And so did the TV cameras. I remember people screaming my name. I remember being pulled away from my parents.
In the frenzy, my parents and some of the members of the group were able to grab me. We fled and went into hiding, and my life from then on was more normal than I’d ever known, but the memories never left me.
But this is different, I have to believe that. Lock proved it to me. These visions are real, not fake, and these people are calling his name, not mine.
But why? Who are they? What do they want with him? Who really is Lachlan Marcus?
First it was just a couple of them, but now the entire small structure is surrounded and out the window, which Lock has now draped with a sheet, all I could see were people running up and taking pictures, calling his name and asking who I was.
“What’s going on? How do they all know you?”
“Baby.” He squeezes me as terror fills my chest. “Just trust me, okay? I won’t let anyone hurt you. I won’t let them hurt us, but you have to give me some time to fix this, you have to trust me. And we need to get away from here.”
He goes to the bathroom window and looks outside. I can still hear the voices, but they’re distant, and when he turns back to me there’s something like relief in his face.
“There’s nobody on this side of the cabin right now,” he says. “It’s not perfect, but we can squeeze through this window.”
“I don’t know…” Fear grips my throat and I shake my head. The idea that someone might recognize me makes my heart thunder. I was ten years old, I’m sure no one would know it’s me, but the terror from those memories squeezes my chest and makes it hard to breathe. “I need to tell you—”
“Do you trust me?”
I nod. “Yes, but—”
“Nothing else matters, Teah. Nothing. I’m going to keep you safe.” He peers through the window again. “I’m going to climb through first, then I’ll help you through behind me. We can head straight from here into the woods. Look, Teah, there are things about me you don’t know, but I can’t explain right now. There’s a security team heading our way and they’ll get us away, but we can’t stay here.”
Security team?
In a daze, I stand there as he quietly eases the window open, then squeezes through, athletically dropping down on the other side. I take his hand when he offers it, and start to climb up, looking out the window, then I freeze.
Someone is there. And they’ve seen us.
“Hey! He’s here! Lachlan’s right here!”
Lock turns at the sound of his name, and I pull from his hand.
They’re calling for him, shouting his name, more voices joining in all the time and I can’t fight off the desperate terror that is growing in my belly.
Whatever is happening, it puts into sharp focus just how little I know about the man I married today. The words of the Justice of the Peace echo in my head that we had until tomorrow morning to annul the marriage.
Tomorrow.
I can still get out of this.
Sobs grip my body as the thought that I could already be carrying Lachlan’s baby engulfs me. The world is just like my parents said. I made a mistake thinking I wanted to be part of it.
It feels like a hand is gripping my throat, cutting off my air, and I sink to the floor and crawl out of the bathroom, grabbing my backpack as I head into the living room. I sit down and take a long deep breath, gathering my courage, ignoring the shouts of Lachlan Marcus all around the cabin and the sound of his voice calling for me.
I don’t know how to drive, but I do know how to run. And it sure seems like all these people are really just interested in Lock, so I gather up all of my things, shoving them into my backpack.
Peeking out of the front door, I see cars but no people. They must have all run to the back of the cabin when they found out he was there. It’s clear. It’s my only chance.
I hitch my pack up onto my shoulder, and I’m off at a dead run toward the path that leads to the other cluster of cabins. I hear yelps and screams from behind me, but all I can think to do is run.
All the years of lessons and teaching from my parents flood through me. The survival skills, the lack of trust in the outside world.
I run past the cluster of cabins until my lungs burn and the path begins to disappear. I look left and right, trying to decide what’s next. Where to go. It’s warmer that the other night, but I still need to find or make some kind of shelter to get me through the night.