OLIVIA

One year ago

Olivia stood deathly still when her mother took her by the shoulders and gripped her so tight that Olivia could feel the anxiety rushing from her mother into herself.

"Livvy, I've done something really terrible for us," she whispered, her red-rimmed eyes darting back and forth to some unknown presence behind Olivia. "I thought it was good, I thought we could get out of here, but I told the wrong person."

Olivia couldn't make her mouth work. What on earth was she saying? Unless you counted cleaning the kitchen drastic - which it often was for Carrie - her mom hadn't done anything life altering in the past few days.

"We're going to leave right away. We can't take our backpacks, and we can't look like we're going away somewhere. But we have to go away. You understand, yes?"

Olivia didn't understand. She didn't understand at all. Where were they going? Did they have to leave because of the terrible thing her mom had done?

"Olivia?" Her mom's grip on her shoulders became bone-crunching. Her mom was getting really scared now, and so was she.

"Yes," Olivia wheezed out, because that was what her mom wanted her to say.

"Okay, good girl. We're not going to leave from the front door. We're going to go out the back door. We're not going to make any noise, and we're not going to be seen by anybody."

Olivia's head spun. She thought she was going to be dizzy but she blinked as hard as she could. Olivia could see that her mom was scared, and that she had never expected that they would ever have to do this. She had no idea what she was doing.

"Mom, why-"

"Olivia, we can't talk now!" her mom hissed. Olivia flinched at her tone. Her mom noticed and gently brushed away her curly hair from her face. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean it that way. We just can't talk now, okay? We have to go."

She didn't give her a chance to protest or agree or take a breath. Olivia felt her grasp her arm and her mom pulled her quickly but gently towards the back door, not bothering to turn on any lights in the house. In the kitchen, she opened a cupboard, pulled out a pair of binoculars, and hung them around her neck. She took a small metal canister from the same cupboard and put it into her pants pocket.

Her mom turned off the back porch light and looked outside. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and looked outside again. Olivia's heart thudded against her chest. What did she see out there? Could she see the bad thing she did?

When she turned back, Olivia barely recognized her mother. Her face looked gaunt and worn out in the darkness. The whites of her wide eyes made her look like some creature in the closet instead of the person she had relied on all her life. Her mom took her hand. Olivia's hand was sweaty. So was her mom's.

"After this, you have to do exactly as I say. If I tell you to run, you have to run. If I tell you to stop, you have to stop. If I tell you anything at all, you have to listen. Otherwise, we won't get out of here. Got it?"

Olivia couldn't hold it in anymore. A few tears leaked down her cheeks. "Mom, what are we doing? Why are we doing this?"

Her mom's face crumpled as Olivia said this. She hugged her tight. Olivia could feel her trembling underneath her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Olivia. We're doing this because I told a bad man about some bad men because I thought he wasn't bad. He was. Now he told all the other bad men that we know."

"I'm scared."

Her mom pulled away, wiped Olivia's tears, and held her face in her hands. "You have no reason to be scared." She took a piece of paper from her own pocket, stuffed it into Olivia's, and held her hands. "These are the names of good and bad people, so when we get out of here, you know who's on your side. For right now, all you have to do is be careful and listen to me. Nothing's going to happen to you if you do both those things. Okay?"

Olivia did not feel okay. This was not okay. Her mom was not okay.

"We're going to go now," her mom whispered, and without another word, she slid the back door open, took Olivia's hand, and pulled her through it.

Olivia stepped on a few branches as her mom pulled her through their small backyard. The cracks echoed in the quiet darkness. Her mom squeezed her hand tight, and Olivia tried harder to look where she was going. They passed through the playground behind their house and kept on going to the street behind theirs.

The streetlamp ahead illuminated everything within a six foot radius. Olivia's mom pulled her away from going across the street, through the light, and led her sideways along the grass, heading towards the end of the street, where the lamps ran out.

Olivia's eyes burned. Her lungs burned. Her hand burned where her mom was holding it too tight. She tried to run quietly like her mom was doing, but her sneakers kept slapping noisily against the pavement as she tried to keep up. Still, she kept quiet and didn't say anything.

When they got to the end of the street, her mom put the binoculars to her eyes and looked down the block. She looked behind them, to the left of them, and to the right. Then she bent down to Olivia's face.

"Olivia," she whispered so quietly Olivia could barely hear her. "Just behind those trees is a fence. And behind that fence is the back alley to a twenty four hour store. We're going to try to get in there, okay? I'm going to push you over the fence and then get over myself."

"Mom-"

"Olivia, just do what I say." And she took off with her again.

They got halfway to the trees before the voices started. Olivia turned back for a moment to see who was there, but she could only see dark silhouettes against the dark street. Her mom squeezed her hand and pulled her even faster. They weren't even trying to be quiet anymore.

When they got to the fence, Olivia realized her mom's plan was very, very wrong.

The fence was seven feet high.

Her mom didn't miss a beat. She put the binoculars around Olivia's neck, and handed her the small can. "Olivia, I'm going to boost you over the fence. Take the binoculars and the pepper spray. If you find someone on the other side, you have to aim it at their face and press down on this button. You have to turn left and run all the way down the alley until you reach the store. In there, you're going to call the police, and you're only going to talk to Jared. Alright?"

Olivia was shaking uncontrollably. How was she ever going to get over the fence like this? "What about you?"

"I can't climb over this, so I'm just going to go down that way-" She pointed to the left. "It's slightly lower there, and I'll go over that way. Alright?"

Olivia couldn't breathe. She couldn't think. It felt like everything was going both slow motion and twice as fast at the same time. Who on earth was Jared? "I don't - I can't do this-"

The voices were very close now. Just a few hundred yards away. Olivia's mom took her face in her hands and kissed her forehead. "You have to do this so you can get out of here," she whispered, her breath gently fanning her curls. Olivia closed her eyes and savored those last moments of peace before her mother let her go.

Too soon, she pulled away and laced her hands together to make a step for Olivia. "Come on, Liv, almost there."

Olivia put her hand on her mom's shoulder, stepped in her hands, and reached for the top of the fence. Panic filled her when she realized she was a few inches too short. "Mom-"

"I got you, baby. Hold on."

Her mom pushed her leg up the last few inches and Olivia grasped the top of the fence. She teetered there for a moment, saw the black shapes just a few feet away from her mom now. Then she lost her balance and tumbled down the other side.

"Olivia?"

Olivia stood up and brushed off her dirty pants. Her ankle felt sprained. She peeked through a hole in the fence. Her mom's green eye stared back at her. "I'm fine, Mom."

She saw her mother relax, all the worry and panic leave her. She smiled, and the creature in the closet that her mother had become disappeared. Instead, she saw her mother's beautiful, joyful face, as it always should be. "I love you, Liv. You have to hurry now. I'll meet up with you."

It was only when she got to the store, panting and dripping with sweat, that Olivia realized what that expression of relief meant.

Her mother had never intended to make it.

A/N: Hey, everyone. This isn't the first story I've written, but it is my first time using Wattpad. If something looks off, feel free to tell me as I probably have no idea something's wrong. Happy reading!