Chapter 7: The Great Escapist
Enid preferred to sleep next to the wall, just under the bird-shaped nightlight. It was Carl who had plugged it into the power socket one evening, and every night since a gentle blue hue brightened the place where they all slept. That morning the night light was flickering on and off, buzzing slightly every time the light sizzled out. It woke her up.
"It's been doing that awhile," said Claire.
Enid blinked, half asleep, at the older girl. Claire sat by the window, huddled in a nest of blankets. The dawning light created a halo around her messy blonde hair. She was always the first one to wake in the mornings. Enid knew she liked to count the houses on their street. The houses were not really identical, much as the street was not really endless. New houses meant new arrivals to their neighborhood. Kids who were taken in the middle of the night, just like the rest of them.
The blank look on Claire's face told Enid all she needed to know. New houses meant new kids. Missing houses, however...
Enid sat up so she could better scan the room, studying each one of the sleeping lumps with a sinking heart. Who was missing? She couldn't immediately tell. Finally, she realized there was an empty space between Annabelle and Daliah. The blanket and pillow were still there, rumpled and slept-in. She didn't want to look, but if she did, she was sure she'd find a few strands of coarse red hair on the pillow.
"Claire?" her voice came out so small she hardly recognized it. Claire nodded once, her face crumpling for a single moment before that empty mask fell in place again. The radio Claire carried everywhere was nowhere in sight. Just as well: Castiel hadn't spoken to either of them in days.
Everybody else was still peacefully asleep. The silence was far from comforting, disturbed only by the buzzing sound of the flickering light. Enid suddenly couldn't stand to be in that room anymore. She picked herself up, carefully making her way between the sprawled bodies. She paused only to put on her sneakers. She passed Claire's parents on her way out. Strangely, both of them were just standing there, unmoving.
Despite the early hour and the fresh dew collecting on the green grass, it was neither warm nor cold outside. It was very silent, the constant background noise muted. It was as if the whole place was reflecting the wrongness Enid felt. She looked for the house with the green door, looping the street at least a dozen times. At last she accepted the fact that it was truly gone.
Her feet carried her to the woods, through a path between the houses. As always, it gave way to tall trees carrying colors of all seasons, although the oranges, reds and greens seemed somewhat faded. The Christmas lights that used to hang from the branches were gone, the treetops looking incredibly naked without them. Their leaves ruffled gently, sadly, in the breeze.
She couldn't really cry. There was no point in crying. Claire didn't cry, and she'd been there for a year. How many missing houses were there in all that time? Not to mention Susan, and all the other kids that passed through this Heaven, could still be alive somewhere. They didn't really know. They had only their guts and the uncertain words of… some sort of presence, a voice without a voice… to tell them otherwise.
Enid realized she was crying. She rubbed her face furiously with her sleeve.
She walked for the longest time, always ending in the same places, no matter which direction she took. The lake, the playground, the grassy hill. All of those places that suddenly looked foreign and bleak. Even the swans were nowhere to be seen. She took off in a run, but again and again, she found herself going in circles.
Breathing constrained, she came to a stop next to a large oak. She fell back against the tree, the back of her head hitting its trunk. It made a dull, hollow sound.
Blinking in confusion, Enid looked back at the oak. Rooted in the tree trunk, and perfectly in sight, was a round little door. It hung a few feet above the ground, its wood painted a moss green. It was big enough for her to squeeze through, even though it didn't seem like there was anywhere to go. The oak was large but not huge. Somehow, Enid didn't think that mattered.
Swallowing, she reached for the door handle and pulled. A light so bright she couldn't stand to look at it engulfed her. Almost immediately she slammed the door close. Hand still on the handle, she rested her forehead against the little door. Enid couldn't help a small, teary laugh.
She turned on her heels and ran back to Claire's house.
It was chaotic. Everybody was gathered outside. The younger children were crying silently, clinging to Claire once again. They stood huddled together, unable to tear their eyes away from the conflict. Judith was howling in Scott's arms, heedless of his awkward attempts to calm her down. Jake and Mikey were both physically restraining Carl, who wasn't doing anything but standing still, looking like he needed to be restrained.
They were all looking at Brian who was rubbing his jaw in shock. Enid guessed someone had hit him, and she had a pretty good guess as to who.
"Just tell me what you did to her." Carl's voice was steady.
"Nothing!" said Brian. His eyes darted around wildly, pleading.
"If you hurt her-" and here Carl's voice did break. And damn it, Enid had been so preoccupied by her own feelings that morning, she didn't stop to think about Carl's reaction to Susan's disappearance. Even since they arrived, the little girl had followed Carl around. And he didn't mind, he didn't mind at all. He treated her like she was his little sister.
"How can you think that?" Brian asked, and the despair in his voice even stopped Carl. "I would never do anything to hurt any of you. I'm… listen to me. I only want to help you. I only ever wanted to keep you safe. I swear." He reached a hand toward Claire and the three younger children, silently asking for support. The children flinched, Oliver burying his face against Claire's side.
Brian looked like he'd been slapped in the face. In a shaken voice he asked, "do you all think that?"
None of them replied. Brian looked, well, devastated. In a soft voice he said, "Susan is my friend. My responsibility. You all are. I would never hurt you. Please. Please… believe me." His voice broke and he shuddered. "Okay, okay, okay. I can fix this. Look, if she's not here, it means my colleague must have taken her back. I'll just go and check on her. I'm not supposed to, but I'm going to check up on her, I promise. I'll go and check right now, okay? Just," he held his palms out in a calming gesture. "Please, just wait for me. There's got to be a reasonable explanation for all of this."
A moment later he was gone.
"Let go of me," Carl said quietly. The two boys let go of his arms. He sat down, collapsed actually, on the porch step, dropping his forehead on his knees. His hair fell over his face, hiding whatever might have been visible otherwise. Scott, still holding a crying and squirming Judith, sat down next to him, not saying a word.
"Well done, dumbass," Jake said, without much feeling. "You just killed all of us." He sat down on Carl's other side, boxing him between himself and his brother. He put a comforting hand on Carl's shoulder.
"We shouldn't even be talking about this," Mikey said, looking at all of them uncertainly. "Right?"
"Dude, the jig is up. He knows," Jake said. Then he looked at Claire for confirmation, raising a thick eyebrow. "So, now what?"
"I don't know," Claire said softly.
"You don't know much, do you?" Carl said, voice rough. He raised his head to look at her. "Susan followed your rules, she was smart. Your rules didn't help her at all. Do you actually know anything useful?"
"Dude," said Scott quietly, "cut it out, it's not her fault."
"Guys," Enid said, softly. In all the commotion she almost forgot what brought her running to them. "I found the exit." All heads swerved to look at Enid in shock.
"I'm pretty sure," Enid answered the silent question. "Come on. I'll show you."
They followed her into the woods. To her everlasting relief, the door hadn't disappeared. It stood there, innocently fixed inside the wood, until Enid opened it and let them see the burning light for themselves. They all turned their faces away, covering their eyes, all except for Claire, who for the first time that day looked alive.
"I can't believe we didn't see it before," Claire said. "I must have searched this entire area about a hundred times."
"Castiel said we wouldn't be able to find the exit unless we really wanted to find it, didn't he?" Enid said and shrugged. "Maybe you didn't wish hard enough?"
Claire huffed in annoyance. "Or maybe I just didn't notice it before. Whatever. Let's get out of here." Before they left the house, Claire had grabbed her radio. It was silent, despite the little light that said it was turned on. "Cas, any last warnings?" she said, and waited, but the radio stayed silent. She dropped it to the ground. "Guess not."
"I'm not sure we could all actually fit," Jake said, eying the little round door critically. "We don't even know where this thing goes."
Carl added, "what if it's random? Could we end up in the middle of a herd? I can't risk Judith."
"I'll go," Claire said. "That was kind of the plan all along. Find the exit, then find Cas, and then he shuts this place down safely." They all looked at her uncertainly. Enid sometimes forgot that the rest of them have never actually heard Castiel before, that only she and Claire had that particular ability.
"I should go with you," Enid said. "I'm pretty sure I can squeeze through, too."
"No," Claire said, shaking her head before Enid finished speaking. "You're the only one left who can talk to Cas. You need to stay here and monitor the radio. He'll be your only link to me."
"I don't like this," Jake said. "You have no idea what's behind that door. We don't even know that it is an exit."
"It's either this, or stay here and wait to be picked off one by one," Claire countered. "Guys, let me do this. I need to do this."
"Claire, I don't want you to die," blurted Oliver. She sighed and knelt down to hug him, then took his skinny little shoulders in her hands. "We're all gonna be okay, but I need you to be brave now, okay buddy?" Oliver nodded. She squeezed his shoulders, then looked up at the rest of them. "Trust me, okay?"
Reluctantly, they nodded.
Claire stood up. She pulled the door open, and with a boost from Mikey, went through. Enid stared determinedly after her, ignoring the spots dancing in her vision. It wasn't a dignified leap, the door was too small for that, but then Claire was gone all the same. Mikey slammed the door shut as he stood.
"Claire?" Carl called out. There was no reply, of course. They stood there for several long minutes, staring dejectedly at the little door.
"Fuck it," Enid said, finally. "I'm going after her. Castiel. Cas, if you can hear me, wherever you are, just, um, just scream if everybody needs to haul out of here fast. Do that static thing. Okay?" Of course, there was no response.
"Okay," she said. She didn't bother saying goodbye, or even listen to their half-hearted protests. Wherever that little door took her, she was going to be free. And she would see them all again. Enid was a good climber. She didn't need anyone to boost her up. Carl yelling her name was the last thing she heard before everything she even knew was light.
A/N -
I really wanted to use Enid's tendency to run away as a character strength. Of course she'd be the one to find the way out if wishing for an out was really the way out.