Prologue

Trees, darkness, rain, and we were running. Running from everything we had ever been, everything we didn’t want to be. The ground was hard beneath the pounding of my feet, trying so hard to keep Lillian close to me. Branches hitting every part of my body as I snaked through them. The flesh of my arms scratched and bleeding through the ripped grey, velvet material of the ceremonial dress.

I had been planning our escape for weeks, knowing the excitement from the upcoming party would cause everyone to be distracted. The ceremony for my 21^st birthday was extremely important; everyone in our community was working on it. Which is why we had to leave, letting them initiate me into their ranks would have trapped us here forever. Forever in these lives we were never meant to have.

My feet were aching, water splashing up into the flats every time they touched the ground. The thud behind me made me turn, Lillian’s precious blonde curls were soaked in mud from a puddle. Her chest was heaving, tears staining her face as she looked up at me with her pleading wary blue eyes.

“Please Lil, we’ve got to keep moving! We’re so close!”

“Renee I don’t think I can, just leave me! I’m slowing you down, they don’t want me.”

“Lillian I can’t leave you,” I got down pulling her hand to me and gripping it tightly between mine. “We’re sisters, and if they have you, they have me. I need you to keep going.”

She pulled herself up to her full 5 foot 7 inches, and pushed her drenched curls back from her face. She gripped my hand tightly in her own, “Okay, let’s go.”