Prologue: Veridian
"Guys, it's time," I said to Emei, Sam, Neoni, and Mary. We've been planning this escape for months, and it's finally time.
"Does it have to be today?" Mary whined.
"We've been over this Mary," began Emei, "it has to be today. It's the only day that everyone is busy." I packed my bag and made sure that everything was there. 25,000? Check. Clothes? Check. Mom's necklace? I touch my neck and hold the pendant in my hand. Check. My mom's necklace is the only thing I have left of her after she ran away.
"Its okay," Sam said as she held my hand, "we'll find her." I squeezed her hand back and finished packing my bag.
"Everyone ready?" I asked. Sam, Emei, Mary, and Neoni nodded. We snuck into the hallways, staying in the shadows where the cameras couldn't see us. The exit was so close. All we had to do was get past the guards in front of the exit.
"I'm scared," said Mary.
"Same," said Neoni. They were always scared, but then again, Mary was only five, and Neoni was eight while me Sam and Emei were eleven, but i was turning twelve in a few days.
"It'll be okay," I said, "everything is fine."
"Yeah," said Emei, "all we have to do is stay here and make sure that we stay quiet until the guards switch shifts."
"Do you think that Ms. Ainsley is okay? I mean, she did help us get the money to escape," said Sam.
"I hope so," I responded anxiously. Last time a professor helped someone escape, they got executed. That was when my mom ran away. I always wondered what caused her to run away, and then I found the letters that my mom sent. They told me how the facility was secretly taking some of the patients and testing on them. She ran out of fear. But why
Did she leave me? Was it so I could tell the others? Couldn't she do that herself? Did she actually run away?
"It's time," said Emei, "run."
