Hiding off the Grid

Chapter One

Torment. I feel it every single day. I can't control my emotions, they get to my head and swirl around like a dust storm in Arizona. To make it worse I'm alone, I've gone crazy and obsessed. I only want to live.

Is that too much to ask?

I can act. Pretend everything is okay. But I will never trust a living soul again. It's too easy to create lies and the one problem is:

Anyone can do it.

-

I quickly stuff a few possessions into a tattered bookbag, grab my money along with a few fake IDs off of the nightstand table, and place them in my right jacket pocket, the one without a hole in it. I look around my hotel room making sure I'm not forgetting anything. No one should know I've been here. I always leave without a trace, no one can find me.

I turn off all the lights, grab my bag, strapping it around my shoulder, and lock the door behind me. I walk down to the crowded breakfast area downstairs, grabbing a muffin, and swiftly went out to the lobby. I make sure to not look anyone in the eye, fearing that they might be looking for me. My pace is quick but not too quick, because that would mean something is wrong and that deems for unwanted glances in my direction. 

There is no line as I go up to the front desk and place my key card on the counter, no words spoken. I've been doing this same thing for nine years. I've haven't stayed longer than a week in one place, I can't risk getting caught. It all started when I was thirteen years old, when I first ran away from everything I had known. Now, at twenty-two years old it has all become second nature. 

I quickly shut down my thoughts, right before I felt torment creeping in. I don't like thinking about my excruciating past and it's hard not to, considering that's what controls my whole life. I open the front doors to the hotel and stroll out into the blinding sun as if I'm a regular woman going about her day. I pull up the hood on my jacket and set off to find a bus or train, maybe even a cab. Something that gets me far away from here so they don't even have a chance of finding me.

I spent a total of three days at my last hotel hoping for some peace and quiet, but that is a luxury I can't afford. I'm on the border of the United States and Canada, Maine to be exact. I can't risk going over the borders so I choose to travel between states, I've been across the country more times than I can count. 

I've spent what feels like forever hiding off the grid; I have never wanted any of this.

I'm terrified they will never believe me now that it's been nine years. I wasn't as guilty as they made me out to be, just tragic bad luck that was thrown upon me. I don't even want to think about what my life would turn into if they tracked me down though, they would never listen. 

I have been walking for almost an hour along the busy streets of Augusta, Maine. It's so pretty here, especially during the month of November. I like Maine because it's quiet and peaceful but it's getting really cold up north so I have decided to move farther south, to the warmer states which will hopefully cheer me up a little.

Not a single person I pass on the streets knows I am hiding something. When in reality I am keeping a huge secret, one that will ruin me.

I am lost in my thoughts for one moment and I instantly bump into someone on the streets. It is a woman not any older than forty years old. She had short blonde hair, the total opposite of my long brown hair, with rosy cheeks and tanned skin. I couldn't lie she is very pretty.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" She squeaks as she jumps away from me.

"You're fine." I mumble giving her a small smile as I keep on walking, avoiding conversation as always. Spending years alone has caused me to hate talking to people, this is because everything I do determines whether or not I get caught. 

"Wait! Do you know where any good restaurants are around here?" The woman calls back at me as I pretend I didn't hear her. I must seem like a total bitch but I can't waste any more of my time talking with some stranger, it's not safe.

I sense the woman behind me still looking at me so I start to walk faster. I walk as fast as can, swerving away from average people strolling down the street. I can't risk getting caught, who knows who that girl could've been and I know she was questioning my actions. I then stop fast walking after a block or so and hop on a bus that stopped on the corner.

It's heading for Boston. I quickly pay upfront to the bus driver and make my way down the aisle, avoiding looks from other passengers, and find a seat near the back so I have a clear view of everyone on the bus. I finally relax and take off my hood, resting my head on the headrest. After an hour or so of staring off into space while the bus stopped multiple times, letting people on and off the bus, I felt the bus jolt to a stop as it slams on its brakes.

I instantly pick my head up and look out the windows, my heart freezing in my chest as I realize what's happening.

They found me.