slip away | phoebe x grayson
Throughout the kids in her neighbourhood, there had always been whispers. Whispers of children who had gotten out, abandoned their community and family in search of what lay beyond the high walls and fences. The rumours had been passed down from sibling to sibling. Some told the story with hope, those who felt trapped where they were and wanted a glimpse into the outside world. Some told it with judgement, disgusted at the betrayal. Nobody ever said their names, and the adults shushed you if you dared to mention it.
"Phoebe," someone had whispered to her once in the playground. "I heard they were your siblings." Phoebe had laughed, playing with a strand of long blonde hair, twirling it around her index finger. "Yeah, right!" she'd replied. Though sometimes she did wonder why her family was so much smaller than most. Just her and her older brother Jeremiah, with an exceptionally large age difference. Were there others between them? Sometimes Phoebe stayed up late wondering. And if it were true, why would they leave?
Why would they leave? Why would anyone leave? Her small world had always seemed so idyllic. Sure, there were a lot of rules but all she had ever been told was the evils of the outside world, and the idea of leaving made her stomach curdle in fear.
Until the elders decided she had been possessed. Phoebe had no idea how they had come to that conclusion, but one day she was ripped from her home and taken to the big building in the middle of town. They carved symbols into her skin, claiming she needed to bleed out the impurity. They balled their fists and beat the evil out of her. They did things Phoebe tried to block out as she stood in the dead of night staring at a large wire fence.
Her body shook as she climbed, collapsing over the top into a bruised, burned heap on the ground. She let out a groan, pushing herself up by sheer adrenaline and fear. If she was caught, God knows what would happen. She thought of her family, how she would never seen them again. If they had truly lost children they refused to speak of, she was another one leaving them. The guilt gnawed at her insides but it wasn't safe. She couldn't take another day of this.
The streets were mostly empty with the exception of several cars speeding by. Phoebe wrapped her arms around herself, shivering in the cool air. Her clothes were tattered, dirty, bloodstained and she wondered how she must look to those passing. However she looked, she was sure she felt worse.
Fifteen minutes or so of walking and the three days of torture began to catch up to her, adrenaline wearing thin. Using the last of her energy, Phoebe crept into the grounds of somebodies property. She couldn't very well pass out on the side of the road, could she? Barely taking stock of what the place looked like, she finally let herself collapse under a tree.
As her eyes fluttered closed, she almost wished for death.
