Flint

 

I lay in my bed and hold the lighter in my hand up so the moonlight streaming into my window casts it’s light over it. My fingers trace the line of the smile on my lips. The smile that’s been here the entire day. Since I saw her beautiful face and she slipped the lighter into my palm. My hand still tingles when I remember the sensation of her touching me. The shivers that ran up my spine and closed its fist around my heart.

One, two… three, four… I count the beats.

… five, six… seven, eight…

Nobody has ever given me anything. Nobody has ever risked anything for me.

...nine, ten… eleven, twelve…

But she did.

Because I’m for her.

She’s for me.

...thirteen…

I throw my feet off the bed and reach for my book. I tear out a page and begin folding a lily. A flower as beautiful as she is. When I’m done I slip it into my pocket and take my thirteen steps to the door. I peak out of the glass window and check that nobody is in the hallway. They never are. They drug us to keep us asleep and then sit in their office playing cards and joke about us. The crazies. The animals.

I reach for the paperclip I stole from the doctor’s office this afternoon. Unfurling it I press it into the keyhole of my door. I twist and wriggle it until I hear the click of the door unlocking. When you grow up like I did, you learn some things. I’ve never attempted this here before, had no reason to. But I won’t be able to sleep until I’ve seen her smile again.

I slip out of my room and pad softly down the hall. It’s quiet. No screams or sobs tonight. I make a right at the end of the hall and enter the female wing. I get down on my hands and knees and crawl under the guard’s window. I straighten and flatten myself against the wall. Then I hear it. A soft whimpering followed by male laughter. As I get closer to her room, the sounds become louder. I frown when I see her door is slightly ajar.

It takes me a second or two to make sense of the scene before me. The first thing I see are the grey sweatpants on the floor. The standard issue uniform every inmate is given. Thin and scratchy. My eyes flick up to the bed. Avalon’s legs are bare except for the knee length socks, panties tangled around one ankle. I frown as my eyes trail up to the hairy hand in between her thighs.

Rage fills me. It rises up in me like a sinister shadow, engulfing every sell and blood vessel in my body.

“That’s a good girl.” I hear the guard whisper in her ear. Her body arches off the bed in an attempt to fight him off but her ankles and wrists are tied and the hand over her mouth prevents her from crying out. They don’t restrain us here. That’s left for the poor suckers in the basement.

How long has this been going on for? Since she was committed?

I pad forward, trying to stay as silent as possible, but it doesn’t matter. The guard is too engrossed in his disgusting act to even notice me creeping up on him. I bend down to pick up her discarded pants and fold one leg around my fist. I take another step and then as fast as a cat I wrap the cloth around his neck and pull him off her.

He’s caught off balance and we both fall back. His weight on me is heavy but I don’t let go. Instead, I enjoy the sound of him gasping for air and the sight of his bulging eyes and the hands clawing at his neck. I pull harder, and then harder still until I feel his heavy body jerk and then go limp, the life leaving him.

I don’t have time to catch my breath or process what just happened. My only thought is on Avalon. I make quick work of untying the straps holding her down and then help her pull her panties back up. Her eyes are hollow, emotionless except for my own rage I see reflected there.

I look back at the guard on the floor with his bloodshot, bulging eyes, hands frozen around his neck. We can’t leave him like this.

I bend down over him and undo his belt. Stripping off his pants, I throw it towards Avalon. “P-put that on.” I grab the can of mace that fell on the floor during our struggle. They use it to restrain us. Sometimes they use it on us just for fun. Now it’s my turn.

I dig the lighter out of my pocket and aim my makeshift flamethrower at his face and watch the flames licking at him until the can of mace is empty. I pull the sheets off her bed and throw it over the guard, waiting until that too catches fire. Avalon grabs the few books from her desk and tears out papers before crumpling them and adding it to our bonfire.

“We have to get out of here.” I whisper as I grab her hand and pull her to the door. The last thing I do before we slip out of the room is throw the empty can into the fire. We are already three doors up when I hear the explosion. We turn a corner and flatten ourselves against the wall.

The fire alarm sounds and then all hell breaks loose. Doors are released and patients come spilling into the hallway, guards are scrambling to create order but that’s easier said than done with a bunch of crazies. I grab Avalon’s arm and we keep our heads down as we mingle with the other patients. Smoke fills up the hallways and everyone is pushing and shoving to get outside but Avalon and I keep calm, hidden in the crowd and looking for an opportunity to escape out of all the chaos. There is always less staff at night than during the day. Something that will count in our favor.

We spill outside onto the lawn and while the guards try to herd everyone together, I grab Avalon and tug her behind a garden shed. When I’m sure all the guards are too distracted to notice us, we make a run for it. We run without looking back, we run until we reach the furthest fence and I help her over. We don’t stop. We run until our chests ache and our breathing is labored and our limbs cramp up in revolt. But we keep going. We run until the only thing we see is the thick cloud of smoke peaking out over the tree line.

We stop and stare at each other, catching our breaths. Her face is grimy, I’m sure mine is too. I don’t know what to do next. I got us this far, my only thought is to get her to safety. To get her out of that place, but now we’re here engulfed by trees and darkness.

“I..I-I…” I claw at my hair in frustration then my hands grab at her body, inspecting every inch of her. “A-are you o-ok? A-a.. D-d-did he h-h-hurt y-y-... I-is there…”

She grabs my head and pulls my face close to her. “I’m ok Flint. You saved me. You saved me, I’m ok. We’re ok.”

I close my eyes in relief and pull her body to mine. I let the feel of her against me wash a calm over me.

“What do we do now?” She whispers.

I open my eyes and spot faint lights off in the distance. They look like headlights moving through the trees. There must be a road there.

“That way,” I grab her hand and lead her towards the lights. “We have to go that way.”