Hometown
Chapter
3
"Okay so how are we breakin' out of here?" asked
Luci
"Hush! Keep your voice down! Do you want someone to
hear?" I said.
We were in a small little field surrounded by barbed wire
fence.
"Okay. What's the plan?" Luci whispered.
"Well on the other side of town there's a small opening
under the fence. It's hidden by some bushes, I think
we're the only ones that know about it. It should be just big
enough for us to squirm through....."
"What's this I hear about squirming under fences?"
asked an unfamiliar male voice.
I turned to see a young guy, probably 19 or 20. He was over six
feet tall and had shaggy black hair with green eyes. Not murky
green eyes like Jett's but bright green, like summer
grass.
"What do you mean? We weren't talking about
fences." I said as convincingly as I could, but let's
face it I'm terrible at lying. The boy could obviously
tell.
"Are you sure? To me it sounded like you were planning
stealthy escape plot."
Rather then responding to the question I said "What's
your name?"
"It's Chase," He replied. "and you
are?"
"I'm Thena and this is my friend Luci." I told
Chase.
"So Thena, you and Luci are palnning on breaking out of this
hell hole?"
"What's it gonna take for you to keep your mouth
shut?" I said.
"I want in."
"What?" I asked completely shocked.
"You heard me. I'm coming with you or it might
accidentally slip that you're leaving."
"Why in the world do you want to come with us?"
"Hmmm.....I wonder why. It may be due to the fact that
Hometown sucks."
"You can't be serious Chase."
"Oh, but I am. Let me come with you or a police cheif may
find out that two teenage girls are leaving our happy little
paradise."
I couldn't believe him. Was this guy a psycho? I looked over
at Luci and saw that she was terrified.
"O...Okay." I finally answered. "Meet us at the
park on the other side of town tonight at midnight. We're
traveling lightly so only pack the necessities."
"Alright then. I'll see you tonight. Good bye
Luci.....Bye Thena." He said with a wink. Then he turned
around and was gone.
Hometown
Chapter
2
Today was the day I was going to prepare to leave this horrible
town. Here, we are ruled by a woman who is our
"president". I personally find her to be more of a
dictator. Her name is Cynthia Hill, but to us citizens she is
President Hill. Hill is cruel, cold, and horrible. She is
extremely strict with the laws and allows nobody to go
unpunished. Not even children can get away with doing something
wrong, though most of them don't know any better. I
couldn't imagine having her as a mother. She has three kids
of her own who I have never seen before. President Hill has one
son and three daughters. I bet they're all as awful as their
mother. Her husband was killed, leaving her in charge of this
small place that nobody knows about.
I had a list of things to do today. One: tell Luci my plans and
say good bye to her. Two: pack my bags and head to the grocery
store to pick up food for my trip.Three: figure out how to get
the heck out of here.
I wasn't going to tell my family because I didn't want to
risk hurting them. I knew I could tell Luci though. She is great
at lying, so if she were questioned they wouldn't expect her
to know anything. I told Mom I was was headed off to Luci's
house and started the one block walk.
I knocked on her door and heard the pitter patter of feet running
to answer. Luci's six year old little sister Amelia
opened the door for me. She looked so much like Luci anyone could
tell they were sisters.
"Hi there Amelia! Is Luci home?" I asked the small
girl.
"I'm right here!" I heard Luci call from the living
room. Luci came to the door and as usual we went up to her
room.
"Luci I have to tell you something. I'm...I'm
leaving." I managed to get out.
"Wait! What? What do you you're leaving?" She
asked, surprise and curiosity colored her voice.
"I mean I'm leaving Hometown."
"You're leaving Hometown! Are you insane? I know Jett is
awful, but leaving?"
"Luci you need to understand that if I marry Jett my life
will be over. I can't marry him, I just can't!"
She contemplated this for a minute.
"Okay. Then I'm coming with you." she said
certainly.
"Luci no!" I basically shrieked. "Your family! You
can't leave them!"
"Thena really. I don't plan on finding a husband in the
upcoming months. What if I'm forced to marry Jett? Do you
really want me to go through that?"
"I...I mean anyone would marry you, Luci! You're
gorgeous! You would have no trouble finding a husband."
"I don't care Thena! I'm not letting you go alone!
So help me, if you don't take me I will follow you."
"Okay Luci, we leave tonight. Tell your parents you're
sleeping over at my house."
"Good choice Thena!"
I couldn't help but be a little happy she was coming.
This story is titled
Hometown. By me! I love feedback!
Chapter
1
Forced Marriage. Two words changed my entire life. I couldn't
believe it.
"But I just turned 18 a week ago!" I cried.
I couldn't believe this was happening to me. I mean who would
they match me with? Would my future husband be happy with me,
Thena? With my waist length wavy red hair, curvy frame, and blue
eyes? They would probably prefer my best friend Luci. She's
gorgeous. Her long platinum blond hair, delicate body, and hazel
eyes. I love her but honestly I'm sometimes jealous of
her.
"I know Thena but the law is once you reach 18 you have to
be married." said my mother, who was basically an older
version of me.
Damn the laws. I thought. So many laws here in Hometown.
Be at your house before 8 pm, never run away from Hometown, never
talk to people wh aren't wearing a Hometown bracelet, never
take off your Hometown bracelet, and don't ever tell a
stranger about Hometown. Oh yeah and that little rule I was
dealing with right now. You have to be married by the time your
18 or the marriage will be an assigned one. The punishments for
these rules if they were broken are horrible. Anywhere from jail
time to branding to death.
I took a deep breath. "Who is it?" I asked dreading the
answer.
My mother just looked at me. "Who is it?" I asked
again. Panic was beginning to creep in.
"It's....it's Jett Malkinson." she finally
answered.
I almost cried. Right there, just hearing that name. I can never
love him. He is one of the town's cheif officers whos wife
just died. Which would explain why I was assigned him, he needed
a new wife. He is a mean heartless man. I once saw him whip a
child who asked him for money. The little boy couldn't have
been more then 8 and he was obviously starving. His hair was
dirty and matted, his face was hollowed in, and he was wearing
rags that exposed his rib cage, which I could easily count the
number of ribs he had. Did I mention Jett is also 33?
"Oh no....Mom please! Please there has to be something we
can do!" I was fighting back tears. I hated crying.
"I'm so sorry. It's already being arranged.
You're wedding will be in March." Mom said with pitty in
her voice.
March? It's January now! Oh my God. Two months until my life
ended. Then I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. I ran
to my room and cried like I have never cried before.
Oh God, what would Luci say? She didn't turn 18 until July!
Plenty of time for her to find a husband. With her looks it
wouldn't be hard.
After about two hours of crying and trying to figure out what to
do, I decided to go see Luci.
I crept quietly out the front door, not wanting to run into my
mother, father, brother, or sister.
Luci immidiately knew something was wrong, she read my face like
a book. We headed to her room and I told her everything, crying
again. She comforted me and told me it would be okay.
"But Luci it won't be!" I insisited,
"They're going to expect me to have kids with
him!"
"I know it not fair." She replied.
My phone beeped letting me know I had a text.
Come home now. Love Mom.
"I've got to go. I'll talk to you later." I
told Luci.
"Okay. Good night."
When I walked in the door I realized why Mom had wanted me home.
We were having a family dinner.....with Jett.
"Sit down, sweetheart." my father said. The only open
seat was next to my soon to be husband. I sat down at our small,
wooden dining room table.
"Hello Thena. You look beautiful tonight." Jett greeted
me.
I just smiled at him. Or at least I hope it looked like a
smile.
To put it simply dinner was awkward. We ate with an occasional
comment or two.
At 7:30 my mom sent my brother Flynn, who was 8 years old with
brown hair and blue eyes, and my sister Misty, who was 11 with
strawberry blond hair and blue eyes, up to bed.
My mother, father, Jett, and I all went to the living room. Jett
and I were on the love seat and my parents were both in a
chair.
Sitting next to Jett was awful. I could feel his warmth radiating
towards me. I was disgusted. Not that Jett was you know hideous
or anything. He had green eyes, blond hair that was starting to
gray, he wasn't skinny nor was he fat, and he had frown
lines.
Him and my father chatted about the wedding. I just sat there
knowing they were talking about the end of my life. At about 7:45
Jett stood up saying he had to get home before curfew.
My mother gave me a look that clearly said walk him to the
door. So repressing a sigh I stood up with him and walked
him out to the porch.
The words "good night" were just forming in my mouth
when he grabbed my wrist tightly and painfully and tried to kiss
me.
I turned my face away. Which happened to earn me a very painful
twist of the wrist.
"Soon enough you won't be able to turn away. We'll
be married and you'll be my quiet, pretty wife, until the day
you die" He spat the words at me.
I just stood there not trusting myself to speak. He gave my wrist
another painful squeeze.
"I'll see you tomorrow my Thena." He breathed. Holy
crap did his breath smell. With that he turned and walked
away.
I pounded up the stairs to my room and sat on my bed wondering
what to do. One thing I knew, I would not marry him. I had two
options: to die or.....or run away. Not just from my house, no
they'd find me easily, but away from Hometown.
I sat there thinking for hours. No one disturbed me. Death would
mean it's all over. I'd be done. If I try to run away a
few things could happen. One: I'd make it out of here and
explore the world. Never ever coming back. Two: I'd be caught
and either killed or branded with the Hometown mark.
I didn't want to die. I wasn't ready for that yet. So
that left me one option. I'd have to run away from Hometown.