-2 Prologue - Danger (1/2)

”No, I'm sorry, we can't, we need to go far far away.” Walking behind her, her mother pushed her along, trying to pull the other two bags with her as she bobbled a child against her ribs. ”And we won't be able to call them either, we have to hide.”

”Hide?Why do we need to hide?” The girl stopped short, turning to look up at her mom. ”I don't understand what's going on. Why do we need to do this? Why can't we just stay here and wait for Dad to come?”

Her mother forced a slight smile, but it was so weak, so brittle, she thought her mother's lips were going to crumble. ”I'll explain it all to you one day when you're older, but right now, I just need you to do as I say.”

Nodding, the girl pushed the screen door open, pulling the bag behind her. Walking down the steps, the suitcase bounced off each one with a loud pop. But her mother didn't scold her for not lifting it up, she just kept pushing her along, telling her to hurry.

”Put it in the back with you and climb inside.” Walking to the other side of the car, she opened the door and pulled the baby off her hip, setting him in the car seat.

The little girl leaned the bag against the edge of the door and started to lift it from the bottom to push it up. It was so heavy, as if her mother had packed it full with every ceramic dish from the cupboard.

”What did you put in this thing?” she asked, grunting as she gave it another hard shove.

Tires squealed up the street, so the girl stopped, letting the bag drop back to the ground. Peering at her mother, she watched the blood drain from her face as she threw her hand above her eyes to block the sun, and searched for the direction of the sound.

”What was that?” the girl asked, taking a few steps towards the back of the car.

”Get in the car, get in the car now!” her mother screamed as she scrambled to pick up the small girl at her feet and stuff her into the car. ”Get in the car right now!”

”Mom, what's going on?”

”Go! Go now!” her mother yelled, flailing her arms wildly and trying to pull the keys out from inside her purse.