Chapter Fifteen: The Hiding Place
Elliot Tomkins ran and ran. In order to escape the Reapers, he had scaled neighbourhood walls and evaded barking dogs. It was almost completely dark, he had no money and no food. He was tired and hungry and all he had was the clothes he was wearing.
The young adolescent knew that he could not visit Sylvia, but he knew a place in the woods that they used to visit. It was their favourite place in the world. It was his intention that he would go there. Once Sylvia saw that Elliot was not at school the next day, Elliot believed that she would then most likely go there. The woods was largely overgrown and most children were afraid to explore it. Exploring was something Elliot loved doing. In the very middle was a small clearing with grass, surrounded by large trees. Even in the darkness, the teenager knew where to go.
By the time Elliot found the clearing, he felt cold and sweaty. He had no other choice but to remain there. He sat with his back against the base of a tree and tried to warm himself by folding his arms over his stomach.
The teenager spent several hours thinking and wondering about what would happen next. How could he possibly evade the authorities on his own and without any money or help? Now that the vast majority of people in his neighbourhood believed he was “changeling scum”, everyone would want to betray him. He struggled desperately to think of a solution to his current predicament but he came up with no answers. There was no avoiding it he thought to himself. His immediate future looked bleak.
Eventually Elliot managed to calm himself and think of more positive things. In the present, he was a free man. He hadn’t been captured yet and if he could get some sleep he would feel better in the morning. After what seemed an eternity, he fell asleep.
The following morning Elliot woke up to see a rabbit in front of him only three yards away. The teenager was starving. He knew that if he was going to survive on his own he would have to learn how to kill a rabbit on his own. He didn’t know how and when he saw how cute it looked to him, he knew he couldn’t kill it. Hungry as he was he was more likely to pet the rabbit than eat it. In truth, Elliot didn’t like rabbit anyway.
The small clearing that Elliot called home was rather beautiful. The young adolescent did not know the names of all the different types of trees that surrounded him but they blended into each other in an aesthetic manner. The sound of the birds whistling in the trees, the gentle breeze blowing across it and the sun shining brightly in the sky, were what endeared Elliot most to this location. Occasionally a squirrel or a rabbit or other small creatures would venture into the clearing and Elliot’s heart would melt. Human’s weren’t meant to kill, he told himself unless they really had to.
An hour later, the young adolescent ventured to the small stream that was several hundred yards away. He put his hand in the stream and captured a tiny fish. He thought about eating it but convinced himself that it would be too bony to savour. Instead, he clasped his two hands into a cup like shape and drank some of the water from the stream. If I don’t tap into the predatory instincts of my ancestors, I’m never going to survive, Elliot told himself. One day out of desperation he might make a predator but not now.
Once more Elliot returned to his secret hiding place and lay in the middle of the small clearing on the flat of his back. He relaxed for a while and allowed time to slip by. He was lying there for several hours when the adolescent was sure he heard something emerging from the forest that he believed could only be another human being. He swiftly removed himself from plain sight and waited for the individual to appear.
“I know you’re there Elliot,” a familiar voice said aloud, “I heard you.”
Elliot’s heart jumped. At last there was something to feel happy about. He came out from hiding and revealed himself to Sylvia.
“I brought you some food.”
Ordinarily Elliot did not accept charity but on this occasion he was willing to make an exception. Apart from finding a few sour berries to munch on in twenty four hours he was absolutely starving.
“What are you going to eat?” he asked. “It’s your lunch box.”
Sylvia had a small delicate frame. She looked like she needed food more than he did.
“I’m not hungry.”
Elliot took the lunchbox and started to devour its contents.
“I want to run away with you Elliot,” Sylvia stated.
“What about my parents?” he replied. “What about your parents?”
“I don’t like my parents. You know they’re separated. My Dad expects great things of me. They expect me to go to Med School for heaven’s sake. They think I should be as smart if not smarter than them. I can’t remember the last time I was with either of them and thought this is fun. This is exciting,” she said in a frustrated and downbeat manner. “I just want to get away from it all.”
“I can’t abandon my parents,” Elliot responded. He wanted to go away with Sylvia more than anything in the world but he couldn’t just leave his own parents behind unless he knew they were safe.
“They’ve been taken away. There is no way you are going to see them again. Everyone in school is talking about it. Some of them even turned on me. I don’t want to go back there ever again.”
Elliot looked like he was about to be run over by a freight train. It was crushing news.
“I can’t go until I know for sure. Besides we wouldn’t get very far without money and food.”
“I know where my Dad keeps his secret stash,” she suggested tentatively.
“Come on Sylvia that’s stealing.” Elliot had never stolen anything in his life and even in his current predicament he wasn’t eager to compromise on what he believed in. He wasn’t sure if he believed in a god but he did have his own set of principles that he tried to abide by.
“If you plan on running away, you’ve got to be willing to bend the rules a little,” Sylvia responded.
“I don’t think you get the point. I’m not thinking of running away without knowing my parents are fine. Even if we do run away it won’t be hard for the Reapers or the authorities to find us. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Get with it. If you run there is a chance. If you stay there isn’t. If you want to be locked up for the rest of your life, injected with chemicals that fry your brain or be executed then go ahead. Stay here in this messed up town. Fair enough it’s your choice. Personally I’m not intending on staying around here much longer.”
Sylvia was the one person outside of his own family who Elliot did not really want to lose. She was so good to him and he didn’t think he would meet another Sylvia if he lived to be a hundred.
“Ok. I’ll give my parents a week,” he conceded. “If I haven’t heard from them by then, we will both escape together.”
Sylvia thought about it for a moment before reluctantly agreeing. Before they had their discussion she had her heart set on leaving. She had convinced herself that she would no longer have to go back to school or endure the presence of her shallow and callous Father. To her, another week sounded like an eternity, but it would give her more time to prepare and plan their escape.
For the next three days, Sylvia brought food to Elliot. On the fourth night he decided that he would go alone to his family home and see if his parents were there. He wasn’t sure if he could rely on Sylvia to tell the truth and believed that he would have to find out for himself. It wasn’t that he thought Sylvia was lacking in integrity, he just had a little doubt in his mind that she would be biased in the information she supplied him with. That small doubt became bigger and bigger as time went on.
Elliot had been blessed with great parents and a largely happy and content family life. Part of him hoped that he could return to that life, that he could wake up from this nightmare or that some minor miracle might restore things to the way they were.
At three in the morning Elliot made his way slowly home, trying to keep out of the lamp light. He decided against entering through the back of the house because he was afraid that barking dogs would alert people to his presence. Instead he walked in the open street. All the time he looked around him for signs of Reapers or neighbours who might be alerted to his presence. In the end he saw none of those things aside from an old drunken man walking home with a bottle of beer in his hand. The old man was too drunk to notice, let alone, recognise the teenager.
Elliot slowly and quietly walked up to the front porch. The house was made of wood and so he knew where to step so as to make the least amount of noise. The adolescent turned the key in the door as slowly as he could.
Once inside, Elliot quietly went to his room. He gathered all the money he had there as well as a pocket knife and some clothes. He put the clothes into a school bag and went to the kitchen and took some food. He then made his way to his parent’s room. To his surprise, his mother was lying there fast asleep.
Elliot reached over her and shook her gently. He continued to do this for about half a minute until she woke up. Initially she was shocked and frightened until she realised who it was.
“Elliot, I was worried about you,” she said to him quietly as she adjusted her position in the bed to turn and face him.
“Where’s Dad, Mom?” he asked anxiously
“You’re Father escaped. I don’t know where he is. I haven’t seen him since.”
The thought occurred to Elliot that his Father would not run away from his family and sever all links to them. His Father was simply not like that.
“How do you know he escaped?”
“They told me.”
Elliot paused for a moment. In the first place, Elliot found this hard to believe. Once captured, he heard of nobody, who escaped the grasp of the Reapers or the authorities. He also knew that nobody could rely on the word of the authorities when it came to “Changelings.”
“Mom, come with me. It’s not safe. You can’t trust these people.”
“Where would I go? You’re perfectly safe here with me. It’s your Father that they’re after.”
Elliot had a million questions running around in his head. Not for a moment did he think that his Mother thought he was safe. The Reapers initially came looking for him, not his Father. For a moment he wondered if his own Mother was stalling him until such time as the Reapers arrived.
“Mom, come with me,” he said once again more anxiously.
“No,” she said once again, reaching out with a reassuring hand “you are safe here. I’ll make coffee.”
For the first time in his life Elliot started to question his own Mother. Now, he was sure that it was a trap and she was trying to stall him. He didn’t know why. He hoped it was because they had blackmailed her and forced her to choose between him and his Father.
The young teenager was tormented. He had to make a decision before it was too late. Now was not the time for emotion. His mother had made it clear that she was not intending to go with him and that her Father was not home. There was only one objective decision that he could make.
Elliot turned and left the room.
“Come back,” his mother called out to him as he left. She continued shouting even as he reached his bedroom window.
Elliot was climbing out the window when he heard the front door being opened. He was sure it was the Reapers. This time, he was certain that they would chase him. He ran as fast as he could and scaled the garden wall in the far right hand corner. The adolescent had been good at gymnastics and was able to balance himself on the wooden wall that separated the houses in his neighbourhood. He veered to the right-hand side in direction across his neighbours’ walls. The teenager was however not as fit as he used to be as a result of a lack of recent physical activity.
When he got to the second last house he climbed down on the far side. He knew that Widow Grumble didn’t keep dogs and so it was relatively safe. He could hear the sound of many dogs barking but could not tell if there was a Reaper behind him. He was afraid to look around.
Elliot also believed that one of the Reapers would be waiting for him at the end of the row. He could hear the sound of a motor vehicle in that direction. Once he reached the front of Widow Grumbles house, Elliot changed direction and ran to the left.
He ran diagonally across the street and about six houses down he ran through the back of another garden. Elliot believed he could hear a Reaper chasing him. This time he was not familiar with the house owner and as it turned out two dogs chased him. One of the dogs managed to bite his runner as he scaled the wall but the fugitive escaped unhurt.
The Reaper pursuing him was not so lucky. Elliot could hear him crying out in pain followed by two gun shots and the sound of the two dogs being terminated. Again, the adolescent ran along the wooden fence to the right hand side but changed direction again back in the general direction of where he had come from. He slowed his movements so that he could not be heard. He was now more cautious, making sure that he was not seen. He returned to Widow Grumble’s back yard and climbed in a bedroom window that was open. Once inside, he closed it behind him. Widow Grumble had a double barrel shotgun but she was also deaf and half blind so Elliot fancied his chances there rather than outside.
All the time, he tried to slow his breathing and remain as quiet as he could. He hid in a corner of the room, away from the window for a while and listened intently for any sign of Reapers. There was a very low level of visibility in the room. Elliot could barely make out a picture on the wall. It looked like a religious picture. There was a single bed in the middle of the room and a dresser beyond that. On the dresser appeared to be a plaque and two pictures in a frame. It occurred to Elliot that this could be her daughter’s room. Widow Grumble’s daughter had died from cancer before Elliot was born. Her husband died only a few years ago. For a brief moment his thoughts were side-tracked out of sympathy for the old lady. It must have been hard on her at her age to have lost the two people dearest to her and to live out the rest of her life alone.
A few minutes later the adolescent noticed some faint flashlights in the vicinity. They came closer and at one point he could see them being pointed in through the window and reflected around the room. All this time, Elliot remained in the corner. He was anxious that they would break the window and enter the house but they did not.
After an hour, Elliot could not hear the sound of dogs barking. The lack of noise was eerie. He didn’t know for sure how safe it was. The teenager wondered if the Reapers were lying in wait for him. Part of him wanted to rest on the bed in front of him and part of him wanted to return to the forest.
Tiredness got the better of him, however and gave into temptation to lie down on the single bed in the middle of the room.
All he could dream about was Reapers chasing him. He only had nightmares and woke several times in the space of three hours. At Seven in the morning he changed clothes and put on a baseball cap from the belongings in his backpack, before leaving the house once again. As the fugitive made his way back towards the forest, he constantly was looking around him for signs of Reapers chasing him. There were none.
Once he found the clearing in the middle of the forest, he felt tired and drained. He lay down on the ground and fell asleep once more. The young teenager slept for several hours but was awake by midday. He ate some fruit, which he had taken from his parent’s house. There was little to do to pass the time until Sylvia came. Sometimes he would explore the forest but mostly he sat there thinking.
The future frightened him. The comfortable family life that he had taken for granted was now obliterated. He was unpopular and apart from his Father who could be dead for all he knew, there was only one person he could trust. That person was Sylvia. He was thankful that he could count on someone but now, he didn’t know where he could go. He didn’t know if the Reapers would eventually find him. No matter what Sylvia said, it was unlikely that they could last long on the run.
Sometimes he wondered if he should escape himself and leave Sylvia behind. It seemed unfair for him to drag her into his miserable life. Perhaps it was a selfish trait in him that made him want to keep her close. He loved being around her and she made him feel ten feet tall.
At 5 o’clock Sylvia came to visit him. At least, Elliot assumed it was 5pm. His watch had been damaged, trying to escape the Reapers. She didn’t have a big smile on her face. She rarely did. At the same time, she was never unhappy around him and she did laugh at his jokes even if no one else did.
“Did you visit your house last night?” she asked bluntly before even saying “hello.”
Elliot just nodded in a downbeat manner.
“So, what happened?”
“My Mother was there,” he responded with a touch of emotion. “I think she was deliberately trying to stall me so that I would be caught. She said my Dad escaped but I don’t know if that’s true or not.”
“I spoke to Raymond, the guy who brought your Dad and yourself to the ball game a few times. His wife works in the St Widnes Institute. He told me that one of the patients on the ward was your Father. I asked him if he could do anything or if his wife could help to rescue him and he said that he couldn’t possibly ask his wife to risk her job and their livelihoods to save him. He was quite cut up about it to be honest. I think that under different circumstances he would assist us, but he said that even if your father escaped he wouldn’t last long with the Reapers, the cops and the army all in pursuit.” Sylvia said despondently before taking a deep inhale of breath.
Elliot sensed that there might be something that Sylvia wasn’t telling him.
“Is there anything else?”
“Apparently, he is going to be executed by lethal injection in two days time,” she responded with dread in her voice
Sylvia did not want to be the bearer of bad news, especially to her closest friend. Some nights before she went to sleep she wished the world could be a happier place where there was no bad news, only good stories that put smiles on peoples faces. To her, nearly every day seemed a chore.
Elliot’s heart sank. In the past several years that he had been reacquainted with his Father he couldn’t have been any closer. Jake Tomkins was somebody he looked up to. He never had a bad word to say about anyone and was always the perfect gentleman. The most frustrating thing about it was that Elliot felt powerless to stop it. He couldn’t simply walk straight into St Widnes Institute and walk straight back out again with his Father in tow.
Sylvia saw how Elliot felt and she badly wanted to help him.
“I might be able to help,” she said.
“How?”
“They’re not looking for me,” she said before pausing. “I might be able to walk in there, find out where he is and sneak him back out again.”
“On your own?”
“Well I don’t think anyone else is going to help me. You don’t have any other option.”
Elliot felt bad about Sylvia’s generous offer. Even if they spent the rest of their lives in contact with each other, there was no way that Elliot would be able to repay her kind gesture. She would be risking her life just to make him happy.
“I’ve lost my Mother and Father. I don’t want to lose you as well.”
“You can’t stop me. Once I’ve made up my mind I’m going to do something, that’s it.”
Typical woman, Elliot thought to himself.
“You don’t have to do it for me,” the fugitive responded. “It’s incredibly risky and if you get caught, your neck will be on the line as well.”
“What are you eating anyway?”
“Squashed tart. It wasn’t meant to be squashed but it’s still quite nice. Do you want some?”
“I think I’ll pass.”
“You’re really going to go through with this aren’t you?” A part of Elliot didn’t want her to do it but another part of him wanted her to. He certainly didn’t want Sylvia to rescue her Father if her heart wasn’t completely in it.
“Can we please just change the subject?”
“Well I can’t talk Football, because I haven’t seen any in ages.”
“We never talk about football. You just talk and I sit there.”
“Still a conversation isn’t it?”
“No Elliot it isn’t.”
“What do you want to talk about?”
“Anything except how you don’t want to lose me.”
Elliot wracked his brain for a topic of discussion. Conversation wasn’t exactly his strong point.
“Where do you think we should go?”
“What do you mean?”
“After we escape. Where do you think we should go to?”
“I don’t know. Anywhere but here.”
“Don’t you think we should have a plan?” Elliot responded a little perplexed. The truth was he never really wanted to leave.
“Mexico?” Sylvia suggested.
“How do you think we can get there?” Elliot responded in a perplexed manner.
“Drive?”
“Neither of us can drive and we don’t have a car.”
“We can buy one,” Sylvia suggested tentatively.
“We don’t have that kind of money.”
“I told you. I can get the money.”
“From your Father? You can’t steal. It’s not really an option.” Both of Elliot’s parents had always discouraged him from stealing and urged him always to do the right thing. Even in difficult circumstances it wasn’t something he wanted to consider.
“We won’t get very far without stealing,” Sylvia insisted.
“We’re not going to be able to get to Mexico in first gear all the way anyway,” Elliot responded in a despondent manner.
“I’m a better driver than you think.”
“This tart is delicious,” Elliot said, wiping the evidence from around his mouth.
“Don’t you think you should save some for another time? Shouldn’t you eat something a little bit more nutritious?”
For the first time in their friendship, Elliot was starting to see flaws in Sylvia’s character. Food and nutrition were not meant to go together in the one sentence, he thought. Given time, she would learn.