From Prisoner To Princess [amazon edition]

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"Turn left right here. Its the last shack on the street" The hummer turns at the next street, Sky effortlessly navigating the rough slums with my help. The trip was short, about an hour from the Palace with the slums being on the south side of the Capitol, and this opportunity gave me a chance to see just how my city is divided. After a minute of driving onto the road, the vehicle begins to slow as Sky navigates the many large pot holes in the road.

"Tough street." He sighs out, his knuckles on the steering wheel turning white as he holds it in a deathlike grip.

"Its worse after a storm. One wrong step and you end up knee deep in a hole." Chuckling, I begin pointing out where the worst ones are until finally Sky pulls up beside the shack and shuts of the engine.

"No offense, but this place looks unsafe." He muses as we climb out of the Hummer. I shiver from the cold winter air and hurriedly make my way towards the back with Sky following behind me.

"It looks better inside." Assuring him through clenched teeth as pull my sweater around me tighter, I curse myself for not bringing a jacket.

"Sure it does."

"Don't sound so judgy."

"Judgy?" Glaring at Sky as he scoffs at me, I stop momentarily to point my finger into his chest.

"Yes, judgy. It's a word"

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Says who?"

"Me, the princess, duuuh" This earns me an eye roll and an exaggerated sigh from him as the two of us argue all the way to the back door.

"Why not use the front door?" Rolling my eyes at his attempt to change the subject, I decide to humor my friend as we reach the back door and I take a moment to look around to see if anyone came to tamper with the outside of my Shack since my arrest.

"Because I boarded it up when I found this place." Satisfied with my search, I reach up over the door where the ledge is, reaching with cold fingertips until I find what I am looking for. I am happy I had gotten into the habit of locking the door before leaving and even happier to know the key is still in its hiding place.

"Oh. For safety reasons I am guessing." A statement and not a question.

"Yeah, the slums are dangerous for a girl." I laugh as I turn the key and unlock the door. With a grin, I push the door open and step inside the dark room. I wonder if the power will after having the cord that connects to the solar panels cut. I should have checked to see but I guess it's too late to regret it now.

Blinding light above has me wincing and closing my eyes for a moment. It takes me a moment to realize that the lights were turned on and when I open my eyes, I see Sky with his hand beside the light switch as he takes in the inside of my shack.

"You were right, it is better inside." He is impressed and it causes me to smirk. Maybe someone I know fixed my power for me while I was away, and I think I know who.

"I told you so, and yet you were still judgy." Gloating, I take in the condition of my shack. The doors and windows are still securely boarded up. The bed is still in its corner and so is the bowl I had ate from the day of my arrest. Other than a thin layer of dust and some garbage I need to put away, everything is still in place. In the spring I should be able to start focusing on fixing the slums and helping the people get back on their feet.

"You know, this place has potential." I hear the bed squeak slightly as Sky sits before the dust he disturbed causes him to cough and sneeze. Wondering if he ignored the dust on purpose, I make my way to the bathroom and to my hiding spot, quickly removing the loose tile and finding my little tin, slightly dusty but undisturbed.

"I know, I plan on having this place fixed so that I can escape here for some peace a quiet." I call out. Taking the tin cookie box in my hand, I walk back into the main room and head towards the small dining table, Sky hoping from the bed and coming to stand beside me.

"What's that?"

"My stash." Giving him a sly look, I set the tin down and pull off the lid. Sky's sharp breath is all I need to know that he is impressed.

"You stole all of that?" His deep voice is low and brushes past me, making me supress a shiver. Something must be wrong with me as I have never had this reaction before. Maybe I am coming down with something.

"I did. Its what I would have considered my life savings a few months ago." After confirming that everything is still in the tin, I place the lid back on before grabbing my bag from the lone dining chair and tell Sky to get comfortable. Busying myself, I begin packing away what little I owned in the shack from clothes to books to the small art supplies I have. The final item that I pick up is the small teddy bear that comforted me through the long nights since I moved into the shack.

"That bear looks like its seen better days." Jumping, I feel strong arms steady me from behind while my hands clutch at the teddy bear.

"I know, but it was the only comfort I had as a child."

"You must have had it rough." His voice is filled with sadness, his concern for me making me smile and turn to reassure him.

"In the beginning it was. But the elderly couple across the street helped me a lot." Thinking about Liz and Ron Rinmer, I begin explaining to Sky how I stumbled into the shack twelve years ago when I was eight. How for the first two years after loosing my memory I went from place to place begging for food and warm place to sleep. The night I found this place it was in the middle of a storm and I hadn't been able to find shelter for the night. Apparently I had made a lot of noise trying to get into the shack when Ron had come outside looking to see where the noise was coming from. I don't remember much after seeing his face, but I woke up on their couch, for once feeling warm and rested. When Ron and Liz entered the room to see if I was hungry, I was apprehensive of them until Liz brought me a bowl of warm oatmeal. That day, Ron and Liz adopted me as a granddaughter and after learning that the shack was abandoned, Ron helped me to fix it up and make it my own home since they did not have the room in their own. With out their kindness, I probably would have died within the year.

"This teddy was the first gift they ever gave me. Ron didn't agree with me stealing to make ends meet, but he understood the slums were tough. I also helped them by providing money when they needed it and when I stole the solar panels, they didn't ask any questions and helped me to instal them as long as I brought a set back for their house." Taking about them made the guilt inside me grow. They took care of me, helped me when I caught a cold and even treated me like family. And instead of writing them to let them know I was alive and okay, I got into trouble in prison and focused on trying to get out on time.

"They sound like wonderful people."

"They are." Slowly I place the teddy into my bag and tie it shut. The last thing I need is for my things to fall out.

"Would you like to meet Ron and Liz?" I ask as Sky and I exit my shack and after looking the door, make our way to the hummer.

"Sure, but wouldn't you like to go alone?"

"I'm scared to face them alone. They watched me get arrested." I look away from him as I place the bag in the back of the hummer. I am ashamed that when I was arrested, I spot Ron looking out of his house towards mine through his window. When Liz joined him, I held my head down in shame as the Police Men dragged me away.

"I will be your back up then, and you can tell them who you really are. They might understand that you had to do what you did to survive." I jump when I feel Sky take my hand, my head turning to see him staring at me with a gentle smile, his emerald eyes staring back with understanding. Before I know it, he is leading me away from the hummer and to the only other house I can call home.