Which was why she knew she was making the right move.
Really, it was the only move she could under these circumstances.
Still, there was a pang of regret as she looked around the room that had been hers for just a few days and yet had already begun to feel like home. She’d done a quick clean, dusting everything, making sure there were no crumbs anywhere. The bed was made, the bathroom was all wiped down, every sign that she’d ever been there was removed.
Almost.
These men might be intending to use her, but she couldn’t really fault them for the reasons behind that.
Truth was, Dr. Gardner deserved to be tortured and killed for what he’d done to her and the things he’d done to Thunder and his team, his sister, Whitney, and Indigo, and all the others. If there was something she could do to help make that happen, then she couldn’t not do it.
So she’d left behind some things she remembered the man saying to her, places he’d mentioned, people he’d mentioned, things he’d mentioned. It probably wasn't enough. By the time she’d been sold to Master, she’d already had two previous owners, so she’d already pretty much checked out emotionally by then, found her hiding place inside her mind, and stuck there.
She wasn't this magical answer to all their problems that they seemed to think she was. Really, she wasn't even worth the effort they were putting into trying to get her to open up. But she’d give them what she had. A kind of payment for the room and food they’d shared with her these last few days.
With a last look behind her, Maya resolutely turned her back on the room. It might have been the first safe place that she’dhad in half a lifetime, but if she kept focusing on what was behind her, she’d never be able to see what was in front of her.
Maybe there was a whole new, amazing world out there. Just waiting for her to embrace it. Things had changed a lot in the last thirteen years, the world wasn't the same as she remembered it, but that didn't have to be a bad thing. New friends, even a new family could be waiting for her.
Time to focus on that, and not the things she couldn’t change.
Creeping quietly through the halls, she now remembered the way from her room down to the grand staircase. The front doors lay just below it, across the large foyer. This place really was amazing, a gothic mansion decorated like it was the set of a movie. She’d miss it even though her memories were tainted now because of what she’d overheard.
Her mom had always told her that she shouldn’t snoop if she wasn't prepared to accept that she might hear something she didn't want to know.
Only this time she hadn't really been snooping.
All she’d been doing was seeking out a man she’d gotten attached to because his presence soothed her.
It had been stupid to believe that a man like Thunder could feel anything for her in return. It had all been a ruse, a game, pretending to care about her, walking the grounds with her, the art studio and the lessons he’d told her he wanted. For all she knew, he was actually an amazing artist, and he’d just been pretending to be awful to reel her in.
Doubting everything made her feel like the tentative steps she’d been taking to find solid ground to stand on had been erased, and the ground was cracking everywhere.
Hard as it was to accept, maybe there was no solid ground close enough for her to take refuge on it.
Nothing seemed to have changed in the house. It was still dark, still quiet, so she assumed nobody knew she was about to run.
If they knew, they’d stop her.
Even if she told them she’d left the few scraps of information she had behind for them.
Maybe they wouldn’t keep her locked up as Master had, but they would likely call her family, force her hand, make her contact them even if she wasn't ready for that.
Padding across the foyer, Maya paused for a second as her hand closed around the door handle. She was really doing this. It was terrifying because she had no plan, no idea what she was doing, or even where she was going. She knew there were bad people in the world and there was a chance one of them might get their hands on her, and she could wind back up in the same kind of situation she’d just been rescued from.
But she didn't have a choice.
She had to do this.
So she yanked open the door and stepped out into the night.
A mixture of terror and elation washed over her as she walked down the porch steps. Above her, the sky was clear, inky black with a million shimmering stars dotted about. The moon was high above her, its light so bright that it illuminated her way.
With exhilaration over the control she was enacting over herself and her life, Maya broke into a run as she headed for the trees. In this moment, the lack of a plan didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was outside, free, soaking in the cold air, and taking deep breaths, her nose filled with the woodsy scents of the outdoors.
Everything she’d been deprived of for so many years was now laid out in front of her and she loved it.
She ran like she could outrun her past.
