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Chapter One
January Twenty First
Roxtyn
Roxtyn stepped out of her place of work with the few other girls, they lived north of the building and she headed south. A blonde man kicked off the wall next to her work. “Do you mind if I take a moment of your time?” She kept walking, thinking he was some religious missionary until he said her name. “Roxtyn.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and turned to look at him. “How do you know my name?”
He stepped towards her, “I’m Jay, I've been watching you lately. You're broke, your boyfriend is a jerk, I want to say you tried killing yourself last week or you at least thought about it. Let me make this quick and clear, I have a place far from here, with people like you. You have no one to lean on and there is no end to your pain, except death. I can promise you a better life. Unless you want to stick it out with that guy and always be wondering what girl he's sticking it in. Pros: we got safety for number one, relatability, maybe make some friends, consistent income, you wanna get compensated for your skills right? And lastly, a great community. It's also warm all year round. Cons? You got none. You want to think about it kid?”
She gripped her bag that contained what little she owned, “How long do I have?”
“I'll give you two days, you want a clean escape? Keep this quiet.” Roxy nodded and turned her back to start walking home, she knew if this place existed, she had to go. She had to join his community, and each step she took she knew in her gut what her outcome was. If he killed her instead? She didn’t care and looked back to see the man still staring at her and paced back, “okay.”
He stared blankly at her one word. “Okay?”
“I'll go.”
“That's great, you know that McLellan airport? Come alone January Twenty Third. I'll pick you and a few others up. See you then kid.”
January Twenty Third
At the small empty airport, Roxy looked over her shoulder towards the parking lot, for the third time. A tall woman caught her eye from a distance, startling her. The handful of people on the asphalt made her anxious and she threw her jacket hood on, balling her hands into the pocket. The cold air caressed her pale cheeks as she ignored the smell of the pollution. Roxy turned, cupping her hands against the window along the parallel wall. The clock ticked towards seven am, Jay would almost be here. She placed her back against the wall again and questioned to herself what she was doing. She didn’t know Jay, she didn’t know what his proposal meant, and she didn’t know what would happen when Ben finally woke up to find her gone. She fiddled with her necklace, the only thing she had left from her mother was a simple, emerald pendant. The original gold chain had broken and she had to replace it a year ago.
She dropped it back into her shirt as the tall woman approached Roxy, “Can I wait by you?” She asked.
Roxy’s mouth pulled to her ears in a forced awkward smile, “Sure.”
“I’m Maci, are you waiting for-” She paused and Roxy nodded before Maci could finish.
“I’m Roxtyn.” She was polite to respond to her name but wasn’t one to keep small talk going. Her eyes followed someone across the lot approaching a short round man and they shook hands, then started walking together. “Is that him?” She kept her stare, Jay was tanned, almost dirty looking, with short blonde hair.
Maci looked up from her nails, “Hm? Oh, yeah, I think so.”
“Should we head his way?”
“I think he’s already coming over.” She launched herself off the wall. “Let’s go.”
Roxy followed two steps behind. Her mind racing with what if’s, ‘What if Ben follows me? What if he is also part of this group and shows up? What if he put Jay up to this, to see if I would leave?’ she thought, mentally shouting at herself feeling her brow furrow, ‘Stop it! There's nothing here for me! My family is gone! This guy could kill me if he wanted, I don’t care, I have nothing to live for. I. Am. Alone!’ She took note of Maci slowing down and looked up to see Jay and four others and her face relaxed.
“Maci,” He made eye contact, “Roxtyn.” He began explaining the process of departure as Roxy focused on breathing as her thoughts continued. ‘What am I doing? Ben is going to kill me, it should be pretty obvious that I cut ties. What if he thinks I got kidnapped and comes looking for me? Oh hell.’ She zoned back in noticing the two extra faces that have joined.
“This way.” Jay directed them as they grouped behind him down the tarmac towards an old, Mid size jet ready on the runway. He stopped at the cascaded stairs, “Last chance if anyone is having second thoughts.” Roxy swallowed hard as she took her first step up the stairs.
She found herself across from Maci on the plane, comforted, she also hoped she wouldn’t talk her ear off. As she adjusted in her seat, Roxy took note of the passengers, tall brunette male, older bald male, male with beard, dark skinned woman. No Ben.
Jay came over the intercom speakers, “We have about a seven hour flight into the pacific. Get comfortable.” The engine roared and the lights flickered. There were beeps and dings in the background as we moved around the runway. We slowed down on what Roxy assumed was the beginning. Her heart pounding, she rubbed her hands together and intertwined her sweaty fingers. The trembling in her seat grew as the jet sped towards the end of the asphalt to take off.
In an instant the seat stopped rattling and she knew she was in the air. She looked over at Maci who was looking out the window and felt a slight relief. Staring at Maci, she wondered what her story was. Was she escaping also? She seemed happy almost. Her eyes closed as she inhaled deeply through her nose.
*****
The salty humid air hit her face. Roxy squinted as she exited the plane and questioned where she was. It was warm and sunny for being the middle of January. The six strangers followed Jay inside a gate towards a large, one story building budding up to a mountain side. They spilled into a room with leather seats and irregular shaped coffee tables dividing the chairs. “Alright, go ahead and get comfortable, you’re going to go in one at a time when your name is called and we will get everyone situated, it may take a while.” Jay dipped his head and left the room through the same doors we entered.
Roxy occupied the empty seat next to her and noticed the bald man to the right. The overhead music was soft and the sun spilled into the room from the atrium windows straight ahead. Looking at the other wall Roxy noticed a map of the Pacific Ocean, she observed the state lines were the original borders, making her realize they have been here at least fourteen years, that’s how long her dad has been gone. The map showed how far off the coast of the Old U.S. we were. She could barely see Hawaii from where she was sitting and saw a small red star some distance south of it. She figured that was where we were. ‘Comforting’ She thought, ‘Can’t leave now. Jay wasn’t joking.’ She looked up realizing, ‘Ben can’t find me here!’ Roxy wanted to jump out of her seat in excitement.
A young thin woman came into the room calling the bearded man back and they both retreated from the room. An hour and a half later and four different scenarios of what could have happened played out in Roxy’s head, she was the fifth one called back.
