Chapter 30

Like a frightened child cowering in the darkness, face to face with the shadows that dwelt in the corners, I buried my face in my hands and cried tears of fear.

I’d been caught.

They were going to come and drag me back to my cell, allow me to complete my pregnancy, tear her from me—then kill me.

I’d failed her.

“What are you doing in here?!” The cleaning lady hissed again. “If they catch you in here…well…”

Glancing once down both directions of the hallway, she walked into the closet and shut the door behind her. Weeping, I tried to be quiet. She probably had no choice but to call security.

My hope of freedom faded away like the scent of flowers in a breeze.

“Don’t cry. I’m not going to tell on ya.” Kneeling before me and pulling a tissue from inside the cuff of her sleeve, she handed it to me and patted me on the shoulder. Shocked, my head snapped up instantly.

“You…you’re not going to…tell them?” I’m sure she could have told me she had a rabbit in her shirt and I wouldn’t have been as surprised.

“No. I’ve seen what they do to people here; I’d rather see you get away.” Her voice softened as she looked me in the eye. Sadness clouded over her eyes as she continued. “That little girl… the one you wanted to know about…”

“Jessica? Is she…?” I couldn’t finish my sentence without a knot tightening in my throat. “…okay?”

The look in the woman’s eyes read like a book, Jessica was dead. I just knew.

“How?” I asked as fresh tears surfaced in my eyes.

“They believed she was immune to everything…she wasn’t.” Closing her eyes and sighing, she continued. “They injected her with…a virus. One that they made themselves. She was dead within an hour. It was horrible.”

Stifling a sob with my hand, I cursed the men who had done this to her. If they were willing to do that to Jessica, what were they going to do to my baby?

“Do you have a plan to get out of here?” The woman asked kindly, leaning toward me.

Shaking my head, I didn’t want to divulge anything about Keanu. I trusted her but, just in case; it was safer to keep quiet, for her own safety as well as Keanu’s.

“Okay, the best way to get out of the building is through the big steel door just north of here. It will take you to an underground parking lot.” Staring me seriously in the eye as she explained, she stopped and sighed heavily. “Just…follow me. I’ll get you out of here.” She stood up and brushed her pants with her hands.

My mind veered a million directions at once. Should I trust this perfect stranger, abandon my plans with Keanu and attempt an escape with the cleaning woman? My heart pulsed ridiculously fast, nearly without pause between beats.

This might be my chance. Regardless of who gets me out, it’s only important that I escape. Fate is fate, right? If I’m meant to die this way, it will happen no matter who helps me.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to force my intuition to assist me. Begging the universe to show me the way, I prayed for the second time in my life.

What should I do?

“Are you coming?” The cleaning woman asked, her lips pursed in concentration as she held the door slightly ajar and peeked out of the crack. Before I could answer, she jumped back and hissed. “Hide! Someone’s coming!”

Clambering to hide within the small closet, I managed to wedge myself into a dark corner in the back. A large yellow bucket on wheels with a mop extending out sat beside me. Like divine providence had intervened and placed it there, I pulled the trolley in front of me, shielding me perfectly from view of the main door.

Sitting absolutely still, I could hear the cleaning woman shuffling around looking for her own hiding spot.

Then, for a just a moment, there was pure silence.

The quiet was then interrupted.

Holding my breath, I distinctly heard footsteps nearing our location. A tapping, heel to toe, just like the men in black’s shoes would make.

Tears welled in my eyes as I imagined the horrors that awaited me if I were caught.

What will they do to me? My baby?

Stifling a sob as I cowered in the dark corner, I wished in some small way that I’d just taken my life like I had planned. All of this nightmare would be a distant memory blowing in the breeze. No more pain, suffering and degradation.

Peace.

My baby and I would have gone to another place. Another dimension maybe, existing only to love one another.

In the Hopi beliefs, souls ascended into a perfect spirit world, death was only a transition to a higher realm. Later, if the spirit so chooses, they can return to earth, beginning once again, as a baby.

There was no shame in suicide, especially if one was sacrificing themselves for the greater good. My baby was worth that, she was the greater good.

But no, I had to try and live on. What on earth was I thinking? Even if I got away, what kind of life could we expect to live? I couldn’t even go home to the reservation in Sedona. We’d constantly be on the run. Never allowed to stop and enjoy life, we’d be forced to conceal our true identities and hide for the rest of our natural lives.

I should have ended it all when I had the chance.

Bitterness fought its way to the surface of my soul. I hated this. All of this. I hated myself for things I couldn’t control and didn’t understand. I hated my mother and father, whoever the hell they were, for creating me and then leaving me to dwell in a world that was obviously not my own.

Interrupting my dark thoughts, I was suddenly alarmed as the door handle began to turn. So preoccupied with my internal loathing, I neglected to hear the tapping of the shoes come to halt…right in front of the closet door.

A low metallic grind pierced the quiet of the tiny room as the doorknob twisted ominously. Our entire fate, all three of us hiding in the closet, now depended on whoever was on the other side of that door.