Chapter One

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"Mom, why do I have to stay here again?" Ava asked her mother one afternoon.

"You know why." the woman replied, looking annoyed. "There are bad people looking for you."

"Yeah, but why can't the cops just arrest them?" she wondered aloud.

"No one knows what they look like." her mother responded to the question. "It's been years since they've been seen."

"But I don't even know where I am!" Ava whined. "I know about every nook and cranny, every country, state, and city on Earth, but I don't know where I live on the map!"

"There's a reason for everything, honey." the woman smiled. "And you'll find out those reasons when you're older."

You'll find out when you're older was all Ava ever heard when she tried to get answers. Both of her parents did it. And it's not like she could look it up either.

Ava had lived in the small brick apartment for as long as she could remember. There were no windows, only a door that opened to reveal a dark alley, in which the door was positioned so that Ava could only see the brick wall from across the way. There were also no devices, just a radio that only had one channel.

Once a week, her parents leave all day to do... something. Ava didn't know what they did, but they always came back with food, and a book or two on occasion. Ava didn't like it when her parents left. She hated being alone. But whatever they were doing was giving them food, so she stayed silent.

Ava was about to turn fifteen, and she still didn't have any answers about where they lived, what her parents did every week, and the people who were looking for her. Her parents weren't budging, and she knew they weren't going to. So, she decided that the only way to get answers was to get them herself.

She had to escape.

Luckily, it was almost time for her parents to leave, so Ava could make a run for it then. They always closed and locked the door before they left, so she came up with a plan to make sure that the door closed, but didn't actually lock. She constructed a fake key that looked almost identical to the one her parents used, and switched them while her parents were sleeping. She just had to hope that it would fit in the keyhole.

The next morning, she was shaken awake by her father. "Ava, we're leaving."

"Wait, what?" Ava questioned. She looked at the clock, which read 7:30 am. Her parents usually left a lot later.

"Yeah, I know." he chuckled at her dazed face. "But we have to leave now because there's a special sale on a book that we think you'll like. But we'll be back at the same time as usual."

"Um, okay." Ava said, biting her bottom lip.

"We'll see you later, honey!" her mom called from the kitchen.

"Okay!" she called back, even though she wouldn't be seeing them later. Her dad kissed her on the forehead, and left the room. She heard the door open, and prayed to God that they wouldn't notice the fake key. Ava listened to the sound of the door closing, and waited. After an hour of waiting, she deemed it safe.

Ava rushed to the dresser, where she grabbed her black and white striped shirt, her overalls, and a pair of socks. She hurried to get dressed, and threw on her light purple shoes. She put her hair back into her normal twin braids, and hurried to the door.

Ava put her hand on the doorknob, and took a deep breath. Then, she opened the door and stepped outside.