Save ourselves- One Direction

Avery

After Harry had left, I mentally started planning again. I knew Harry had tried to talk me out of it, but I couldn't help it. The thought of my parents gave me motivation. I didn't deserve to be here. The others in my group didn't deserve it either. I wasn't even sure if anyone in this camp deserved it. No one had ever escaped this camp before, Harry had said, but there was a first time for everything.

Or as Dad would say, "There's always a way to achieve things you really want. You just need to think first if the path you're taking is the right one."

So how would I get away from this? Even though no scenario had been successful in my head so far, there had to be a solution somewhere.

As soon as I got out of the hole, I would use the time to examine the camp very carefully for weak points. And as soon as I had found a way, I would go home and have a serious word with Mom and Dad. Not just about the camp, but about Lucy.

Lucy...

The thought of her inevitably took me back to the day I really started to be afraid of her.

*****

After Peters had arranged for us to stay an extra hour on Friday, I thought about how I was going to explain this to Lucy.

In the meantime, the situation had really changed within a few days. She snapped at me for every little thing. It didn't matter if I hadn't hung up my jacket, had forgotten to dry the dishes or because I was on the phone too long. She was always shouting and throwing things around or sometimes at me. She stopped apologizing to me at this point. I didn't understand what was going on with her all of a sudden. I had also thought about calling my parents and asking them to come home, but every time I dialed the number, I hung up.

They had left because they wanted to save their marriage. I didn't want to ruin that for them. Besides, it was only two weeks until they were back. After that I probably never had to see Lucy again and could celebrate my 16th birthday in peace. Was that the reason why my parents had argued about whether I should see Lucy? Because they knew she had these freak-outs? But then surely they wouldn't have just left me with her, would they?

When I entered the house that day, Lucy was in her bedroom. I knocked as I entered, but she didn't seem to hear me at all. She was sitting on the bed, her legs drawn up to her chest, staring at the wall opposite her. She kept muttering something unintelligible to herself and rocking back and forth.

"Lucy?", I addressed her gently.

She paid no attention to me.

"No, I'm not going back. I've been gone long enough...I'm staying here! I'm staying here now!", Lucy suddenly said angrily.

However, she didn't seem to be talking to me at all. She was still staring at the wall in front of her. I was beginning to get a little scared. Who was she talking to? There was no one else in the room but us.

"Lucy? Is...everything okay?", I asked cautiously.

"I'm not going back! I'm not going back!", Lucy kept muttering desperately, rocking back and forth.

Concerned, I now stepped right in front of her. Just to be sure, I looked around the room again. Apart from Lucy and me, there was nothing there to answer her. And yet Lucy was staring almost manically at something in the room that I didn't seem to see. She didn't seem to notice me at all.

"Lucy, hey! It's Avery," I said a little more energetically now, waving my hand in front of her face.

But she didn't respond.