Elysian

Escape

"What?" I question loudly, thinking I must have misheard her. 

"Per your father's request you will be attending our facility until you're deemed mentally fit enough to reintegrate into main stream society," She explains, approaching my bed.

"Normally we'd have a more in depth conversation about your transfer process but unfortunately we don't have enough time so here read this," She instructs, handing me a leaflet.

"I'm not going to any facility," I scoff, discarding the leaflet to the side. 

"Unfortunately Miss Kingston this is happening wether you agree or not, you can either come with me willingly or we'll have the psychiatric team remove you," She says sternly, starting to remove the wires attached to my body.

I pull my arm away harshly, acting ruder than I usually ever would. I don't want help, I never did so you best believe that I'm not going to seek it at some random place my dad clearly chose just to get rid of me.

My heart beats rapidly in my chest as she looks at me impatiently, waiting for me to decide if I want to do this the easy way or the hard way.

"Can I at least say goodbye to my friends first," I sigh, trying to look defeated. "Alone," I specify when I see that she's made no effort to exit the room.

"Five minutes," She states, her shoes squeaking along the shiny white floors as she scampers out the room.

The door clunks shut, leaving the room in a tense silence. 

"I know this is hard but it's probably the right decision Jules, you need-" Jayden starts but I cut him off with the loud sound of me ripping my iv out of my arm.

"What the fuck," Carter abruptly stands up, gripping my wrist. "What are you doing?" He questions angrily.

"Well I'm not going to Coventry," I laugh, feeling slightly unhinged as remove all the other wires. 

"Yeah but the nurse said it was mandatory," He reminds me softly, speaking to me like I'm on the verge of breaking.

"Yeah and she also said I have five minutes and look," I rush out, motioning to the window. "First story window," I state, insinuating my escape plan.

"You must be kidding," Sy is the first to reply, his eyebrows raised in shock. 

"Juliet calm down, let's just think for a minute," Carter reasons, the worry evident in his eyes. I can tell he's serious when he calls me Juliet, something he rarely does.

"So you want me to be taken half way across the country, is that what you're saying?" I ask, clearly offended.

"Of course not Kingston," He assures, staring into my teary eyes. He goes to open his mouth to say something else but I beat him to it, "Well great then let's go," I clap, jumping off the bed.

I pry the window open, pushing against the white frame while they all stare at me in bewilderment. "Juliet," Dex warns as I swing a leg out, causing my socked feet to come in contact with a leafy bush.

I roll my eyes, swinging my other leg out before pushing off the window and landing on the dirty floor. I storm off, shoeless, car less and with no real plan.

Tears start brimming in my eyes as I realise that my life has crumbled apart. 

Embarrassment courses through me as I realise that all my friends know that I tried and failed at taking my life and that my dad is an abusive prick.

"Juliet wait!" A voice calls out from behind me. I turn and see them all storming towards me, except Jayden who is still lowering himself out the window. 

I stop in my tracks, the rocky carpark hurting my feet and creating holes in my socks. "Kingston," Carter sighs, finally catching up to me.

I wrap my arms around my torso, looking anywhere but his eyes as tears start dripping out of mine. 

"Don't stress," He says, wiping my tears away with his rough thumb. "If you don't want to go then you're not going," He reassures, lifting my chin to meet his eyes. 

I let out a small sigh of relief, thinking he'd try and convince me to go. 

"Hey!" An angry voice calls out, effectively interrupting us. We turn and see that the nurse is stationed in the window seal, her hands gripped to the frame as she stares out at us angrily.

"Get back here," She screeches, a look of disbelief plastered across her face. "Security!" She shouts behind her shoulder.

"Come on," Dex urges, already starting to book it down the carpark. I follow suit, running until we eventually stop in front of a tiny red car.

Dex climbs into the drivers seat with Sylus in the passenger and the rest of us crammed into the back.

The car comes to a start, the engine rumbling as Dex hurriedly drives towards the exit. My cheek is pressed up against the cold glass as I watch security storming through a fire exit door, most likely searching for me.

The drive is quiet and tense. I can tell they all have questions to ask me but none of them dare to be the first person to break the silence.

"Drop me home please," I say unsurely. 

I don't know what will happen when I get home or if I'm even still welcome there but realistically I have nowhere else to go.

It remains silent for a few seconds before a collective scoff is heard throughout the car. "What?" I question, wondering why they found that so amusing. 

"There's no way I'm taking you back there," Dex rings out from the front seat. "Yeah fuck that," Sy interjects, lighting a cig.

"Where else do you think I'm going to stay?" I huff, rolling my eyes. "Well that's obvious," Carter snorts.

"You're going to stay with me."