Juncture 4.3

“Sandra and Kenneth,

I’m leaving. I know that writing it like this isn’t such a good way to tell you, but I don’t want to have to deal with telling you. This is easier.

I know that I haven’t always been the best. I’m no good in school, and I don’t enjoy being at home. There’s no reason for me to stay here. I think I can do better somewhere else.

I’m taking all of my stuff, too.

So tell Ron that I said goodbye. I’m going to miss him.

Don’t look for me.

-Marc”
I finished writing the letter, folded it and left it on my bed. That left me with the issue of how to get out of the house without Sandra or Kenneth noticing. I could wait until they both fell asleep, but that could be hours from now.

I looked around the room for something that would facilitate my escape. I was greeted with the sight of exactly nothing useful. There was the normal crap that I had decided not to take, like the sheets on my bed, a pillow, and some really old coloring books.

I walked over to the closed window across the room from my bed. With some grunting, I managed to wrench it open. It squealed sharply as it rose and stuck in place. A fine mist started wafting into the room from outside, but it had apparently stopped raining. That was nice, at least I wouldn’t get soaked during my daring escape.

I looked down – the fall wasn’t that bad, maybe ten or fifteen feet to the ground. I took the bag I had, pushed it through the window’s small opening and held it above the ground.

I dropped it. As the bag slid from my fingers I realized that it might make a noise when it landed. I held my breath waiting to hear the impact-

-and there was a soft thud from the bag landing. I let my breath out in a soft hiss. I was next. I swung one leg up and through the window, then the other one right after it. Inside, I held myself up with my hands as my feet searched for a hold or grip anywhere on the side of the house.

Aha! My left foot had found a crack in the wall and managed to stick. I pushed down, supporting my weight on the crack. I grabbed the sill and slowly lowered myself until I was holding myself up by it entirely.

I looked down – somehow, the fall to the ground seemed longer than it was when I was inside. There wasn’t much that I could do about that now though. I prepared to let go when there was a snapping sound.

I dropped fast. Before I had time to react I hit the ground feet-first. My legs buckled and I fell backward, rolling for a good five feet. I laid on the ground for a couple of seconds, groaned, and got back up. If I had been inconspicuous before, someone was sure to have heard the sharp crack when I fell.

I grabbed the bag of stuff and started walking away as fast as possible. Every couple of seconds I looked back to see if someone had noticed. Nobody came out, and I turned down the street back to where the office was unnoticed.

It was unnerving, looking for the room. I couldn’t see it anywhere, I felt blind. When I got to the approximate location, I walked forward with my arm extended until I hit a hard surface. The office.

I knocked on the door. It swung open as soon as my clenched fist made contact with the metal surface. I walked inside, appreciating the warmth. As I crossed the threshold, it occurred to me that when the office was disconnected from headquarters it should also be disconnected from the central heating. That was moderately unnerving.

Major General Siegfried was sitting behind the desk, writing something on a large sheaf of papers with an ornate silver pen. He capped it and looked up with a knowing smile.

“Well, how did it go?” he asked.

I grimaced and shrugged, “It was probably the best that it could have gone, but it still wasn’t good. At least I’m done with it now. I left my foster parents a note.”

Siegfried’s eyebrows furrowed. “Will they look for you?”

I put my bag down on the floor and flopped onto the soft plaid couch. “They’ll go through the motions, I think. But they won’t try too hard. It helps that I didn’t leave any trace.”

He nodded and tapped on his computer keyboard. “Well, that’s good then. I’ve been informed by Dierdre that you’re to have the rest of the day off. You have another mission tomorrow.”

“Another one?” I was surprised, “Where to?”

“Nowhere too bad. You’ll be going with Jake to obtain intelligence from the Roman Republic.”

“Rome?” I asked, “Like ancient Rome? That’s pretty neat.” Then it clicked. “With Jake? Why?”

Major General Siegfried picked up his pen and began scratching away at the paper. “He has skills that will be useful during your mission.”

I shifted my weight on the couch, ending up in a reclining position. “The teleporting thing, yeah?” He nodded. “Cool.”

The rest of the trip was spent in amicable silence. When we got back, I went straight to Avice’s field. Even though I was given the day off there was no way I could do nothing. Avice was there meditating, so I began running.

The field was beautiful. As I ran, I found the eponymous edge of the field. It turned out that the entire thing was the top of a grassy cliff. The edge overlooked a sparkling sea of glassy clear water. It was a refreshing run.



I got back to my quarters several hours later, showered, and went to sleep early in preparation for the mission tomorrow. I was certain that it was going to be difficult, if only because it was with Jake.