Mind Games by Kiersten White

Author:Kiersten White [White, Kiersten]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: HarperTeen
Published: 2013-02-18T23:00:00+00:00

FIA

Two Years Ago

WHY DOES HATING THE MOST VIOLENT THING I’VE ever done make me want to be violent?

They took away my computer when they realized I was researching jail time for various crimes. But they didn’t have to. I have nowhere to go. Annie is here.

Annie told me to get out of her life.

If I really thought she’d be safe here, if I really thought she’d be okay on her own?

I don’t know.

My closet is dark and warm. I like sitting in it. Sometimes I sleep here. Sleep, sleep. I’ll sleep now.

“Fia?”

I startle, smack my head against the wall. Ouch.

“Annie?” I push open the closet door. She’s standing in the middle of my room. She has one hand out, palm up, the way she always comes into a room where she knows I am. She’s waiting for my hand.

I hide my horrible hands behind my back. “What?”

She looks scared. Nervous. I stand and rush out of the closet. “What’s wrong? What did you see?”

“I—I didn’t see anything. I heard. Fia, what have they been doing to you? What have they made you do? Tell me. Please tell me.” Her voice cracks and if she cries, I will cry and I won’t, I won’t let myself cry.

“Bad things,” I whisper. “I’ll never tell you.”

She holds out both her hands and I trip forward, let her wrap her arms around me. “Okay. Okay. You don’t have to tell me. It doesn’t matter. We’re leaving. Today.”

“Really? You want to leave?” My heart expands, bursts—hope, there is hope, I have hope for the first time in years. We’re going to leave! Annie wants to leave, so it won’t be betraying her, won’t be taking her away from hope for her eyes.

“Pack your things,” she says. “I’ve got all my stuff ready. We can probably sell my laptop and braille equipment for a few thousand dollars. Enough to get back to Aunt Ellen’s. Once we’re there, we’ll figure out how to get ahold of her. I’ll leave a note for Eden so she knows why we left and can find us if she wants to leave, too.”

My heart sinks. “You packed? When did you decide we should run?”

“Last night. I’ve been up all night, reading train and bus schedules. Do you have any cash at all? There’s a Greyhound station. It’s a long walk, but we can do it. And you can figure out how to sell my laptop, right?”

She sounds so hopeful, so determined. I back away and slump on my unmade bed. “We can’t. They already know.”

Annie frowns, shakes her head. “No, we need to leave. We need to get you out of here.”

“We should have run last night, the moment you thought of it. It’s too late now. They already know what we’ll do. Clarice will be watching. So we can’t do it.”

“But—”

“No. Not today.”

Annie’s shoulders collapse. She tries to walk over to my bed but trips on a pile of shoes. I haven’t been keeping the floor clean. It’s dangerous for her.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.