It rained that night, heavy and hard.

I loved rain. Back when my life was normal, whenever I woke up, I would hope that the sky outside had been painted gray overnight and that rain was falling from the sky in droplets. I would cherish the fact that it was raining until I passed by a homeless person, who probably didn't share my excitement at the general wet and coldness, to which I felt guilty.

Tonight would have been a perfect night to stay up and read a book, or perhaps watch an old movie, but too much was on my mind.

While I had mostly reconciled with Madison, there were other problems and points of stress that I still had. One, was the fact that Beck liked me.

OK, maybe it wasn't a fact. But his (ex) girlfriend told me, to my face, that he had a crush on me. If anyone at this school would know what he was thinking, besides himself obviously, it would be her. Even though she could be very clearly self-absorbed, her skills at manipulating me and Dane had let me know that she was aware and intelligent enough to know how people thought. If she was right, that meant Beck looked at me as more than a friend, or whatever we were right now.

I shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to think of this recently gained information. While he was definitely handsome, and strong, and brave, and – well, that didn't matter, I couldn't view him as a romantic interest. He had killed my mom. Yes, he was sent to take me for some sort of exam, but he didn't have to kill her. The three-strike list confirmed that. In fact, according to the list, he wasn't supposed to kill my mother. He was the reason that even if I did escape, even if I did rescue my sisters, my life would not return to normal. I sighed and pushed that thought out of my mind.

Another problem I had was that by tomorrow night, I would have a roommate. Dane told me at the very beginning of the week, that I would have to move in with a roommate to save space. This was very unwelcome news. I hadn't gotten my phone back from Allegra's office, and sneaking out to do so would be ten times harder with a roommate that could wake up and report me gone. That would equal three strikes, and from what I learned about this school from my week here, three strikes were probably the last thing anyone wanted.

After much consideration, I decided that I would need to sneak out of my room tonight. Tonight would be my last chance to leave my room with relative ease, and I needed to take that opportunity as soon as possible.

I picked up the third Harry Potter book to relieve my stress, which of course, worked like a charm. Soon enough, it was time to go.

I made sure to wait until 12:35; last time I snuck out, the guards that were making out with each other on the job met up at exactly that time. I remembered from when I hid inside the grandfather clock. If I was lucky, they did this secret rendezvous every night, and hopefully they wouldn't be guarding the hallway.

I wanted so badly to just plug in headphones and listen to Fleetwood Mac. I wanted to finish reading, snug in bed. But that wasn't an option.

I opened my door and stepped out into the cool hallway.

I crouched down through the hallway, at a steady pace, just in case more attentive guards were on watch tonight. When I got to the stair area without being caught, I figured that those guards I met must be together somewhere. Just like I thought, the door to the balcony was slightly ajar. They were outside. I was inside. I was safe.

Just as I was going down the stairs, I saw a guard walking up. Shit. I wasn't safe, and I had gotten too comfortable breaking the rules in the middle of the night. It's not like I could hide in the grandfather clock again; I had almost suffocated last time, and either way I would have to push myself out eventually, to which the guard would see me. I couldn't go back into my room; it was all the way down the hall and the guard was already halfway up the stairs.

Following on my first instinct, I sprinted and went out onto the balcony. The guards weren't out there, like I thought they would be. Lucky for me. I would sit here until the guard inside had left, which would probably be until morning. I wished I could be inside, in my warm bed. I felt like the homeless people I saw in the rain from the warm inside of the school bus. I loved the rain, because I was inside. They probably hated it because they had no option but to sit in the wetness.

I jolted when I heard the guard's voice from inside. "Hello?" He called.

I peeked through the glass door to the balcony. The guard was walking around looking behind corners. He must be looking for the guards who were off duty together. My heart dropped when he turned directly toward me.

"Hello?" He called again, looking directly at the glass door. I sighed in relief when I realized he didn't see me, he saw the open door. He started walking toward me. My heart thumped again when an open door to a balcony and a missing guard meant that he was going to come out onto the balcony and look around, and he would surely see me.

I freaked out for a moment, panic surging through my body like a heroin addict on crack. I thought of the tranquilizer gun swinging on his waistband, me waking up in Allegra's office, immediately on strike three. He was only getting closer.

5 feet from the door....

4 feet.....

3 feet....

I looked over the edge of the roof. In the night sky, I couldn't see the courtyard below me, but I knew it was six floors down. Obviously, I couldn't jump. That would be a quick death, which was probably better than whatever strike three was. I looked over at the lake, it's usually glimmering waters calm and black, like ink. I could probably reach the bank of the water if I got a running start on the roof, but the risk of breaking my back was too much.

2 feet......

I looked at a tree about ten feet below me. I could certainly jump, but what would I grab onto? The branches would more likely impale me rather than secure me.

1 foot away....

I had no choice but to crawl over the edge of the building. I was hanging by the edge of the roof, my feet dangling below me. My knees scratched the stone wall, my bare elbows begging for a jacket. I tried not to think about the hundreds of feet worth of empty air below my feet. I thought of Vertigo, by Alfred Hitchcock. If the main character in that movie was able to survive something like this, with his fear of heights, I could certainly manage.

I heard the balcony door open. Footsteps.

"Hello?" The guard called again, his voice echoing with the rain. A few moments later, I pulled myself up with all of my strength just to see if he was gone. He was about to go back inside. Thank God.

But then he closed the door. He sat down on a bench next to the door and pulled out a cigarette. He nonchalantly began to smoke. My hands slipped.

I didn't know how much longer I could do this, relying on my upper arm strength in staggering rain, holding onto sharp stone. The guard showed no sign of going back inside. I just wanted to yell, 'Don't you know? Smoking is bad for you!". My hands slipped again, this time bringing little rocks from the stone with it.

I looked down. Two options. Fall to death. Get shot with tranq. Or.....

I shimmied to the side, pulling myself a few feet over to the right. Below me was a small ledge, leading into somebody's window. I opted for this. I slowly lowered myself down until my feet met the lip of the window sill. My arms thanked me for giving them a break. Your work isn't over yet, I reminded myself.

I used my foot to get a grasp on the bottom of the window's handle. With all of my strength, this time in my legs, I pulled open the window with my foot. I looked above the roof's ledge again just to make sure I wouldn't have to do what I was about to do. Yup. Guard still there.

I held on tight to the edge and kicked myself away from the wall. My body was completely in the air, only my skinny arms latching me on to safety. As my feet came back in toward the wall, I my hands let go of the building, and I was catapulted into the window.

I landed onto someone's bed.... onto someone.

I heard them grunt and start moving. I was on top of them, cold and wet. It wasn't long after I felt their fist meet my eye with a powerful thud.

I began to see black, and before I knew it, I passed out. 

*************

Looks like she's in a lot of trouble! What do you think is going to happen next? Will she be on strike three?