"We need to get out of here now, Danny!" he whispered into my ear.
"Alex-" I gasped for breath. I'd been running away with him for what seemed like hours, but was only ten minutes. I knew we couldn't stop running, but my legs ached, and my shoulder tortured me with pain. It burned, and I don't think the bleeding had stopped. I was amazed that I could still run, let alone breathe. But I was just barely breathing, and I couldn't help from gasping. The bitter, midnight air cut right through my throat, but it was air, and my lungs welcomed it joyfully.
"Alex...I don't think I can make it. I should go back. They can heal my shoulder, and I'll be alive. You need to go on though, I don't want you to go back. I care about you to much, and I don't want you to live that life."
The pained look in his gorgeous brown eyes quickly turned to anger.
"No! Daniella! I won't leave you there!" His voice was raising, and I feared that They would find us.
"Alex-" I was interrupted by a coughing fit. His eyes softened, and he set me down on the ground. He sat down next to me, and I rested my head on his shoulder. "Alex," my voice was a soft whisper," Please. Leave me. Go. They'll find me soon enough, and we'll both be safe."
He sighed.
"Daniella, that's just it. They won't just heal you and let you go. They'll finish what they started. If you go back, a burned shoulder would be the least of your problems. I don't want you dead. Daniella," he turned and looked into my eyes. He seemed to search my heart, and those eyes seared my very soul with pain, but it was the type of pain that only one person in the world can make you feel. That one person who completes you, your other half, the person who makes your life a fairy tale. "Daniella, I love you. I love you so much, I don't ever want to leave you. I've done that once, and it was the biggest, most stupid, painful thing I've ever done. Please, don't make me leave you behind. I promised you when I came back that I'd find a place we could escape to, a place where They don't exist. I found that place, and you're going to go there with me. And you're going to live because," he took my hand," I need you."
Tears brimmed in my eyes. "Alex, I love you, too. And I need you, and I want to live because I never want to be separated from you. We've been through a lot of hard ships, and we've always made it through, but I don't know. I think this might be it for me. For us."
Oceans shimmered in his eyes. He reached his other hand and touched my long, wavy brown hair, and he said, "Don't ever say that, because you can't give up. You're the reason I stay strong, the reason I had hope when we were stuck in that horrible place. Don't give up on me, on everything we've worked on. Now, come on."
"I don't think I can walk. I can't even feel my legs."
"I'll carry you."
He picked me up, and the last thing I remembered was the vibrations of his running in my head.
"You're going to make it, Danny. We're gonna be okay."
***************************************************
"And that's my story," I said to the room full of reporters.
"Daniella! Daniella! Daniella!" everyone yelled. I chose one woman reporter with short black hair and slate grey eyes.
"What were you two running away from exactly?"
The question itself was like a harsh wind that blew me back to the awful memories of Them and The Place.
"That's just it, isn't it? What were we running away from. We ran from pain, sorrow, prison, and most importantly, Them."
"Them? Who are They?" someone else asked.
"Well, They're a group of people who have very twisted minds." Even as I said it, a flash back came to mind.
*****************************************************
"Hello, Rosy. You look lovely today."
I looked up into a pale face, black eyes, and cruelty just radiating.
"My name isn't Rosy. It's Daniella. I've told you this before."
He laughed.
"But, my dear, here, you're life is different. You have a different name, different friends, and different parents. I'm your dad, and you will be called whatever I want to call you. Understand?"
"No."
He grabbed my wrist and held a pressure point. My body was paralyzed from it.
"I'm your father, and you will not back talk me. You will respond to me as 'sir', 'dad', or 'father'. 'No' is not in your vocabulary." He let go of my wrist.
"Yes, sir. May I go outside sir?"
"Of course, Rosy. Have fun."
I got out of the bed and walked to the door. Just as I was walking out, he said, "And remember, you can't escape, you can't call anyone outside of The Place, and you must not ever see that boy John again."
"His name is Alex," I said with as strained tone.
"His parents named him John, and that's what we'll call him. Have fun. Again, you can't go anywhere. You are stuck here. Forever."
His laughter followed me out the door.
******************************************************
"Do you know why They kidnap people?" a different person asked.
"Well, yes actually. You see, one day, Alex and I stumbled across one of Their offices. When we did, we looked at files and everything in there to see if there was a way out. That's when we came across the reason."
******************************************************
"There's got to be some way out of here," Alex said as he dug through file after file.
I opened up a drawer to a file cabinet, and saw the names of each "parent" at The Place.
"Alex, look at this. It's got the name of each of Them. They've all got Their own files, and it looks like personal info."
He came over and picked up a file with the name: Betty Cameron.
"That's my 'mom's' name. It says here she was kidnapped in 1982, and she was taken here."
"Look. All the people here were kidnapped, and it was all in the year 1982." Something caught my eye in the back of the cabinet. It was an old piece of paper, yellow, crinkly, and water stained. "Well what do we have here Alex?"
He took it from my hand and opened it.
"It's a journal page, dated back to 1902! It reads: 'Today, I opened up The Place. The name is not original, but with a name as inconspicuous as that, we will not be hunted. I opened The Place with my wife, and it is everything I ever dreamed it would be. We have our batch of kids, and we will raise them to carry on our legacy. Every twenty years, twenty young adults will be taken from their homes and come here. Why? some people might ask. My wife and I are very unfortunate, for she is unable to give me a child of my own. So, if I can't have my own son or daughter, no one should. We will take children from their homes, and bring them here, convincing them this is the better life. When they grow older, they will take their own children and raise them the same. I have high hopes for The Place, and I can only dream how famous we will become. For now, we have twenty kids, Suellen and I, and we will cherish them all through their lives. Signed, Elliot Green.'"
Alex looked at me. His eyes read my thoughts, and I read his. Neither of us had to say anything to know we both knew this was bad.
******************************************************
The room was silent. No one said anything. No pens were moving. Nothing. Silence.
"Any more questions?" Alex, who was standing right next to me asked.
"Why were you burned?" some brave, yet cowardly, reporter asked. He didn't even stand up to ask the question that I knew they were all thinking.
I sighed.
"I once tried to escape alone, and They caught me. I would've died, if Alex wasn't there to save me. Luckily, only my shoulder was burned." I looked at Alex, and he smiled at me.
"I think that's enough for today," he said into the microphone. He put his hand on my back and led me off the stage, despite the the calling of our names by the reporters.
My dad stepped up, and everyone started calling, "Mr. President!" "Sir!" "Over here!"
I watched as he pointed to the same woman with the short black hair and grey eyes.
"How does it feel knowing that for seven years, your daughter was taken and being trained to take other kids?"
"All I can say is," he looked at me, "It's good to have my baby home. That's enough. No more questions."
He walked off the stage and came over to me.
"Are you ready to go kiddo?"
"Actually, Dad, Alex and I were just about to go out. Please can I?"
He gave a harsh look to Alex, but then laughed and said, "Sure. But remember, be home by twelve."
"Of course, sir. I'll have her back by eleven fifty-nine."
My dad's laughter followed me out the door.

Impressum

Texte: I downloaded the cover picture from google.com/images.
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 20.05.2011

Alle Rechte vorbehalten