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EMMY LANDRY

Six months ago…

It hurt to breathe. Everything hurt so badly on my broken and bruised body.

I’d done it, though.

I’d escaped.

Wind was rushing over my body as I ran through the forest, with only the moonlight to guide me. Chills were making their way down my spine, like alcohol being eaten up by a flame.

“Ungh!” I landed with a thump, falling face forward.

Looking back, I saw that my foot had been caught by a stomp sticking out of the ground.

“Emmy, you gotta get yourself up girl,” I whispered, not daring to be much louder.

If he caught me, he’d drag me back to that hell.

I wondered briefly if anyone was even looking for me.

How long have you been missing?

The thought rolled through my mind but I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure if it’d been weeks, or…

Months?

My thoughts tumbled as I worked to free myself. Something low whistled in the darkness.

Was it him?

Sweat broke out over my body and I stilled in my movements.

“Emmy, you can’t stay out here,” I whispered again.

My body was saying otherwise, ready to give out on me. I wanted to stay in that field forever, and rest.

So tired…

Taking just one more moment, I freed myself and peeked around spotting nothing.

Satisfied, I eased up and started running again.

Where I was running to? I had no idea, no real sense of directions.

I just needed to get the hell out of here. I needed to get to safety.

I needed to get to the police.

A horn honked from behind me and brought me out of the memory. I zoomed away from the spot I’d been stuck in. My breathing had sped up rapidly but began to slow as I approached the French Quarter of New Orleans.

This was my brand-new start.

Kind of…

I was back home in New Orleans. I’d spent more time here than any other place in the world, though and considered it home.

My mom had brought me and my sisters and two brothers back here when I was around fourteen. We’d been crammed inside of my grandmother’s little house like sardines in a can but I mostly looked back on it with a certain fondness.

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