To The Stars And Back - Jack Dawson

Chapter 4 - The Great Escape

I sat in the study hall, reading my philosophy book. It was by a philosopher who I really liked, Immanuel Kant. I read over the pages but got distracted when I saw Luna walk out, clutching her stomach. She winked at me before leaving the room and then went on with her act. I smiled down at my book and continued reading the worn out pages.

Once we were all instructed to go back to our rooms, I felt an ice cold hand grab me by the arm and pull me aside. Ms. DuPont pulled me away from the other girls. She let go of my arm and I dusted my dress off.

"Ms. Finch, I've heard that your bathroom break both today and yesterday was twenty minutes. Were you forcefully vomiting up the pills to practice your abilities. You know that the demon will-"

"No of course I wasn't. Who would intentionally puke? It's disgusting." I lied.

"Then why was your bathroom break twenty minutes?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but I've been having stomach problems." I lied. It was enough to shut her up. "Now if you'd excuse me, I'd really like to get to bed. I'm fatigued."

I pushed past her and made my way back to my room. Luna was standing by the window, smiling.

"You get it open?" I asked. She nodded and I smiled. I was finally gonna get out of this hellhole. I kneeled in front of the mirror and started taking my hair out of it's uncomfortable updo. The moonlight reflected off my violet eyes.

"I'm gonna get changed. You should too. Get out of that uniform dress as well. You'll stick out like a sore thumb." She said.

"I don't have any other clothes."

"It's okay, you can bother mine. As long as you have tights, my ugly rags'll be swell on you." She said. I chuckled.

Once my unruly curls were down, I put on the dress that Luna had set out for me. It was long sleeved blue rags with a button down in the front. I had on black tights underneath the blue fabric and a large green coat that almost completely covered the dress. I slipped on my white gloves and put on my boots. Luna had on a similar outfit except her hair was up and she wore a yellow dress with a purple coat.

She kneeled on the windowsill and pushed open the window. I hopped out and climbed down the nearby pipe. The fresh powdery snow crunched under my boots.

Luna then showed me a series of complicated paths to get to the concealed spot at the gate. The intimidating metal gate loomed over us. Freedom was only a gate away. Luna pointed to the gate and mouthed the word 'climb'. I nodded and grasped a foothold on the gate, slowly making my way up the intricately designed metal. 

The snow crunched and dented when Luna jumped down. She looked back up at me, who was still at the top of the fence and smiled. "Jump! Come on, Evil!" She said. I smiled.

Once I did this, there was no going back, I was going to leave the place that I had called home for ten years. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes before leaping off of the gate. Crunch was the sound that I heard as the white blanket over the ground buried my boots. 

I laughed and Luna motioned for me to follow her into the nearby snowy and concealed woods. I danced through the trees, taking in a beautiful world that I had never laid eyes on before. 

The snow formed little crystals on each petal and leaf that had begun springing up to welcome the new season. It was only the beginning of spring.

Luna, who had been trailing behind me, skipped up and linked arms with me. "Sorry kid but I'm freezin' to death out here."

We kept walking for miles, admiring the serenity of freedom. Tasting the sweet chill of the wind outside the overcrowded grounds of the school. It made me happy to feel like I wasn't tied down. To feel alive for the first time since my mom died.

--

"Are we almost there?" I asked. It was already getting dark. We had left super early in the morning and it was already turning into nighttime.

"Almost. Try to keep yourself occupied."

"I want to be entertained and the only way to do that is to annoy you. So enjoy." I said mockingly. It earned me a small snicker from Luna.

"Why dontcha sing me somethin'? Help occupy your mind." She said.

"I don't sing in front of people."

"Ah come on, don't be such a drag. It's gonna be a while to get there and I would love to hear those sweet pipes." She said, also mocking me. I rolled my eyes and sang out an operatic scale like I normally did. "That's the stuff! You've got moxie, kid." We both burst out into laughter and I kept singing the scale. My voice echoed through the trees and I quickly changed tempo to a ridiculous jig-like song. I started dancing around as if I were in a bar listening to this song. I grabbed Luna's arm and we both started twirling around to the made up hymn. We were both laughing until we spotted a car driving down the road. She quickly pulled me aside and the car pulled over to reveal a stout platinum blond woman in the backseat.

"You girls need a ride?" She asked.

"Yes we do." Luna said before I could even open my mouth. "Come on, Evil, we'll get there quicker and we won't be freezing the whole way."

I walked towards the window and narrowed my eyes at the woman. "What do you want from us? Do you work for the school?" I interrogated. Luna interjected herself in the situation while the blond woman stared at me like I was crazy.

"I don't work for a school. And I'm headed in the same direction that you two were walking. So I figured I should do something nice." She said.

"I'm gonna tell you the same words that I've lived by my entire life."

"Elizabeth please stop." Luna said, but I didn't listen.

"Nothing good in this world comes for free. So what do you want from us?" I asked.

"Nothing. Honestly nothing. I was just trying to do something nice." She said.

"Uh huh, sure. Like I'm gonna believe that obvious lie." I jumped at the open window. "Who do you work for?" I yelled at the woman. She screamed and Luna dragged me off the car.

"I'm so sorry ma'am." Luna said as she held me hostage by the side of the road. The lady quickly drove away.

"Yeah go report us to whoever you work for, spy!" I yelled as the car drove away. I turned around to face Luna who looked both shocked and annoyed. "I just saved us. You should be grateful."

"Be grateful? Now we have to walk all the rest of the way there, exhausted, hungry, and freezing our fucking asses off. You really are more screwed up than I thought." She said. I felt guilty.

"Sorry. Can we just go?" I asked. She crossed her arms and raked me over judgmentally with her eyes.

"You know for a princess, you can be such a bitch sometimes." She went in front of me and we made our back down the path.