The End of Eden

XII

Despite Four trying his best to help me through whatever guilt has been left in me after Jonah's death, I can't shake the feeling that I should leave this place. While it is a dream come true to be free of my sister and her horrible boyfriend, and to live in a place like this, there is darkness that hovers in the corners of Eden.

I don't even know how I could leave this place, with what little money I have left after I came here, since I'm surely fired from my jobs with a bank account in overdraft. But I'm determined to find a way.

I know that the entirety of Eden is surrounded by a fence, though I don't know how high it is compared to the welcoming front gate, but that would be the worst place to leave from.

I decide to walk the perimeter then. In the evenings, after dinner, and before any vessel has a chance to snag my distractions for a night, I leave. I don't even tell Annabelle, who has already turned her affections to someone new, though I don't think she would keep her mouth shut if I did tell her my plan.

Exactly like I did with Jonah wanting to leave.

I know Eden has hundreds of acres, but I don't know how many miles it would be. But for three evenings, I walk the perimeter of the fence, until, on the third night, I find a gate.

It's not like the front gate, with its lovely floral wrought iron designs, and the lanterns on posts on either side of it. This gate is not meant to be noticed. It's plain, with solid pieces of metal that blend right into the brick walls. From  the middle of the gate hangs chains with a keyed padlock on it. And the most curious thing about the gate is that there are tire marks left in the dirt.

I know there are no cars in Eden, not even golf carts or four wheelers. We walk everywhere here, even the vessels walk everywhere from what I've seen. And I haven't seen a car since I was dropped off nearly two months prior by the taxi. Being self-sufficient means we don't depend on the outside world, so why would there be tire marks here?

I turn around to the large oak tree off in the distance, and make my way to it. There, I sit for at least two hours, hidden behind the wide trunk, peeking out around it to see if anyone comes by. But in the two hours I sit there, no one comes by. There are no cars, no one on foot, nothing.

After waiting another hour, with the moon high in the sky and my back aching from sitting, I get up and walk back over to the gate. I try to open the lock, run my thumb along the key slot, tug on it, just to see if it would budge. There was no surprise when it didn't budge.

The gate was too high for me to climb up, and there was nothing else around for me to boost myself up on. I would have to find a rock and bash the lock open then to get out.

Satisfied with the location of my escape, and just how I would do it, I turned back to the direction of the complex and started my long walk. It took another two hours, but when I got back to my blessedly empty room, rest was quick in coming.

And as he did every night, Sleep was on the edge of my dreams. Always there, always watching me. I hate him, hated that he was always there, that he would not just leave my dreams alone. I tried to rage at him in my dreams, to tell him to leave me alone, but my voice would not work.

Morning came much too soon for me, and I met Annabelle just outside our door.

"You look like you didn't rest well," she commented, looking me up and down. "Are you ill? Do you need anything?"

"Nope," I say, feeling guilty that I am short with her, but she only shrugs and shoves her arm into mine as we begin our walk to the gardens.

As the day passes, I can feel my nerves growing more intense. When I start jumping at every movement, Annabelle sighs and tells me to go to bed, because I am clearly unwell. I don't argue though. I just leave to go back to my room, where I pull out all my belongings and roll them up into a backpack.