Chapter 8

When I came to, I was lying in a funeral chapel. Black and white drapes hung from every wall, and a table at the front held rows of candles flanking a framed photograph of a girl. I scrambled to the door and pounded on it with both fists.

"Let me out! What are you doing to me?"

Grandma's voice came from the other side. "The ceremony is in three days. Behave yourself and don't make a scene."

Over the next three days, I tried everything. I threw myself against the door and tried to break the windows, but nothing worked.

They even took my shoes so I couldn't run. I begged, I screamed, and I cursed at them through the walls. Not a single person helped me.

On the third day, a group of men pinned me down and dragged me to the chapel at the mayor's estate.

"It's time!" the officiant called out. "Let the ceremony begin!"

They forced me to my knees. The bride waiting for me at the altar was nothing but a cold stone memorial marker. I fought as hard as I could. The veins in my temples were bulging, but I couldn't break free from the rough hands holding me down.

After the ceremony, they tied me up and locked me in a back room behind the chapel. I sat in the corner with my back against the wall, staring at the black coffin in front of me.

I didn't know if they planned to kill me and bury me beside the girl inside, or keep me locked in here for the rest of my life, married to a slab of stone. Either way, I wasn't going to accept it.

I listened to the sounds outside while I worked the rope against the sharp edge of the table behind me. It tore my wrists raw, and blood oozed out of my skin, but I gritted my teeth and kept going.

It was past midnight, and the guard on duty drank himself unconscious. He was snoring loud enough to shake the walls. I knew this was my chance.

I pulled free of the frayed rope and eased open the back window, which they hadn't fully latched. The moment I dropped to the ground, a bolt of pain shot through my ankle. I clenched my jaw, hauled myself up, and ran.

It didn't take long before the shouting started behind me. "He's gone! Get after him!"

I sprinted barefoot through dark open fields with nothing but blackness ahead of me. I couldn't even see the road.

I didn't know how much longer my body would hold out. All I knew was that I couldn't stop. If I stopped, my life was over.

I didn't know how long I ran before my vision started to blur and my legs finally gave out. I collapsed at the edge of a highway.

A pair of headlights cut through the darkness and swept over me. I raised my hand with the last scrap of strength I had.

"Please... help me."

For once in my life, fate was kind. The driver was a decent person and took me all the way back to the city.

All I wanted was to get as far away as possible from the place that had turned my life into a nightmare. However, to leave the country, I needed my passport, and it was still back at that house.

It was the middle of the night. I unlocked the front door with my fingerprint and crept toward my room.

As I passed my parents' bedroom, I heard them talking and held my breath.

"Piper seems pretty attached to Logan. If she finds out we married him off in a spirit marriage, do you think she'll cause trouble?"

That was Mom.

Dad said, "Piper likes Corey, and Corey told me he likes her too. They're perfect for each other. That's the whole reason I went along with your parents' plan.

"Logan's always been difficult. It's better to keep him locked away in the country than let him get in the way of Corey and Piper's future."

My fists clenched on their own, and my knuckles went white. Part of me had still been holding out hope on the drive back. It was a small, desperate part that wanted to believe there was an explanation for all this.

Now I knew for certain. My own parents had sold me to a dead girl so that Corey could live happily ever after.

Rage and grief churned in my chest, but I couldn't make a sound. I knew that if they caught me, they'd drag me right back without a second thought.

I swallowed it all down, slipped into my room, grabbed my passport and my bag, and walked out of the house I'd lived in for 18 years.

My flight was at 10:00 am the next day. I stood at the end of the street with no idea where to spend the night. I didn't have much saved, and a hotel felt like a waste.

I thought of Piper. Even if she didn't understand me, she wouldn't sell me off the way my family had.

I went to the Ashton residence. The lights were still on inside their place, and the garden out front was full of flowers.

I walked up to ring the bell, but through the gaps in the iron gate, I saw them. There among the flowers, Corey had his arms around Piper, and they were kissing like they never wanted to stop.

I stood there as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over my head. The last lifeline I'd been reaching for turned out to be the very thing that pulled me under.

In the end, I dragged my suitcase to the police station. They examined my injuries overnight, took my statement, and opened a case. By the time the sun came up, I was in a car headed for the airport.

As the plane lifted off, I looked out the window at the city I'd spent 18 years in. The relief of having survived and the terror of how close I'd come hit me all at once, and my throat tightened as my eyes burned.

When the plane climbed above the clouds, I took a deep breath and told myself quietly, "Goodbye, Logan Hollis. The old one, anyway."

Starting today, I was going to become someone new.