Chapter 2 - Robin

It’s been three days since what happened in my bedroom, what pushed me over the edge.  It’s now my 16^th birthday and I’ve been planning on how to escape the entire time.  I’ve stayed up all night every day, and I now know that the Head makes a round at 10:00 and midnight, and the rest of the night he sleeps or does something downstairs.  The best time to run would be after midnight, that way he won’t notice my absence until morning and I’ll be long gone by then.

I’ll escape out my window, there’s a vine that goes from the ground all the way up to the roof, and is close enough to my window that I’m able to get a handhold without having to reach out too far.  I’ve already tested it to make sure it can hold my weight, now I just have to wait for the right time to leave.

But when will the right time be?

I guess when he’s drunk enough that he’ll sleep the entire day through; give me even more time to escape.  Maybe I’ll actually get away.  I doubt it, though.

No, I told myself sternly, shaking my head. You mustn’t think that way.  You will get away.  You will escape.  You will be free.

“Happy birthday.”

I turned to look at Fate, the only girl that doesn’t ignore or hate me.

“Thanks,” I said, my voice barely audible.

“What’s wrong?” she asked as she sat down beside me, she’s the only one who can do that.  Everyone else just glares at me and walks away.  She’s the closest thing I have to a friend.

“Nothing,” I said, wincing when I tried to tuck a stray strand of my red hair behind my ear.

She went pale. “What’d he do this time?” she asked in a whisper.

“He just twisted my elbow,” I said, averting my gaze from her.  It was never ‘just anything’ with the Head.  It was always something painful, and Fate knew that.

“You need to get out of here,” she whispered urgently. “You can’t just let him hurt you like he does.  Everyone knows he hurts you the most.”

“Yeah,” I said. “And I don’t know why.”

I ate the rest of my cereal while Fate sat beside me, getting her own breakfast.  All the girls get bland cereal, but I don’t mind.  It’s not like I need the most extravagant breakfast to survive.  We ate in silence, afraid that if we talked about the Head anymore that he’d somehow find out I was planning an escape.

“Fate,” I said, turning to her when we had finished eating, “let’s go for a walk, it’s a beautiful day.”

She gave me a suspicious glance out of the corner of her eye, then planted a smile on her face and said, “Sure.”

I grabbed my cloak from my room and followed Fate out the door, and then when we were far enough away from where the orphanage sat, she turned to me.

“What are you planning?” she asked in a whisper, just to make sure no one overheard.

“What makes you think I’m planning anything?” I asked her sweetly, and when she glared at me, I gave up the act. “I’m leaving.”

“You’ll get caught!”            

“No,” I said, “I won’t.  I’ve got it all planned out.  I’ll be fine, I won’t ask you to come with me, but I had to tell you before I left.  You’re the closest thing to a friend I’ve ever had, and I’m grateful, but I can’t live this way!  You said it yourself!” I took a shaky breath, then continued, “I don’t know what I’ll do when I get away, but I’ve gone over all the details of escape.  I know how I’ll get away.  I must do it.”

She gave me a look that shot daggers, then sighed and let her shoulders sag. “I won’t tell the Head anything.”

I hugged her. “Thanks,” I said, ignoring the pain in my elbow.

“Of course,” she said, hugging me back. “When are you leaving?”

“Tonight,” I said as I withdrew.

She looked at me sadly, and then smiled. “Then this is our last day to do anything.”

I won’t lie; we weren’t the best of friends.  It’s not like we dressed our wounds together, or split Hal’s honey cakes in half, or did anything together.  Yes, we’d hang out every once in a while, and if she saw the Head hit me, she’d help me after.  We weren’t close, yet we still had some silent pact: if one of us would ever run away, we’d tell the other.  So I told her, and she treated me like any best friend would.

We spent the rest of the day just walking around the village, and not once did I put my hood up.  We had some fun, just walking and talking until dinner, and we only decided to go back because I would need to eat something before leaving.  Going on an empty stomach would be a mistake; I don’t have much money as it is.  Being hungry right away would not be good.

We started heading back at almost seven, and got there right as the hour changed.  I followed her through the door and we both heated up some noodles we hadn’t eaten the night before.  When the container was empty and we were full, we headed up to my room.  I took off my cloak and laid it on the end of the bed as I sat beside it, Fate sitting on the other side of me.

I took a last look at the room I would be leaving tonight, the small, compact place that I called mine.  I didn’t have much, just a bed, desk, and a few books stacked on a nightstand beside my bed.  There was an overused bag lying on my desk, the one I would take with me when I left.  I would put my few books inside it and take it with my cloak to leave this world behind to discover a new one.

I had everything planned, why did it have to go so wrong?

Fate and I had been talking for about ten minutes when suddenly the Head opened my door, drunk out of his mind.  He stumbled over to Fate and me, and then crashed down in between us.  We both jumped up at the same exact time, unsure what to think or do.  I glanced at her and gave her a distressed look, which she returned, as the Head awoke, struggling to his feet and stumbling over to me.

“What do you want?” I asked in a weak voice.

I couldn’t understand whatever he said next, too drunk even to speak.  I stumbled back into the wall beside my desk and he stumbled forward, cornering me so I couldn’t get away.  Fate said something, but I couldn’t hear what it was, I was too scared.  I could smell the crazed amounts of alcohol on his breath, and it looked like he had tried to pull his brown hair out.  His gray, bloodshot eyes grazed me, and I instantly felt violated, wanting to just get away before this 30 year-old man could do anything to me that would scar me for life.  That’s when Fate did something that could get her beat instead of me.

She grabbed his arm.

“Fate, no!” I exclaimed, but it was too late.  She had already dug her own grave.

He turned toward her, the smirk disappearing from his face, and walked up to her. “What?” he demanded, and she flinched away from his breath.

“I-I,” she stuttered, and he smiled, showing off yellowing teeth.

He said nothing else as he balled up a fist and punched her in the stomach, and then as she doubled over he hit her in the side of the head like he had to me.  She crumpled on the floor and as he got ready to kick her I grabbed him by the arm.  I’m leaving anyway; I won’t let Fate get herself killed by trying to defend me on my last day.

He kicked her in the arm before turning back to me, trying to corner me again, but I slipped out from the wall before he could.  He followed me as I backed myself against my bed, mentally slapping myself for doing that.  He smirked and took my arm in his hand, squeezing so hard my fingers began to tingle from lack of blood flowing.

“Let me go,” I said weakly, and a shockwave seemed to go through me and into him, making him let me go instantly.

He quickly recovered, pushing me down on the floor before I could wonder what happened and kicking me whenever I tried to get back up.  I finally just laid there on the floor, refusing any more hurt, but when I tried to look away from the floor a sharp kick to the head made everything go black.