All Chapters of Night Flower: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

"Ready? You have ten minutes to hide. Try not to be found. The whistle will announce the end, and if we haven't found you and you hear the whistle, come out." Ten minutes was a lot of time, but I wasn't sure if it would be enough. My sense hadn't changed, but I was convinced more than half of the kids had gotten a stronger sense of smell or sight. I barely could stand, but at the first signal, I started moving. Finding a good spot wasn't easy. You had to take the notion of the wind, the sun, or the moon, and how small or big the space you were trying to blend into. Rachel waved past me as she ran towards higher grounds. That, too, had been my first thought, but looking down at my clothes, it seemed foolish to try to blend with foliage when your top was pink. Thanks, Mother. If I fail, this test is going to be your fault. There was a river nearby; we had run past it, and that's where I moved. Losing precious minutes thinking about my strategy had been a bad thing, but maybe I had a c

"Was someone following you?" Here we go again. "I don’t know." "Then why did you run?" The same question would only get him the same answer. "I already told you that I was hitchhiking, and the last person left me on the side of the road since he was going the opposite way. I continued walking until I felt someone behind me; it was dark and I couldn’t see anything. I might have been followed, but it was too dark." "So you ran into the woods?" "Yes." I’m beginning to lose my patience with this man. He had been driving me for the last hour, asking the same question and getting the same answers. He wasn’t satisfied. He wanted me to mess up, but I had already made up my story. Why I was hitchhiking Where I was coming from and where I was going It all added up; he had no reason to think I was lying, but all hot blood was the same. We didn’t trust anyone we didn’t know. I wouldn’t trust myself. "Look, I’m exhausted and in pain." "Just point me in the right direction, and I will leave."

He has no intention of setting me free; no more words were spoken, just leering and something that sounded like a grunt. I’d be happier if he had slammed the door, but like a perfect gentleman, he just closed it behind him gently. The click of the lock was loud enough for my standard ears. "Loud and clear." The rustle of the sheets and the lingering scent—I mean, only the blind wouldn’t be affected by him, or maybe a deaf person—his voice was enough. The rough palms and the heat of his body Yes, he was doing all the right things without even wanting to do them. That night and the next, I was unable to get any real sleep. A couple of hours later, I was back on my feet, pacing the room I had come to know like the back of my hand. No one dared to interact with me; they just left whatever they had brought in and left. With no words or looks, it was like he had told them to do the bare minimum—just keep me alive. At different times of day, the movement could be heard from different po

The weather started to match my mood. The gray sky combined with the lowering temperatures began to freeze the hope I had gathered. With the dislocated shoulder, I needed a sling, so making one out of his bed sheets seemed reasonable. The trick was getting something sharp enough to cut it and finding a way that I could hold the thing. In the end, it was awful, but it kept my arm immobilized.That first-aid course had been a good choice. That and survival instincts were a good match; the only thing I lacked was common sense."Rise and shine."Here we go again. Her whole ensemble looked like something out of a magazine spread. She looked like a million-dollar sugar baby, while I looked like someone had dragged me through the mud. Which they had."Here we go, oats and fruit." She was being far too amicable. "We need to get some food into you so you can get better. I spoke with Dalio, and he said he was sorry and that he wouldn’t be doing that again."Her saccharine smile was terrifying."

Tap tap. Tap tap. The rhythmic sound came from the other side of the wall. It was faint, but it was enough to wake me up. The deafening silence was too much; I felt like I had been thrown into a void where the only light source was so faint that I could barely see a few feet in front of me. The dark walls and the unkempt appliances added more to the eerie scenery. Nothing had happened after they locked the door; no one had come to see me. Or feed me. My stomach had been growling like crazy, and that last meal had been a few bites of questionable fruit due to the ongoing game Ruby had been playing with me and my food. Wrapping myself had made it impossible for me to eat without hesitation. Water was not an option; the pipes had groaned for a long time just to let out a couple of rusty droplets. The small room had maintained its temperature. Cold. Wrapping myself around had somewhat worked; the oversized shirt covered my knees while the rest of me had to endure it; somehow I had f