Jared's Escape

Jared's Escape
by Carrie Moritz


Jared escaped from the school sometime in late February. The surprise was not that he had escaped- he had done so three times before and was caught each time- but that he had escaped while under watch. He was being watched by Geoffery, no less, and yet, he managed to escape.

Getting free from the school had been Jared’s goal for some time. Each time, before leaving, he would detail his plan to me and get my input on its weaknesses. Each time, I wished I could escape as well, but I knew I didn’t have the gumption for it. Each time, I sighed deeply as I left his room and bid him a final farewell. Each time, he somehow managed to mess up his plan and get caught.

This time he wasn’t caught.

Geoffery was a charging rhino for the next three weeks, and never truly came down from the slight of being outsmarted by a “Sim,” as he called us students. Sim, short for simple, Simpleton, or- to us, anyway- those without simplicity. We knew we were as far from Simple as possible.

Here’s how he did it: sometime during the course of our stay, Jared found a hidden tunnel in the garbage room. He used it as a shortcut to his classes, but one time, found a way outside. When Geoffery was sitting in front of his room, Jared walked out, mumbling something about using the loo. However- and this was right in front of Geoffery- instead of entering the door to the bathroom, he dove into the garbage room. By the time Geoffery opened the door, Jared was long gone, the tunnel was sealed off, and Geoffery never found out how Jared disappeared into thin air.

I knew how it happened. As usual, Jared had detailed the plan to me before taking off. I knew he followed the tunnel until he was outside, then followed the woods nearby to the river. After swimming the river for an hour or so, he was going to climb out and just start walking. The river was the part he never got to before. I figured he must’ve made it this time, since he was still gone 72 hours later.

Geoffery made the rest of our lives a living hell from then on. He lined us up like elementary school students before we went anywhere, and had a guard in three places on the line. When we went outside, it was only to the gated compound. Our curfew began at 7:00 p.m. instead of the usual 10:00.

We weren’t bad kids. Sure, some of us had issues, but we weren’t in this place because we had broken the law intentionally. Truthfully, many of us didn’t know why we were there in the first place. We only knew that some of us were smarter, or more powerful, or were able to do things most other kids couldn’t. We were allowed to go in public, and most of us were treated like normal boarding school kids- with a few guards instead of Peer Advisors, or Dorm Mothers (although they were called that to the general public, none of whom were actually allowed to enter the school grounds). However, Geoffery’s group was always different. Something about us made the others nervous.

Jared, for instance, loved to meditate. He could meditate for 8 hours straight, and was known for missing classes unless he was broken out of his trance. Me, I could write. Without touching paper. Chrysallis, the girl whom I wished I was dating, could go inside herself for hours, and not say a word for weeks. Leo was considered the coolest. He could think of ways to outmaneuver anybody. Jared often consulted him as well, but normally, Leo was not allowed to interact with most of us. Geoffery saw to that well before Jared started attempting to escape.

I heard from Jared approximately six weeks after his escape. While I was sitting in a chat room on the internet, a tag line came on whom I didn’t know. He whispered to me, “You Simps doing okay?”

After nearly falling out of my seat, I quickly sealed the connection- I knew our internet use was always monitored, but I had figured out a hack around that- and answered him. I told him about how Geoffery was riding all of us hard. He apologized for causing that, then began telling me what had transpired since his departure.


Jared continued: I dove into the tunnel and closed it off just as I heard the doorknob turning. Didn’t know I could move so fast, but in my meds lately I’d been practicing the move in my head. What a rush! Neway I ran down the tunnel and outside, and ran toward the river. Sometime during the run I noticed someone following me- he was keeping up even though he only looked to be walking- crazy. I dove into the river and knew he was only a short way behind me. This guy, I had seen him once or twice- he lives in Tornow dorm. He’s got funny-cropped black hair, round tortoiseshell glasses that are too big for his face, a pale complexion- he looked like something outta anime. He caught up to me without problem. I said “What’re you following me for?” He didn’t answer. “Are you going to catch me, bring me back to the school?” I asked, and he shook his head. “I’m escaping with you,” he answered. I about lost my tread. I was amazed- someone else had managed to escape the school at the same time as me, and follow the same route? I was deeply suspicious of him, but I couldn’t shake him. We climbed outta the river and started walking. He told me why he wanted to escape. He needed freedom to be able to develop, and he knew I had tried before to escape. Here’s the weird part: he listened in on our conversations! He can do that- lock onto someone’s mind and read it, a bit like a radio program. He can walk unnaturally fast too. Neway, he listened to our conversation and knew when I was leaving. Then he just followed suit. His dorm was easier to escape from- no Geoffery. So we found this abandoned house about three hours’ walk away, a little creepy but it works. I’m working on a plan to get you guys outta there. Once we do, the world could be ours *smile*


The smiley face at the end indicated that Jared was kidding a little bit, but he was serious about getting us out. I quickly copied the conversation and pasted it onto Word, saved it, hid it, then unsealed the connection and continued chatting on the board like nothing had happened.

The conversation with Jared was shared in whispered conversations with Chrysallis, who immediately disappeared into herself and stopped talking for three days. When Chrysallis disappears, she seems dimwitted and owlish- perfect pickings for Geoffery, who loves to verbally beat on her. She’s never told me what she can do or where she goes when she disappears, but Leo knew everything within a day and IMed that knowledge to me.

Geoffery entered my room only a second after I had closed the connection with Leo. Mentally, I closed each of the documents on my computer, while my hands stayed- slightly trembling- on my lap. Geoffery knew I was afraid of him, and thought of me as a lot more submissive than I truly was.

“Wanna know why I’m here, Sim?” he asked me, sneering. I looked down slightly, and mentally locked down my computer. “I’m here because I think you’ve been talking to somebody important. I think you know where our friend Jared is. And you’re going to tell me- aren’t you, Sim.”

“I-I-I knnn-now no-nothing,” I breathed. My hands trembled. Geoffery noticed. He grabbed the scruff of my shirt and pulled me into standing position. I stood a good four inches under him.

“You kn-know no-nothing,” he mocked me. He pushed me back into my desk chair, causing me to hit my head on the back of it. “You know everything, you little prick. I know Jared always talked to you before his escapes. How did he do it this time? Find a magic potion on your internet? Nobody can disappear like that, not even you Sims.” He held a fist under my chin. “How did he do it?”

I looked directly at the fist, imagined it heating up. I wished I could do more than just write on paper without touching the pencil, or shut down my computer without using the mouse. I sighed, giving up- at least in Geoffery’s eyes. “He-he became a ppp-piece of garbage. He www-went out with the trash. It was a better death fo-for him th-than what you were pppl-planning.”

I received a smack on the face for that remark. My ears ringing, Geoffery smacked me again, then stalked out of the room. My mind slammed the door after him. I realized I was becoming more powerful, but was still far behind Leo. I was also still afraid of Geoffery. I could lie well, though- especially to him. He necessitated lying, and I did it on a regular basis.

Chrysallis didn’t move the next day, or the next. She was deeply gone- more than usual. Even Geoffery’s shaking didn’t get her up, even into the dimwitted state she usually entered. Somehow I knew Geoffery had visited her as well to get information. Girls’ dorm rooms were different, though- rules required that all males have a female companion upon entering any room, so there would always be two females to one male, which meant that Geoffery's interrogation of Chrysallis was quite different from my own. Unlike the boys’ rooms, the girls had a dorm mother. She wasn't a guard for the dorm like Geoffery was, though- she was only there for supervision. The last thing the school needed was accusations that the females were being abused by the male guards.

With my newfound power, I slammed doors whenever I was near Geoffery. He jumped every time, and was truly unaware that it was me who was doing it. Dorm rules were that doors were to be open at all times during waking hours while we were in them, so there were plenty of doors to slam. I perfected the talent by torturing him. Doors were only the first step- within a few weeks, I moved on to chairs, then desks. He began standing and writing reports while leaning on a wall, facing a door or two. He began allowing doors to be closed, instead of requiring them to be open.

Chrysallis began disappearing for longer periods of time. She would come out just long enough to ingest sustenance, and to whisper to me that the plans were nearly complete. I lacked an understanding of what she was talking about until she appeared to me one day while I was in my room (the door was shut, and I was enjoying my recently allowed privacy). I nearly hit the ceiling when she appeared. Her form was semi-transparent, and her voice breathy and quiet. So that's what she did when she disappeared. She held a finger to her lips.

"I don’t need you to talk- just think. Here’s the plan: in two days’ time, I’m going to zombie and start heading for the gate- they’ll stop me of course, or at least try (but I’m getting better at projecting, so it’ll only be my form they’re following). With Geoffery’s attention directed at that, it’ll give you and me time to escape into the woods. You’re going to unlock Leo’s door as we’re heading outside, and he’ll join us in the woods. The problem is that when I zombie, I’m out physically. I’ll need someone to carry me out, and that someone is you. Can you handle it?” I nodded. I had progressed up to desks in the last couple of weeks. I wasn’t physically strong, but using my mind and my strength together, I should be able to do it. Chrysallis nodded as though she had understood my thought process.

“Your mind has gotten strong in the last few weeks. Give you some more time and practice, and you should be pretty powerful. We’ve all come into our own in the last few months. Geoffery knows we’re getting stronger than him, and it scares him. He’s going to make a move on us soon if we don’t get out first. I’m going now. Just remember, two day’s time, right before ‘recess’. Got it?” I smiled, happy with the plan.

The rest of the afternoon and next day were spent practicing. I progressed up to moving myself in the air a short distance, and could touch my head to the ceiling. Geoffery started feeling pushed around by an unseen hand. That evening, the school was going to have a dance. I was nervous, as we were going to make our break for it the next afternoon, but Chrysallis insisted that we keep up appearances- "it will continue to hone your acting skills", she told me at lunch. She had obviously known how long I had been lying to Geoffery. We could even go as partners, she said. I nearly melted into the floor when she said that.

Geoffery threatened our dorm, saying we couldn’t go due to the misbehavior of a few students. All of us ignored him, knowing he couldn’t enforce that- it was school rule that a social dance should be held every three months, so the teachers could see all of us together and observe our behavior. Or see how the students had progressed outside the classroom (like we'd intentionally show them what we could do).

He approached Chrysallis and I as we were walking toward the dance. Chrysallis, as usual, seemed her dimwitted self- this time, it was an act. I was trembling for real- he was completely against me and Chrysallis walking together.

“Against the wall,” he hissed. He waited for the students to pass us. “I know that you two think you’re so great, but you still haven’t been shown the secrets to real life. It’s time for Chrysallis to find out, and you and Leo as well.” Chrysallis sank into the wall. Geoffery put his face close to her and stroked her hair. “All men want to have a threesome- it’s their dream. You and me, we’re going to show these boys how to have a good time. Meet me at the grounds’ edge in ten minutes. I’m getting Leo. If you don’t show up… well, Leo may just ‘escape’ as well.” He sneered at Chrysallis, tugged her hair, and stalked off.

“He’s got something up his sleeve,” Chrysallis said to me quietly. She pushed slowly off the wall. “I think this is our break. We escape tonight.”

“W-we can get Geoffery back at the same t-t-time,” I whispered to her. I felt a smile cross my face, and she mirrored it.

“What’s your plan?” she asked, and I outlined it to her as we walked to the edge of the grounds.

Geoffery came with Leo in tow only a short time later. He authorized our leave from the groundskeeper, then led us into the woods toward the river. Chrysallis and Leo seemed to be concentrating on something. I looked carefully around, checking for Geoffery’s goons. We seemed to be completely alone. Geoffery wasn’t this stupid, was he?

When we came within sight of the river, Geoffery stopped. He put his arm around Chrysallis, and forced her onto the ground. Either Chrysallis wasn’t resisting, or Geoffery was stronger than he looked. “Now, boys,” he said lightly, as though it were a classroom he was in, “You must be shown real life. Leo, take off your pants. I’ll show you how it’s done, and then it’s your turn. After that, stutter-boy can have his turn. If he can get it up,” he sneered at me. I held my hands tightly to my sides. Despite my effort, they trembled heartily. Geoffery noticed before he turned back to Chrysallis. She was wearing a light, filmy skirt, a tank, and a filmy blouse. “You make things easy for me.”

Chrysallis was nearly gone, I could tell. She wouldn’t survive a rape- she would flee her body, and likely never come back. I glanced at Leo. He seemed in another world as well. He hadn’t moved to follow Geoffery’s orders. He wouldn’t stand by, as powerful as he was…my brain screamed at the situation.

Geoffery was now laying on top of Chrysallis. “You’re quite beautiful, for a Sim. But this is my f***. I’m going to show you punks a thing or two, get you into submission. This is my f***.” He rubbed himself up and down her leg. Chrysallis’ eyes started to roll back in her head. “That’s right, Sim. Don’t you dare look at me while I’m f***ing you. This is my f***. This is MY f***…”

His comment threw me over the edge. He was NOT going to take advantage of her. Not when I could do something about it. I concentrated heavily on him, and he flew off her body. She was gone, I could tell. I hoped she hadn’t gone completely zombie.

Geoffery stood up, blowing through his nostrils. He looked directly at me.

“You will not take advantage of her,” I seethed. I walked toward him. “You hear me? You will NOT take advantage of her.” I put my brain behind my fist and threw it into his stomach. The breath flew out of him.

“Why, you little…” he wheezed. He threw a punch at me. His fist came back at me, again and again. I tried desperately to block him. He moved more quickly than I was thinking, and I felt a crack in my mouth and tasted blood. As I was looking back toward him, I noticed the knife he was pulling from his belt. He lunged at me, and caught my arm. I cried out from the cut, blood dripping from my arm. For me, that was the last straw. I put my mind behind my fist again. I aimed it toward his jaw, and caught it as he reeled back for another blow. He fell backward toward the ground. Leo stepped in then, and put two fingers on his neck. Geoffery’s eyes closed and he fell unconscious, the knife falling from his hand.

“Now’s our chance,” Leo said to me, grabbing me under the arm. “We all escape now.”

“No,” I shook my head at him. He looked at me, surprised. “Now’s the time for you and Chrysallis to escape. I’m going to set Geoffery up for murder.” Leo’s jaw dropped. I nodded. “I only need some of your blood, for looks, and some of Chrysallis’. As soon as I have that, I’ll drag you two to the river, and you can head downstream. I assume you know where to go.” Leo nodded, flabbergasted. He bared his arm and indicated where to cut. Concentrating, my mind picked up the knife, floated over to Leo, and slashed. He winced as the knife cut, then nodded over to Chrysallis. I watched for a moment as he squatted and squeezed blood onto the ground, then bared Chrysallis’ arm and slashed the knife. My own blood dripped onto the ground as I concentrated. The knife returned to its place next to Geoffery’s hand. Leo lay on the ground next to his blood.

“Lay her on top of me. She’s too far gone to swim, and I don’t want to lose her in the river.” I agreed, and started to float her. On her way over to Leo, I stopped her for a moment over Geoffery, smearing her arm over his shirt.

Leo grinned when he saw what I was doing. I laid her carefully over Leo, positioning her so he would be able to hold her as soon as they hit the water. Dragging the two of them was not difficult with my mind behind it. Leo dragged his arm above his head, leaving a trail of blood. I whispered goodbye to them as they slid into the water.

“I’ll see you soon, I hope.” Leo wrapped his arms around Chrysallis and began to swim. I walked back to Geoffery, checking my path for my footprints, and finding none, began to run. I worked myself up completely, tears streaming down my face, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I ran past the groundskeeper screaming, and headed for the party.

The teachers headed for me as soon as they saw me. My screams had stopped the music cold, and the students were staring. I wheezed, attempting to catch my breath.

“Th-th-they- he’s- they’re dead!” I wailed, crumpling to the floor. “H-he k-k-killed them, and th-they’re de-dead!”

“What? Who’s dead? Who killed who?” The principal squatted down to me. I was hyperventilating, and he worked to get me into a sitting position. Someone produced a bag and instructed me to breathe into it. At that moment, I truly believed they were dead. Leo and Chrysallis were gone, and that was the same in my mind. “Calm down, Son, and tell me what happened. Who’s ‘they’?”

“Th-they…Leo…Chrysallis…he k-killed them- he was acting llll-like he was going to rrr-rape her- he-he- pulled out a knnn-nife and now…” I began to wheeze again. My head was shoved toward the paper bag. Someone stroked my back. The principal instructed one of the teachers to call the police. He already had, the teacher replied. The police would be at the school within minutes. When I had calmed some, the principal leaned toward me again.

“Who’s ‘he’?” he asked quietly. I looked up and noticed Geoffery limping through the door in front of me.

“Geoffery,” I replied coldly, loudly. Geoffery stared at me, gathered his composure, then looked at the principal.

“Sir, I am here to report that two students have escaped-“

The principal cut him off with the wave of a hand. Three of the male teachers gathered behind him, and two in front. “Yes, we know, Geoffery. The police will be here soon. Sit down.” A chair appeared behind him, and one of the male teachers applied pressure to his shoulder. Another appeared with a wet cloth, and applied it to my arm. I suddenly felt light-headed and exhausted. The swarm of the police did not faze me; I leaned against a teacher’s shoulder and watched through half-closed lids as they read Geoffery his rights. He had figured out what happened before the police came through the door.

I led them to the scene after Geoffery was hauled away. I leaned on the teacher’s shoulder the whole way. I was so tired. The principal relayed what I had told him at the beginning, and urged the police to keep from questioning me at the moment. I insisted on leading them, however.

I watched as three men entered the area, and two stretched tape from a couple of trees. Pictures were taken, and the path to the river was followed. The knife was nowhere to be found.

The teachers led me back to the medical area of the school, where another policeman documented my injuries with a camera. As the school nurse was treating my arm, I fell asleep. In my dreams, Leo climbed out of the river with Chrysallis in his arms, and met Jared nearby. It was a happy reunion between Jared and Leo, but they were concerned for Chrysallis, and for me. Chrysallis had appeared to Jared earlier, but had disappeared after telling him they were coming. Jared had traveled to the river earlier in the day, ready to camp out and meet them the next day. They weren’t sure what forces I had put myself up against.

Later, I was searching for Chrysallis in my dream world. I found her a long way away, and talked to her for a while. In my dream, I held her hand. My own dream hand was not shaking as I told her how much I liked her; if she would go back, I told her, I would join her as soon as I could. She smiled, and my dream switched to the police station. Two cops were discussing the case.


“I don’t trust this,” one of the cops said. His partner looked sharply at him.

“It’s an open and shut case. What’s there not to trust? The kid managed to beat off his attacker and make it back to campus before the killer, who obviously threw the bodies in the river, got rid of the weapon, then chased after the kid.”

“We haven’t found the bodies yet. We’ve been dragging the river, and nothing’s come up. The man protests his innocence and passed a lie detector test. And the kid’s been sleeping for two days.”

“With the kid’s testimony, that lie detector won’t pass muster in a court. I believe him. They had surveillance tapes, and the kid looks pretty flustered on those. The gatekeeper attests to the fact that the kids all looked pretty wary of leaving the campus with the perp. The kid’s been through a very scary event- I’m not surprised that he’s escaped through sleep.”

The first man shook his head. “It still just doesn’t feel right. Why would the perp kill the girl before raping her? I say we put 24 hour surveillance on the kid when he wakes, and put him through a lie detector test. We keep pressure on him, and he should crack if he’s not telling the truth.”

“You think it’s some elaborate set-up? That the one sacrificed himself so the other two could run away? What’s so bad about the school that kids would run away, and go to such lengths to do so?”

A head was shaken. “There was a runaway a couple of months ago, remember? According to the perp, these three were friends with the runaway. It could be the challenge- those officials are sworn to protect those kids so their parents can ski in Aspen all year round.”

“Now you’re just speculating. I don’t care- order a surveillence on the kid for a couple of weeks. I highly doubt the perp’s innocent, though…”


My dream switched back to Chrysallis’ smile, which faded as sunlight entered my consciousness. I fought against the wake up in vain. I opened my eyes to a face peering into mine, which smiled slightly as I clamped them shut again. “Where am I?” I muttered to the face.

“Medical,” it answered, and I heard her step back. I opened my eyes again. My dreams stayed with me, and I fought to keep a seal on my brain. It only registered that Leo and Chrysallis were gone. The nurse looked at me with worry on her face.

“They’re gone,” I said to her, and she shushed me.

“Don’t you worry about that. You worry about getting better. A policeman will want to question you now that you’re awake, though. I can keep him away for a few hours if you like…” I shook my head, feeling a pounding travel from one side to another. I remembered the blow to my face. I shut my eyes, and the nurse pressed a couple of aspirin into my hand. “Two of your teeth were broken. It’ll hurt for a few weeks, but you’ll be okay. You look like you put up quite a fight. Your arm required some stitches, but there won’t be anything but a long scar; everything else is just well-bruised. I’ll let the cop in in about fifteen minutes. Until then, you let the aspirin take effect, okay?” She brushed the hair off my forehead with her fingertips and helped me sit up a bit as I swallowed the pills.

The policeman who entered was the same skeptical one from my dream. He straddled a chair and looked at me coolly as I smiled weakly.

“I’m Officer Culpepper. Do you mind if I record this conversation?” He pulled out a tape recorder and set it on the bed table as I shook my head slightly. “Give me a verbal confirmation, please. For the record, may I have a tape of this conversation?” I answered him, and he continued. “Please state your name for the record, please.”

“Oliver B-benjamin Rourke,” I said as clearly as I could. It hurt to talk. My cheek was swollen, slurring my speech some. The stutter was now intentional. I remembered how it had disappeared when I was confronting Geoffery. I was relieved, in a way, to be free of that bondage. It would not, however, benefit me now to allow others to realize it was gone.

“All right, Oliver. Can you state what happened before the incident of May 1, two nights ago?”

I relayed the story as it had happened, up until Geoffery had lain down on Chrysallis. After that, the new story came out.

“J-just as Off-offi- Geoffery- seemed ready to t-take Chrysallis, he ppp-pulled a knife from his belt and- and killed her.” Tears started streaming down my face. “I-I cc-couldn’t move…Leo, he grabbed Geoffery and sss-started to beat him up.”

“How did Officer Geoffery kill Chrysallis?” the officer asked gently. I showed him, miming bringing the knife up and shoving it into my chest. The officer repeated the action verbally, realizing how long the story was going to take with my inability to speak clearly. “What happened after Leo started beating up Officer Geoffery?”

“He got into Leo’s fff-face, and shoved the knife up-“ I showed him- “and into Leo’s ch-che-chest.” I broke down sobbing with that final word. The officer waited a few minutes. I continued the story after calming down some. I was a good liar, and knew it. “Leo- he- he ff-fell, and Geoffery sss-started to c-come after me. ‘Your tt-turn, Sim,’ he said to me- he cc-called us Sssim, for Simple. He p-put the knife in his belt and sss-started to attack me. I felt my teeth break after one bl-blow. He got his knife bb-back out when I blocked him, and he c-came at me with it.” I modeled the bandage on my arm. The officer nodded. “I mm-managed to get a blow to his jj-jaw, and he-he fell over. That’s when I ss-started running.”

“Why didn’t he chase right after you? Couldn’t he have caught you?” the officer asked, skepticism still in his eyes. I shrugged.

“I do-don’t know. I don’t know what h-happened. I th-thought he was running after mm-me.”

The officer leaned back, stretching his arms. I was crying again, although it was mostly just tears streaming down my face. He studied me. “Officer Geoffery tells a different story. He says you and the other boy led him out to the river, so you could escape and run away. But if your plans were to run away, why didn’t you do it? Why such an elaborate set-up, boy? He says you attacked him and knocked him out cold. When he came to, the three of you were gone, and he rushed back to campus to alert his boss. He gets to the dance, and you’re there, telling everyone he killed your two friends. So who’s telling the real story? A trusted officer, or a punk kid who’s willing to sacrifice his chance to escape so his two friends can taste ‘freedom’?” He glared at me. I stared back, my eyes wide.

“Are you acc-cusing me ss-sir? Th-that’s not fair, or right. I don’t know why you don’t tt-trust me. I can’t understand, after sss-seeing that…” I gestured vaguely and allowed tears to stream. I stared at him a moment longer, then turned my back on him. I waited until he had gone, then turned onto my back and considered my position. If he didn’t believe me after that performance, he wasn’t going to be convinced. A two-week surveillance would be difficult, but I knew I was in this for the long haul. I may never escape from this school, but it would be worth it if we were rid of Geoffery. The creep would never harm Chrysallis, or hit me, or put Leo in solitary confinement again.

I stopped talking after the officer left. I didn’t speak when the principal came around, or a couple of my dorm mates, or with the nurse. I slept for most of the week. A fatigue had come over me, and I was unable to shake it. My dreams always contained a frame of Chrysallis smiling at me, but they were now jumbled dreams. The officer would make an appearance and sneer at me, Geoffery would shake his fist from behind bars, and I constantly got cut off my internet when I was sitting at the computer in my room. Snippets of conversation started filtering in. The nurse, talking to someone… the police officer, arguing that I could be woken up… the worry in the voice of a teacher. I slept on.

When I awoke, I finally felt refreshed. My cheek was not as swollen. The bandages had been removed, and a long patch remained where the cut was on my arm. I sat up, surveying my surroundings. I could see the nurse in her office, and a sick student was in a bed nearby. She was sleeping. The other two beds in the room were open. The sun shone through a window. Outside the medical room door, a man could be seen sitting in a chair, dozing slightly. It was time for me to leave and get back to my room. I gingerly stood up, weak from all the lying around. I turned my head and saw the nurse coming toward me.

“I see you’re feeling better,” she said, and I nodded. I still didn’t want to speak. I lifted my gown slightly, and she understood.

“I’ll get you your clothes as soon as I’m finished surveying you.” She asked several yes-or-no questions, then left for her office. She produced a pair of my jeans and a t-shirt, and a pair of boxers. As I was pulling the clothes on, the man came in from outside. He talked with the nurse in low tones, then waited nearby until I finished.

“I am to accompany you to your room, your classes, and to the loo. I’m your shadow for the next week. You are not to try to shake me, and I won’t bother you. Understand?” I nodded. If this was my surveillance, I could handle that. He wouldn’t be much different from Geoffery or his goons, except for the part about bothering me.

He truly did follow me everywhere for the next week. I was a model student, but I kept to myself more than usual. I shut my door when I was in my room. I closed the curtains whenever it got dark. I stayed away from my internet, and out of the chat rooms. I didn’t need Jared or anyone trying to contact me while I was under such close watch.

They subjected me to a lie detector test on a Wednesday, which I passed 100 percent. The skeptical officer looked to be more confused than skeptical after that.

The final night of the two-week surveillance, I sat on my computer with the curtains open. I opened up a Word document. They’re gone, I typed. I typed it again. And again. I covered half the page with those words before I broke down crying, feeling sorry for myself. Why had vengeance been so forefront, that I had sacrificed my chance to escape? I knew why. Geoffery had abused me long enough. The fact that he was coming on to Chrysallis was the last straw. I had given that chance up when I outlined my plan to her that evening.

The goons came in just after I had laid down on my bed. “This is for Geoffery,” one of them said as he balled up his fist. I had forgotten about them. They had left me alone the entire week, and I had thought they would covet their jobs more than their friendship. Where was my surveillance officer? I realized I didn’t stand a chance against two of them, but I needed to defend myself. I was so newly healed. My mouth still hurt. I rolled toward the wall as his fist came down, missing me by centimeters.

The second shot hit me in the kidneys, and my back screamed in pain. I screamed as well. The force of my mind hit the man, and he stumbled backward. I turned over and looked at him. He was coming back at me, and the second one was approaching as well. The first goon picked me up by the scruff of my shirt, and the second socked me in the stomach. He then opened my door as the first yanked my fists behind my back. “You’re going to get what you deserve,” he hissed into my ear. Loudly, he led me into the hallway. “No student uses the internet the way you were. Solitary confinement is where you belong, and also where you’ll stay. Do you hear me?”

Students peeked out their doors at me. The few gathered in the hallway moved aside and whispered to each other. My surveillance officer was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t believe this was happening. The two goons led me down to solitary confinement- a room around the corner that Geoffery had set aside for students who caused problems.

As soon as we turned the corner, the second goon punched me again. As I was wheezing, the first threw me onto the floor of the room. “I think they’ll find plenty of pornography on your computer, kid. Gerro, go back to the kid’s room and ‘discover’ the porn for me, will ya?” Gerro nodded. I thought of my computer, and remembered that I had locked it down as I was lying down on my bed. Gerro wouldn’t even get the mouse to move, let alone access anything- especially the internet. I smiled grimly to myself, got up, turned around, and walked away from the goon. I was more powerful than he was, no matter how many muscles he had. My back screamed with every step I took. An idea took form. These were Geoffery’s goons. All the students knew that. Led the right way, they could bring me outside and ‘murder’ me as well. The groundskeeper was off-duty tonight, my surveillance officer had disappeared, and the goons had just loudly led me toward solitary confinement. The stairs were just feet away.

“You can’t hurt me,” I said to the goon in the doorway as I walked back toward him. “I’m under surveillance, remember? I’m a witness to a double homicide that your friend committed. You’ll find it very difficult to do anything to me.” The goon felt a push. I pushed him again, and he stumbled backward out of the doorway.

“Why, you little…” his fist headed for my face. I ducked, and pushed him again. He recovered his balance quickly, and yanked my arm behind my back. I felt something in my shoulder pop. The sharp intake of breath excited the goon, and he pulled the arm up further. “You’re mine,” he breathed into my ear. Colors swam in front of my eyes. He pushed me toward the stairs. “You should have been included in Geoffery’s little problem that night. I can see why he’d want to be rid of you.”

My shoulder inched further into a place it wasn’t supposed to be, and I groaned. The stairs were difficult to navigate- when I stumbled, the goon wrenched me up and forced me to keep going. I couldn’t recall anymore if my plan had originally included so much pain. My vision was clouded and sparked with color; I couldn’t concentrate.

The river entered my consciousness only when we were feet from it. I tasted freedom, and gathered whatever wits were left. “You’ll wanna join your little friends. I’ll make sure you aren’t found, either. And this time, there won’t be such a mess.” He pushed me down to the ground. I lay there as he untied his belt. The whip of it against my back was agony attached to the throbbing shoulder. I forced myself to hold consciousness, but pretended to pass out. The guard whipped me a few more times, then used the belt to tie my hands and feet together behind my back. I nearly did pass out at that point- colors turned to pinpricks behind my eyes. Vaguely, I could hear voices from the woods. They must have been real, because the guard quickly picked me up while yelling obscenities.

“Kid, don’t you dare try to get away from me. Someone! Help! He’s getting away!”

The coolness of the water was refreshing. I sank to the bottom while my mind undid the belt. I heard a splash above me and knew the guard had jumped in. I understood his plan. He would ‘pretend’ he was trying to catch me, until it was too late. I wanted to pull him under, but the taste of freedom was in my mouth and too strong.

I used my mind and my good arm to propel myself along the riverbed until my lungs were about to explode. When I came up for air, I looked around. Flashlights were playing around the bank yards away. A powerful one, however, was headed my way. I laid facedown in the water, and heard many splashes as the light played over me. The current carried me out of its beam. I took another breath and dove, propelling myself with my mind.

The voices and the splashing had become a distant sound when I came up for air again. I knew they wouldn’t find me, and I had given them just enough evidence to cause a lot of trouble for the goon.
Jared and Chrysallis would meet me at the spot along the riverbank when I arrived.

The official word came to us a few months later- Geoffery and his goon had been sentenced to life without parole, found guilty of premeditated manslaughter.

As for me and my friends, we had further adventures. That, however, is another story.

The end.