Chapter 6

"Over here!"

Gunshots and screams could be heard all over the place, upsetting the nerves of both teenagers who were running for another exit. They had not waited long when Oliver turned around to escape; they ought to do the same, turning to the right freedom felt closer.

They ran towards the boats still being chased by a group of guards who managed to hurt the blond's left arm.

"Jack!" shouts the black-haired woman.

"Go away!"

"What are you saying?"

She didn't want to go alone in that boat, she wasn't as strong and independent as Oliver and Jack, she had accepted this craziness because she wouldn't be alone.

"Stop acting like a hero, you idiot!"

Annette bent down to help the blond stand up, placing her healthy arm around his neck, with the other hand she holds him by the waist and they both move forward a couple of meters before the guards arrive for them.

"No!"

"Let her go, it was my...mgh!"

One of the three chasing guards violently grabbed Annette's hand, separating her from Jack as he was being beaten with great force. Annette was screaming for them to stop, trying to break free from the suffocating grip of the huge guard.

She knew it was a bad idea, something would go wrong, and they would die tortured like her mother. He should have resisted more, talked some sense into Jack ... what assurance was there that Emer, the guard, wouldn't set a trap for them? Oliver could be being crushed by Mr. Craig right now and the dreams of freedom the three of them shared would vanish along with their meaningless lives.

-JACK!

Tears overflowed from her honey-colored eyes and her throat was tearing as she cried out her friend's name loudly. Names were forbidden in Elliot Craig's domain, but that didn't matter to Annette anymore, if she would die here then it wasn't worth calling his name one last time.

Happy endings did not exist, her mother was right. 

Three shots were heard and the noise in the background disappeared, as well as the strength in the arms of the guard who was holding the girl. Annette with watery and frightened eyes moved away from the corpse until she reached Jack, without looking away from the person who had helped them. Her body did not relax when she saw the "friend" guard, she did not trust any guard.

Emer had managed to free himself from his companions and was deciding for a few seconds who he should help, resolving that the two remaining teenagers would not make it away without his help. He ran as fast as he could, hoping the poor boy was still alive.

"He's alive?" he asks a little agitated, seeing Bibi's daughter nodding, "Well, hurry up, you must leave now."

Annette nods again, focusing her attention on the blond who was bleeding from his arm and face. She bites her lip repressing any emotion that would prevent her from continuing with the escape, once away she would heal him.

"Will you come with us?" gasps the blue-eyed boy, semi-conscious.

The boots of reinforcements could be heard nearby.

"I will join you... listen" he had to tell them, the mission was out of his hands and he couldn't think how the three teenagers would meet again. He didn't even give them a map or directions on how to get to the Gold Star or what they would do next "You must find Oliver, stay together and run away from here. If I don't arrive by snowfall you must leave without me."

The horde of gunfire returned, Emer looked back for a few seconds knowing he would not survive, but at least he would die fulfilling his promise.

"You'll be fine, take care of each other."

Was Emer who touched the red button and the boat left at full speed, taking those children away from that hell.

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It was difficult to finish the tourniquet with the boat moving at a high speed, Annette was slipping from side to side as was her partner who was also struggling not to close his eyes. Once she was able to tighten the cloth on Jack's arm and control some of the blood, she thought it would be best to remove the bullet when they were on dry land.

"Jack" she whispers, moving his right shoulder. He slightly opens his eyes, connecting his blue gaze with the girl's honey, not understanding much of what was happening. He had received a strong blow on the back of his head.

Annette watches  the place where she had lived all her life disappeared every second in the distance. They had made it. It was crazy, her mother didn't talk much about the outside world, but Colette did, she liked to listen to the stories she used to tell Oliver before going to sleep.

                            >>It's all nonsense Annette, don't believe everything she says.                                                            The world is cruel, that's the only truth<<

Almost all her life she believed that his mother's words were true, the world was cruel. But, at that moment, seeing the sea and the sky full of stars, Colette's stories came back to her mind and a warm feeling in her chest appeared. It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen, Colette's stories might be true and now Annette was able to find it out for herself.

"Jack, look..."

When she looked at the blue-eyed boy, he was lying unconscious with blood dripping his forehead. The honey-eyed girl bites her lower lip again, she thought she could soak the cloth in the water, but the boat was moving so fast that she couldn't get up, even so, she tried, she had to clean the blood and pray that Jack wouldn't die.

"They are real, the stars exist, you must live to see them."

Gently lays the blond's body down, leaving his head on her lap so wiping the blood from his forehead would be easier. Carefully she passes the cloth over his forehead, admiring once again the perfect face of her friend. She always hated having to see Jack or Oliver hurt, but she was grateful to her mother for teaching her how to heal them. When she finished bandaging his head, she stroked his hair, then ran her slender fingers over his nose, cheekbones, lips, and chin—something she only would do with Jack when he was unconscious.

Something about him attracted her more than anyone else; she thought it was because they had been friends all their lives and because she had experienced some good moments by his side when they were still innocent enough to know what was going on. The brown had noticed, and Annette had to shut him up because if anyone else found out that Jack was attracted to her, he would die tortured, and then she would.

She let out another sigh and went back to looking at the sky; that wasn't important now. The first part of the plan had gone reasonably well; the three were out, alive. Now came the hard part: meeting Oliver and getting to the Gold Star without dying in the attempt. Thinking about having a life like in fairy tales had never been as accurate as it was now; Annette had a mission to keep on living to appreciate everything Colette told her as a child and have a worthy, accessible, and happy life.

She joins her forehead with Jack's, closing her eyes.

"Someday... we will have our fairy tale."