The Ace of Swords

Epilogue

It's been about a month since we escaped. Everything is different now. Erin and I are out. We now live in this small backwater town in Idaho. It seemed like a pretty good place to stay hidden.

I walk downstairs to see Erin cooking breakfast with what little we have. Eggs again from the neighbor's chickens. He smiles at me as he places a plate in front of me as I sit at the counter.

"Good morning!" He laughs," I have to leave for work but I wanted to cook you breakfast first. I wouldn't want you to starve while I'm gone". He kisses me on the cheek and rushes out of the house. This is one of the few times we see each other. He works days at the local Waffle House and I work mostly nights at the local grocery store. It's inconvenient but necessary for us to live.

The house we live in is a one bedroom shack. The plumbing is honestly older than I am. The important thing is that we have really nice neighbors and they help us out. We told them that we are from abusive families to explain why we couldn't call the police. It also explains all my scars. A lot of our furniture is donated by our neighbors and even the blue paint that covers the walls of the living room and kitchen are donated. We have very little money right now but we are free. 

I walk into my room after practically inhaling my eggs. Erin is still upset that I make him sleep on the couch but we are not married nor will we be anytime soon. Besides the couch pulls out into a bed so he is fine. The red cloak hangs in my closet. I still bring it out sometimes. I may not miss the institution but I miss some of the people. They were insane, crazy, eccentric, and they were the people that made my life a living hell. I wish I didn't miss them. I do though. It makes me wonder what happened to them. Were they all killed? I know they disappeared but surely the Boss would not have just killed all of them. 

I pull the cloak out and place it over my shoulders. When I walk out of the house snow has fallen all over the ground. There is not a patch of grass in sight. I stare up at the bleak sky filled with fluffy white sky. My breath comes out in  puffs of white. I smile as I fall back into the crisp white snow. This is what freedom is like. The white stinging pain of pure snow. The feeling of breathing in the cold dry air. The snow melting beneath me as I make an awesome snow angel. This is my life and I am going to enjoy it as much as I can.