Grim appeared as if it spanned from the sky towards me, pressing sorrow over sense. My cries rushed to reach my lips faster than my hand but impeded by a sudden obstruction from behind. I swivelled in the instant to face the person accountable for it.

"Hold yourself together," my mother voiced, tone slightly shaken. Once the words left, her face turned vacant. The fret was almost invisible if not knowing her better.

I gulped down my scream and nodded. But a few drops of tears successfully rolled down my eyes from the stir of emotion.

She retracted her hand from my mouth and gave me a heavy look. "We have to go now."

"But Alfie—"

"He's fine. I left him in the woods."

Dumbfound struck me. Overwhelming questions pummeled after, trying to reason with my mother's action. Alas, my worries made a come back at the thought that Alfie was alone somewhere.

"But why, how," I stuttered.

"I have no other choice. We have no time" —unease flickered on her face— "I have no time. So listen closely."

She fished out a piece of paper from her dress pocket before spreading it on the floor. Instantly, geography unveiled before my eyes.

"This is a map, you have seen the gates, the forest surrounding it, the one marked with the X is a gap, it's the only way out for Alfie. I wish I could show you this sooner, but this is also at the very last minute for me," she said. Her index finger running over the paper while pointing every section as she word it out.

I examined the terrain of sketched topography, trying to make sense of what I was looking at and remembering what I had seen and learnt; the barrier and the rules.

Like a snap, something dawned on me; I had been confined to this place all my life without realising it. When I tried to remember any of the other girls my age who had mentioned they left town before, I came back with none. For a mere second, I wondered what this perfect community was masking behind.

"Why are we not allowed to leave before we came of age?" I absent-mindedly asked as I looked closely at the map.

For a moment, silent consumed my mother, as if contemplating the question. " They lied to us, " she mumbled.

Even though her head was bent down, I could see her eyes starting to pool. She pressed her lips then spoke again, "HEROIN have been lying to us all our life. Some people working under the government were in it too, they told us pod men are mindless. The only way to prevent the truth was caging us in until the very end of their maturity period."

The revelation didn't shock me as much since I had been having a bad feeling about HEROIN, and maybe I was suspecting it. I was occupied with so many thoughts until I heard my mother's soft sobs.

When my sight returned to her face, her cheeks were wet with tears. I never saw her crying like that before, and it was heartbreaking. She tried to restrain the weep by holding her breath. But when her shoulder started sagging, I pulled her in and hugged her. I couldn't bear how devastated she was at the time.

"I helped them kill innocent life... I never liked working with HEROIN so I quit. But I believed them when they told me he died. How could they do that to me? How could she do that to me?" she broke down in my embrace.

She?

I didn't get the chance to ask her more question because she suddenly drew back and briskly wiped her tears. "They could be back any minute, and Alfie is waiting. We must hurry," she hastened and got up to her feet.

At the mention of my Alfie, the other matter dissipated. His safety was a priority, so solving the puzzle had to wait for later.

When I reached the entrance of my room, another surprise awaited me; my things were gone, what was left were the furniture. My mouth barely got the chance to part when my mother grasped my arm and pulled me to the front door.

"Let's go, I got rid of everything else other than the important ones. Here, " she said, probably guessing what was in my mind before handing me a backpack.

"You got rid of everything? Why--"

She interjected, "They would probably start snooping for unknown DNA. Who knows how far they'll take this matter off to."

Another sequence of question hit me. I was sure the thing wrapped in my sheet was a pod man. HEROIN was certainly not stupid enough to take it if it was not.

"Who did they take?" I asked before we stepped out of the house.

Even once we were seated and fastened in my mother's car, no words arise. Darkness loomed over us on the road, only the headlight leading our way. The sheer moonlight on the opposite axis was barely perceivable.

Alas, I couldn't hold the qualm anymore, "Ma, please tell me."

"I stole him," she confessed.

Instantly, my eyes grew wider in shock, the way she expressed it boldly as if it wasn't even a big deal took a toll on my view of her.

"You did what?" I asked, hoping I misheard her.

She sighed, "I stole him."

After repeating what she said, she bit her lip. Her eyes glued on the road with full concentration. I was about to ask her the details but she beat me to it.

"He died at the hospital. I got pod men submitted to the hospital sometime. Well, actually rarely. There are still good people out there, they tried to save their pods. He's small, so I snuck him out. "

"But how... I mean won't they trace it back to you?"

"Probably, " she simplified.

The car slowed down at the side of the road and came to a halt, at the same time putting an end to my pending answer. She turned off the headlight, making our surrounding almost pitch black. The road was empty, and an ultimate quietness swallowed us. But after some time, my eyes adjusted to the sheer light. The sky lit up with the moon illuminating its majestic glow. I could make out my mother's body twisting to face me.

"I left him there." She pointed towards the foliage.

I angled my head following her direction. The thither was woods from one point to another, and I couldn't identify anything apart. Worry started to grip me.

Then the sound of paper rustling got my attention back to her. Once she turned on her phone, she used the screen light for us to view the map once again, "We are here, you just follow this trail until you find a small clearing where he waits for you. Just track ahead until you reach the fence, an insider helped me to make a small hole for you and Alfie to get to the other side. I will be--"

"Wait," I blurt out.

I was momentarily confused as more of her explanation didn't add up to me. "What do you mean YOU? I mean what do you mean ME?" I emphasized the subject. When I looked at her, she was eyeing me with a hint of worry.

"You must do this alone honey... "

To be continued...

***

So, we reach the halfway milestone of this story. I thank each aevery staying with me on this amazing journey.

An important role character in the story will be introduced soon, are you ready to meet her?