Ethereal

Escape

Jax and I made for the door, Eli hot on our heels. I jumped down into the mud and looked behind me to wave goodbye to Eli, and instead saw his hand wrapped around Jax’s sleeve as he whispered something into his ear. Jax nodded, frowning at whatever Eli had told him, and turned back to me.

Eli gave me one last nod before he disappeared back into his house, closing his door behind him. Jax took my hand and pulled me to him, untying his cloak and throwing it over my shoulders.

“I was right,” he said, pulling the hood so it hung low over my eyes. “I overheard a pair of officials on the way back. They already have your description, and they’re going through every tent and hut in Camp looking for you.”

The news made my stomach cramp with worry. What if they caught Jax and I before we made it past the wall?

As if he could hear my thoughts, Jax palmed my cheek and gave me a reassuring swipe of his thumb across my skin. “Just keep your head down and don’t say anything. The sun won’t rise for a few more hours, so if we stay in the shadows we’ll be fine.”

I nodded my head, taking his outstretched hand as he led me through the maze of tents and back towards the gate. Our pace was unhurried, as if we were two lovers out for a midnight stroll in the dark. I let go of Jax’s hand and draped myself over his arm, pulling him closer to me as we walked past officials and Campers alike. If a Camper had already told an official what I looked like, then everyone in Camp must know who I am by now. There was no telling who would go and alert an official the moment they caught sight of me.

For a moment I wondered if the officials had a description of Jax as well, and by giving me his cloak he was leaving himself vulnerable to the suspicious eyes of the officials. I wanted to pull him down so I could whisper my concerns into his ear, but thought better of it. Jax told me not to speak until we were beyond the Camp’s walls, and he’s brought me this far. Without him I’m sure I’d already be dead.

I looked up through the hood and at Jax’s face, looking all too relaxed in the firelight. When in actuality, he was stiff as death beneath my hands, his chest hardly moving as he kept his breathing short and measured.

We continued on like this, me wrapped around him as he steered us through the Camp. A few Campers recognized Jax and murmured greetings to him, and he would only respond with a tilt of his head. Somehow I had managed to snag myself a real people’s person. No matter. There was always time to change that.

“We’re almost there,” Jax said, leaning down so his lips were pressed against my forehead. To anybody passing by, it looked like a gentle kiss.

The wall loomed overhead, the entire height of it was invisible in the darkness. I knew we were nearing the gate, but Jax made no signs of stopping. Were we just going to walk straight through the gate? It couldn’t be that easy, right?

We finally made it to the wall, the gate a few hundred yards away. There was a swarm of officials standing around it with guns strapped to their sides. I swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of my throat.

“What now?” I whispered to Jax, my nerves overriding reason. Jax pressed a finger to his lips, silencing me, and pointed past the gate and to the marketplace that sat beyond it. If I squinted my eyes, I could see someone standing in the middle of the road.

Jax and I approached the stranger, who wore a green hood similar to mine. We stopped just a few feet short in front of them, Jax releasing my arm as he pulled out a pouch from his pocket that jingled with coins. He tossed them over to the stranger, who caught it before it could fall.

“Is this all of it?” they said. I realized with a jolt that it was a girl.

“Of course.” Jax said, his voice clipped. Whoever this girl was to him, they certainly weren’t close.

The girl nodded, tucking the coins into her cloak as she lowered her hood. I nearly gasped at the sight of her brown hair that cut to the same length as mine, standing around my height, and her facial features that were all too similar to mine. Even her eyes were the same shade of brown as mine. Did Jax just go around to all the girls in Camp and look for someone that looked similar to me?

By the sheepish look that he gave me once he saw that I was looking at him out of the corner of my eye told me that was exactly what he did.

“I’ll give you five minutes, but after that you’re on your own.” She said. Jax nodded in agreement, and we both turned to watch as she pulled the hood back over her face and sprinted towards the officials. Her approach caused all of them to look over at her, their black masks gleaming in the light of the fires that surrounded them, and we all watched as she slipped through the mud and fell backwards with a thud.

The girl’s hood fell backwards, revealing her face. She looked at the guards, allowing them to take in her features, before jumping up and disappearing deep into the Camp. One of the officials barked out an order, and the entire group quickly gave chase after her, only leaving two officials standing by the gate’s entrance.

It was all a performance, I thought to myself, thinking of the way the girl just so happened to perfectly fall in front of the guards and reveal her face. She had quite the talent.

Jax grabbed my hand once the last official vanished behind the clump of tents and we hurried over to the two officials. Jax nodded to the one on the left and reached into his pocket to draw out a second leather pouch to throw at the one on the right. The official took their time opening the pouch, counting its contents before motioning for the official to raise the gate.

I felt my mouth open and close, my mind reeling with everything that was happening around us. We waited until the gate was high enough for us to pass through until we quickly rushed under it, Jax’s hand still clutched in mine as we ran forward.

The gate closed behind us, shutting with a loud thud as it hit the mud.

A line of cars were parked to our left, their metal bodies shining in the moonlight. Jax picked the closest one and climbed into the driver’s side, opening the different compartments in search of the keys.

“Damn it,” he said, slamming the last compartment shut. He pulled a knife out of his pants pocket and shoved the blade under the steering wheel, causing the panel to fall onto the floor of the car. He pulled out two wires and cut each in half, using the blade to strip the wires of their wax before he twisted the two together, and the car roared to life.

Jax looked over at me and motioned me to get in. I let my hand rest on the handle, and paused.

“You still have a choice,” I said, looking into his dark brown eyes. “you can still go back if you want to. I won’t make you come with me.”

“Nor, I thought we already talked about this.” He said, his eyes moving between me and the gate, as though he expected an army of officials to charge out of Camp at any moment.

“You talked about it,” I said, “but I don’t think you realize everything you’re leaving behind. Your ship, your crew, your friends, your – family,” I said, choking on the last word. I thought about being separated from my own family, all those years ago. I wouldn’t let Jax abandon his own, even if he was doing it so he could be with me.

“My family’s gone, Nor. They all died years ago. Eli was the closest thing I’ve had to family since then, but we both knew that one day I would leave. He respects my choice. And as for the ship, and my crew, they’ll get a new captain and move on.” He said. I wrinkled my forehead in confusion. What did he mean he didn’t have any family left? What about the little boy – Charlie?

“Nor,” Jax said, now sounding desperate. Precious seconds were being wasted by my hesitation, but still I couldn’t force myself to get into the car.

“I can’t let you do this for me,” I said, feeling tears welling up in my eyes. I blinked them away.

“Nor,” Jax said, his voice softening, “I go where you go.”

I felt my throat tighten at his words, my throat bobbing with an unspoken emotion. Without another word I climbed into the passenger side and took his face into my hands, pressing my lips against his. I hoped that were my words failed me, he would understand what I felt through our kiss.

We pulled away too soon. Jax tucked my hair behind my ear and I gave him a shy smile. I looked away, feeling the need to change the subject.

“How did you do that?” I said, pointing to the wires between Jax’s legs. Jax picked up the fallen panel and threw it over his shoulder and out of the car, pressing his foot to the gas pedal as we lurched forward.

“It’s called hot wiring,” he said, “Eli taught me how to do it when I was younger after he forgot to grab the keys to one of the cars.” He pressed the pedal all the way to the floor, making the car’s tires throw up sand as it sped up and rolled through the dunes.

The wind rushed through my hair, blowing the strands out of my face as we headed towards the ocean. I looked behind us and back at the Camp, but there was no one following us. Our five minutes were long gone, and I’m sure once the officials returned to the gate they would notice the missing car. I doubted that the two officials Jax paid off would try to stall for as long as they could, if they hadn’t alerted the other officials of our presence the moment we were out of earshot.

The way that Jax sped through the dunes told me I was right. The sooner we were far away from the Camp, the better.

Jax drove us in silence, getting us to the beach in record time. But instead of stopping, he turned left, heading south. I looked behind us and saw the tinkling lights of Sacramento Providence in the distance, its lights growing dimmer as Jax increased the distance between us.

“Where are we going?” I asked over the roar of the wind in our ears.

“South, towards Solomon’s Port.” Jax said, his eyes not leaving the road.

“Why not go to the Citadel? It would be easier to blend in with all those people.” I said.

Jax shook his head. “Eli told me it wasn’t safe. The farther we get from Camp and the Citadel, the better.”

“Why?” I said, but he shook his head.

“I’ll tell you later,” he said. Now wasn’t a time for questions. He needed to focus on getting us away from the Camp, and if he believed that the Citadel wasn’t a safe place for us to be, then I trusted him.

Though the moon had been covered in clouds while we were in Camp, it had since moved into view, casting an eerie light over the ocean. I released a breath I didn’t know I had been holding, letting the muscles in my back relax. Camp was growing smaller the longer we continued to drive along the beachfront, and though we were still in danger of being caught, somehow, I knew that we had made it. Jax and I managed to escape the Camp.

I scooted closer to him, resting my head against his shoulder as he dropped one hand off the steering wheel and let me hold it in my lap. With our fingers intertwined, the Camp becoming nothing but a small speck in the distance, and the wind howling through the night air, I felt completely free for the first time in a long time.

Pressing closer to Jax’s side, I let my eyelids droop downward until they completely shut. I dreamed pleasant dreams, ones where there the fire didn’t burn, there was no death, and all I felt was peace.