Page 1 of Where We Ended

PROLOGUE

DEATH RAIDER TERRITORY TWENTY-ONE YEARS AGO

The flashlight wasn’t as bright as it was the last time Mom and I hid inside the big wardrobe. It reminded me of Narnia, and sometimes I acted like it was, except there were no coats and no winter. Just guns and leather cuts.

“Read it again, Little Tree.” My mom’s eyes closed, but I saw her chest rising and falling, like she couldn’t catch her breath.

She only forced me inside the wardrobe with her when she was scared, or if someone had hurt her. This time, she was holding her side with a wince. I heard my dad yelling at her…and she always made sure the door was shut whenever he started, so I would never have to see what else he did. It made me sad because we’d just moved to a new club, and he wasn’t supposed to follow us here.

But somehow, he found us, and no one ever told him no. Not even when my mom got a new boyfriend.

I watched as she curled into herself while the flashlight lit up the cabinet walls.

I wanted to go find help, but I didn’t even know who to ask.

Mom’s hand came toward the book, as she pushed it closer to me. “Again.”

With one last look at her side, I finally did as she said.

“Om—ombr—” I couldn’t say the word, and I knew this would bug Mom, and she’d snap. Not because she was mean, but she snapped when she was in pain. Scanning the next words, I moved past it and kept going.

“Light falls across the pans of my heart, wh—whis--whispering of all the darkness you draw up--on.”

My mom smiled, but I saw sweat begin to coat her forehead. “Pans of your heart or panes?”

I checked the word again, feeling frustrated. She’d had me reading this stupid book since I was six, and the words were still hard for me to read, now at seven.

“P—panes.”

She smiled again. “Good. Now, keep going and don’t stop until this light goes out. Mommy is going to take a little nap, and you’re going to keep reading, okay?”

“No, please don’t sleep. What if someone finds us?” I begged, worried that she wouldn’t wake up.

She gave me a sad grin. “I’ll be here. You just keep reading that poetry. Fill your heart with tides and currents, Little Tree, so that one day it’ll take you somewhere good and pure.”

I wanted to say more, beg her to stay awake, but she kept holding her side and breathing hard, so I just kept reading.

“I have land to build my ho—home upon but my soul has no roots. Apart from you, I’ll be forever without a place to dwell.”

She said this book was like a train, one that could take me anywhere I wanted to go. But where I wanted to go was somewhere safe, and anywhere my mom didn’t have to get hurt, and we didn’t have to hide. Sunshine and green grass. Bright skies and seeing my mother happy. It was a dream, something I’d think about day in and day out.

I kept reading, hoping it would somehow make my mom happy again. I wanted it to help her feel better. I read until the flashlight flickered out, and then I curled up next to my mom and closed my eyes. She didn’t stir at all, and it made me feel a pinch of fear in my stomach. What if she wasn’t okay?

My eyes had mostly adjusted to the dark when the cabinet door slowly cracked open. I jolted up while mom remained asleep.

The person who poked their head inside wasn’t a person at all. It was a kid, just like me…a bright one.

“Are you a dream?” I whispered, nearly in awe with how she seemed to glow. She looked like she was made of starlight.

Her eyes slid down in confusion. “I’m a Natty.”

“What’s a Natty?”

She shrugged and scanned the space next to me. “Are you playing hide and seek?”

I shook my head and glanced at my mom.

Natty looked at her too and she seemed confused, like she wasn’t understanding why we were both curled up in here.

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