Luna In Denial

3

Emersyn scanned the bus once again, taking in the occupants. Her mind raced as each mile brought her closer to the next stop. Her eyes caught sight of one of the windows near the back. She turned back in her seat and steadied herself for a moment before standing and moving towards the back. She kept her eyes down and made her way to the empty seat next to the window that had caught her attention. She sat down and glanced at the window. It was an emergency exit of sorts. It wasn’t large, but then again, neither was she. She glanced around the bus; nobody seemed to be paying her any attention. She got on her knees on the seat and reached out and flipped the lever on the left side of the window, holding her breath to see if an alarm would go off. When it didn’t, she quickly flipped the one on the right as well. The last one was a little harder as it was on top. She had to stand to flip the last one. She did it quickly and sat down. She took a few deep breaths and prepared herself for what she was about to do. She was absolutely certain an alarm would sound as soon as she pushed the window open. She would have to do it quickly and be out the window before anyone could stop her. She chose not to think about the fall. The bus wasn’t going fast enough that the fall would kill her, but it certainly could injure her. It didn't matter. Any injury she sustained was better than facing Alec’s anger.

She knew she couldn’t wait any longer. It wouldn’t be long before they made it to their next stop. She took a deep breath and launched herself up. Just as she thought, the alarm immediately started beeping. She heard shouts behind her, but she was already on her way out the window. The ground rushed up at her before she could prepare herself. At the last second, she tucked herself into a ball. She hit the ground hard and rolled. Almost before she stopped rolling, she was up on her feet and running. She had no idea where she was going; she just knew she had to get away. She heard shouts behind her, but she paid no mind and ran. She cut across someone’s yard and ran in between houses, covering the distance quickly. After cutting through several streets, she ran towards an intersection so she could see what street she was on.

Without slowing down, she redirected herself towards the bus stop she knew to be a few streets over. She knew that it was a busy stop; she hoped that was the case today. She really needed a bus to be there. If there wasn’t, she would just have to push on and find another bus stop. She glanced behind her for just a moment to make sure she wasn’t being pursued. When she was confident she wasn’t, she picked up her speed and finally came to the block where the bus stop was. She forced herself to slow to a walk. She pushed her hair out of her face and tried to slow her breathing. She pulled her hoodie up over her hair and tucked in any strands that had escaped.

She saw several people waiting for the bus. She walked that way and stood waiting a little distance from where the others sat on benches. She tried to act calm, though she was anything but. She really hoped the bus was due to arrive soon. The minutes dragged by before she finally heard the sound of a bus coming. She scanned the area, keeping a careful watch as the bus drew closer.

When the bus finally stopped, it took everything in her to keep from rushing in front of everyone and boarding. She made herself wait in line. When she finally boarded, she paid the fee and allowed herself to look over each and every passenger for a moment. When she didn’t recognize anyone and nobody seemed to notice her, she moved towards the back, keeping her eyes locked on the floor in front of her. She sank into her seat and kept her eyes glued to the door. She willed the bus to start moving. Finally, the doors closed and the bus began moving.

Emersyn put her head against the seat and worked at calming her heart. Her eyes scanned the passengers in front of her again. She felt good that no one was turning their head to look in her direction. Next, she looked at the sign at the front of the bus to see what the next stop was.

Marietta. She recognized that town. It was about a twenty-five-minute ride. She knew it would be a large bus stop. She would be able to find another bus there. She tried to relax but didn’t dare close her eyes. She needed to stay alert at all times.

She passed the time by looking out the window and thinking through a plan. The ride went too fast and suddenly they were stopping in Marietta. Again, Emersyn tried to still the panic pushing her towards trying to be the first one off the bus. She waited her turn, all the while scanning the bus stop for any sign of her step-brother or his friends.

She stepped off the bus and looked for the next bus about to leave. It didn’t matter what direction it was headed in. She just needed to keep moving. She saw a bus just about to take off and ran that way. She ran alongside it and slipped in just before the doors closed.

“That was close,” the friendly driver said with a smile. Emersyn just nodded at her, paid the fee, and slipped into a seat near the front as this bus was almost full. It took a few minutes before her breathing had calmed again and she could make a plan. She looked up and saw they were headed west to Jacksonville, Alabama. It was about a two-hour drive. Emersyn nodded in satisfaction. She was glad she was crossing state lines. That would help as she tried to get as far away as quickly as possible from Alec and his friends. She had never been outside of Georgia before, so it would be interesting.

All she had was less than three hundred dollars in her pocket and the clothes on her back. She needed to get as far away from Atlanta as possible. She would just keep moving, changing buses until she ran out of money. After that, she would work on finding food, a place to stay, and some necessities like clothes. She took a deep breath and pushed those thoughts aside. She couldn’t allow herself to get comfortable, not yet. Right now, she needed to stay focused on the task at hand—survival.

Finally, early in the morning on the third day, Emersyn found herself in some town in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota with only enough money for one last fare. She stood in front of a map, trying to get her exhausted mind to focus. She was so tired and hungry she was on the verge of collapsing. She had bought herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a water bottle sometime yesterday from a rest stop, but it hadn’t been nearly enough. At some point, her stomach had stopped growling. She wondered if that was a bad sign.

Now as she stared at the large map on the wall, a feeling of helplessness swept over her. She didn’t have a clue where to go. Where did you settle when you were on the run? She was just about to turn away in frustration when she noticed a flyer hanging off the board at the bottom of the map. She looked at it and saw it was an advertisement for Hopewell, WI. Any place that had the word hope in it had to be a good place. She could use some hope about now. She saw pictures of the Chequamegon National Forest and the beauty of the surrounding area. Something called to her and before she knew it, she was on a bus headed towards Hopewell.

Emersyn sat with just nine dollars and sixty-two cents in her pocket, but a feeling of rightness settled over her. Something was drawing her to this place. She had never felt that way before. She couldn’t wait to get there and experience this new place. When the bus finally pulled into Hopewell, Emersyn made herself wait patiently until everyone got off ahead of her before making her way to the front of the bus. She stepped down the steps. When her feet hit the pavement, she couldn’t hold back the tear that escaped as a feeling she never thought she would feel again washed over her—freedom.