1

"Nice to meet you," I say with sweaty palms. He stops looking at me, and I feel like throwing up. I don't like this at all. I know that my parents are making plans or already have something for me. I can't stand the tension, and I can't wait to get out of here. I don't want this life anymore.

"I know I'm older than her, which is why I'll come back in six years to take her as my payment for a wife," When he says that, my eyes widen, and when he replies, I shake my head.

"We know you are young. Eighteen is young; I was married at that age. We can keep her until then as long as you remember what we agreed to." My mom says something, and I use this time to go to the bathroom.

"May I get out of here?" When I hear "Go," I didn't ask anyone for anything. I get up and walk out, but when I get to the door, my dad starts talking to me. "Change for school, you're out for the rest of the day." I open the door and run to my room at the top of the mansion as soon as it closes.

Changing I take the money I've saved up in my backpack, as well as my jacket, raincoat, school uniform, and extra clothes, and change into them. When I get to my room, I only take the things I need and leave the things I know my parents are watching. I ride my bike to the city, which is close to where I go to school. I get off my bike and walk to Grillos to get rid of the bugs in my backpack, socks, shoes, jacket, and bike. I take my time because I know they are following me. As I put things back together, I can see Grillo.

"Grillo, I can't keep working here because my parents don't like it." He gives me a nod, walks away, and then comes back with a package. I take the package and give him an odd look. "This is from Ulysses. He wanted to give it to you, but it doesn't work today. Have a nice day." I take it and look at it. It's an iPod with some songs on it and a charger, which is a great gift. Did he get this for my birthday? I won't be able to see him, too bad.

I put it on my head and the rest on my backpack. I left just as it started to rain. I got to school and saw my two best friends. I grabbed Juana's hand and dragged her out of the school grounds. Jose, Juana's little brother, saw me and ran to me. I walked with Juana to hide from the rain at a bus stop.

"What's happening?" Juana asks me this, and I give her a sad smile and a hug.

"I'm leaving, please don't tell anyone." When I ask her, her face turns scared, and she holds on to my elbows as she tells me that Jose is coming.

"What? No, you can't hide somewhere until tomorrow, when I go on vacation. We can leave together, and you know my parents won't mind. Chicka, can you help us hide you?" Her words of desperation affect me more than I want to admit.

"Okay, but I can't go to school because they might already be looking for me. This is what they do for a living. Promise me you can protect yourself if it happens to me and you?" When Jose answers while holding my shoulder, she starts crying, so I give her a little shake.

"Are you a fool? We'll never do that because it's all or nothing. You needed to leave that place years ago, and now you're trying to leave, so we'll help you get out. We'll meet at my house when we get out of school, so hide until then, Juana. If we act as we got into a fight, they'll leave us alone. GET OUT OF HERE!" Jose screams, and I get on my bike and paddle away from the school.

Without stopping, I get to the big woods. If there's anywhere I know I can lose them, it's here. I'll hide my bike here so they don't find my stash. I don't like the rain, but right now it's the best thing I can have. I'll use the water to wash away any scents and tracks so I can hide.

I run faster through the woods while carrying my bike on my shoulders. When I get far enough, I can see some small caves in the area. I find a small hole under a big tree that my bike fits in. I put on my raincoat, look at the tree, and try to remember what I can about the place. It's a good place to hide because it faces two underground caves. I then start to run further than where the tree is.

When I reach a clearing, I see a small cave. I go inside it to get out of the rain. To get through some parts, I sit on a rock. The sun isn't out, so I have to use the small amount of light the cave gives me until I reach a metal box "HOW! Oh, for God's sake! AAAAA!" I shout way too loudly, so I bite my tongue and pray quietly that no one heard me. When I'm praying with my hands, I hear whispering that gets my attention.

When I look down, I see that the metal box has my father's logo on it. This is strange because my father always tries to have all of his gear in order. But wait, he's hunting on my mother's land, which is against what they agreed to do. I don't care how angry he is or if he will kill me if I take his catch, so I start to open this box trap. I hold on to the box carefully until I hear it click open all the way. I sigh when I hear it open all the way.

I hear the sounds of puppies walking out of the box. I can't see them, but I can feel them licking my hand. It feels warm and comforting. Before anything else happens, I need to leave while the rain is still on my side. I grab my backpack and tell the puppies, "Get in my bag, we need to run or we'll get caught!" They jump on my backpack, which feels very heavy now. What kind of puppies is this heavy?

When I get out of the car, I feel like this bag is way too heavy. As I get closer to the edge of the woods, I follow the line to Juana and Jose's house. I've been working out for years, but this is by far the hardest workout I've ever done. I'm exhausted. As I move closer, I stop and drop to the ground. I crawl on my arms to the closest bush, which is next to a restaurant. As I do this, I see my dad's men looking for me. However? I was being very careful, but then the hitting box came yelling at me, which was not my best performance of the day. I roll my eyes as I get on my knees to keep moving. If I can get to the basement of my friend's house, I'll be safe.

When I take off, I don't hear anyone say anything about how fast I'm running. When I jump to the trolley, I hear one of the men shout, "There!" shit, I hope they don't find me. There's a guy sleeping on the trolley, which makes me feel bad, but I need to survive. I make my way to the guy and pick through his pockets. When I find his wallet, I get out of the trolley and walk right into

I jump on a table with a lot of little boxes, and then I hear a bullet go off. As I run, the pain gets worse. When I jump on the edge of the table, all the boxes fly everywhere and the animals escape. Everyone is running around trying to save the bunnies, pigeons, parrots, snakes, chickens, ducks, and grains that I have freed or dumped all over the place to give me time to getaway.

I go down a small alley that will get me to my friend's house faster. Someone grabs me by the arm and shoves me into a working kitchen. I'm scared for my life until I realize it's Ulysses and I can breathe again. I put my hands on my knees to catch my breath, and he shoves me into a cupboard and acts like he's looking for a specific pan. "Stay here! Here it is!" he yells.

"Are you familiar with this girl?" I hear a guy ask very close to me, so I bite my lip and focus on my breathing. My hands are on my neck, and the dogs on my backpack are licking my fingers, which makes me feel very calm. I hear another guy answer. "Yes, she was here with Ulysses before they left. They work together, and I think he is at his job on the top floor." When the cupboard door opens, a man in a chef's uniform grabs my elbow and pulls me out.