didn’t
want to talk about this right.
“Ok. But if you ever need to talk…”
“I know where you are.” I finished
bitterly. I was being really horrible to
Maya, I know, but I wasn’t really in
the mood for talking. I looked over at
Alex and he was staring at me
intently. “What’s he thinking?” I
wondered aloud.
“I thought you wanted me to leave it.”
Maya replied, smirking slightly. I
rolled my eyes and sighed,
“Immature child.”
“You’re one to talk.” She replied.
“What?”
“Love is childish and naïve.
Heartbreak is reality.” She sighed. I
sensed some sadness in her voice.
~1~
“What happened?” I asked. It was
obvious she wasn’t just talking
generally.
“I loved him.” She exclaimed and
burst into tears. It was my turn to
comfort her, so I put my hand on her
shoulder. I waited for her to continue.
Finally, after a few minutes of crying,
she looked up and explained.
“He was our driver, my family was
very posh you see. I was fifteen when
I was taken away. I had run away
from home because I had told my
parents about my love for Daniel.
They had completely disagreed and
had told me to split up with him
straight away, but I couldn’t. He was
four years older than me, and he was
an orphan who earnt his money from
working for us. He had been our
driver since he was seventeen, and
since we first saw each other, we
knew we had to be together. We
~1~
snuck out together all the time and
we both fell completely in love. Then,
a few years later, he proposed. We
obviously couldn’t get married
because I was only fifteen, but we
would have got married when I turned
sixteen. We both agreed that we
would have to tell my parents, but it
was a total mistake. When they said I
couldn’t, I flipped out and just ran out
the door. I didn’t wait for Daniel, I just
ran. When I had no energy, I
collapsed in the middle of the street
and cried. Then someone came,
gagged me and carried me away.
Daniel has probably found someone
else, but I’ve never stopped thinking
about him.” She burst into tears
again. I had never seen her like this
and it was somewhat disconcerting,
but I hugged her until she stopped
crying.

~2~
“Sorry. I just miss him so much.” She
said, then added quietly, “Go for it
with Alex. Trust me on this one.”
*****
I got up and walked over to Alex, still
none the wiser about what to say to
him. It turns out I didn’t have to.
“What was wrong with Maya? Is she
Ok now?” He asked, worried. I loved
how everyone cared about each other
so much here. It was a refreshing
contrast to home.
“Yeah she was just… missing home.” I
didn’t feel quite up to telling him
everything, and Maya probably
wouldn’t have wanted me to anyway.
When I looked over at her she
nodded.
“Oh, Ok. Like you.” He winked. Oh, he
knew, but I didn’t feel embarrassed or
angry. I felt so at home here, how
could I.

~1~
 Chapter Five
I looked around the dingy cellar.
Shelly was sitting in the corner on her
own, and I realised I hadn’t even
spoken a word to her since I had got
here. She seemed a bit uninviting but
I was sure first impressions could be
wrong. I stood up, attracting the
attention of the whole room as the
floor was so hard I made noise when I
~2~
walked on it. However, instead of
being embarrassed I just walked over
to Shelly and sat down next to her.
“Hello.” I exclaimed, trying to sound
as friendly as I possibly could. She
nodded and turned away. I tried not
to be discouraged, and continued.
“So, how are you?”
“How do you think I am? I’m stuck in
a cellar with hardly anything to eat or
drink with people I don’t even like!”
“Oh thanks.” I exclaimed
sarcastically, letting my anger take
over, “I’ll just go then, shall I, if you
don’t like me.” I started getting up
but she pulled me back down. Well, I
say pulled, she barely touched my
hand and gave a slight tug, nothing
that could actually make any effect
but I sat back down anyway. At least
she was making an effort.
“No!” she shouted. Well, shouting for
her was about the same volume as
~2~
normal talking for the rest of us. Then
she added quietly, “Don’t go.”
“Ok. Why are you so…” I couldn’t find
the words, so I gave up.
“Moody? Bitter? Horrible? Well…” She
hesitated, wondering whether to tell
me.
“Go on, I won’t tell anyone, I
promise.” I prompted. She paused, as
if working out whether I was telling
the truth and she obviously decided
that I was because she carried on
talking,
“Well, when I was taken away I was
pregnant. Eight and a half months
pregnant actually. I was the first one
here, so no one was there to help me
when the baby was born, then those
scientists,” she paused and a tear ran
down her cheek, “They took her
away, and I haven’t seen her since.
Now every time someone comes here
I’m bitter, because I know none of
~2~
them have got it as hard as me. I
desperately want her to be alive, but I
doubt it. She was so pretty, too good
to waste.” Tears ran down her cheeks,
and I found myself once again
comforting instead of being
comforted. After a while she had
calmed down and she smiled at me.
“Thanks.” She whispered. “I’ve never
felt comfortable enough to tell
anyone, but you’re different. I don’t
know what it is about you, but I can
trust you.” I smiled back. I couldn’t
help turning to look at Alex for a
second. He was telling Abby a story
and she was sitting in front of him
listening intently.
“You like him don’t you?” Shelly
interrupted. I was determined not to
go bright red this time, as I was used
to this question by now. Was it that
obvious?
“What?” I asked, indifferently.
~2~
“Oh get real, you’re practically
drooling over him!” I realised that I
my mouth was open as I was staring
at him, and quickly closed it.
“Am not!” I lied. Damn it! I thought.
She knows I’m lying. She gave me a
knowing look and gestured for me to
go over to him. I was going to argue
but I knew she would know I was lying
and so I gave up and stood up.
*****
As I was walking towards him, I
realised how clumsy and unsteadily
my feet were moving. Also I was sure
I was staring right at him, so I looked
away and immediately tripped over
something. I fell flat on the floor and,
though I was unhurt (presumably
because of my superhuman powers), I
was mortified! I fell over right in front
of everyone! I turned to see what I
had tripped over. I realised that
Keeran had stuck his foot out in front
~1~
of me and was now smirking at me.
Just as I was about to retaliate, but
someone was pulling me up by my
shoulder. At first I thought it was Alex,
but then I heard him say,
“No Harry, leave her. She might have
concussion.”
“Oh shut up! I didn’t hit my head at
all, and I wasn’t hurt! I just tripped
over!” I know my cheeks were flushed
red and I looked very defiant, but I
didn’t care. I wouldn’t have him
thinking I was a child. I could take
care of myself. To prove this, I stood
up quickly. A little too quickly
perhaps, as I got a head rush. I
collapsed back down on the floor and
held my head.
“See I told you that you were hurt!”
Alex ran to my side.
“I’ve got this one, mate.” Harry said,
a little competitively.

~2~
“Ok.” Alex agreed hesitantly. I looked
at him, as if to say don’t go, but he
just shrugged.
“So, your head hurts?” Harry asked. I
was still staring at Alex as I answered,
“No, it doesn’t, nothing hurts,” not
strictly true, I thought, but I don’t
think my heart counts, “I just tripped
I’m not injured at all.” I continued,
careful not to lose my temper again.
“But when you stood up you fell over
again.” Harry insisted.
“Yeah I got head rush! Now leave me
alone!” Whoops I didn’t succeed in
keeping my temper.
“Ok, I just care about you.” Oh no, I
see where this is going. “How did you
trip over anyway?”
“There seemed to be a foot blocking
my way.” I said, turning away from
Alex for a second to smirk at Keeran.
He poked his tongue out at me and I
laughed. He was a boy after all, he
~1~
couldn’t help being awkward. When I
turned and looked at Alex again he
seemed upset.
“Look, I’m fine Harry. Thanks for the
thought anyway though.” I got up and
walked over to Alex, careful not to trip
over this time.
*****
“What’s up?” I asked, sitting down
beside him.
“Nothing, just give me a second Ok?”
He sounded a bit tearful so I stayed
quiet until he talked again.
“Sorry about that. So, what is it?” he
still sounded a bit choked up.
“What’s what?”
“What do you want?”
“I wanted to see if you were Ok.” I
was really worried about him. I’d
never seen him show his emotions
before.
“Oh, it’s nothing.”

~2~
“Go on tell me. I always tell you!” I
wished I hadn’t said that.
“So why were you upset the other
day? I know you lied to me.” He
accused. I felt my face flush red.
“Stop changing the subject! I asked
why you were upset.”
“The same reason you were, maybe?”
“I doubt it!”
“Really?” he winked and my cheeks
flushed red. I shook my head. It
wasn’t possible, it really wasn’t
possible.
Suddenly his face fell. I had been so
engrossed in my thoughts that I
hadn’t heard the door open. I turned
and saw, not a big bald man, but a
thin old man with grey long hair. He
carefully set down two pieces of
bread and then beckoned me to come
with him. I looked at Alex and he gave
my hand a quick squeeze then helped
me up. I gave him a quick kiss on the
~1~
cheek then, before I could regret it,
ran through the door.

Chapter Six
“W-w-who are you?” I didn’t realise
how nervous I was until I heard my
voice. Was this what happened when
~2~
they came to take you away? Was
that why Alex’s face fell and he
squeezed my hand?
“There’s no need to worry,” he
paused and looked around then
leaned close to me and whispered,
“I’m on your side.”
“So YOU send me those dreams?” he
nodded, and then talked again in a
nearly silent whisper, assumedly so
no one would hear.
“We don’t have much time. All you
need to know from me is that I’m on
your side, and so are all the people
who do experiments on you. We give
you powers to give you a chance to
escape, so use it! There are guards
around this building, and they aren’t
on your side so you’ll need to learn to
fight! You may not see me again; I will
only come to speak to you in times of
dire need. I needed to talk to you
today because you are going off
~3~
track! Yes, you do need to be friends
with the other children, but you have
a mission, and don’t forget that. Now,
we have to go. Just remember your
mission.” With that, he stood up and
grabbed my hand. I looked around
trying to remember the route to the
way out. It was right opposite the
stairs down to our cellar. At the top of
the stairs, the man leant down slightly
and looked me in the eyes.
“Good luck.” He whispered then
hugged me and pushed me towards
the stairs. He waved, then turned and
walked away. I contemplated on
running for it then, but when I turned
and looked at the cellar door, I
realised I had a duty. How could I
leave them there?
*****
I opened the door, walked through it
and, with much hesitation, closed it
again. I turned around and saw Alex
~2~
standing opposite me. He had
obviously been pacing around, and
his hand was touching his cheek
where I had kissed him, but when he
heard the door open, he stopped. I
took a deep breath, and then he
smiled. I ran at him and jumped into
his arms. He whispered into my hair,
“I thought you weren’t coming back.”
I jumped down and grabbed hold of
both of his hands. This was it, I
thought to myself. Here goes nothing.
“I love you.” I whispered, loud enough
for him to hear, but so no one else
could. He didn’t say anything, just
swept me into his arms and kissed
me.
He pulled back for a second,
“I was hoping you would say that.” He
smiled then kissed me again.
*****
I tried to stifle a yawn but didn’t
succeed.
~2~
“You’re tired.” Alex said suddenly.
“Let’s get some sleep, we’ve had a
long day.” He smiled and laughed.
Have you ever been so happy that
you just can’t breathe? Well that’s
what I felt like. I loved him so much
my heart actually hurt. I tried to catch
my breath and closed my eyes. So
this is what love feels like? I thought. I
should be in love more often!
Suddenly I felt myself being tugged
downwards and fell into Alex’s lap. I
looked up at him and he smiled. I
snuggled up to his chest and tried to
ignore my rapidly beating heart long
enough to be able to get some sleep.
*****
I woke up the next morning from my
first dreamless sleep in days with a
satisfied grin on my face. I slowly
opened my eyes, savouring the
moment. I climbed off Alex’s lap,
careful not to wake him. I turned and
~2~
looked at his beautiful face. His dark
hair glistened in the dull light the light
bulb was casting. His fringe fell over
his closed eyes as he shifted in his
sleep. I reached up to touch his
cheek, then hesitated for a moment.
What was I afraid of? He was mine
now, we were together finally. I
reached up again and stroked his
face. He smiled in his sleep. I turned
and looked at everyone else. Abby
was curled up tight with her fists
clenched in front of her face. I think
she was a lot more vulnerable than
she let on. I turned and looked at
Keeran, who was muttering and
grunting in his sleep. As he tossed
and turned I realised how vulnerable
he actually was as well, though he
tried desperately to hide it. Harry lay
sprawled out on the floor snoring.
Maya was curled up in a ball with her
hands over her face. It must be
~2~
harder for her to keep her thoughts
away from Daniel when she was
asleep and there was no distractions,
I thought. Shelly was lying with her
hands on her stomach, where her
baby had been at one point. She also
seemed troubled, even in her sleep.
I turned back to Alex, whose eyes
were slowly opening. Once he had
fixed his gaze on me, he smiled.
Neither of us said anything, his smile
said a thousand words. I looked down,
somewhat embarrassed by the way
he was looking at me. Like I was
something special, well in his eyes I
might be but I couldn’t see it myself.
“Did you have a good night sleep?” I
asked, trying to break the silence.
“Oh yes, did you?” I allowed myself to
look up and realised he still had that
cheeky smile on his face. I couldn’t
help smiling back.

~3~
“The best.” My heart skipped a beat
as he grabbed my hand and pulled
me closer to him. He cupped my face
in his hands and leant in. He was just
about to kiss me when I heard a
cough from behind me. We both
looked around and saw Harry sitting
up with his arms crossed.
“We all know you’re an item, no need
to go sentimental on us!” I looked at
Alex and we both burst out laughing.
Abby opened her eyes and got up.
She walked clumsily towards us and
Alex pulled her into his lap.
“Did we wake you up?” he said.
“Sorry.” I smiled. I had the perfect
boyfriend.
“No, I was already awake. What does
seminenal mean?”
“Sentimental.” He laughed. “It’s a
word boring people use to criticise
interesting people.”

~2~
“What does criticise mean?” It was
really cute the way Abby’s eyebrows
creased together when she
concentrated.
“Be mean to.” Alex smiled.
“Oh ok. Why’s Harry being mean?”
“I’m not!” Harry retorted angrily. “I’m
stating the facts!”
“Someone’s jealous.” Abby joked.
“As if.”
“Who wouldn’t be?” Alex said,
Ignoring Keeran’s comment. He
pushed a strand of hair out of my face
and leant in to kiss me. However, I
suddenly felt sick and started
swaying. He leant back and held me
steady, but his worried face was only
in the background.
*****
I was falling again, but it was different
this time. Alex was floating about me
and I was reaching for his hand.

~2~
“Someone’s coming to ruin your
chances, chances, chances,
So beware she advances, advances,
advances!” I reached Alex’s hand and
he pulled me back up to reality.
*****
I was breathing heavily and collapsed
into his arms.
“Are you Ok?” he whispered,
worriedly.
“Yeah, just came over dizzy for a few
seconds, but it’s gone now.”
“You were screaming at me to catch
you, that you were falling.” I looked
around and everyone was staring at
me, worried. I turned back to Alex.
“You were flying!” I gasped.
“I’m pretty sure I wasn’t.” he laughed.
Every-one sighed a sigh of relief,
realising that I was Ok.

~1~
 Chapter Seven
The door swung open and through it
flew a girl, about my age, with long,
curly, blonde hair and pale blue eyes.
She sat up and her eyes shifted from
side to side. She eventually set her
gaze on Alex. Her eyes welled up with
tears and she started wailing. Alex
ran over to her and my head, which
had been on his shoulder; fell to the
floor with a bang. He hardly noticed,
as he was already comforting the girl.
She asked where we were and I
gasped as her repeated exactly what
~2~
he had told me, word for word. I had
felt special when he had talked to me
like he cared about me, but I guess he
just did this for everyone. I knew she
was upset, but couldn’t help feeling
jealous. I though he loved me! A tear
hit the hard floor, then another, and
another. Soon I was holding my hand
over my mouth to stop anyone from
hearing my sobbing.
I gasped. This must be what the voice
meant when it said “she’s coming to
ruin your chances.” She’s come to
ruin my chances with Alex.
“So what’s your name?” he asked in
his sweet voice I had come to love so
much. She sniffed.
“Emily.” He smiled at her, his
signature smile, cheeky and full of
mischief, the one I thought was
reserved for me. I shuddered. He was
practically drooling over her!
*****
~3~
“He doesn’t love her. He only has
eyes for you.” Maya whispered,
wiping the tears from my face with
her sleeve.
“He’s treating her exactly like he
treated me, and he smiled at her like
he smiles at me. And… I know he
loves her.”
“How?” Maya whispered, trying to
hide her curiosity but not succeeding.
“I… I can’t tell you.” I couldn’t tell her
about my dream, I knew she would
then ask if I’d had any other dreams
like it, and I definitely couldn’t tell her
about them.
“Then you can’t prove it can you?”
she said playfully, then the playful
tone left her voice and she whispered,
“he doesn’t love her! I don’t know
how she feels though because…”
“Because?” I prompted, curiously.
“Because I can’t hear her thoughts.” I
gasped.
~1~
“I thought you could hear every ones
thoughts!”
“No I can’t hear the scientists, or her
it turns or her it turns out.”
“Maybe…” no! It couldn’t be true.
“Maybe she’s a scientist.” I
suggested.
“Just because you don’t like someone
doesn’t mean you have to accuse
them of such terrible things. What has
she ever done to you.” Maya hissed,
getting up. She gave me one last
stare and walked away, to the other
side of the room. She didn’t know the
scientists were on our side. I wouldn’t
be able to tell her though, and now
she was mad at me. Why was
everything going wrong all of a
sudden?
*****
“What’s up?” Alex asked me, after he
had finished comforting Emily. He sat
down beside me and put his arm
~2~
round my shoulder. I shrugged him
off. “Jess?” he persisted, in a worried
voice.
“What?” I asked moodily. Ignoring
him wouldn’t work, obviously.
“What’s up Jess?” he tried to hold my
hand, but I pulled away.
“Nothing!”
“Well it’s obviously something! God
you’re so difficult sometimes!” he
exclaimed, then looked down and, in
a softer voice, whispered. “Sorry.
Please, just tell me.”
“No.” I whispered simply.
“Ok, I’ll go back to Emily if you’re
going to be like that.” He started
getting up but I pulled him back down
by his arm, desperate for him to stay.
Also, the thought of him going back to
Emily made me feel sick.
“No!”

~2~
“Tell me then.” He whispered in his
soft, hypnotising voice. I don’t know
what happened, it just slipped out.
“You love her don’t you.” I whispered.
I buried my head in my hands. Why
had I told him? Why couldn’t I just
have kept my mouth shut? He pulled
my hands away from my face and
looked me in the eyes.
“What?” he laughed. “That’s why
you’re mad? That’s stupid!” I pulled
my hands out of his, suddenly taken
over by rage.
“Oh stupid am I now? Well not too
stupid to not notice you flirting with
her.”
“What?” he said, more seriously this
time. His eyebrows knitted together.
“I thought you loved me.” The look on
his face at that moment broke my
heart.

~1~
“Of course I do.” I whispered, then
added, in spite of myself, “that’s more
than I can say for you.”
He shuffled away from me a bit,
stopping his attempts to hold me.
“I just don’t get you sometimes.” He
whispered.
“You’re the one who says you love me
then go off with Emily” He just lost it,
completely forgetting anyone else
was there. He stood up and, looking
down at me, shouted,
“I thought I knew you, but then this
whole other person came out. You’ve
turned into something that I don’t
like, and I’m not sure if I want to be
with you when you’re like this!” I
stood up opposite him and looked him
in the eyes.
“What are you saying?” I breathed
deeply, trying to stop myself from
crying.

~2~
“I’m saying,” he stopped, then
whispered; “I’m saying I think we
should” he swallowed and then
finished a sentence neither of us
wanted to hear, “break up.” I gasped
and stumbled backwards into the
wall. He turned and walked over to
Emily, but I could no longer see, my
eyes were overflowing with tears.

~2~
 Chapter Eight
I slid down the wall, sobbing quietly,
as I buried my head in my arms. I was
having trouble controlling my sobbing
but it hardly mattered. The one
person who I cared about already
knew how I felt anyway. I looked at
my hands, at the spaces between my
fingers, and thought about how
perfectly Alex’s fingers had fit into
those spaces. My hands felt empty
now.
I felt an arm around my shoulder but
made no effort to lift my head.
“I’m sorry I stormed off earlier. You’re
right she is horrible. I tried to talk to
her and she ignored me. I don’t know
what Alex sees in her… oh I’m so
sorry Jess! I forgot about…”

~3~
“It’s Ok.” I lifted my head for a second
to interrupt her and immediately saw
Alex talking to Emily. A new wave of
tears came over me and I put my
head on Mayas shoulder. Someone
came up
and tugged my sleeve.
“I can’t sleep.” Abby’s voice
whispered, close to my ear. I was just
about to sit up when Maya talked for
me,
“Not now Abby, Jess is busy.” I
couldn’t stand being talked about
when I was right here, so I lifted my
head again.
“It’s Ok Abby, come here.” I pulled
her onto my lap and buried my head
in her hair.
“Erm… Jess?” A new voice above me
whispered. I pretending not to hear
Harry but he sat down and carried on
talking anyway. “I saw what Alex did
you. That must have been horrible.
~4~
That was so out of order, and anyone
would choose you over stupid Emily.”
I looked up to see how she reacted to
this and saw Alex staring at me with a
kind of longing and confusion. Harry
saw that I was looking at Alex and
moved to sit in front of me.
“And… well… I think you’re beautiful
and if I had you, I’d never let you go.”
I was only half listening, because I
was thinking about Alex. I leant
around Harry and looked at Alex. He
was talking to Emily again, but you
could tell he was doing it half
heartedly, and he kept closing his
eyes, trying to stop himself looking
over at me, though I could tell he
could feel my gaze burning into him. I
knew Harry was talking, but couldn’t
concentrate on what he was saying
so, when he asked me what I thought,
I panicked and nodded.

~2~
“Oh great!” he said. He leant forward
to kiss me, but I turned my face so he
only kissed my cheek. I wouldn’t want
anyone to ruin my memory of Alex’s
lips on mine. He didn’t seem
discouraged at all. “So now that
you’re my girlfriend…”
“What!” I exclaimed. “I never agreed
to that!”
“Yes you did… you nodded!” He
sounded confused and I almost felt
sorry for him, but only almost. I
looked at Alex and he was looking
away, biting his nail, breathing
deeply. His eyes kept turning to me
quickly, then he’d look away.
“Yeah, because I wasn’t listening, you
think I would agree to that right after I
had split up with…” I could feel Alex’s
eyes boring into me now, but I
wouldn’t let myself look at him. Tears
started welling up in my eyes again

~1~
and buried my head in Abby’s hair
again, she was fast asleep by now.
*****
I looked up, hoping Alex wasn’t still
staring at me, and saw that Keeran
and Shelly had joined Alex and Emily,
and they were on the opposite side of
the room to me, Maya, Abby and
Harry. That’s when I realised, our big
family had split in two, and all
because of me. I breathed in deeply,
and whispered to Maya,
“Can you take Abby for a couple of
minutes.” She nodded and I placed
Abby in her arms carefully. She
stirred, but didn’t wake. I brushed a
hair out of her face and smiling as I
listened to her soft snoring. This may
be the last time I saw her after all. I
stood up and brushed myself down, I
had to get out of here.
“Where are you going?” Harry asked
quietly. If I told him he would try to
~2~
stop me, so I shook my head and
walked over to the door. I looked back
at the others, maybe for the last time.
Maya was holding Abby tight in her
arms. I loved the way she cared about
everyone and listened to their
problems, even though she had many
of her own. I turned and looked at
Harry. He did mean well, even though
he had a strange way of showing it.
Shelly was the first here, and she had
to go through so much, so I was’t
surprised she was so bitter, but,
flashing back to when she opened up
to me, I realised how vulnerable she
actually was. Keeran, though he tried
to look tough, was also very
vulnerable inside. I skipped Emily and
looked straight to Alex. I’d left him
until last so he would be the one I
remembered most. A tear came to my
eye. He was the only person I had
ever, would ever, truly love. It was a
~2~
shame it had to end like this. He was
staring back at me, his beautful eyes
wide with fear. I turned quickly,
determined not to change my mind.
He loves her! I told myself. There’s
nothing for you here. I turned and
looked at the door.
*****
I had quite forgotten there was
anyone else in the room with the
thought of being free. I turned the
handle of the door and, to my
surprise, it opened. I looked up at the
door to the outside world. It was
close, but not quite close enough. It’s
worth a shot, anywhere’s better than
here, I thought, and stepped towards
the light.
*****
I felt a hand grab my waist from
behind. Alex’s other hand closed the
door, and he sat me down in the
middle of the room. The barrier
~3~
separating our group disappearing
and everyone sighed with relief.
However, the relief didn’t last long, as
Alex was fuming.
“How could you even think you had a
chance of escape? After all I’ve told
you; after all you’ve put us through.” I
had to interrupt him there.
“After all I’ve put us through? What
about you and Emily?” He whispered
through his teeth, trying not to lose
his temper.
“I told you. There was, is, nothing
going on between me and her.”
“And why should I believe you?” I
asked.
“Because I love you.” After all we’d
been through; those words still made
my heart skip a beat.
“But you treated her like you treated
me.” My head was telling me to shut
up but I couldn’t. “You hugged her

~2~
you…” I couldn’t carry on because a
lump was forming in my throat.
“I was trying to be nice, and people
being anxious makes me anxious too,
so I was helping myself as much as
her. Whereas with you, it was all
about you.” He sat down beside me
and suddenly I felt better. I could no
longer feel jealousy, anger,
resentment or sadness. All I could feel
was his hand in mine, and the feeling
that everything was alright again. The
spaces between my fingers were
filled.
He pulled me into his arms with a kind
of need that wasn’t there before. It
had been such a long time since I had
last held him, yet it didn’t feel long at
all. It felt natural that we should be
together again, almost predictable,
yet an hour ago I would have felt in
quite impossible. The urgency with
which his lips touched mine seemed
~2~
almost to be expected; although my
heart still pounded so loud I was sure
everyone in the room must be able to
hear it.
*****
We stopped kissing only when Harry
walked past and ‘accidently’ kicked
Alex. I pulled away, if only to see
Alex’s beautiful eyes and gleaming
smile. Finally, I had him back. The
Alex I knew and adored. I could not
help the smile that spread across my
face at that moment, though Alex was
glaring angrily at Harry. I was sure he
was angry at Harry, not only for
kicking him, but also for keeping him
from me. My heart fluttered and,
when Alex turned around and smiled
at me, I had to say something. I took
a deep breath.
“I’m sorry.” I whispered, in what I
hoped was a regretful tone, “It was all

~3~
my fault, I shouldn’t have blamed
you.”
“You were right to blame me, it was
my fault. Anyway it’s all in the past
now and, if anything, it’s pulled us
closer together.” I smiled and
grabbed hold of both his hands.
“I love you.” This was exactly how I
had first told him, and the memory
made my smile widen. We had come
so far since. Looking into his eyes,
saving everyone didn’t seem so
difficult. I looked around and saw
them all together again. Maya and
Shelly were hugging and whispering
that they had missed eachother ‘ever
so much’. Harry was sitting with him
arms crossed, sulking, but was finding
it hard to stop himself laughing at
Emily’s jokes. Keeran was telling Abby
a story about how he kidknapped a
murderer and sold him to the police
for lots of money, and Abby was
~2~
gasping as if it was real, which she
probably thought it was.
Finally our group was happy again,
now I could concentrate on saving
them!

Chapter Nine

~2~
I needed to come up with a plan to
escape. If I thought about the plan,
Maya would pick it up then whisper it
to Abby, so it wouldn’t be suspicious,
then Abby could send it to everyone. I
turned to Maya and she nodded. Ok, I
thought, a picture forming in my mind
of what would need to happen. I
would need to create a diversion for
whoever was outside so everyone
else could run for it, and then I could
use my superhuman speed to save
myself. If I didn’t save myself, at least
the others were safe. I decided the
sign for when to run would be when I
turned on the tap. I looked at Maya
and she nodded again beckoning
Abby. She pulled her into her arms
then started whispering urgently, but
discretely. Abby nodded, and then
suddenly I heard my plan repeated in
Abby’s voice. At first I though she had
repeated it outloud and blown out
~3~
cover, but then I remembered her
power and sighed out of relief.
Everyone looked at me and nodded
and Alex’s grip on my shoulder
tightened. The tap was right next to
me, so it was only a matter of waiting
until the right time to turn it. The
tension in the room was high,
everyone waiting for the moment
they would have to run. But what
would happen when we got out of
here? We had nowhere to stay, no
clothes and no food. How would we
survive? There was too much
pressure on me, so I closed my eyes
and rested my head on Alex’s tense
shoulder.
*****
Me and Alex were sitting on a large
white sofa and I had my head on his
shoulder. We were watching two
small children running around playing
tag. They looked very similar,
~4~
probably twins, and they both had
short brown hair and bright green
eyes. Though they looked the same,
their personalities couldn’t be more
different. One boy ran up to me and
Alex now with tears running down his
face.
“Harry pushed me!” Alex pulled the
boy onto his lap and looked at his
knee.
“Just a little scrape.” he turned
around to me but, instead of looking
at me, looked at my arms. I hadn’t
realised I had been holding anything
but when I looked down I saw a very
small baby girl in my arms. She was
fast asleep and breathing softly. I
smiled up at Alex and he smiled back.
He leant in to kiss me.
*****
I woke up from my dream and turned
to Alex. He was looking straight ahead
and looked very tense. I wondered
~2~
why, and then remembered my plan. I
looked around at everyone in this
room, and they were all quite the
same. Everyone in the room was so
tense and I couldn’t bear it.
When I could take it no longer, I stood
up slowly. Alex stood up with me and
kissed me. I looked him in the eyes
and smiled. Maybe my dream would
come true one day. The only way of
finding out was to escape. I turned
and put my hand on the tap.
Everyone took a deep breath and
their muscled tightened. I looked
around to make sure everyone was
watching and a wave of nervousness
came over me. What if I didn’t
succeed? What if I lost one of them? A
flash back of all the time I’d spend
with them went through my head. The
first time I’d seen them all, the way
Keeran reacted to seeing me. The first
time I’d seen Alex and the way my
~2~
heart felt when he talked to me, when
I was shouted at him for telling me it
would all be Ok and when he
comforted me anyway. When I had
been thrown back into that room and
how they had all taken care of me,
how I had wished for this cellar to be
real because of how much I loved the
people in it. Maya’s one way
conversation, which now I know must
have been with Shelly. When Abby
had been given back and I had
realised my superpowers. When I had
found out about all their powers.
When Maya had told me Alex liked me
back, and how I tried desperately to
deny it. When I had helped Abby get
to sleep by singing her that lullaby.
When Alex was taken, and how upset
I had been. When I realised I loved
Alex and had tried to hide it from him.
When Maya had told me about Daniel
and when Shelly had told me about
~3~
her baby. When I had tripped over
and when Alex had been upset,
because he loved me I now knew.
When Alex and I were finally together,
and when we broke up. That was my
worst memory, so I skipped over that
quickly. When we got back together.
That was my favourite, so I savoured
that memory. I thought about that as
Alex held me close, not showing any
signs of ever letting me go.
*****
“Now!” shouted a voice in my head
and, before I had time to regret it, I
untangled myself form Alex’s grip
reluctantly, and then I turned the tap.
Everyone ran for the door, but I got
there first and opened it. Something
didn’t feel quite right, but I couldn’t
back out now. I bounded up the stairs
and towards the doorway to our
freedom. However, before I reached it
I felt someone grab my waist. I swung
~4~
my arm round and managed to hit
him in the face, making him let go.
However, there were half a dozen
men running at me now. I knew we
had no chance of escaping now, so I
turned back to my friends.
“Run back! They’re coming!” There
was a delayed reaction to this change
of plan, but after a few seconds,
everyone turned and ran. It was too
late for me, however. Men were
coming at me from all directions. I
tried to fight them off but it was no
use, even with my superhuman
strength I couldn’t fight off twenty or
so grown adults. I looked down the
staircase and Alex was hesitating at
the doorway. He started running back
up the stairs, but I didn’t want him to
be captured too, I loved him too
much.
“GO!” I screamed and, after a
moment of deliberation, he turned
~2~
and ran down the stairs, into the
doorway. He turned and, as I was
being dragged further away from him,
he shouted, “I love you!” there was
no time to reply, as the door to
another room was being closed
behind me.

~3~
 Chapter Ten
The door was slammed as I was
dragged through it, and I was thrown
into a small empty cage. Suddenly, an
ugly face came as close to me as the
cage allowed, and snarled.
“Thought you could get away did
you?” the man had a big hooked nose
with a big hairy mole at the end. He
had a bristly beard, but his head was
completely bald. He had a patch over
one of his eyes and looked, I thought,
like a troll pirate. I couldn’t help but
laugh, even in a terrible situation like
this.
“Think it’s funny do you? Well you
won’t be laughing after all the mean
experiments that will be done one
you!” I sighed out of relief and my
mood brightened considerably. At
least it wasn’t a bad punishment, as
~4~
the scientists were on my side. He
gave me an angry look and stormed
away, locking the door behind him.
*****
There was even less light here than
there was in the cellar, but there was
a small candle in the corner casting a
small bit of light. I sat up and looked
around the cellar. I gasped. All around
me were more cages with more
children in! One even had a baby! I
opened my mouth to talk but one girl,
about ten, widened her eyes and
shook her head. She pointed to the
corner, where there was a small man
with a long beard sitting on a stool
sleeping. I guess I couldn’t talk
because he would wake up. I nodded
at her.
*****
My thoughts turned to Maya. Could
she hear me from here? If you can
here me, I thought, feeling stupid, get
~2~
Abby to tell me. Nothing. After a few
seconds, I decided she couldn’t hear
me from here. I thought of everyone
in the cellar, and how I had let them
down. How had my plan failed? How
had they known I was coming? I
gasped. NO! I thought. It could’t be
true. I felt like I was going to cry, but I
swallowed my tears. I had to face the
facts, someone had betrayed me.
Someone didn’t want us to escape.
Someone was on their side. Who
could it be? I loved them all so much;
I just couldn’t believe one of them
was a traitor. I thought of all I had
been through with Alex. I though of
the look on his face when he slept,
innocent and trouble free, it couldn’t
be him, it just couldn’t. Abby was so
sweet and innocent, it couldn’t be her
either, and Maya had always been
like a big sister to me so it couldn’t
possibly be her. Shelly had opened up
~2~
to me, and she was way too
unobservant to be a spy. Harry was
mad, but not that mad. Anyway there
hadn’t been enough time for him to
be given a microphone. Keeran was
stupid, but not that stupid to ruin the
only chance for him to escape. I hated
the thought that it could be one of
them, and I may have misjudged
them. I felt like I had left someone
out. Of course! That explained it all! I
sighed a sigh of relief. None of my
friends were spies. My smile quickly
turned to a gasp of understanding. I
now knew what the vioce had meant
when it had said that she would ruin
my chances. Not with Alex, but with
escaping! Everything suddenly fell
into place. That’s why Maya couldn’t
read her thoughts, that’s why I hadn’t
liked her. How could I have been so
stupid?

~3~
My thoughts were interrupted when a
scientist walked in. He smiled
apologetically as he slammed the
door and the man in the corner woke
up. He seemed startled but, after
looking at the scientist, nodded at
him and went back to sleep. The
scientist came over to my cage and
threw it open. He leant forward and
grabbed me by my top. I didn’t
struggle of course, why would I, he
was on my side. Once we were inside
the lab he placed me down carefully.

~4~
 Chapter Eleven
“Sorry, it’s just they’re watching,
everywhere but here.” he whispered.
He pointed to a chair in the corner
and I went and sat on it. The old man
came in and the scientist exclaimed,
“I got her boss!” sounding rather
proud of himself.
“I told you to call me William, but
thank you Arthur.” Arthur nodded
then William turned to me. “Welcome.
Have a cup of tea and some cake!” I
nodded eagerly and when Arthur
passed the food to me I scoffed it
down quickly. I hadn’t realised how
hungry I was before that. All I could
hear now was the sound of the kettle
boiling and an occasional cough from
William. When I had finished I turned
to him, confused about why I was

~6~
here. Instead of answering straight
away, he walked over to the kettle,
which I now realised had finished
boiling, and poured us both a cup of
tea. He came over and handed me
one, then sat on the edge of the
operating table.
“You were right about Emily; she’s a
spy working for Harper.” I would’ve
asked who Harper was at that
moment but William didn’t pause long
enough, “He is getting suspicious
about you all so he sent in a spy to
see what you did, and she told him
about you trying to run away. I’m
sorry I didn’t warn you, I didn’t know
at first but now I do I feel awful.” I
shook my head to let him know I
didn’t blame him; I didn’t have
enough time to get a whole sentence
in as he wouldn’t stop talking.
“Also…” he paused for a second and I
waited for him to talk. “Harry’s
~2~
dying.” I gasped and dropped my
teacup. It shattered into pieces on the
floor but I hardly noticed.
“No!” I whispered. “How?” Will looked
down and shook his head. “How!?” I
asked a bit louder, though I knew he’s
heard me.
“We were doing an experiment, trying
to get his mind off you. You see, you
were all he could think about and we
wanted him to concentrate on
escaping so he wouldn’t ruin it for
everyone, but it went wrong and
well… he has a month to live.”
“Oh my god.” It was my fault, if I had
told him how it was straight away this
wouldn’t have happened, but instead
I had to spare his feelings and now he
was dying because of it. Tears ran
down my cheeks as Arthur swept up
the pieces of my cup. He gave me a
sad look and walked away to throw
the pieces in the bin. William leant
~3~
forward to give me a hug but I pushed
him off and stood up. I sprinted to the
door and swung it open, making a
huge crashing sound. I turned and
saw Arthur running at me but Will
grabbed the back of his coat and told
him to let me go. That I knew what I
had to do. I ran to the door to the
outside world and put my hand on the
handle. I couldn’t open it though, how
could I leave everyone to die here as I
roamed around free. Especially Harry,
I thought. He’d want to be with his
parents for the last weeks of his life. I
lay down on the floor infront of the
door and hugged my legs, crying. I
couldn’t stay here but I couldn’t go
without everyone else. We needed to
escape soon.
*****
I lay there on the floor crying for
hours, until Arthur came and picked
me up. I did nothing to stop him, I
~2~
was tired out in any case. He took me
to the cage, opening the door
carefully this time to not wake the
man in the corner. He placed me
inside and locked the door of it. I
cried all night, and for most of the
following nights. I was never taken
back into the lab; I was never taken
out of this cage in fact. Everyone else
was given food but I wasn’t given
anything. Once of twice I wished I had
drunk that cup of tea, but then I’d
think of the reason I hadn’t and I’d
feel really selfish. Harry only had a
month left and I was worried about
my stomach. At the end of the six
days a man came and dragged me
out of that room. I didn’t look up to
see who it was, I didn’t care. I would
be back in the cellar soon with a
traitor girl, a dying boy, a sweet naïve
girl who couldn’t be told any of this, a
girl who had lost her baby, a girl who
~2~
was being kept from what she loved
most and a boy who hated me. Even
the thought of being with Alex again
couldn’t lighten my mood so when I
was thrown into the room I knew so
well, I couldn’t help but frown.
“What’s wrong? What did they do to
you? I swear if they did anything to
you…”
“No, they didn’t.” I sighed. I really
didn’t feel like telling him anything
right now.
“What is it then?” I shook my head
then buried it in my hands. He took
them away from my face and pulled
my head onto his shoulder. “Please,
just tell me. I love you, and I hate
seeing you like this.” I nodded, and
then pulled my heavy head up to his
ear.
“It’s Harry.” A lump formed in my
throat and tears fell down my face,
soaking his dirty, torn worn out t shirt.
~3~
“What about him?” I could hear the
contempt in Alex’s voice. I swallowed
hard, trying to get into a condition
where I could at least speak.
“He’s dying.” Hearing it out loud
somehow made it seem worse. I
closed my eyes and placed my head
on Alex’s lap, letting the tears fall
down my face. I couldn’t look over at
Harry or Maya because she would
know by now. All I could do was hope
it was all a terrible nightmare, though
I knew it wasn’t.
Alex didn’t ask any more questions,
he just stroked my hair and wiped my
eyes. I looked up at him to see how
he was, but his face was so
unreadable. When I had calmed down
I sat up and looked Alex in the eyes.
Once he was sure I really had calmed
down, he asked the question I hoped
he would never ask,
~2~
“Why?” I took a deep breath. “You
don’t have to tell me.” he whispered,
but we both knew I did.
“The scientists were trying to get his
mind off me, but the experiment went
wrong. It’s all my fault.” He sighed.
“Why do you always blame yourself
for everything?!”
“Because it’s always my fault. I tried
to spare his feelings so I didn’t turn
him down when he asked me to be
his girlfriend.”
“You said yes?”
“No! I just said that I’d only just
broken up with you,” he looked down
when I said this, it obviously wasn’t a
very good memory for him, “then he
said he’d ask me out again in a
couple of days and, well, I didn’t say
he couldn’t so he thought he had a
chance, which he never did!”
Suddenly that very boy talked. I

~3~
hadn’t realised he was right behind
me, so I gasped,
“I’m dying?” he sounded really
choked up. I closed my eyes and
placed my hand on my forehead. I
turned around and looked at Harry.
“I’m so sorry Harry.” tears welled up
in my eyes again, but Harry didn’t see
as he’d already ran to the other side
of the room and was now banging his
head against the wall.

~2~
 Chapter Twelve
I started to stand up but Alex pulled
me back down.
“Maybe I should talk to him?” I knew
he was right, but I couldn’t help
feeling guiltier because of the words
he left unsaid, that if I talked to Harry
he would only be more hurt, as I was
~3~
the reason he was upset in the first
place.
“It’s not your fault honey, you
couldn’t have known.” I nodded but
my mood didn’t change at all. I knew
it was my fault, and nothing could
change that. Alex shook his head and
stood up, walking over to Harry. He
pulled Harry’s arms behind his back
and sat him down on the floor, so
he’d stop hitting the wall. He
struggled for a while but in the end he
gave up and sat still. The destroyed
look on his face broke my heart. Tears
streamed down my face and my head
fell on the nearest shoulder, which
happened to be Keeran’s. However,
instead of pushing me off, he stayed
completely still. After five minutes or
so, he whispered,
“What’s wrong with Harry?” I gulped.
“He’s dying.” my voice was barely
audible, but Keeran seemed to have
~2~
heard. He didn’t say anything, but
when I looked up at his face it was
completely frozen. As I started crying
harder however, his arm slowly went
round my shoulder and he held me in
a vice like grip which was somewhat
comforting.
*****
Looking around the room, I could see
everyones faces contorted with pain
or grief, but none with anger. This
should have made me feel better but
in fact, I felt a whole lot worse. Even
Harry’s face was filled with only
confusion and hopefulness. I wish I
could feel hopeful, but I was
incapable of any emotion except guilt.
I knew that the only way I would ever
feel a tiny bit better about myself is if
I gave Harry one last chance to see
the outside world, and his family. This
time I was determined, nothing would
stop me. Not even that scheming idiot
~2~
Emily. We would escape this time. I
just needed a plan. A plan, a plan, oh
god it was so hard to think of a plan
with all that was on my mind. A cough
interrupted my thoughts. I looked up
and saw Maya looking at me. As soon
as she saw that I was looking she
widened her eyes and nodded. What
was she doing?
Oh! I suddenly understood. She could
hear my thoughts, which could help.
“Ok.” I thought. “If we wait for a
while, until I...” I looked around for
inspiration, and saw the tap next to
me. “Until I turn on the tap. Then we
run for it, Emily will have no time to
warn anyone and well actually have a
chance of getting away. But how are
we going to tell everyone else?” Maya
looked over at Abby and I
remembered her talent. I nodded and
Maya slowly stood up, shocking
everyone out of their thoughts.
~2~
Everyone apart from Emily, who just
sat there motionless. When Maya sat
down beside Abby, everyone looked
back down and went back to
whatever they were thinking about.
Abby crawled into Maya’s lap and
Maya whispered the plan quietly into
her ear. No-one looked up, that was a
good sign. Abby nodded and then
closed her eyes in concentration. All
of a sudden, words drifted into my
head. I don’t know how they got
there, but suddenly I was being
reminded of my plan all over again.
Maya gave Abby a hug and then let
her climb down from her lap and sit
hugging her knees. I smiled ever so
slightly, forgetting about the
situation. Keeran’s grip on my
shoulder had ever so slightly
tightened and everyone else had a
flash of hope across the grief on their
faces, except Emily who had no idea.
~3~
I looked up at Keeeran and saw his
face tense and worried, but mainly
hopeful. I’d never seen him show any
emotion the whole time he’d been
here; it was strange he’d waiting until
today to let his guard down. I followed
his eyeline and saw that he was
looking at Shelly. A flash of something
I’d only ever seen in Alex’s eyes went
through his. I didn’t have time to
think about that though, as Alex had
decided Harry was Ok to be left alone
and was walking over to me. Keeran,
suddenly realising how tight his grip
on me was, loosened it and looked at
me apologetically. He shuffled away
slightly so Alex could sit down. He did,
but carried on looking forward.
However, his hand slowly entwined
with mine and we sat like that for a
while.

~4~
 Chapter Thirteen
After an hour of so, it was hard to
keep track of time in this place, I
shuffled closer to the tap. I could feel
the tension in the room and couldn’t
take any more of it. My sudden
~5~
movement shocked Alex, and when
her realised what I was about to do,
he leant over and gave me the most
long and meaningful kiss he had ever
given me. That kiss made me realise
how important this was. The fact that
everyone was so tense made me
realise everyone was considering
what would happen if we couldn’t get
away. I didn’t even want to think
about that though, I just thought
about Harry, he needed to be out as
soon as possible. As soon as the kiss
was over, sooner than I would have
wanted it to be, despite the situation,
I put my hand on the tap. I felt the
tenseness increase as people got
ready to run. I looked around the
room at all my friends. I was doing
this for them.
“Come on Jess, you can do this. Think
of Harry, think of everyone. You have

~2~
to get out some time, why not now?
Go on, three, two, one, NOW!”
I turned the tap and everyone
stumbled forward and ran at the door.
I got there first again and turned the
handle for the third, and hopefully
last, time ever. Alex was close behind
me, followed by the rest of my
friends. I noticed Emily sitting there,
looking confused as we hurtled out of
the door and ran up the stairs as fast
as possible. Only one man was on
duty, and as I ran upwards I readied
myself for throwing him out of the
way. However, when I got closer, I
realised it was William. He was
smiling at us, but I couldn’t help
thinking how much trouble he would
get in for letting us escape. Therefore,
as we ran past him I grabbed hold of
his arm and pulled him along with us.
As we came to the second door I
worried it would be locked, but as I
~2~
turned the handle that too swung
open. We ran out of it and I was
surprised and ecstatic to see there
was no-one on guard there either!
So we ran, and ran, and ran further
further, as far away from that terrible
building as possible. None of us
looking back, none of us looked
anywhere except the road ahead of
us. We couldn’t see much anyhow,
the sun was blinding, we hadn’t seen
it for so long! But when I finally got
used to the sunlight and looked
behind me, realised how far back the
others were. I remembered my
powers, and turned and ran back to
them. By this time, we were all
extremely tired, but no-one would
stop until I told them too. It was
obvious I had been given the role of
the leader, and I didn’t know quite
what to do with that. So, when we
had finally got far enough away, by
~3~
my reckoning of course as I had no
idea where we were, I stopped
running and after a few seconds,
everyone else had stopped as well.
We all collapsed on the walkway and
panted, then all of a sudden everyone
realised what had happened. We were
free, finally. What followed was what
could only be described as a fit of
screaming and hugging (Keeran I
noticed held Shelly a little longer than
anyone else) only broken when Will
spoke. In his solemn voice, he
mumbled, just loud enough for
everyone to hear over the noise,
“You know, he’s never going to give
up.” There was silence for a few
seconds as we thought. We all knew
he was right. He wouldn’t give up that
easily. I broke the silence the only
way I knew how.
“Let’s not worry about that now, we
need to find somewhere to stay for
~4~
the night and we’ll go home
tomorrow.” I heard the other’s groan.
I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t want to
imagine leaving. I nearly cried at the
thought of it. I couldn’t go back home,
I just couldn’t. However, Harry
needed to, and our group wouldn’t
feel right without him. I looked at
Harry; he was just as upset about
leaving as the rest of us. We couldn’t
hold it off though; he only had a
month left. It was my fault, I should
fix it. Well, not fix it. There was no
way I could FIX it. He was dying...
because of me. It took me all my
strength at that moment not to break
down, but we didn’t have time. I could
see the sun setting (which was an
amazing feeling by the way, after so
long) and it would be harder to find
somewhere in the night.
*****

~5~
After looking around for a while, all
the places being rejected by William
because he said they would be “too
easy to find”, we finally settled on a
patch of soft grass deep in the forest.
It was like a dream compared to the
cellar, especially as we were free. We
all sat up, not even trying to hide the
fact we couldn’t get to sleep for
excitement. Well, except Will, he lay
down straight away and was asleep
within seconds. It was cold in this
forest so I leant into Alex for warmth.
After an hour or so (still no way to
predict time) Alex was asleep and so
was Abby and Shelly (who was
huddled up to Keeran). Maya was
sitting looking me right in the eyes. In
daylight she didn’t look quite so
creepy, just very inquisitive. I couldn’t
get to sleep, and as I saw Harry drop
off I couldn’t help wondering whether
he would wake up. This kept me
~2~
awake all night, which turned out to
be a good thing.

Chapter Fourteen
At sunrise (around 4 am?) I heard
autumn leaves being crushed,
footsteps. I sat up and looked over to
where they were coming from and
saw the man who I had only seen
once, when I had been put in that
cage, the man who had leant down to
speak to me. He was followed by a
huge group of huge bald men, the
~3~
ones who had prevented me from
escaping the first time. My heartbeat
quickened. From where we were
lying, they couldn’t see us. I shook
Alex awake and when he awoke I held
my hand over his mouth so he
wouldn’t talk. I pointed to our search
party and I saw the fear grow in his
eyes. We woke everyone else up and
when we were all wide awake we
stood up and started running. Soon
we heard footsteps coming after us.
They were following. When we turned
a sharp corner into town, we dove
into the nearest shop. We ran into the
changing rooms and split into two
rooms, one for me, Alex and Abby and
another for Maya, Shelly and Harry.
When we’d closed and locked to door,
I sat down with Abby on my lap, with
Alex next to me, and Alex put his legs
up so it looked like there was only one
person in there. You may have
~4~
realised I haven’t mentioned where
Will was. That’s because we didn’t
know. All of us assumed he was in the
room with the others.
*****
We waited there listening out for any
sound that suggested we had been
caught. Nothing happened. After a
while the shop assistant came and
knocked, asking if we were Ok. We
had to get out then, so all of us piled
out of the changing room, with some
very weird looks from the shop
assistant. We tiptoed slowly outside,
looking out for our enemies. However,
when we got outside there was no
way to see anything because of the
huge crowd. I was sure it hadn’t been
that packed early. We pushed
through, trying to find out what was
happening. Once we got closer we
saw an area surrounded by police
tape.
~5~
We all looked at each other, realising
at the same time that Will was
missing. We all knew what was inside
that white tent. I climbed over the
tape and ran past all the police and
into the tent. There was no struggle
getting through, all the police were
concentrating on capturing all the
huge men. They seemed to be
winning; however I couldn’t see
Harper anywhere. Then, as I looked
further away, I saw him running away.
I ran into the tent and, sure enough,
saw Will lying there. There was blood
everywhere, there was no way he
could be alive. The surgeon frowned
and pulled the white, blood drenched
cover over him.
He turned around to me and, instead
of throwing me out, shook his head
and looked apologetic.
*****

~2~
I ran out of the tent, past all the
police struggling to hold the men,
past my friends and ran as fast as I
could in the direction in the direction
Harper had run. There was no chance
of the others catching up with me, but
when I looked back I could see they
were following. I couldn’t smile at
them though. I couldn’t do anything.
All I could think of was Will, the
reason we ever escaped, the reason
our time in the cellar hadn’t been
completely unbearable, was lying
dead in that horrible white tent.
Harper had to be punished.
*****
I had no idea where I was going; I just
followed my instinct of where I
thought Harper had gone. I thought I
was completely lost, and then I got to
the alleyway. At the end, there was a
door on the left. I recognised the
alleyway. I remember running down it
~2~
during our escape. The door was
easily recognised too, thought I had
only ever seen the other side. I had
stared at that door for hours after I
had been told Harry was dying and
had thought of running away. That
seemed like a century ago. I was so
convinced then that I was never
coming back. How naive I was.
*****
I didn’t wait for the others to catch
up, I was too mad. I couldn’t believe
that was all happening to me. I flung
open the door and ran inside. I could
see the staircase down to the cellar
we had been kept in for so long. It
looked strange from up here,
somehow different, less threatening,
when it was empty. I didn’t stop to
look though. I didn’t stop at all, even
though I had absolutely no idea where
I was going. I stormed down a dark,
dingy, grot filled corridor. Past what
~2~
used to be Will’s surgery on the right,
past the room I had been kept in with
all those other children in cages on
the left. I carried on dashing past door
after door until I got to a door at the
end of the corridor. Somehow I know
this was the right one.
The paint on the door handle was
flaking off from being opened too
many times, and there was a crack
nearly down the whole door
threatening to crack further and fall
any minute. Suddenly I realised how
stupid I was being. It wasn’t going to
stop me but I paused long enough for
the others to catch up. As soon as I
heard them running down the corridor
after me, all out of breath, I decided it
was time to go in.

~2~
 Chapter Fifteen
I threw open the door. The final
splinters cracked and the door fell
with a huge bang. Harper must have
heard it, but he stayed still, facing the
fireplace. The fire was on and the
room was blazing hot.
“I knew you would come.” He
whispered; hardly load enough for me
to hear.
“I’m here then. What do you want?
You have no-one to fight for you.
You’re all on your own. What are you
going to do now? Don’t you think
you’ve done enough?” I was
clenching and unclenching my fists,
trying to keep in my anger. It wasn’t
time to pounce yet.
He slowly turned around to face me.
~3~
“I’m not going to hurt you...”
“Yeah right, is that what you said to
Will?” I was finding it hard to control
my fury. Suddenly I felt an arm
around my waist, comforting yet
silently restraining me. It was Alex. I
knew that without even turning
around. However, even he couldn’t
calm me fully, nothing could. I was
full of rage, mostly for Will but partly
for us also. Although without all this I
would never have met the wonderful
people I met or ever have been free,
with being captured came exhaustion,
starvation, uncontrollable emotions
(both good and bad) and general hard
times that I would never have had to
go through if it weren’t for him.
“Do you want to know why I
kidnapped you or not?” I was tempted
to say no. I was tempted to pounce on
him right now. I remembered his face
when he leant down to taunt me in
~1~
the cage. He had people to back him
up then, but now we outnumbered
him, six to one. We could easily just
attack him now. He was old and frail.
It wouldn’t be hard. We wouldn’t be
as vicious as he had been with Will.
We’re not as bad as him. We’d never
sink that low. We couldn’t let
someone like that live on in the world
could we? I couldn’t kill someone
though, could I? I’m not as evil as he
is. I don’t think...
“When I was young,” He started. Even
the sound of his voice filled me with
rage. Was that what Will heard before
he died? That croaky, evil voice. Or
did he not even get that? Did he know
it was coming? Did he feel any pain?
Did they make him suffer? What was
the wound that finally killed him? Who
delivered that fatal wound? Did he
know who killed him? Did he think
about us before he died?
~2~
Too many questions I wanted
answered, none of them Harper was
going to answer. I didn’t want to hear
a story about ‘when he was young’. I
wanted him to suffer. Just like Will
did. I tried to subtly step towards
Harper, my hands were twitching.
However, Alex somehow knew and
tightened his grip on me. I don’t think
Harper saw this whole exchange, or if
he did he didn’t show it, because he
continued his story.
“When I was younger, I went to
school. I was a wonderful child, bright
and handsome, however others didn’t
see me this way. They saw me as a
pompous geek. One group in
particular constantly bullied me. “The
Spectaculars” I believe they called
themselves. They called me names
and picked on me continuously. They
made my school life a living hell. I will
never forgive them for that.”
~3~
“Am I meant to feel sorry for you?” I
exclaimed, “You think that makes
anything you’ve done right or good?
It’s not our fault and you’ve made us
suffer for it. You’re a monster!” I
struggled to get out of Alex’s grip, but
he was standing his ground. Tears
rolled down my cheeks but I kept the
determined look on my face.
““The Spectaculars”” he whispered
“are your parents.”
*****
We all gasped. None of us had ever
been close to our parents. None of us
knew about this. However, I was still
thinking about Will and Alex had now
dropped his arms long enough for me
to run at Harper. I pinned him against
the wall, my hand around his neck,
and put my face as close to his as I
could bear.
“How do you feel now? Do you feel
important? Do you feel like hurting
~4~
innocent children? Do you feel like
killing anyone? How is it, eh, to be on
the other side of the violence? Not
good is it? Now you know how we’ve
felt. Now you know how Will felt.” I
tightened my grip. Alex grabbed the
back of my collar and tried to drag me
backwards. Harper took advantage of
this and, grabbing my arms, threw my
on the floor. He leaned over me and
sneered in my face. I could smell his
horrible breath, see his dirty
fingernails, hear his ragged breathing,
and taste the dirt in the air. I was
convinced I was going to die. I closed
my eyes and waited for the blow that
would kill me.
*****
The weight on my chest where
Harper’s foot had been was suddenly
removed. I opened my eyes quickly
and saw Harry flying through the air
holding Harper. I didn’t realise until
~2~
they both hit the floor that Harry had
a knife in his hand. Harper lay cold on
the floor with blood seeping through a
wound in his chest. Harry lay next to
him, breathless and disturbed, but
something else was wrong. He looked
at us, tears in his eyes and
whispered,
“Goodbye.” With that, he fell
backwards and lay on the floor, eyes
open still, but not breathing any
longer. He was dead.

~2~
 Chapter Sixteen
I was leaning over Harry’s cold,
lifeless body, tears streaming down
my face and hitting his motionless
chest. I didn’t want to move from
there. I didn’t want to move at all. I
wanted to stay in that position for
~2~
ever. I owed my life to Harry though, I
had to live it. I wouldn’t waste
another life for my awful decisions.
Alex dropped down next to me and
enveloped me in his arms.
“We have to go.” He whispered in my
ear. I looked over at Harry and
Harper. When I looked at Harry I saw
a glint of silver round his neck. As I
leant in, I saw it was a chain. I’d never
noticed it before. Alex followed my
gaze.
“I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you took
it, to remember him by.” I nodded
and unhooked the chain from the
back, lifting up Harrys unresponsive
head carefully, and then held up my
hair for Alex to put it round my neck.
Once it was on, I turned around and
Alex put his arm around me. I looked
up at his face and saw tears in his
eyes too.

~3~
“Where are the others?” I asked. You
could hardly make out what I had said
for the sobbing, but Alex seemed to
have heard because he nodded
towards the door I had been in only
once, when we had tried to escape
before and I had been locked a cage
in there.
“They’re freeing all the children.” he
said simply. Neither of us were
capable of full sentences yet. The
door opened just as we approached it
and a dozen or so children ran out.
They all had worried, but excited
looks on their faces. God knows how
long it had been since they had seen
the outside world. Alex and I blocked
the way down the corridor to where
Harry and Harper were lying and
pushed them towards the other door
we had been so eager to be out of
just a couple of days ago. Finally Abby
emerged with a huge smile on her
~1~
face. However, when she saw us her
smile quivered.
“What is it?” she asked. I shook my
head and she nodded knowingly. She
had guessed, she was clever for her
age; well she had been through a lot
more than the other children her age
so that’s no wonder. With less
enthusiasm than she had originally
been wishing to tell her story with,
she whispered,
“Shelly found her baby.” The surprise
didn’t over ride the sadness me and
Alex felt, but we tried to be as excited
as humanly possible after what we
had just witnessed. Our frowns turned
into sad smiles and Alex leant down
and picked Abby up. She sobbed
silently on his shoulder. She definitely
knew. Now no one was holding me I
suddenly felt more vulnerable. I felt
like falling to the floor and sobbing
my heart out. I nearly did, but then
~2~
Keeran, Shelly and her baby came
through the door. Keeran had his arm
round Shelly’s shoulder and Shelly
was holding the baby, her face
glowing. When they saw us, however,
they both froze.
‘No.’ mouthed Shelly. I nodded my
head and I suddenly couldn’t control
my sobs. They came out in big gasps
and I could hardly breathe for the
amount I was crying. I ached all over
and was shaking involuntarily. My
throat felt dry yet everything else
seemed covered in tears, my face, my
clothes, and the floor. I let myself fall
to the floor and suddenly didn’t care
who was watching. I sobbed my heart
out and put all the energy I had into
wailing. Even over my wailing,
however, I could hear Alex murmur to
the others,
“I think we should stay here tonight.”
*****
~3~
Through my tear-blurred eyes I could
just see what was happening. Shelly
and Keeran were directing the
children that were so eager to get out
down to the cellar, only managing by
promising many times that they
would be let out the next day. Maya
had taken Abby with her to help find
some sheets to keep the children
warm and some food for everyone, as
no one had eaten in quite a while.
Eventually they found some medical
sheets and a large supply of bread.
Everyone knew there would be lots of
warm covers and nice food in Harpers
room, but no one would go in there.
Alex sat with me while all of this was
going on, scared to touch me. I
eventually rested my head on his
chest and he wrapped his arms tightly
around me and buried his head in my
hair. Looking back on it now, he had
the hardest job of all really.
~2~
Once everyone had completed their
jobs, the children were all lying in the
cellar, warm and fed; Alex carried me
into the lab and lay me down on the
bed. Keeran and Shelly had promised
to keep look out, although who they
were expecting to appear was beyond
me, Shelly needed to stay up to look
after the baby anyway. The others
were in the lab too. I was lying on the
bed, too worn out and upset to argue
about it, Abby and Maya were lying
on the floor, close together in case
either got upset in the night, and Alex
was sitting on the chair next to the
bed watching over me.
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t get to sleep
that night. I didn’t even stop crying,
but I managed to reduce my wailing
to tears just falling silently, but
constantly, down my cheeks. My eyes
were swollen and my throat was so
dry I couldn’t talk, not that I tried.
~3~
Alex tried to offer me some water and
bread at one point in the night, but I
refused. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty. I
was broken.
I could see Harry’s face too clearly in
my head. Dead. Cold. Still. I couldn’t
even imagine him alive, he was dead.
However, I couldn’t help thinking he
would have been happy about how he
died. He knew it was going to happen
anyway, but did he know it would be
then? His last actions were definitely
ones he would have been proud of.
It’s ironic, isn’t it? That I was the
reason he died, but his last action was
saving me.

~4~
 Chapter Seventeen
When I saw light streaming through
the small window in the corner, I
turned to look at Alex. He hadn’t
moved all night. He was still sitting,
facing me. His eyes were closed but
~5~
as I turned they opened again, as if
he sensed me looking at him. He
didn’t know what to say, and neither
did I, so we both stayed silent. After
an hour or so, or what felt like an
hour, I had lost my sense of time in
our stay here, Maya and Abby started
slowly awakening. Once everyone had
woken up, me and Alex both knew we
had to leave. My body ached all over
and I could hardly move. My head was
pounding and my face felt stiff from
all the crying. Alex saw I was
struggling with moving, so picked me
up and set my feet on the floor then
put his arm around me and half
carried me along. We both tried not to
look over to the room Harry was lying
in. We tried, but we didn’t manage.
As we went past, we both glanced. I
wish I hadn’t. That started me off
again and I had to put my whole
weight on Alex to stop myself from
~6~
falling. He didn’t seem to mind
though. He didn’t seem aware of
anything to be honest. He seemed
numb, unable to feel. Everyone dealt
with sadness in different ways, I
guess. I let it all out, crying
constantly, Alex didn’t seem to accept
what had happened. The others
hadn’t experienced what we had.
They didn’t know how it felt to see
someone die. I suffered most though.
He died saving me. Everyone had to
endure the pain of his death though,
but to different degrees. I cried more
than I ever had, or ever would, that
day.
How could someone as good as Harry
have to endure something as
distressing as he did? He knew he
was going to die, he had to deal with
knowing that beforehand, but he did
it. He worked through that, he was
wonderful about it. That didn’t make
~7~
any difference though, he was dead
now. It wasn’t fair, but I learn
something that day. Life isn’t fair. Not
for me, Alex, Harry, anyone. Everyone
had different ways of dealing with
this, but essentially, every person had
to work through it to get to the
happiness at the other end. That’s
what I would have to do. I knew it,
Alex knew it, we all did. Harry would
never leave our minds, he would
always be there, but one day we
would have to learn to suppress that.
Not completely, it would be wrong to
forget him. We just needed to work
out a way for him to not always be on
our minds, just to be there when we
were on our own, or saw something
that reminded us of him. I’m getting
ahead of myself now though, right
then, right there, I was out of control.
I couldn’t stop crying, and I had no
intention of trying to.
~8~
 *****
We didn’t move very fast but
eventually we were at the door.
Keeran and Shelly were sitting there,
both nearly falling asleep but refusing
to give up. As we got to them, they
looked up. Shelly was holding the
baby, I didn’t know her name yet but I
didn’t have the voice to ask. I couldn’t
even open my mouth. Shelly looked
up at me and then down at the baby
then back up.
“She’s called Jess.” I don’t know how
she knew what I was thinking, but I
was touched that she would think that
much of me. I tried to smile, but my
face was too stiff. She knew I was
trying though so she didn’t push any
further. Instead she stood up and
gestured for Keeran to help her. She
went down the stairs, opened the
door to the cellar and woke the
children up carefully one by one and
~1~
Keeran helped her. While they were
doing this I collapsed to the floor and
Alex sat down with me. We hadn’t
talked since we were in the forest,
and we hardly did then, but we knew
we needed each other’s company. If I
didn’t have Alex I would have fallen
apart completely ages ago. I couldn’t
live with him and he couldn’t live
without me. It was our unspoken
bond; nothing could change that as
far as we were aware.
*****
Maya and Abby had joined Keeran
and Shelly and they were leading the
children up the stairs, helping the
younger ones. Eventually, everyone
was at the top of the stairs and the
cellar door was closed for the last
time. Me and Alex stood up hesitantly
and opened the door. A cold blast of
wind blew through it and we knew
this wouldn’t be an easy day. No one
~2~
had any idea of what we were going
to do with these children but we had
to do something.

~2~
 Chapter Eighteen
We wondered vaguely in the direction
of town, although none of us knew
where we were, having to stop
occasionally when a child went astray
or I couldn’t stand walking any longer.
It took us a while to get into town, but
at least we had time to think. For the
first time, I wasn’t the one to come up
with a plan. I was too tired and raw.
We had slowed down slightly,
realising we had no idea what we
were doing. It was very early in the
morning and there weren’t many
people around. The ones that were
there, too tired to notice the huge
group of children in the middle of the
pavement.
“You know what we could do,” Maya
suddenly exclaimed. We all jumped,
no one had talked in so long, to each
other at least. “We could put them in
~4~
shops and get them to tell the shop
keepers they’d lost their parents.
Then they’d eventually get back to
their parents, right?” I nodded. Even
that hurt. I had to use all my energy
just putting one foot in front of the
other. I was tired, raw and upset. I
was finding it impossible to keep up
with the others, even though I was
usually the fastest. They could tell I
was struggling, so Maya suggested
me, Alex and Abby sat down on a
nearby bench and looked after the
kids while they took then, one by one,
to different shops. I sat down, Abby
sat to my left side and Alex to my
right. As we sat and watched over the
kids, well Alex and Abby mostly, I
couldn’t do much, Abby’s hand
slipped into mine. I turned my head to
her and managed a slight sad smile. It
would all be all right in the end...
wouldn’t it? I turned around to Alex
~5~
and he was looking straight ahead
unsmilingly. I forgot that he could feel
my pain as well as his own. How was
he so composed? How was he not
falling apart? He turned around and
looked at me.
“You’re confused.” his voice was
slightly throaty but apart from that,
completely composed.
“How... how are you not falling
apart?” my voice came out as a croak
and hardly audible.
“Because I have you.” I looked him in
the eyes. They were perfect, green
with black around the edges and
specks of blue. They were perfect,
like him.
*****
Once all the children were gone
Keeran, Shelly (holding her baby) and
Maya sat down in the floor in front of
us, exhausted. We all knew what had
to happen next but none of us wanted
~6~
to say anything. Keeran was the first
to try, I say try because Abby
wouldn’t let him finish his sentence.
“You know we have to go...”
“I AM NOT GOING HOME!” Abby
exclaimed. She knew we had to, we
all knew, but, like the rest of us, she
really didn’t want to. I know there had
been some bad times, some
absolutely terrible times, but there
had also been brilliant experiences. I
had hardly been allowed out of the
house before, and now, knowing all of
these people, I felt loved for the first
time in my life. If I went home I don’t
think I could bear being as detested
as I used to think was normal. How
could I go back to what I hated
voluntarily? Why would I? I knew we
had to though. We all did. We would
get caught if we just stayed together.
We couldn’t risk getting caught.

~2~
So, after a while sitting there, all
knowing what we would have to do
when we got up, Maya stood up. This
signalled for all of us to stand up too,
so hesitantly got to our feet.
“Where to first?” Maya asked. I looked
around. I didn’t want to lose any of
them; I didn’t even want to think
about leaving Alex. No one could
decide so Maya suggested we just
wandered around, seeing as no one
knew how to get to their house from
here, and seeing whose house we got
to first.
*****
We had been wandering around for a
while when we came across a large,
white house. There were flowers and
hedges growing outside, all perfectly
trimmed, obviously by a gardener.
Through the windows I could see a
perfectly cleaned, modern, but lifeless
kitchen. Through another window I
~2~
could see the living room. All the
rooms looked unlived in. Abby’s face
fell. Everyone had noticed.
“It’s not fair, why do I have to be first?
I don’t want to go home anyway, I’m
not going! You’re all just going to go
off on your own and leave me out, I
know you are! Don’t make me go!”
Maya leant down in front of her and
looked her in the eyes seriously.
“Abby...” Abby stopped shouting and
looked and Maya for a second then
threw herself at her, crying. Maya
stood up with Abi in her arms and
hugged her. “I’m gunna miss you,
hunny.”
“I’m gunna miss you too, Maya.” They
stood there for a while then Maya set
her down. Abby turned to Shelly next
and looked at her sadly.
“Shelly,” she sniffed then looked from
Shelly to Keeran and back again. “You
know what I’m gunna say.” Shelly
~2~
widened her eyes, looked down at the
baby then at Abby, then a tear came
to her eye and she leant down to give
Abby a hug, handing Jess to Keeran
carefully. When she pulled back, Abi
turned around to Keeran, who was
giving the baby back to Shelly. He
ruffled Abby’s hair,
“You’re a good kid, you know that?”
she nodded then, after a moment’s
hesitation, threw her arms around his
waist. He stroked her hair, looking like
he wasn’t sure what he was meant to
do. Abi let go and looked up at him,
then turned to me and Alex. Alex was
holding my hand, but I dropped it
when she looked at me. She ran and
jumped into my arms. Fresh tears ran
down my face, soaking it again.
“I’ll miss you most.” she whispered in
my ear so only I could hear. She
hugged me for ages, then when I
placed her down, she gave Alex a
~2~
quick hug and whispered something
to him that I couldn’t hear, then
walked slowly, hesitantly, up to the
front door of that cold, lifeless house.
When she got to the door she turned
and waved at us sadly then turned
and knocked on the door. We turned
and walked away. We didn’t look
back; it would have been too hard.

~3~
 Chapter Nineteen
We had been walking for a while,
have no idea where we were going,
when Maya gasped and started
sprinting. We didn’t know where she
had got that energy from, but soon
we realised when she threw herself at
a boy, about 50 feet away from us.
We all looked at each other,
wondering who it was, until I
remembered the story she had told
me once, about why she had been
captured. She had run away, because
her parents hadn’t approved of her
relationship with their driver, Daniel. I
smiled slightly, thinking of how much
she’d missed him. We wandered over
to her, taking our time, she had what
she wanted now. As we got closer we
saw a door open. Out of it ran posh,
~4~
middle aged woman in a dressing
gown with curlers in her hair.
“Mary!” The lady slowed down and
stopped in front of Maya. “Mary,
where have you been? I have been
looking everywhere. So has Daniel.
He waits outside our house every day,
waiting for you to come back, and
now your back! Oh darling, me and
daddy are so sorry, we didn’t mean
for you to run away! We thought you
were never coming back! Where were
you? Who are these people?” she
exclaimed, looking at us at the end.
Maya was beaming and still
embracing Daniel. He was stroking
her hair and kissing her forehead.
“Don’t ever go again hunny, never!”
he whispered in her ear. She nodded,
and then turned to her mum.
“I’ll tell you later.” Her mum then
proceeded to run down the driveway
screaming,
~2~
“DAVE DAVE, QUICK, COME DOWN.
MARY’S HERE!”
“I guess this is good bye.” Maya
whispered, looking down. A tear fell
down her face. “If only Harry could be
here...” Tears fell down my face for
the third time that day. How could my
body contain this much water? My
breathing was ragged with the
roughness of my throat. I had never
cried so much in my life as I had in
that one day. Maya and Shelly held
each other for a long time, while
Keeran held Jess; they had been
together in the same room for longer
than the rest of us had. They were
best friends, and now they had to
leave each other, forever. After an
emotional goodbye, I won’t go into
detail as it was heartbreaking for us
all as that was the point we all
realised we were never going to see
each other again. When Abby went it
~1~
was sad, but that was only one of us.
Now we were all falling apart. Only I
hadn’t accepted the fact I was leaving
Alex. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t. It was
impossible. I couldn’t live without
him.
Maya leant in and held me tightly for
a second, then whispered in my ear,
“He feels the same, trust me.”
Somehow that made me cry more
and soon I had not only drenched
myself, but her also. Oh god, I would
miss Maya. I would miss her ability,
not only to know what I was feeling
but to give me advice too. She was
always the one everyone would go to
for advice. She was the only one who
wouldn’t judge, or bring herself into it
somehow. When you were around
her, you felt somewhat comforted by
her just being there. When I first saw
her, I thought she looked like a ghost.
How wrong I was. She was the most
~2~
perfect person ever, and now I would
never see her again.
Maya didn’t say anything, even
though I knew she heard all of that.
She just put her hands on my
shoulder and gave me a meaningful
look in the eyes. She said her
goodbyes to Keeran, Alex, and the
baby of course, and then turned
around as her father was rushing
towards her beaming.
We turned and walked away.
*****
We were tired. Our muscles ached
from walking too far, our eyes stung
from too many tears, or faces were
stiff from sobbing and our brains were
tired of goodbyes. We stopped on a
nearby park bench and sat down.
After a few minutes of sitting in
silence watching people with dogs or
small children, or both, walk past
giving us strange looks, Shelly spoke,
~2~
“Me and Keeran, and Jess junior,
well... we aren’t splitting up. We’re
old enough to legally be living on our
own, and we’ll find the money
somewhere. If worse comes to worse,
we can go and see our parents, which
we will do at some point anyway, and
ask for some money or a place to
stay. Thing is, I can’t go home with a
baby AND a boyfriend and pretend
everything is fine.” This is the first
time Shelly had announced Keeran as
her boyfriend. We had all known there
was something between them but it
wasn’t quite as obvious as it was with
me and Alex. Then again, they were
different people; they would react to
love differently. I knew deep down
that they couldn’t be split up, Shelly
and the baby, Keeran and Shelly.
They were together. Forever. Like me
and Alex HAD to be.

~2~
“Yeah ok so can me and Alex then we
could all share a flat and get jobs
and... and...” Shelly shook her head.
“You’re still kids. You can’t live on
your own. Besides your parents need
to know your alive. I know mine do
too, and I’ll let them know. But Jess,
Alex, you need to go home.” We all
knew she was right. It still hadn’t sunk
in though, the fact that I’d never see
Alex again. Not yet.
*****
Alex and I left Shelly, Keeran and Jess
on the bench. We went through our
third goodbye of the day. It was no
less painful that the first or the
second. The worst was Jess though. I
held her close to me, not properly
knowing her and knowing she would
never properly know me. The fact
that she wouldn’t even remember this
goodbye, she wouldn’t even
remember me, that hurt. So, we, me
~1~
and Alex, walked away hesitantly. The
worst day of our lives, still not over
yet.

~2~
 Chapter Twenty
As we walked down the road to my
house I saw everything. I saw the
street I’d only ever seen from my
bedroom window. I saw the birds in
the trees, even their tweeting
sounded sad as if they knew what
was about to happen. I saw the house
I had lived in for so long, and had
never hated quite as much as I did at
that moment. Alex’s hand was in
mine and I squeezed it tighter, tears
running down my cheeks. I tried not
to think about what we were about to
do, but it was hard when we were at
the door. I turned and looked at him,
shaking my head.
“Don’t go. Please. I love you.” I
couldn’t speak anymore as there was
a lump in my throat and tears falling
quickly down my cheeks. He placed

~3~
his hands either side of my face and
looked me in the eyes.
“I love you too. You know I do, but
where else is there for us to go?” I
could hear his voice break at the end
of his sentence, and saw a tear fall
down his cheek. I’d hardly ever seen
him show emotion, he’d always been
trying to protect me.
“Anywhere, as long as we are
together.” He shook his head.
“You know we’ll get seen and taken
back to our parents, and anyway we
don’t have any money.”
“Why does it matter? I need you.”
“And I need you too, but I want the
best for you and I don’t think living on
the streets is the best you can do. I
want you to have a good life...”
“Then stay.” I interrupted half
heartedly as I knew he had made up
his mind.

~2~
“I can’t.” I could hear in his voice how
much he wanted to stay but it hardly
mattered if he wasn’t going to.
“So you don’t love me then, is that
it.” I tried to stay strong on the
outside but it was hard when on the
inside I was breaking. My sanity
disintegrated and all I wanted was to
make him suffer as much as I was
suffering, but it was no use, he
already was. What he said next,
though in a matter of fact way, was
full of emotion, and the heart I
thought could break no further
shattered into even tinier fragments.
“No of course I love you.”
“If you loved me you’d stay.” I
insisted, though I knew it wasn’t true.
Why was I still fighting? Why was I
trying to hurt him? What difference
would it make? He was leaving
anyway.

~1~
“You know that’s not true. Don’t
make this any harder than it is. Do
you really want to remember our last
moments together like this?”
“So you’re really going?” I sobbed. I’d
known it all along but somehow that
moment made it all seem too real. He
nodded then pulled me in and
pressed his lips to mine. I grabbed
hold of the back of his head and put
my other hand around his neck,
somehow thinking this would prevent
him from moving. However, after a
few seconds he carefully disentangled
himself from my grip, keeping hold of
only my lifeless hands.
“Don’t go.” I whispered to him, in one
last attempt, though I knew it was
useless.
He just shook his head and looked
right into my eyes with that admiring
look I’d seen many times before,
mixed in with all the sadness he
~1~
wasn’t even trying to hide anymore.
“I’m sorry.” he whispered painfully,
walking backwards slowly, still looking
into my eyes and my hand clung to
his desperately as long as possible.
When he let go my hand fell, hitting
the door with a dreadful thud that
seemed to signal the end. I tried to
tell myself it wasn’t the end, just the
beginning of the end. That one day
this pain would become numb and I
would look back on this all as just a
dream. The best, most realistic dream
ever, but I couldn’t even imagine
that. As far as I looked into the future,
as hard as I tried to see the light, all I
could see was this pain, some days
being rawer and some days being
almost bearable, but always being
there.
“I love you.” he said simply, then
closed his eyes and after a few
seconds shook his head. “Bye.” he’d
~2~
hardly got the word out before tears
started falling down his face and he
turned round quickly to hide them.
“Don’t go. I love you.” I whispered but
he was already too far away to hear
me.

~3~
 Chapter Twenty-one
I stood on the doorstep for a few
minutes, watching Alex walk further
and further away from me. I could
hardly see because of the tears
clouding my vision, but this was
probably the last time I would ever
see him, so I had to make the most of
it. I could see by the way he was
shuffling down the street, barely able
to keep his feet moving, that all he
really wanted was to turn around and
run back to me.
I watched until he was just a dot in
the distance, then I could no longer
see him. Even so, every footstep I
heard walking down the street, my
heart raced and I convinced myself it
was him coming back to me, but after
another ten minutes of standing
there, jumping at every sound that
~2~
was anywhere near a footstep, I told
myself he wasn’t coming back and
turned to face the large, white, cold
door. I had always thought this door
had been flawless and beautiful from
the other side, but now I was out in
the cold cruel world, about to walk
through this door into my cold, cruel
reality once again, this door no longer
seemed beautiful. It seemed worse
than ugly. Everything on the other
side that had always seemed so
perfect to me, was now hideous in my
eyes. I didn’t want to be on that side
of the door, but what was there for
me on this side? I looked around.
Every perfectly trimmed tree seemed
to be leering at me; every perfectly
maintained house seemed to look at
me in disgust. I didn’t belong out
here, but I didn’t belong in my house
either. It was no longer my home,
simply a house. I had never really
~2~
know what had been outside it, but
now I had lived in, not what you
would call pure bliss, but somehow
much more of a home that this place,
it was hard to go back to what I had
used to live like.
I wondered whether I should run after
him. I imagined the look on his face
when he turned around and saw me
there, the way he would hold me
tight, the way I’d run my hands
through his dirty but perfect hair and
the way we’d whisper that we could
never leave each other again. It was
too late now though, I had no idea
where he was and I knew I had a
responsibility at home. I couldn’t let
him down now. If he wanted me to be
here, I had to say. There was a cold
truth in that fact. I would never do
anything to upset him again. He had
been through enough, and so had I. I
needed to obey him just this once.
~3~
I wiped my tear-soaked eyes on my
filthy sleeve and sniffed, then tapped
lightly on the door. There was no
answer so I knocked a bit harder. The
door flew open and my mothers’
angry face was staring down at me.
Looking up into those cold,
unforgiving eyes I remembered how
afraid I had always been of her. I had
been kidnapped; threatened by an old
man and his evil army and faced so
much trouble in the last month, but
the prospect of being without Alex,
and in a house with people who were
capable of such cold stares seemed a
lot scarier.
“What do you…” her expression
changed from anger to joy as she saw
Teddy and Lorie across the road,
looking out their window eyes wide
with amazement “Oh daaarling I’m so
glad you’re back I missed you ever so
much!” she exclaimed, smiling at our
~4~
neighbours, then pulling me into the
house and slamming the door. When
she turned around, her expression
had changed back to anger.
“Where have you been? You’re
filthy!” she asked in a shrill voice. I
stared out the window and whispered
in a barely audible voice,
“I was kidnapped.”
“Nonsense!” I hadn’t ever thought
she was going to believe me but the
way she replied, like I was stupid,
made me want to hit her. I held my
hand behind my back to stop myself.
“Now come on, we are going to have
a nice family lunch without all your
lies!” that surprised me, I was never
allowed to eat with mother and
father, I’d never wanted to. The only
times I’d ever had to was when they
wanted something. I sighed and
followed her into the dining room.

~2~
I hadn’t been in this room much, only
really at dinner parties my parents
held and that was normally only for a
few minutes. My father was sitting at
the head of the table, silent as usual.
There were twenty places set at the
table, but my mother chose to sit at
the other end from my father. A bowl
of soup was brought over to her, but
she waved it off. The waitress then
set it down in front of me. I thanked
her, though I definitely wasn’t going
to be able to eat it. She smiled, not
used to being thanked, and walked
away.
*****
After ten minutes of sitting looking at
my soup, I looked up.
“Can I go out please, mother?” I
whispered. I couldn’t live without
Alex, I realised, and I needed to find
him, quick. However, fate wasn’t on
my side.
~2~
“Heavens, no! If you ran away again, I
would be called a bad mother.”
“Oh heavens no, wouldn’t want that
now would we?” I muttered
sarcastically, but she just ignored me,
as always.
“And besides, we wouldn’t want you
ending up like Helen’s daughter. She
went out and got herself...” she
lowered her voice and leant forward,
“with child” she leant back and
started shouting again. “Helen was
ever so embarrassed, but she told me
of course. Helen and I have been
friends since…”
“High school.” I interrupted. Of
course, Helen was Shelly’s mother.
“Well yes that’s right. Anyway,
Sharon’s daughter got herself
engaged to a cab driver! How awful! I
never liked that girl, and Sharon
objected of course. But her daughter,
what’s her name?”
~2~
“Maya.” I muttered.
“Mary! That’s the one.” I didn’t
correct her, what’s the point. “She ran
off and got herself lost, how clumsy!
Anyway, she’s back now and, you’ll
never guess what.” She didn’t pause
to let me answer, just carried on
talking. “Sharon gave then her
blessing, and bought them a flat! Me
and the girls are disgusted with her of
course and are in two minds whether
to discard her from the group! It
would be ever so hard though, us girls
have had such fun together,
expecially teasing little Jimmy Harper.
He had a mole right here.” she
pointed to the end of her long nose.
“How vulgar.”
“Jimmy’s dead.” I said in a monotone
voice. Her laughter stopped.
“Oh you mustn’t say such things
dear, how vulgar.”
“Harry killed him.”I replied quickly.
~1~
“Stop making up stories Melissa!” I
pushed my chair back and stood up.
“He kidnapped me and my name is
not Melissa!” Mother waved her hand
as if to dismiss everything I had said.
“Nonsense, eat your lunch Melissa.” I
sat down, defeated, and picked up my
spoon. I lifted a spoonful of soup to
my mouth, and then poured it back
into the bowl, splashing it over the
table.
“Melissa! I hope you’re not going to
be in this mood when we go out
tonight!” She screamed.
“Where are we going tonight?” I
sighed. All I wanted to do tonight was
to be left alone to cry in my room.
“We’re going round Lily’s and you”
she pointed her long, manicured
finger at me, “are going to behave
yourself.” I groaned. Going round
mother’s friend’s houses wasn’t a
very regular occasion, but when it did
~1~
happen it was the dullest thing ever.
However, I thought, maybe this could
be my chance to escape. I could
excuse myself to go to the toilet then
sneak out somehow. I clung onto that
hope as I faked a smile.

~2~
 Chapter Twenty-Two
“Right, it’s time to get ready.” Mother
stood up and walked upstairs with her
head held high. I stumbled after her,
fighting the tears as I looked out at
the porch, where I had said goodbye
to Alex. I trudged up the stairs, half
crawling, and was lead to the
bathroom.
“Go and have a bath then come and
put on your dress. Maxine will do your
hair.” Maxine was my mother’s maid,
and my favourite maid in the house.
Although I wasn’t allowed to be
dressed up by her very often she
sometimes came to my room and we
talked, mostly about how horrible my
mother is.
*****
I slowly approached the door of the
bathroom and rested my hand on the
handle. I looked around. Everything
~4~
was the same as it always had been.
The cold, hard bath, the large mirror,
the sink, which if you looked at
closely you could almost believe
those taps to be evil eyes looking at
you in the same cold manner as my
mother. Yes, this was the same
bathroom as always but it held more
sadness and darkness that it ever had
before. I almost didn’t want to get
into that bath for fear of washing
away everything wonderful that had
happened in the last few weeks and
replacing it with the hard, cold truth
that I could never see those that I
loved most again, that instead I would
be stuck in this hell hole for the rest
of my life. However, I knew I had to
because I needed to at least try and
escape. I peeled off the filthy clothing
I had been wearing for so long it had
stuck to me. I had tried to wash under
that tap in the corner but the water
~2~
coming out seemed to be dirty and I
couldn’t have taken my clothes off to
do it because of how many people
there were around. I carefully lay the
clothes on the floor, I couldn’t throw
them away, they were all I had left to
remind me. I ran the bath, the sound
too loud for me to bear. Tears
dropped from my face into the bath,
mingling with the bath water. I turned
and looked at myself in the mirror.
My hair was lank and greasy and my
face was covered in dirt, stripes
cleaned from the tears. You could see
the lines from where my top had been
to my actual skin shade. My skin was
covered in bruises and scratches and
my nails had black dirt in them. I
looked a mess, but somehow better
than I had ever looked before. I got
into the bath and looked as the water
slowly became dirtier and dirtier while
I was cleaning myself. I rinsed all of
~3~
the dirt and dust out of my hair then
reluctantly scrubbed my nails and my
face. I was washing away all the
evidence Alex ever existed, more
tears fell down my face and into the
bath. I grabbed my hairbrush and
tugged it through my hair. That pain
would have hurt before, but I’d been
hurt too much in the last few days
that I couldn’t feel a thing.
*****
On opening the door to ‘my’
bedroom, I saw that it hadn’t changed
at all since I had last been in it,
except the dress lying in the middle
of my bed. I slipped into it
mechanically. The dress was long and
blue, made out of satin, and the
straps were very thin and criss-
crossed down my back. It fitted me
perfectly and, looking in my full
length mirror, it looked fabulous on
me but it definitely didn’t suit my
~4~
mood. Under normal circumstances I
would have been delighted to have
been given such a great dress, but
now I no longer felt the need for such
gifts. All I needed was Alex.
“Are you ready?” I turned and saw
Maxine by the doorway of my room
and, after nodding, sat on the chair in
front of the mirror. She came over
and started styling my hair.
“So, where did you go?” she asked
after a couple of minutes, though the
question had obviously been on her
mind for a while.
“I was kidnapped.” She gasped.
“What happened?” she asked
enthusiastically and I ended up telling
her the whole story, ending with when
Alex left me. By that time I was in
floods of tears. Maxine ran to my
bedside table and got a tissue then
came back and wiped my face.

~2~
“How awful, but you musn’t cry
mother will be so angry if you ruin
your dress.” I stopped immediately.
She might not let me out if I looked
bad and I needed to escape. Maxine
did my makeup then slipped some
high heeled silver shoes onto my feet.
I gazed at my feet; no way would I be
able to run in those.
“Maxine, are there any flat shoes that
go with this dress?” she nodded and
got out some silver sandals.
“Are these ok?” she asked.
“Perfect.” I smiled. I stood up and
looked at myself in the mirror. My hair
had been styled into tight ringlets,
reaching just past my shoulders and I
was wearing blue eye shadow, thick
black eyeliner and black mascara.
Even I had to admit I looked ok. It
hardly mattered though, as I was
going to be living on the streets
soon… hopefully.
~2~
 Chapter Twenty-three
I walked down the stairs, careful not
to step on my floor length dress. At
the bottom of the stairs was my
mother wearing a red satin strapless
dress that emphasised her tiny waist
and reached the floor, even though
she was wearing six inch high black
stiletto heels. Her dyed blonde hair
had been straightened and reached
her waist and she was wearing way
~2~
too much make up. She looked down
at me.
“You are going to behave yourself
tonight Melissa. Do you understand?”
“Yes mother.” I whispered through
my teeth. Just keep this up for half an
hour longer and you’ll be free, I told
myself. My heart was racing when I
got into the cab and by the time we
were at Lily’s house I was
hyperventilating. Luckily, mother
didn’t notice as she was too busy
smoothing down her dress and hair. I
wondered how she would last in the
cellar? I thought to myself and
sniggered. She turned around and
gave me a warning look.
“Remember what I said.” I nodded
seriously and looked down to hide my
smile.
*****
As we approached the door of number
thirty four I groaned. It was a
~2~
beautiful house, there’s no doubt
about that, but the cellar was much
preferable now. I was beginning to
have second thoughts about my idea
of escaping. Where would I go, what
would I do? I couldn’t drag any of the
others into this, they were probably
all happy at home, and I had no idea
where Alex was. I was so engrossed in
my thoughts that I tripped over a
flower pot that I hadn’t realised was
there. My mum whipped her head
round.
“For god’s sake Melissa are you
thick?” She could have gone on for
hours, but at that moment a woman
opened the door.
“Samantha darling!” he woman was
very tall and her hair was cut into a
black bob. The smile on her face now
didn’t look at all natural to her. She
gave me a quick angry glare after
looking at her broken flower pot, then
~2~
looked at my mother and smiled
again.
“Come on in both of you.” I walked
into the house after my mother, and
then Lily shut the door. The house
was much the same as our, a huge
sweeping staircase, white painted
doors, hundreds of rooms, but none of
it seemed impressive to me anymore.
I tried to look amazed though, to be
polite. Lily looked pretty satisfied at
least.
“Come and meet my son!” she
exclaimed. I groaned. A day of having
to pretend to like some posh stuck up
boy was not what I needed right now.
My mother glared at me and I tried to
look enthusiastic.
“He’s been in such a strange mood
lately! He keeps asking if he can go
out. Of course, I won’t let him after he
disappeared last time.”

~2~
“Melissa keeps asking if she can go
out too. She disappeared for a month
or two saying she got kidnapped! How
preposterous” I know I shouldn’t have
said anything but I couldn’t help
myself.
“I was kidnapped and my name is not
Melissa!” I shouted. Suddenly I heard
the sound of someone getting up in
the living room and footsteps coming
towards the door. We all looked
around and after a few seconds the
door creaked open. Through it
stepped the very boy that had been
constantly in my thoughts. I gasped,
Alex! I had an overwhelming urge to
run to him, jump into his arms and
never let go, but I couldn’t, not now
at least. It got a lot harder to breathe
then, and I had to hold onto the door
handle to stop myself running to him.
He seemed to be in a similar position,
holding onto the banister.
~2~
“Alex.” I whispered, I couldn’t stop
myself. Luckily our mothers seemed
pretty confused.
“Who’s Alex? There’s no Alex here.”
Alex’s mother said. I was confused,
but was not about to let on. “Charles,
are you going to go over and say
hello to Melissa?” Alex shook his
head. Charles? Melissa? Had our
parents gone crazy? Or, I thought,
had we both forgotten our names in
the cellar and made them up? Things
were getting very strange, but that
was the least of our problems. Me and
Alex needed to be together, and very
soon.
“I need the toilet.” I gasped. My
mother hissed back at me,
“Go then, you don’t need to tell us
all.” Alex sniggered and I glared at
him.
“I don’t know where it is.” I said,
emphasizing every syllable and
~1~
widening my eyes at Alex, hoping for
him to realise my plan. He obviously
did because the next thing he said
was,
“Oh I can show her.” His mother
nodded and both her and my mother
made their way into the living room. I
walked up the stairs carefully, not
looking back at Alex, and stopped at
the top. He nodded and overtook me.
I pressed back into the wall, but I
could still feel his breath on my neck
as he walked past me. It took all my
effort to follow him slowly. We walked
right past the bathroom and up
another flight of stairs to his
bedroom.
On the surface it was an ordinary
boy’s bedroom, painted blue with
football posters on the wall. His bed
was made nicely, and there was no
mess on the floor. I looked on his
bedside table and there was a
~2~
drawing pad. I flicked through it. They
were all pictures of me, as I was in
the cellar of course. I looked down at
my dress, and decided I looked much
better then. I looked back at the
drawings. They were amazing.
“These are really good.” I whispered,
then turned and looked at Alex. He
was looking out the window. He
turned around; a tear was rolling
down his cheek.
“I thought I wasn’t going to see you
again.” I ran at him and jumped into
his arms, pressing my lips to his. After
a few minutes, he set me down and
leant away. I leant forward with him,
magnetised to him, and he laughed.
He took my hands into his, smiling
and whispered,
“I love you.” before leaning forward
and kissing me lightly on the lips.
“But if we are going to escape, we

~3~
better get out quickly.” I smiled. He
knew exactly what I was thinking.

Chapter Twenty-four
“It’s a long way down.” I was normally
quite brave, but the prospect if
jumping out of a third storey window
filled me with fear. He laughed.
~2~
“There’s a terrace. Why do you think I
chose this room? Sometimes I just
need to get away from it all.” I smiled,
but I was still worried about the
height, if I fell…
“I’ll go first.” he whispered into my
ear, interrupting my thoughts, “But I
don’t know what you’re worried
about, superhero.” we both laughed,
and then he swung his leg over the
window. He winked at me, before
climbing round to the terrace. After a
few minutes, he was on the floor and
beckoning for me to come down. I
imitated the way he got onto the
terrace and started climbing down.
However, my dress got caught and I
let go of the terrace to unhook it. I felt
myself falling and it was very dark
outside. I couldn’t tell if it was a
dream or reality, but it hardly
mattered. It was dark and I was
scared, it was exactly like my dreams
~1~
I used to have in the cellar, but with
one difference. Alex caught me. I
looked up at him and saw his worried
frown turn to his perfect smile. I
smiled back, expecting him to put me
down. Instead he kissed me with a
kind of urgency I had only witnessed
once before, when we got back
together. It seemed like years ago,
although it must have only been a
couple of weeks. He placed me down
and I realised that the bottom part of
my dress had been ripped off and it
was now five inches above my knees.
Alex followed my gaze.
“I like it better that way.” Alex
laughed. Well, it’s a lot easier to run
in, I thought, joining in his laughter.
He stopped laughing suddenly.
“We have to go.” he whispered and
grabbed hold of my hand, sending a
wave of electricity up my arm. It took

~2~
me a few seconds to recover and in
that time I heard my mother shout,
“Melissa, Charles, hurry up!” We
looked at each other then sprinted
down the road.
*****
Soon we were out of breath and had
to stop. We were in town, right next
to a café and I groaned. “How are we
going to eat? We have no money.”
running away had seemed such a
good idea at the time, but now I
realised the bad points, like having no
food, drink, clothes or place to stay.
“Do we not?” he laughed, pulling a
wallet out of the back pocket of his
trousers. I gasped as he opened it up,
revealing at least two hundred
pounds and a credit card.
“Where did you get that from?” I
exclaimed.
“My dad’s pocket, he’ll never notice
he has so many.
~2~
“Ok, so we have money for food and
clothes…” he smirked at this, looking
down at my dress, but I ignored him
and continued, “but where are we
going to stay?” he thought for a
moment, I loved the way he bit his lip
when he was concentrating, then
exclaimed,
“You know what my mum told me?
Maya and Daniel just got a flat given
to them by Maya’s parents. I
remember the address as well.”
“Isn’t that a bit rude though?”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” I
nodded in agreement. “But let’s get
something to eat first, and here’s as
good a place as any.” I nodded again,
unable to speak after staring at his
face for so long. He pulled open the
door to the café and gestured for me
to go through. I walked in and looked
around. It was quite small and no one
else was here apart from us and an
~2~
old woman, standing by the counter
who, after having looked me up and
down, was giving me strange looks. I
felt Alex’s hands on my waist and his
breath on the back of my neck. I
smiled as he led me to a table right at
the back in the corner. He pulled out
a chair for me and I sat down, then he
sat down opposite me. The old
woman came over and asked us what
we wanted with a curious look on her
face. I didn’t blame her; it probably
did look a bit strange to her. We told
her what we wanted and she nodded,
walking away. Alex turned and looked
me in the eyes, and my heart skipped
a beat. He grabbed hold of my hands
across the table.
“You know, I thought I was never
going to see you again, and then I
heard your voice in the hallway. I still
thought my mind was playing tricks

~2~
on me, but I went out just to check,
and you were there.”
“I know it’s amazing.” I breathed. “I
was so upset when you left, I couldn’t
think of anything except you. Why did
you leave me?” I felt tears filling my
eyes again, but he reached across
and wiped my eyes with his hand
gently.
“I thought… I don’t know what I
thought. I just wanted you to be
happy and whatever you say, I’m sure
you wouldn’t be happy with no
money, living on the streets.”
“If I was with you…”
“You would still have no money and
nowhere to live, but you would also
have someone to blame for it.”
“You know I would never…”
“I know.” he smiled. “Anyway it
hardly matters anymore.” I smiled
back at him as our food was placed
on the table. I hadn’t realised how
~3~
hungry I was but I now remembered
the lunch I had missed out on, and
the lack of food before that in the
cellar. My sandwich was finished in a
few minutes and, when I had
devoured every crumb from my place,
I looked up at Alex. He was smiling at
me,
“Do you want mine?” He passed me
his place. Under normal
circumstances I would have refused
it, saying that he must be hungry too,
but I was in no position to refuse food.
I finished his off as well then sat up
again.
“Sorry, I haven’t eaten in ages.” Not
since Harry died, I thought.
“It’s ok.” Alex laughed, passing the
waitress a five pound note and
standing up. “Right, let’s go.” He
walked over to me and grabbed hold
of my hand. We walked out of the
little café and up the street towards
~2~
where he said Maya’s flat was. It was
very late at night when we got to
there. Alex and I stood by the door
which had her flat number on it.
“Maybe it’s too late. They might not
be awake. It’s rude to wake them up.”
Even though they were our friends, I
was worried there would be no space
for us, or they didn’t have the money
to look after us or… I went over a
hundred different scenarios in my
head. Alex rolled his eyes and smiled
at me, knocking on the door.

Chapter Twenty-five
~2~
The door opened and Maya was
standing in the doorway. I was just
about to talk when Shelly came up
behind her with Jess in her arms. They
both looked me up and down, taking
in the appearance of my dress, then
Maya exclaimed,
“You better come in.” I hadn’t
realised how tired I was until that
moment so I just nodded, not even
wondering why Shelly and Jess were
here, then walked and collapsed onto
the sofa. Alex sat down next to me
and I rested my head on his shoulder.
I was asleep within seconds.
*****
I dreamt me and Alex were running
from our parents. The road was
getting smaller and smaller and we
could no longer run side by side, so I
ran ahead of Alex. They were gaining
on us so I tried to run faster, but it
was no use. Suddenly, I felt that Alex
~1~
wasn’t behind me anymore. I looked
back and he was being dragged back
by his parents. I couldn’t go on
without him, but I couldn’t go back.
Or could I? I’d never see him either
way, but at least if I went back I’d be
able to say goodbye, and we had
more of a chance to run for it. With
that in my head, I walked slowly back
towards a world I wanted nothing to
do with, taking with me the feeling of
walking voluntarily into a hungry
lion’s cage with only the thought of
seeing my beloved one last time
pushing me onwards.
*****
I woke up shaking with fear and
reached up to touch Alex’s face.
However, he wasn’t there. I was lying
on the sofa on my own with a blanket
over me. I stood up quickly, throwing
the blanket onto the floor, and looked
around the room. Finally realising he
~2~
wasn’t there; I opened the door to the
next room. It was the spare bedroom,
and on the single bed laid Shelly with
her hand dangling into the crib Jess
was asleep in. Keeran was lying next
to her. I closed the door silently the
moved on to the next door. Maya and
Daniel were both asleep too, Daniel
with his arms around Maya. I was
getting more and more worried about
Alex, I was practically
hyperventilating. Silently of course, I
didn’t want to wake anyone up after
they had been so nice to me
yesterday. I ran back into the living
room and, seeing Alex still wasn’t in
there, collapsed on the sofa with my
head in my hands. At that moment I
heard the door ring. Now, I know it
wasn’t my house and I know I
shouldn’t have opened the door, but I
did. Standing in the doorway was Alex

~2~
holding Abby’s hand. I sighed out of
relief and threw myself at Alex.
“I woke up and you weren’t there... I
looked everywhere... I thought you’d
gone.” He stroked my hair and
whispered into my ear,
“Shh... I’m here. I was looking out of
the window and saw Abby walking
down the street looking lost so I went
down to see if she was Ok.” I let go of
him then knelt down in front of Abby.
She looked at me, proud of herself.
“I ran away.” I looked at her seriously.
“Abby you could get in lots of trouble
for this.” she looked back at me
seriously.
“I left a note.”
“Saying...”
“I don’t like you, don’t come and look
for me.” I smiled involuntarily. “They
don’t care where I go anyway; they
didn’t even notice me coming in.” I
nodded. I couldn’t really have a go at
~3~
her, then I’d be a hypocrite. Except
worse, I didn’t even leave a note. My
parents wouldn’t care enough to read
it though.
*****
Me, Alex and Abby couldn’t get to
sleep, so we just sat together on the
sofa waiting for the others to get up.
After an hour or so, Maya came out of
her room in a dressing gown, sleepily
mumbling to herself. When she saw
Abby though, she woke up and Abby
jumped off my lap and ran at her.
They hugged and talked to each other
so fast and loud neither I nor Alex
could make out what they were
saying. All this commotion woke the
other up and Shelly appeared at her
door, closely followed by Keeran who
put his arms around her waist and
looked over her shoulder curiously.
When they saw Abby, they gasped

~2~
and Abby, looking over Maya’s
shoulder, exclaimed,
“I told you so!” None of us understood
what this meant, apart from Shelly
who turned bright red. Maya set Abby
down and she went and talked a mile
a minute to Shelly and Keeran while
Daniel appeared at his and Maya’s
door then walked over and hugged
her. Looking around, we looked more
like a family than any of us did with
our real families. We were all so
happy and perfect. Our only regret
was the fact Harry wasn’t here to
share this with us. We all realised this
at the same time and stopped talking
and looked at each other. Maya
turned and picked up a glass of water
that was laying on the table side,
“To Harry. We wish you could be here
with us now, but you gave your life to
save ours. We know that, wherever
you are, you are looking down on us
~2~
happily. We would give anything for
you to be here right now, but we
can’t. All we can do is wish that you
are well where you are, and live our
lives to the full, in memory of you. To
Harry.” She lifted her glass and we all
nodded. To Harry.

~2~
~3~
~5~
Three years later....

~7~
~3~
 Chapter Twenty-Six
“... and then this girl flew through the
door. Emily. I knew she was a rotten
egg to begin with.” I walked into the
flat, coming back from my job at the
Sports Club. It was all I could get, as a
seventeen year old.

~5~
Alex was sitting on the floor in the
corner holding Will in his arms, with
Jess sitting opposite him. I guessed
she had asked him to tell her again,
she could never get enough of that
story.
Will was Maya’s baby. She had
announced she was pregnant two
years after we moved in. When she
had the baby she decided to call it
Will, for obvious reasons. Her, Daniel
and Will were the perfect family.
Maya was so caring towards, not only
her baby, but Jess too. Jess was three
now and brought up to be very strong
by her parents. Keeran and Shelly
were a strange couple, they would
always argue over small things but
were so in love in didn’t matter at all.
At the end of the day, they would still
huddle up together and watch a
movie and would still fall asleep at
night holding hands.
~1~
It goes without saying; Alex and I
were still as we had always been,
completely in love. We spent so much
time together it was hard to be apart,
and I spent most of my time at work
talking about him.
Three months after we had moved to
Maya’s flat we went to see our
parents. It was hard, and they weren’t
very happy. However, not at all
surprisingly to me but it was to the
others, my parents cared more about
what others would think of them than
how I was affected. Once I had
reassured them that no one would
notice I was gone, they were fine
about the whole thing. Well, I say
fine, they didn’t say anything. My
mum shrugged her shoulders and I’m
sure my dad wasn’t even listening.
Alex’s parents were a lot harder to
get around. His mother gave me the
dirtiest looks possible and his dad
~2~
shouted in a booming voice that
shook the whole house that Alex
‘wasn’t going anywhere’. We nearly
ran out of his house, and we’re not
thinking of going back any time soon.
*****
Keeran and Daniel were on the sofa
watching a football match, Shelly and
Maya were whispering to each other
in the kitchen and Alex was still
telling the story to the children. No
one had noticed me come in. I
wandered into the kitchen and Maya
and Shelly suddenly went silent. I
looked them in the eyes and they
eventually gave in, looking down at
my stomach. I followed there gaze,
unable to see what they were staring
at.
“What is it?” I was confused and felt
left out of a private conversation.
“Jess... you’ve been gaining a bit of
weight recently.” I had noticed that
~2~
but I didn’t think that was something
you pointed out in polite
conversation. I ran my hands over my
stomach, feeling the bulge of weight I
had been gaining over the last few
months. I hadn’t been eating that
much, in fact I had cut down when I
noticed my weight going up. I looked
back up at them.
“And...” They looked at me like I
should know what they were talking
about, but I really didn’t.
“Do you really need us to spell it out
for you?” Shelly asked.
“Yes please!” I exclaimed. I had no
idea what they were on about.
“You’re pregnant!” They both
whispered. I froze.
“No... No I’m not...”
“Then how can you explain the fact
that you have been sick every
morning for the last month?”
Everything fell into place. Of course I
~2~
was pregnant... it made sense. All the
evidence pointed to it, but how was I
supposed to tell Alex?
“Go now!” Maya whispered. I nodded,
still shocked by what I had just found
out.
*****
Just as I walked into the living room
Alex was finishing his story.
“... and here we are now.” He smiled
up at me and passed Will to Maya
who had just appeared by his side.
She winked at me then disappeared
back into the kitchen. Jess toddled
over to Keeran, who picked her up
and started playing “round and round
the garden” on her hand. This was
followed my laughing scream and
shouts of,
“Again! Again!” Alex walked over to
me and smiled.
“Hey.” he spoke, then wrapped his
arms around me and kissed my neck.
~2~
“Alex...” I whispered. He pulled back
and looked at me with his perfect
eyes. So innocent, unknowing.
“Nothing.” I finished. I would tell him
tomorrow, or the day after. It didn’t
matter; we had the rest of our lives
together anyway.
But when we did have the baby, if it
was a boy, I knew what I was going to
call it, and I’m sure Alex wouldn’t
disagree.
Harry.

~2~