Prologue
Leah was running away, she was in the forest again but she didn’t feel the way she usually did. Usually, she felt calm and safe – she loved the way the birds chirped and would be enthralled by the smells. But today wasn’t like that…she felt different. But she couldn’t let it distract her…maybe just maybe if she got far enough she could find Suho again. She barely remembered him but the farther she got, the clearer her memory became.
She thought about Astrid and Suho and how she desperately wanted to find them but at the same time, she thought about Aaliyah. Maybe Candace would punish her for running away, maybe Candace would take Aaliyah away from her.
Slowly Leah stopped in her tracks. Each step felt heavier than the last. She didn’t think she had it in her to go on. She felt something in her throat that she had never felt before it felt weird. It felt like it was going to choke her.
‘This was what it was’ she thought, ‘I’m going to choke to death’. Maybe this was the punishment, maybe this was what Candace and the Ancients were protecting her from.
She closed her eyes ready for the light to take her but instead out came a noise she’d never heard before. She didn’t know quite how to describe it. It was like a breath but deeper. Leah felt it taking over her and then she had water coming out of her eyes. Why was there water coming out of her eyes? What was wrong with her? Water only came from the pond.
Maybe she was broken because she could swear her eyes were leaking. Her shoulders began to shake and the more she thought about it the worse it became.
“What’s…happening to…me,” she said, in between the breaths, her voice breaking.
She felt a weird déjà vu but the memories were so far gone she didn’t even know what she was remembering.
She sunk to the floor and began to curl up – everything was so confusing and she didn’t understand why her body was reacting this way.
Slowly a figure came into the light, maybe this was an angel – maybe her time had come. She had broken the rules, so they had broken her and now the Angel had come to take her to eternal heaven.
She looked up however and it wasn’t an angel. It was a skinny boy, with gorgeous black hair and chocolate brown eyes which perfectly contrasted his porcelain skin.
“Suho,” Leah whispered under her breath.
“Addy,” he replied lending her a hand.
“Suho…what’s happening…to me,” she asked.
“You’re crying,” he replied.
“Is that what happens before death because my eyes are leaking and there’s a lump in my throat and my shoulders keep shaking,” she said, in between sobs.
“You’re not dying Addy. You’re just sad,” Suho replied. He took his hands and he wiped away the water from her eyes and then pulled her cheeks into a smile. Addy giggled.
“What if I don’t want to be sad?” Addy asked him, looking into his eyes. She’d missed him.
“No, it’s good that you’re sad. It means that the effects are finally wearing off,” Suho said.
“What effects?” she asked. But before Suho could answer there was an alarm that went off in the distance. It was not jarring such that it would create panic, but they could hear it.
“None of that matter anyway, they’re going to fill you with so many drugs, I doubt you’re even going to remember this,” Suho sighed. He had creases on his eyebrows, she’d never seen that either.
“I don’t want to remember being sad anyway,” Leah said softly.
“I don’t think they will let you remember that but you need to come find me again okay Addy. I don’t care if you don’t remember being sad or breaking free but you can’t forget me,” Suho said, cupping her cheek.
“Where do I come find you?” she asked him.
“You’ll know, don’t worry. When you break out of it the next time, you’ll know,” Suho said. The alarm sounded again and Suho looked worried. “They’re going to be here any moment now so I have to run but please find me okay Addy, find me.”
Suho started to turn around but Addy grabbed his hand, “Where is Astrid?” she asked.
“You don’t remember…” Suho said. His eyes looked confused and he looked…hurt.
“What happened where is she?” Addy asked. She was starting to feel sad again and she didn’t like it, not one bit.
“She’s gone Addy,” Suho said.
“Where?” she asked.
“Remember Addy if they ask you what happened, you got lost,” Suho said, looking off into the distance. He hadn’t answered her question but before she could ask he was already running away.
She started walking back to the city and whispering to herself “find him, no matter what.” That’s all he’d asked of her. That she would merely have to find him again
She saw people in blue uniform walk towards her so she stopped in her tracks.
“Find him,” she kept repeating under her breath. The more she said it, the better chance she had of remembering it.
“What happened to you young lady?” a man in the blue uniform asked her.
“I don’t know, I think I got lost. Could you help me?” she replied.
“Sure can,” the man said stepping forward and grabbing her hand. She felt something in her neck and turned around to see that the other officer had already injected a needle in her neck. Before Leah could process any of this, she fell to the floor.
