I ran as quietly as I could muster to my mother's library, where she stored cash only my mom and I knew about.

It made me wonder if she knew one day I would hav e to leave. When I reach for the old book stored in the back of others, I found all the money that was stuffed into a hole cut into the pages, I knew she was st ill looking out for me. As I pulled the money out and looked for a place to hide it something fell to the floor with a clank, it was my mother's locket. She wor e it everywhere, I had though she'd died wearing it. Walking back to my room I clutched it in my hand. "What is that?" Jess asked eyeing my closed fist. "Nothing lets get going." "One problem." "And what is that?" "I can't just go strolling of the front door and I won't be able to get to the b ack door without Alexander noticing me." "You're right. Um...the window." "Are you crazy. I'll die." "No, there's a balcony in the library. I'll take our bags and I'll meet you ther e." "If I don't break my neck first." I shoved the money and the locket into the front pocket of my duffel bag. We eac h had one bag, Alexander wouldn't suspect anything, "Be careful." "I have to be careful." She stuck out the bottom of her lip, "I wanted to jump o ff head first." "You reek of sarcasm and might I say it's not a lovely smell." We giggled, "Now, go." "Who were you talking to?" A voice screamed from behind me, I let go of the door knob to the front door and turned to face the owner of the harsh voice. I put on a puzzled face, but knew he would check every room for anybody so I tho ught of something to say, "I was just thinking out loud, wondering if I remember ed where any of my friends lived." "It's not gonna work." He smiled evilly, "I won't let you stay no matter how pat hetic you are." "It doesn't hurt to try." I hid my smile. "Well, get going." I was almost out the door when he yelled, "Wait, I have somet hing for you." My eyebrows pushed together and I bit my lip. Last time he said that he threw bo iling water on me, Jessalyn healed some of it so it wouldn't get any worst, but not so much that he could tell something was different, "What?" "Let me see your hand." He held his out for mine.

I was confused. Why did he want to see my hand? I knew one thing, nothing good c an come from it, "N...no...no! Why?" "Give me your hand now!" "No!" I turned, but wasn't quick enough. He grabbed my wrist and cut the palm of my ha nd with a small knife, "That's for getting me fired. Try living with that, have fun." Dropping to the ground I screamed out in pain, the straps of the bags slipped fr om my shoulders. A dark red liquid formed a large puddle around me. My eye lids felt heavy and I could hardly keep my eyes open. From the distance I could hear footsteps, "Avery? Avery, are you okay? What happ ened?" The voice was panicky, a buzzing in my ears made it hard for me to hear e very word spoken. Shaky hands softly pried my hand away from my wrist. Slowly the cut started to d isappear., it was the last thing I saw before I blacked out. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke with a groan. My throat was extremely dry. Getting up to get some water, my head started spinning and I had to lay back down. I was in a unfamiliar room, the walls were tinted a light yellow and the air had a light scent of smoke, making it hard to breathe. "You're awake." I couldn't find my voice so I just nodded. Noticing my discomfort Jess handed me a bottle of water. I allowed the freezing substance to flow down my throat, "Thank you." My voice w as horse and it hurt to talk, but I wanted answers, "Where are we?" "A hotel, not too far from Crest View. I wanted you to be awake when we got ther e." There was only one small bed so I moved over and patted the spot right next to me welcome her to continue speaking, "You lost a lot of blood and past out." The scene came rushing at me, I looked at my palm there was no scar, "I had to c hange you, there so much blood on your dress. I threw my clothes away, but kept your dress. I...I know how much you love it." She pointed toward the dark blue p ile on the dresser. I got up quickly, which made my head spin again. I ignored the pounding in my he ad and rushed to the dresser. The bottom of the dress had blood on in like I was laying in blood. Seeing as I had blacked out I probably had. There was a bloody hand print on it, where I must have thought I could stop the bleeding. At the h eat of the moment people do things they wouldn't usually do. I was foolish to th ink I could stop the bleed from a deep cut with such a thin fabric. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked, my eyes locked on my ruined dress. "Three days. We arrived here a couple of hours ago." "Three days?" I whispered more to myself then to Jess, "And how far are we from Crest View?"

"Not too far only a hour or two, if we leave right now." "Where's the money?"She pointed to the black duffel bag on the floor, "I put it back into the pocket you had it in after I paid for the room. I had to pay for t wo buses also." She looked afraid that I would yell at her, "I got the cheapest hotel and room." She chuckled nervously, "One bed, hope I didn't spent to much." "I can tell." I said taking in torn curtains and the ratty carpet. "Of course yo u didn't. You're only mistake is not going to a better room." Her face fell, "I' m joking." "Well, I hope you know...you're a horrible comedian." Jess laughed. I sat on the dirty carpet, "I know, but that's why you love me" After we could g ather ourselves and stopped laughing I counted the money, "Seven hundred fifty o ne dollars. Why would I need this much money?" "What do you mean?" She kneeled next to me. " W...what? Oh...uh...I think my mom knew I- we would need this money. I remembe r her telling me 'It's better too be safe than sorry and sometimes that means be ing prepared for anything, even death.' then she took my cheeks in her hands and whispered 'You'll thank me someday.'" I let myself cry, I think I deserved to. "It'll be okay." She rubbed my back, "Lets check out." "Okay." Jess offered to carry the bags, but I needed to keep my hands occupied, to keep myself from fidgeting. "Do you know if there's a bus going to FallBrook?" "Yes, yes the bus should be arriving in fifteen minutes. You should leave now th e walk in about seven to ten minutes long." Her voice had a hint of a country ac cent. The women had dark brown hair pair with dark brown eyes like Ty's, only he r's were filled with warmth. Her white teeth opposed her olive skin. "Thank you." "You are welcome, Hun." She lowered her voice, "Is your friend okay?" "Yes." Jess didn't bother lowing hers. "Miss?" She point the question at me. "Avery." "Avery, can I give you a hug?" "Uh." I looked over to Jess for help, to my surprise she was smiling, "Sure." "Do you want me to call the police on your foster dad?" She whispered in my ear while she hugged me. "Um, no. I'll be fine." When we were out of the hotel and where the women from it wouldn't be able to he ar us I asked, "What was that about?"

"When we got to the hotel the bruise on your cheek was worst, which reminds me." She touched my cheek lightly with her finger tips, "There. She asked what happe ned so I had to tell her something and all I could think of was that we ran away from our foster parents after they had beaten you. "Foster parents?" "It was all I could think of." I couldn't stop myself from laughing, "It's not f unny." Soon after she couldn't help herself and joined in. It felt nice to laugh without being afriad we would get caught. The bus ride was quiet, only a few people were on the bus other than us. "Where are we going?" "Stop asking so many questions. We only have a little more farther and we'll be there." Shortly after a old stone mansion came into view. It looked more like a palace t han a school. A gorgeous fountain sat right in the middle of a patch of grass an d creepy gargoyles spread out on the roof. Dark blue flowers cover everything, i t reminded me of my ruined dress. "Welcome to Crest View, beautiful isn't it? We'll have to see Mrs. Shannon. Ther e is only two more weeks in summer and we need to ask her if we came stay here. A lot of Gems stay here over the summer 'cause many don't have homes to go back to. We'll be safe here and we can practice your powers. I'm sure many Gems will help you."