Today was the day. The day I get my freedom back. I couldn’t believe that we are finally out of the academy for summer break. Actually those who get permission from their families go home, everyone else stays at the academy. I’m one of the prisoners, but not for long.



“I’ll see you in a couple of months Ann.” Jessica gave me a hug. “Keep in contact.” Jessica has been my roommate for all three years in the academy. We only had one more to go.



“No problem. Have a good time at home. Tell Jamie I said hi.” Jamie was Jessica’s four-year-old brother. He was the sweetest thing ever.



“Are you sure you don’t want to come back with me? You know you are welcome anytime.”



I nodded. “I have some things I need to do here. Enjoy yourself.”



She smiled and waved as she grabbed her things and headed out the door. I went over and collapsed on the bed. “Are you ready for tonight Risa?” I asked to the pink thing curled up on my pillow.



She responded with an oink. I smiled at that. She might have been a pig, but she was my oldest, and best, friend. Risa has always been there, and was smarter than most pigs. I loved her.



“Then let’s finish up!” I jumped up with a bunch on enthusiasm.



For the next hour or so, Risa stayed by me while I started packing. I had to make sure I had food, money, clothing, my tent, sleeping bag, and some things for cleaning myself. There was a river up in the mountains somewhere nearby. I would use that for most of my cleaning. Risa would be able to drink from that along with me. It would save some room in my hiking backpack. Although it wouldn’t be wise to use a fire at night due to the animals, but we wouldn’t have much of a choice.



I put my hands on my hips and looked down at Risa. “Alright we are done packing. Let’s go hang out with Terrance before we leave.”



With Risa by my side, we made our way towards the ball room. Risa was a small pig. I wasn’t sure what kind, but it allowed her to go up and down stairs. I was glad our dean was fine with Risa, or else I would have to hide her in the room. She hates being locked up as much as I do. Which is why I was gone as soon as it was time for everyone to be in bed. Thank goodness my room was on the bottom floor.



“Hey Ann!” A red head came over to us as soon as we entered the ballroom. His red hair was so curly and bushy, to the point of being cute. His freckles helped his look too. He had a lean body and was about my height, maybe a little bit taller.



“Hi Terrance,” I smiled.



He wasn’t paying attention to me anymore. He knelt on the ground and started scratching Risa behind the ears, her favorite spot. “Hello Risa.” Terrance smile as Risa closed her eyes, enjoying the scratching. “How are you today?” Risa gave an oink.



I laughed. “Sometimes I think you like Risa more than me.”



Terrance stood up and laughed. “She is a lot more quieter than you.”



“That’s what you think,” I said. He had no idea how much Risa oinked in a day. It got annoying after a while, but I never told her that.



“So what do you plan on doing this summer after I leave tomorrow? I know it’s going to be hard without me.”



That made me laugh again. “I’m pretty sure I’ll manage.” I thought about an excuse for a second. “I think I’ll just explore while everyone’s gone. There is no way I’ll be able to get in trouble if no one is here.”



“I think Eddie is staying. You two could hang out.”



I rolled my eyes. “I am not being set up with one of your friends again. Remember last time?” I forgot what his name was, but it ended up with me pouring hot chocolate on his head. Definitely wasn’t a good date.



“I didn’t know he was a jerk. You can’t blame me for that.” He smiled sheepishly.



“You’re the one who set us up! Of course I can blame you.”



He put up his hands. “Alright I admit that was my bad. How about we just go party with our friends?”



I knew he was trying to get out of this conversation. It worked. “Let’s go!”



Together we all went over to talk and dance. Terrance actually picked up Risa and started dancing with her. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Risa didn’t seem to think so though. She flipped out and made Terrance put her down. Then she ran over next to me.



Aside from that little incident –which wasn’t really an incident- we had a great time. Risa tried to stay away from the dancing feet, and I just let loose and danced. I had a great time, till we all had to leave.



When we got back to my room, I gathered up my stuff. Risa and I would leave as soon as I was sure we wouldn’t get caught. Outside my door and down the hallway to the left, was a guard. The dean thought I didn’t know about it, but it was more than obvious. Why he did it? That was beyond me.



“You ready?” I whispered to Risa.



I went over and opened the window. They usually have locks on the window, but I busted mine a while ago when Jessica and I decided to sneak out. Then I picked up Risa and jumped out the window. She squeaked as we hit the ground.



“Shhhh,” I whispered to her. “We can’t get caught.”



That’s when I started running towards the woods. The start of the woods meant the start of the mountain. I held Risa tighter to me as I ran. I knew they had guards stationed outside, but I wasn’t sure if they had them outside even on summer break. The best thing for me to do was hide behind trees on the way. I had about 100 feet, which wasn’t bad. With my training I could get there in no time.



When I didn’t see anyone, I ran full sprint for the edge of the mountain. There were trees to hide me. “Hey!” I heard someone yell. I didn’t know if it was directed at me, but I ran harder.



Finally making it to the woods, I still ran. I know Risa was probably getting sick, but I didn’t have much of a choice. If that voice was yelling at me, I had a little bit of time before they caught up. With Risa in hand, they had an advantage.



“Ann stop running!”



That made me stop in my tracks. I flipped around, and waited for the figure to approach. “What are you doing Terrance?” I was surprised to see him.



“Trying to catch up with you.” He wasn’t breathing heavy, because we’d both trained to run

hard for a long time.



“How did you know?”



“You weren’t very secretive about it. I figured it out a while back. I came to see if you wanted to hang out, and I heard you talking to Risa about it. Then the way you were talking today hinted to me that you were leaving tonight. Why didn’t you tell me?”




I was stunned, but quickly composed myself. “Because I knew you’d try to stop me.”



“You can’t. You are leaving tomorrow. Remember?”



“No I’m not. My mom and dad are going to Hawaii for a second honeymoon. I just told everyone I was leaving, so I’d have a good cover for being gone. I’m coming.”



I sighed knowing I had no choice. “Then keep up with me. We got a long time before we can stop running.”



“Well at least give me Risa. I have a bag I can put her in so she’s not squished under your arm.”



I looked down at Risa. She did look kind of squished. “Here,” I handed her over to Terrance. “You lose her, and I will personally beat the crap out of you.”



“Understood, now get moving!”



I ran a bit more freely without Risa under my arm. My legs pumped harder, and my breath steadied. I believed I could’ve gone for hours, but it was Terrance who stopped me. “Ann we need to take a rest. My legs are going to collapse if I keep going.”



I stumbled to a halt. It wasn’t easy stopping at your full running speed. I was surprised I didn’t trip and fall. “Alright,” I said gulping in a deep breath of air. “Let Risa out so she can get some food and water. All three of us need some sleep too. We will be traveling uphill from here on.”



“Agreed.” Terrance put down Risa and I heard him unhook his sleeping bag.



I took out a travel bowl of water for Risa, and some food. “Eat up. You need your strength.” While she did that I grabbed a water bottle and started drinking. When she finished I put everything up and took out my sleeping bag. I spread it out and laid down on top of it. It was too hot to get inside it. Risa came and slept right next to me on the sleeping bag.



I looked up past the trees and into the night sky. I felt a jolt of excitement, and relief. I was free to do whatever I liked. I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve always been trapped in that school since I was a little girl. Now I was my own person. Nobody could tell me what to do. It felt so good to be free.



“Why are you doing this?” Terrance asked.



“Because I need a change. I need to get away from that stupid school that I’ve been trapped in all my life.”




“Where do you plan on going?”



“Goodnight Ann.”



I slept more peacefully that night than I’ve ever had in my entire lifetime. Wonderful dreams filled my head. They always had one thing in common: freedom.



A wet nose woke me up the next morning. I smiled sleepily. “Morning Risa.”



She oinked. Then I looked over at Terrance who was still sleeping. I groaned as I got up out of the sleeping bag. “Get up you lazy lump.” I kicked Terrance in the side.



Terrance jumped up ready to defend himself. Then he relaxed when he saw it was me. “Did you have to kick me?”



“Yep! Now let’s get going. We have to go a couple of miles before we reach the river. Then we have to find a place to camp.”



“Do we have to run?” Terrance asked.



“You don’t have to. You can walk with Risa if you like, but it will only take a little over 10 minutes if we run the whole way. Then we can just rest there.”



Terrance smiled, and I knew he was up for the challenge. He always liked a challenge like me. I swooped up Risa, and sprinted off with Terrance right behind me. The wind rushed upon me. It felt amazing. I honestly didn’t mind running. I thought it was exhilarating.



When I smelled the fresh water, I knew we were getting close. Ten minutes only felt like seconds to me. I had no idea how to explain it. It was a sensational feeling.



I laughed when we reached a part of the river. It was a perfect place to stay. The trees cleared in a small area so we could see the sky. I put down Risa and took off my bag. I was so relieved that I just collapsed onto the ground. This time I was breathing hard. I ran harder than we usually did when we trained, so it used more energy. I didn’t mind though.



“Holy cow!” Terrance finally showed up breathing hard. “I’ve never.. never,” Terrance kept taking in breaths in between his words, “seen.. anyone.. run… like … that!” He took off his bag and collapsed next to me.



“I guess I’m just that good.”



After a few minutes of resting, we began to set up. Terrance went to get wood and set up a fireplace while I set up the tents, and things to cook tonight. We had to make sure we could have a safe place, so I had to climb a tree and put our food up in a high place. If I didn’t then we would risk the animals getting it.



People didn’t really know what Shadow Academy was all about. Yes, we did our usual classes, but there was so much more to it than that. The academy was were teenagers in high school trained to be in black ops. We train to be better than the best. We are put in life-threatening areas, because we are trained to survive. If we don’t pass an exercise, then we don’t pass the class. If we pass with flying colors, then we move up to the level our teachers think we should be at.



This is why Terrance and I knew what we are doing when we are out in the woods. We both know how to handle the situation. We could’ve been out here with nothing and still survived. Of course it is a lot easier when we have some camping items.



It was getting dark when we were completely ready. Our wood would last us a week, and we had some edible plants to add flavor to our fish that we caught earlier (thanks to Terrance’s fishing rod). I was glad when we could just sit by the fire and eat.



“Isn’t this wonderful?” I asked Terrance.



I saw him looking up at the stars. “Yeah it is. I don’t think I’ve ever know someone to run away from a school just to stay in the woods.”



I laughed. “I’m different from most people.”



“Can I ask you a question?” Terrance’s tone got serious.



“Shoot.” I didn’t think anything could bring down my mood.



“What happened to your family?” Man was I wrong. “I mean like why don’t you ever go home?”



I looked deep into the fire. A spark reminded me of blazing flames. “I don’t have a family,” I whispered.



“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”



I pushed the memory back. “Not a big deal. I think I’m going to get some sleep. It’s been a long day. Tomorrow I have to go find some more plants, so I’ll need some rest.”



“Alright. Goodnight Ann.”



I walked into my tent without saying goodnight. I couldn’t cry, and I couldn’t let Terrance see me hold it back. I pinched the bridge of my nose with my forefinger and my thumb. I consider crying a weakness. Even if I am alone, I can’t cry. I won’t let myself cry.



I laid down and just laid there. Risa came up and laid down on my stomach. She always knew when something was wrong. Of course she lived through the disaster with me. I started scratching her ear. “It’s been 11 years already. It’s time I get over it. Don’t you think?”



She looked at me with her big eyes. I saw sadness in them. “Don’t worry Risa. I’m fine. We should get some sleep.”



Risa moved over to the pillow, next to my head. I turned on my side. “Sweet Dreams Risa,” I whispered as I closed my eyes and drifted off into sleep.



Surrounded by fire. I remembered calling for mom and dad. No one answered me. I just kept yelling and yelling. No one came. No one answered.



I shot up. A cold sweat enveloped me. I was taking deep breaths. Risa oinked and I looked down at her. I tried a smile the best I could. “Bad dream.”



As soon as I was calm, I got up. There was no way I was going to be able to go back to bed. I changed into my swim suit. Might as well take a quick swim since I wasn’t going back to sleep. “You stay in here and get some more sleep,” I told Risa. She stared at me as if to make sure I was alright. “Sleep. I’ll be fine.”



I left the tent and zipped it back up. It was still dark out, and the fire was still burning. I was probably asleep for only a couple of hours. I sighed, wishing I could go back to sleep. If I did then I would have the same nightmare.



I dove into the river without hesitation. The cold water embraced me. I felt a jolt as it consumed by body. I loved swimming more than running. It was one thing that would let me freely move, and feel like I weighed nothing.



When I surfaced the water, something in the distance caught my attention. I looked up the river. Something was shining in the river. It was a bit away, but it was bright enough that I could see it.



Despite my instincts warning me not to go, I started swimming towards the light. I didn’t know what it was, but I was going to find out. I swam underneath the water in order to stay hidden. I didn’t want to be spotted if it was something dangerous.



It didn’t take me very long before I reached the area. The water! The water was glowing! Hesitantly I stepped into the glowing area. I gasped in shock as my body started to glow. “What the heck?” I said.



“Get out of there!” I heard someone yell.



I tried moving, but my body wouldn’t go anywhere. It felt numb. “What’s happening?”



“Dang it!” It was a male’s voice. I could tell now. The glowing started to disappear. I heard someone splash into the water.



I couldn’t move, and I couldn’t breathe anymore. Was I going to die? Was this it? For the first time in my life, everything went black.