Mind games

Chapter 2

I got up with her, asking no questions. I was almost shaking. She sprinted out of the living room through another door, and I followed her, trying to calm myself down. There was a small bag, already packed, with nothing but the basics. There was no food, only a change of clothes, and a small bowl, a bottle of water, a magnet and a needle, along with an old notebook. She stood completely still for a few seconds, as if she thought that it would help her hear better. But when we heard somebody rattle the doorknob lightly, she quietly slipped out the back, holding my hand tightly.

The backyard was hardly a backyard. There was tall, yellowing grass that swayed ever so slightly in the breeze off the night. There was a long, thin willow that was almost completely dried out.

There was nothing but a chain link fence, and she pushed me over it, and began to climb it herself. As it was barely up to my hip, she was over in no time, and we were running down an alleyway of sorts, where there was little grass.

She continued to run with me, until we got to the end of the alleyway, when she pulled out the notebook.

There was a series of arrows and lines scattered across the page. It took me a few seconds to realize it was a map. When I finally tore my eyes away from the odd map, I took a look at where we were.

It was weird, because I could have sworn that it was the same area as where the playground had been, only there was no playground. And in it's place, there was no school either. INstead, it was just more houses, all of which were eerily similar.

All of a sudden, the lady began sprinting. I followed her, not looking back on the similar houses. We ran until my lungs ached so hard that I wanted nothing more than to take a second to stop, but I was too scared that she would go on without me. Eventually, she got tiered too. We stopped at a small garden, at which point she sat on the cold ground. I followed suit, and she took out the contents of her bag.

Emptying the small bottle of water into the bowl, she smiled slightly. She proceeded to stroke the needle lightly with the magnet, and place it in water, supported by a small leaf she pulled from the ground.. After only a few seconds, the needle began to quiver.

When the needle finally settled, she began to draw its position into her notebook.

"What is that?" I asked, wondering whether or not she had gone crazy, or, more likely, had always been crazy.

She took out another sheet of notebook paper, and this time, wrote calmly.

A compass. At least, a very crude attempt at a compass. I can't be sure whether or not it works, at least in the way it's supposed to.

"What do you mean?"

Well, it always points north, at least it should. But this compass does something a little different. I don't know why, but it points to safety. When I had my tongue cut off, I was bleeding very badly, and more importantly, I was afraid that it would get infected. My father always told me that it is better to wander in one direction than to wander aimlessly, so I made a compass. But it took me to this abandoned hospital. There were supplies all around, and it was easy enough for me to save myself. Then, when I tried to use my compass again, figuring it would help me back home by giving me the opposite direction, it pointed me straight here.

"Have you tried using it to escape this place?"

She grabbed the notebooks, and wrote for even longer this time.

No. Whenever I'm not in immediate danger, the needle just sinks. It doesn't matter what surface I try to float it on, it is stuck tightly to the bottom of the glass until I empty it, as if it knows when I need it and when I don't. Now, this needle is telling us to go further through the garden. I have never been down this path before, but it can't be as dangerous as walking right back. Are you okay with going further away from where we started? We can always stay here if you aren't.