Escape

Chapter 3

Red. Ace had been running so long all he could see is red. He had to slow down he had been running for so long but he couldn't stop. He needed to stop. The air in his lungs had been fueling his escape, but out of breath he slowed.

When he finally stopped he passed out. Ace could see a girl he recognised her as the from his past dreams, she was crying and chained. He reached out to comfort her but she didn't react. It was like he wasn't there, and he wasn't but it still made him feel useless, like he couldn't do anything to help her. All he could do was watch. Normally when he'd dream of her she had no chains, she was always sad but this time was different.

"You dead?" Ace could feel someone shaking him, he squinted. It was bright out, he closed his eyes tighter at the light.

"Okay so that's a no on the dead thing then. Ace just grunted in response.

"Dude wake up" Ace was afraid to wake up and his escape all be a dream, he finally opened his eyes and saw a scrawny boy standing over him.

"Wh-who are you?" Ace asked the boy. He wiped his deep black hair out of his eyes.

"I should be asking you the same thing" The boy replied.

"I asked you first" Ace retorted. The boy sighed.

"Are you a pig" The boy asked.

"I'm human." Ace said with confusion in his voice. The boy chuckled again.

"I'm Jay, and you are?"

"Ace" he got up and the boy extended his hand. Ace grabbed it and shook it.

"So, Ace why are you sleeping on the street anyway?"

"I was in a bad situation, and I got away."

"What kind of bad situation?"

"I don't want to talk about it"

"Okay, need a place to stay?"

"Yeah"

" I have a treehouse you can stay in until we figure something out"

"O-Okay" Ace followed the boy. He knew it was crazy to just follow a stranger home, but Ace didn't really have any other options. They walked and Jay made jokes that Ace didn't understand, but he laughed anyway. Ace didn't trust Jay all the way, but he felt less lonely.

When the boys walked up to Jay's house, he snuck Ace around and showed him the treehouse. Ace was excited he had read the magic treehouse series as a kid and had seen pictures, but he had never gotten to be in one.

"I know it's not much but I figured it would be nice for you to have a small space to call your own until we find a real place to live." Jay told Ace.

"Wait we?" Ace asked.

"Well yeah, I don't want to live with my parents forever, I just graduated so I am moving out soon, you clearly have nowhere to go, and I need a roommate." Ace smiled at Jay's words.

"Thank you" replied Ace.

"Okay I'm going to go inside and get you some clothes to wear"

"Oh okay" Jay climbed down the ladder, and Ace looked around. There were drawings tacked up all over. Ace assumed that Jay must have drawn them when he was younger. This was the kind of thing he dreamed of having when he was a kid.

Jay climbed up the stairs and knocked on the wood. Ace got up and opened it. Jay came up and dropped a pillow case.

"Here," Jay handed Ace that bag. "It should have everything you need, some clothes that are too big for me, so they should fit you, some snacks. I brought you a PB and J sandwich and my tablet." Jay said.