Young Writers Society

Chapter One:

A small, dusty police car drove up the long, winding road to St. Mary’s Reform. It looked puny and unsophisticated in comparison to the grand building in the distance.
The car didn’t have air conditioning, and all of the windows were rolled up. Consequently, the passenger in the back seat was sweat-drenched, and breathing uncomfortably in the humidity. He was a kid, around sixteen or seventeen, with sweat-soaked ebony hair and stunning midnight blue eyes. His skin was tanned and glistening, his nose straight, his lips full, his eyebrows slightly arched and dramatic.
The passenger, named Luke Breinstein, looked once again at the police officer driving him, and asked for the fourth time, in a husky voice, “Will you please roll down the window.”
The police officer shook his head, replied, “Safety precautions,” and added, “We’re almost there anyway.”
Luke frowned, and mumbled, “What am I going to do, jump out the window?”
It had been a seven-hour car ride from the Juvenile Detainment center in Portland, Oregon, to this place, just a few miles shy of Seattle. Luke had spent the trip in the back seat of a smelly police car, handcuffed, listening to the oldies station and cursing the sun for existing.
Luke leaned up in his seat, trying to catch a glimpse of the reform school he would be attending. Even from a distance, he could see that it was a massive structure, made of red bricks. It had large, curved windows, thick French doors, two side-buildings and three arched roofs, the middle being the largest. For acres around the school there was clean cut green grass, well kept hedges and gardens, and trees that bore every kind of nameable fruit. Surrounding that area was a large iron gateway painted white.
The inside of the school was a labyrinth of maze-like hallways, stairwells and doors. Secret corridors led to unexplored rooms, and even underground passageways that led to unnamed places. It was no surprise that the mansion had once belonged to an eccentric millionaire. Because he had had no heir, his entire property had gone to the government, which decided to use the mansion, as a special needs school for both genders.
Luke didn’t like to think that he had special needs. He had certainly been able to get along for himself for sixteen years in the alleys of Portland and Seattle. Still, he hadn’t argued. St. Mary’s was obviously a holding center for delinquents of both sexes, and if the government wanted to send him to a fancy boarding school as an alternative to prison, he wasn’t arguing.
Pleased to see that the car was stopping, Luke waited as the police officer got out of the car, walked around to his door, and opened it. The cool autumn breeze felt like heaven after all those hours in the police car. Luke turned around against the police car so that the officer could take off his handcuffs, then stared at the French doors. They were encompassed in shade, with tall bushes on either side. Ivy climbed up the sides of the school, all the way to the roof, and clung there.
Luke heard some scattered laughter from inside the school, and became blatantly aware of the fact that he was literally drenched in sweat. The police officer seemed to notice, too. He grabbed Luke’s elbow, and almost dragged him up the stairs to St. Mary’s. There, he knocked on the door. When there was no reply the man knocked again, then again.
Luke sighed, and leaned on the doorbell. It clanged over and over until finally a woman came to unlock the door.
The woman had a wide, phony smile that dwindled when she saw Luke, then expanded an extra two inches to make up for its flaw. Her graying brown hair was caught up in a tight bun, and she wore a knee-length navy skirt with a matching blazer.
“Come in, come in,” she said, with that same simpering smile that reeked of phoniness. Luke thought if she grinned any wider her face would crack.
“Don’t hurt yourself,” he muttered under his breath.
“What?” She asked, placing her palms together and pointing them at him.
“Nothing,” he replied.
The police officer offered an equally fake smile and said, “Well, if you have this under control, I’ll be on my way.”
The woman nodded, “I trust you’ve sent the proper paperwork?” She asked.
The man nodded and walked out the door quickly. Luke took the moment to stare at his surroundings. The floors were made of black marble in an expansive room with high ceilings. Across the room there was a set of ivory colored stairs, that wound through several floors.
“Well, then,” the woman said, “I am Ms. Jeeves, Headmistress of St. Mary’s Reform. I’ll take you to our check in and get you all fixed up, all right?” Her smile looked more like a grimace to Luke, who nodded. She ushered him a long the floor, her high heels clicking the marble. “Do be careful not to scuff dear, the custodians are paid a considerable amount.”
They went up the stairs, to a second floor, where Luke was led through a web of hallways, which formed at acute angles and seemed to have no logic at all. Finally they came to a small brown door. Ms. Jeeves pulled out a ring of keys from the inside of her blazer, and unlocked the door.
The check in turned out to be a small, closet like storage space for clothes and books. Ms. Jeeves took a list from her pocket. “Luke Breinstein, I trust?” she asked. He nodded. “Ah, wonderful.”
Luke wasn’t about to ask why his name was wonderful, rather he put his arms out as she stacked clothes and books onto his arms from all sides of the room, consulting her list frequently.
“There!” She said, when Luke was thoroughly hidden by clothes and heavy, leather bound books. “Now, come along! Be quick, please, I haven’t all day.”
Luke stumbled along and followed the woman through the maze of hallways, until he found they were at some sort of door.
“This leads to your dormitory, dear, you’ll be sleeping in room D12 bunk 9, here is your list of classes and don’t be late for dinner, 6:30 sharp in the main room good day!”
Luke groaned and tried to open the door, wondering how he was supposed to find room D12 when he couldn’t see through his books. Finally, he got the door open, and succeeded to drop all of the clothes and books.
He picked them up and walked into the dormitory. Again Luke was faced with a maze of hallways, though this time there was no one to navigate it for him. The scratched wooden floors seemed more worn than the polished marble of downstairs, and Luke heard voices coming from different rooms, all labeled.
“Z43,” he mumbled, reading the dorm number, “N19, J22,” and finally, “D12.”
The room was large, with white walls, and rows of bunks, each with blue comforters and pillows. Luke couldn’t remember which bunk he was supposed to have, so he plopped his things onto an empty one.
He was, by this time, exhausted, but that did not stop a torrent of oncoming questions from the other guys in his dorm. They wanted to know who he was and where he was from and what he had done to be sent there.
Their questions were like sticking messy fingerprints into a fresh, open wound: painful and unpleasant. Luke didn’t want to think about his past, let alone share it with a crowd of curious strangers. So he excused himself, and, still hot and stinking resolved to find a shower somewhere in the building.


* * *


Hours later, having succeeded in doing nothing but getting thoroughly lost, Luke
decided to try to trek back to his dorm. He had absolutely no idea where he was, except that he was on the bottom floor of the school. Besides that he now had an incredibly strong body odor, Luke realized that he was painfully hungry, and had probably missed dinner.
“Stupid, retarded maze for a school...” he muttered under his breath, walking up to the first door he saw and opening it with a passion. To his mild surprise, it led outdoors. Well...anything was better than trying to configure the hallways again. Luke stepped outside into the fresh air. He was in the back of the school, facing a small but very thick forest, with little more than a spider-web thin trail leading into it.
Luke snorted, and walked around the side of the building. The sky was clear and blue, with traces of the moon coming as the sun sank into the horizon. Ahead of him there was a short expanse of pavement, a puce green Dumpster and...Were those legs dangling out of the side of it?
“ARRRRGHHHH!” Came a voice from inside of the Dumpster. Luke gave a quirky half-smile and jogged towards the bin, curiosity driving him forward.
“Hey,” he said to the protruding legs. He heard a high-pitched yelp and suddenly the legs disappeared into the side of the garbage. A moment later a bobby blonde head appeared, covered with the remnants of that night’s dinner.
“Uh, hi!” She said, stunned to see the newcomer. “I, uh, I don’t think we’ve met. I’m, uh, Ashlee,” here she stuck one spaghetti-covered hand down towards Luke. He shook her hand, still smiling. Ashlee had shoulder-length blonde hair, bright blue eyes and full lips, that were now stretched in an embarrassed sort of smile. She was pale and thin, and covered from head to foot with all sorts of odd, moldy foods.
“So,” Luke asked, “Do you always go swimming in Dumpsters after dinner?”
Ashlee blushed furiously and replied, “Uh, no, not always. Well, sometimes.” She admitted, grabbing a huge chink of mashed potatoes off of her shoulder and dropping it discreetly back into the Dumpster.
Luke smiled, then concealed it and asked, “Why?”
“Well,” Ashlee began, hopping down from the Dumpster and slipping slightly, “I kind of lost my retainer...again. Doesn’t help that it’s see-through. But Ms. Jeeves would just die if I wasted three years of braces. I can hear it now.” Ashlee gave that sickly smile and said, “Miss LaShae, I trust you’ve found that retainer of yours? No? Well my dear that simply won’t do!”
Luke laughed. “That’s exactly what she looks like,” he said informatively. “Except...older, and less...plastered in spaghetti.”
Ashlee smirked. “Right.”
“Wait,” he added, somewhat offhandedly, “You’ve been here three years?” He then began staring fervently at the red brick patterns of the wall and acting as though he didn’t realize how bad he smelled.
“No,” Ashlee replied, also keeping her eyes suspiciously away from his, as though that would deter from the fact that she was head to toe in rotting vegetables and condiments. “”I’ve actually,” she pulled a bit of bread crust out of her hair and made a face, “been here for about six months. Just got my braces off though.” She offered a dazzling smile.
Luke nodded. “Well, I can’t possibly smell any worse, so if you show me where the showers are afterwards, I’ll help you look for your retainer.
Ashlee looked stunned. “Really? Oh, sure, I’ll show you where the showers are...or at least I’ll get you back to the boys’ dorm. I know how confusing this school can be.” She gestured to the Dumpster. “Well...dig in!”
“Right,” he agreed, and combed into the Dumpster. I’ve dove in worse, he thought, and plunged headlong into the mass.
Unfortunately for Ashlee, she was wearing a skirt, but that didn’t deter her. Luke almost thought she was making a game of this whole messy business. He did want to find the retainer before dark.
“Haha!” Luke said, forty-five minutes later. “Victory!”
He held the disgusting, slimy sort of retainer up in the air like it was a rare treasure, rather than four inches of molded plastic. Ashlee looked shocked for a moment. “Oh, wow. You found it,” she said in unconvincing tones. She looked at him in a fake sort of ecstasy, then laughed and tackled Luke.
“Sweet!” she proclaimed. Luke stood up shakily, and tried to shed as much of the spaghetti/potato/salami as he could, then they made their way to the back of the school, through the side door.
“Ugh!” Luke said as they walked through the hallways, leaving an unsightly trail for the janitor, “What is that?” he asked incredulously. “Is that-is that like, casserole or what?”
Ashlee laughed at the disgusted look on his face. “I don’t know Luke,” she replied, still giggling.
Luke frowned, then pulled a piece of slimy spinach out of her hair. “You have nothing to say,” he informed her placidly, dangling it in front of her face Ashlee laughed, and bit at it.
“Come on,” she said, “I’ll take you to your dorm. After that, you’re on your own.”
“What?” he asked, “But you were supposed to tell me where the showers are. It was part of the deal,” he reminded her.
“Right. Except that I don’t know where they are. Sorry!” Ashlee shrugged, and led him up the stairs. “Not my problem.” He followed her through the halls to his dorm, and she added, "Don't worry, you'll get used to our school soon. Newcomers are always confused.”
Ashlee smiled one last time, put one sticky hand affectionately on his messy sleeve, and skipped away. Just as Luke opened the door, he heard her shout back at him, “Maybe we’ll have some classes together.
Luke nodded, and kicked an anchovy off his shoe. “Sounds good,” he mumbled, more to himself than her.



Chapter Two:

“So what’s up with these costume things?” Luke wanted to know when he saw Ashlee at breakfast the next day.
He was clothed in tan dress pants, a collared white button-up with a red sweater-vest over it, and a black tie. His hair was slightly mussed and lightly parted to one side, wavy around his ears, bangs just out of his eyes.
Ashlee laughed. “It’s what we call uniforms,” she responded, shoving a forkful of oatmeal into her mouth. Through her food, she added, “Besides at least you don’t have to wear a skirt.”
“Yeah. That would be scary,” Luke agreed, poking warily an obscure looking yellow square on his plate. “Are these supposed to be eggs or what?” he asked, apprehension in his tones.
“Uh, I think so,” she replied, making a face at it. “You’ll get used to it.”
Luke stared at a preoccupied Ashlee for a moment while she ate. Her hair was asunder on her shoulders, her eyeliner reasonably dark, her lips shiny with lip-gloss that smelled distinctly of strawberries, her cheeks slightly flushed and at the moment full of that unnerving yellow substance.
His stomach grumbled, as if annoyed with him for taking such a long time to eat, and, warily, he started eating his oatmeal, grimacing slightly at the sour taste.
“What are your classes?” she wanted to know, grabbing his schedule off of the pile of neatly stacked books by him. “Hey, wow, I’m in like, four of your classes!” Ashlee said brightly.
Luke nodded. “Cool,” he sputtered, making a serious attempt not to gag on his food. “How long, exactly, does it take to get used to the food, by the way?”
Ashlee laughed, and pulled a black hair-tie off of her wrist, using it to flip her hair into a messy bun, long bangs brushed to one side. “Oh, I dunno. I used to eat crap food all the time, I was pretty much used to it already.”
“Yeah me too,” Luke muttered darkly. Before Ashlee could question him he stood up. “Well, I’m done.”
“You sure? Lunch isn’t a lot better dude,” she informed him placidly.
“Yeah I’m sure.”
Ashlee grinned mischievously. “Then let me have your eggs.”

* * *

“I hate the gym uniforms. I don’t know why we even have gym what’s the point? So they can say, ‘Yeah, we get our kids plenty of exercise. Oh sure they never see the light of day but HEY, they can climb a rope tied to the rafters!’”
Luke stared at Ashlee for a moment, who wore short black spandex and a small T-shirt. “That was a nice little monologue,” he said, inspecting his fingernails with vague disinterest.
“Oh shut up. If you weren’t so engrossed with your fingernails...” she drifted off.
“I’m not,” he countered. “Why do you want to go outside or something?” His midnight eyes met her sky colored ones, and they held each other’s gaze for a moment.
After a moments pause: “Yeah,” she said. “I do. But we’re not allowed to. I mean, unless we lose a retainer or something you know...” she said, referencing the escapade of the previous day.
“Really? That’s crazy. But no one stopped me from going out,” he told her.
She grinned. “Sweet, we should totally sneak out, how about this afternoon after...”
Just then the gym teacher blew his whistle, and the students gathered around the rope. The mean was not your average gym teacher. Rather, he was a short, stocky sort of man in a little gray sweater-vest and loafers. He didn’t look like he’d ever worn a pair of shorts, let alone climbed a rope, which was exactly what he was asking the students to do know.
Pushing up his huge, red-framed glasses, the teacher began speaking in nasal tones. “For all you who don’t know me...” The entire class immediately turned to Luke, the first new student in three months, “My name is Mr. Normal Earthwhite. Now, we will be climbing in alphabetical order so...Luke Breinstein!”
Luke frowned, and Ashlee snickered at him slightly. With easy self-confidence, he clutched the rope with both hands, and shimmied up, using his knees for support. Within moments, he was down again, and the teacher was staring, dumbfounded.
“Well, that must have been a record, class,” Mr. Normal said. “Good job, Luke. Next...”
Ashlee’s jaw was gaping when he walked up to her. “Wow. Dude, athleticism, anyone?”
Luke blushed slightly. He wasn’t used to compliments. Ashlee grinned, and brushed her pale hand against his tanned one, smiling softly. He noticed she wasn’t wearing the retainer-well, he wouldn’t wear it right off after seeing the Dumpster, either, and anyway...
“Ashlee LaShae!” Mr. Norman sang out suddenly. Ashlee’s face paled-more, if that was possible, and sighed. She hated heights, and for good reason. With an encouraging smile from Luke, she walked to the rope, and began a slow but steady climb, grasping the rope so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Luke watched her, noticing her tremor. When she got to the top-which was no small feat, only select few actually got to the top-he noticed that she paused for a considerable amount of time (probably to steady herself, he thought) before reclining down the rope.
Mr. Norton nodded and verbally applauded her. Ashlee smiled shakily, and resumed her place by Luke. Just then Monica began gesturing madly for Ashlee to come over, so with a slight, meaningful look Ashlee joined her friend.
Judging by her look, she had something to tell him, Luke decided. Monica, a pretty brunette, was giggling with Ashlee, glancing at Luke every so often and giggling all the more when he noticed.
Luke frowned, and became increasingly standoffish throughout the rest of gym class. Ashlee, though apparently annoyed and trying to make her way back to him, was talking to that stupid, giggly girl instead of him...

* * *

“Luke wait up!” Ashlee called, trying to make her way to Luke in a hallway as crowded as a mosh pit. “Luke, wait!” she yelped. He stopped and turned around, giving her the same look of vague disinterest that his fingernails had earned earlier that day. She grabbed his arm. “Hey what’s up?” she wanted to know. “You seem mad. Are you?”
Luke looked at her, and wondered why he’d been angry with her in the first place. “No,” he replied. “Gym sucks,” he added.
“Yeah no kidding, hey guess what? Wait till you hear this!” Suddenly Ashlee looked around, suspicious, and tugged Luke’s hand. She led him into the library, a few paces away, and tugged him behind a row of books.
“What?” Luke demanded, now curious. “Hey,” he added, looking at the bookshelf. “Is that Moby Dick? I’ve always wanted to read that.” He grabbed it down from the bookshelf.
“Luke! Listen!” Ashlee insisted. He leaned his head closer to hers and suddenly she felt tingles inside, but brushed them away. “When I climbed the rope-I saw footprints on the rafter, and marks like someone had been there!”
Luke stared at her blankly.
“So you know what that means right?” she asked, enthused.
“Yeah sure,” he replied, reading the back of the book.
Ashlee almost gaped at Luke’s lack of interest in her-or perhaps it was his extreme interest in the book. Who was interested in those classics anyway? Then a sly, mischievous look came over her face. “So you’ll meet me tonight to investigate, then?” she asked, smiling innocently.
“Yeah, sure,” he muttered. “Hey how do you check these books out?”
Ashlee smiled, and took his arm. “I’ll show you,” she replied, something suggestive in the way she walked.

* * *

The night air was chilly, even in the dark dorm room. Luke huddled under his blankets, eyes squeezed shut, shivering. Around him, other boys breathed rhythmically, and a few snores broke through the silence. The glow of the blue moon cast shadows around the room, giving it a spooky air.
His books were stacked on the floor neatly, alphabetized, while his homework, finished and stacked according to class schedules, lay beside it, near his dress shoes.
He felt strange. This was Luke’s second night in a real bed besides the one at the Juvenile Detainment Center. After sixteen parentless years, it almost felt homey.
With soothing thoughts of illusionary parents and Ashlee...beautiful Ashlee, Luke felt his eyes become heavy, his thoughts groggy. Just as he was drifting off, he heard a noise.
Creak...
His eyes opened halfway, and Luke glanced at the door. A short shadow was cast upon the wall, and advanced steadily towards him until...
“Ashlee?”
“Hey, Luke!” Ashlee whispered enthusiastically. “So are you ready then?”
Now garbed in a pair of light blue low-rise jeans and a white T-shirt, with her hair caught up in a messy bun, Ashlee looked prepared for...something.
“Ashlee, what are you talking about?” Luke groaned, burying his head in his pillow.
“You know. Well, you agreed to it,” she replied, sitting down on the bed and ruffling his shaggy black hair. He sighed and let her play with his hair.
“How did you even get in here?” he wanted to know.
“Never mind! We were checking out the footsteps on the rafter that the rope was tied to...remember?” She clicked her flashlight on and off in his face.
“Whoa,” he moaned, annoyed. “No, I don’t remember.
A few groans around him let Luke know that the boys were starting to wake.
“Well,” Ashlee replied, oblivious to the others, “Get your pants on.” She shuffled through his drawers until she found the faded blue jeans he had arrived in.
Luke sighed, seeing that he couldn’t win, and pulled off his blankets, feeling the bite of cold air. He stood up in his boxer shorts and T-shirt, pulling on the jeans. Ashlee handed him his scuffed, worn skater shoes, and then dragged him along in the cold
Oblivious to the hallways they were navigating, he followed her blindly. Finally, they came to the gym door. It was locked, and Luke didn’t know why Ashlee was smiling. The entire trek had only served to exhaust him further, and he had class in the morning.
Then Ashlee pulled a bobby pin out of her hair, twisted it in her teeth, and proceeded to pick the lock.
“Impressive,” Luke appraised.
“Why, thank you,” she replied, and led the way to the gym. “Okay,” she said, shining her flashlight on the rope. It seemed long and ominous. “Um, you can go first,” Ashlee offered. “I’ll hold the flashlight.”
“Looking for...following the footprints...” Luke muttered. “Fine.”
He shimmied quickly up the rope, fingers numb. “Okay-toss me up the flashlight,” he said a few minutes later. Ashlee threw it up, but nowhere near where Luke could catch it, and it fell down and hit the safety mattress.
“Sorry!” Ashlee called, smiling widely, her cheeks red. She picked up the flashlight, and slapped it against her palm until the light flickered on again. “Okay, here we go,” she said, and threw it again. This time Luke caught it.
“Okay...” he said. “Yeah, hey Ashlee, I think you were right!” He exclaimed, surprised. “There really are footprints here, and marks...that lead,” he pointed the flashlight at the wall. “There.”
There was a raised sort of accent against the wall there; it seemed out of place amidst the rafters. Luke was pretty sure he could climb against it. Without thinking it through even vaguely, he clasped a beam above him, and stood up, inching his way along until he got to the wall. “He went this way,” Luke called, his voice resonating through the gym.
“Hey, wait for me!” Ashlee called, and began to slowly climb the rope, her face showing the strain.
“Ashlee, it’s not safe,” Luke said, though he knew there was no point trying to argue with Ashlee.
A few minutes later, she was by his side, clutching his hand and closing her eyes. “I hate heights,” she said.
“Smart idea coming up here, then,” he mumbled, shaking slightly with chills. Inch by inch, they climbed along. Once Ashlee’s hand slipped from grasping an extremely dusty beam. She just closed her eyes tightly.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked quietly.
“Yes,” she whispered.
When they came to the end of the wall they stopped. There were no other beams to climb. It was a dead end.
“All for nothing, then,” Luke said, leaning against the wall. Suddenly, the wall moved, and Luke had to grasp the beam quickly so as not to fall down.
“Holy crimany...” Ashlee thought to say.
They had found a secret passageway.

Chapter three:

“Well?” Ashlee asked. She shone the flashlight against Luke’s face.
“What?”
“Are you going to go in?” she asked in hushed tones.
“Oh, uh, yeah,” he replied. He stepped into the passageway, trying the floor with one foot to make sure it wouldn’t cave in. The two entered a small room, barren of anything but a cupboard and...
“Is that an axe?” Luke asked as he strode across the room. He touched it. “Whoa. Wonder what that’s for.” He turned around and looked at Ashlee. She shrugged.
“This is weird,” Ashlee said. “But you know this place was like, an eccentric millionaire’s home once or something...” she stared at the cupboard. “I wonder...” she tried to open it. It was locked. She smiled at Luke. “My specialty.” She took out a bobby pin, and started to work on the cupboard. Meanwhile Luke meandered around the room, holding the flashlight. The floor was made of a brick-like material. Luke noticed something odd on the floor. Suddenly, he felt a horrible, sickening sensation all over his body. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Someone was watching them...maybe through the keyhole in the cupboard.
“No good Luke,” Ashlee called back at him. “This is like, a real lock. Maybe if we had the key we could get in. But what could be in an old cupboard anyway?”
“Ash, let’s go,” Luke murmured anxiously. He grabbed her hand. “Come on!”
“Okay,” she agreed warily, letting him lead her. The climb back to the rope seemed endless for Luke, he thought he saw a pair of shiny eyes watching them from the hole in the wall.
Even worse, he was sure he’d seen blood on the floor.

* * *

“So, who are you?” A young man with chocolate colored skin and big black eyes asked Luke in the showers.
“Luke,” he replied, trying not to look at the other naked teenagers showering.
“Fresh meat, huh? I’m Ben. Whatcha in for?” Ben wanted to know.
Luke looked at Ben. He had defined facial features, a short black Afro that gave way to tiny ringlets, and a lanky built. He was probably 6’, an inch taller than Luke was, and he had a reasonably approachable demeanor.
“Um...”
“Rapist, yeah? You look like a rapist.”
“Uh, yeah thanks. What are you...in for?” Luke asked, lathering a slightly unreasonable amount of unscented shampoo through his hair.
“Armed robbery.”
So much for approachable.
“Yeah, huh? Well that’s...erm...cool,” he said, rinsing his hair out and wrapping a frayed towel around his waist. He sat down on a nearby bench, and was joined by Ben a moment later.
“Right, so are you going to tell me or what?
“Or what.”
“Why the secrets, Meat? I’ll find out eventually.” Ben toweled off and started to dress. “So,” he continued, “You getting some off the Ash-babe?”
“What?” Luke asked. “No, shut up man.”
“Come on, all the new guys hit on Ash,” Ben stepped closer. “She’s a babe!” He sighed, “I know I did, but with no results. So far, you’re the first guy to have more than a two-minute conversation with her.” He sat down next to Luke, who was brushing out his tangled mess of curly hair. “She was a stripper, you know.”
“What?” Luke asked angrily, standing up. His towel fell down, but he didn’t bother to pick it up. “Are you serious?” He demanded, bewildered.
“Yeah, serious,” Ben said, stepping back. “From some underage incorporation, back in Portland. Got busted a few months back, and here she is.” Ben frowned. “Now put some clothes on, man!”
Luke obeyed, but as he put his pants on, he asked, “Hey, Ben? How do you know?”
Ben shrugged, buttoning up his dress-shirt. “Everybody knows.”
“Oh.”
He could hardly believe it. She seemed to...bubbly and innocent to be a stripper. Of course, everyone had a past, but...
He wouldn’t think about it. He didn’t know what to say or how to act around her anymore. But he would have to figure it out; he had homeroom with her in half an hour.

* * *

“What’s wrong with you?” Ashlee demanded. She had stormed up to Luke, who was reading The Scarlet Letter in the Student Lounge. “And what happened to Moby Dick?”
“Finished it,” he muttered, still staring at the book.
“Yeah?” she asked her tone still rough. She sat down next to him. “How was it?”
“Disappointing,” he replied.
“Right. So...what’s your problem,” she asked, brushing her blonde brush-over bangs out of her face. “I mean, you barely talk to me in class, you won’t eat with me or my friends, you don’t even look at me when you pass me in the halls!” She breathed out quickly, then shifted positions on the couch so she wasn’t facing him. “Ever since that night...Luke that was weeks ago! I know we didn’t know each other for very long...but I thought we were friends!”
For once, Luke looked up from his book. “Yeah? Did you?”
Ashlee frowned, and sat back further on the couch. “Why are you being like this?” she demanded.
“Like what?”
“Like,” Ashlee frowned, “Grrrrrrr...”
Luke smiled halfway. “Did you just growl at me?” he asked, only mildly interested.
“Yes! Yes, I did! Because you’re frustrating!” She glared at him, and finally he met her eyes. She frowned.
“I don’t know Ashlee,” Luke replied finally. “You’re a...stripper, I guess.”
Ashlee’s eyes widened. “Who told you?” she asked, suddenly sad.
“I dunno. Some guy,” Luke replied, although he had become good friends with Ben lately.
“Well do you know what?” Ashlee asked angrily. “I was a stripper. And it wasn’t even my fault, you know that?” A tear fell down her cheek, then another, and her chin crinkled up. Luke stared at her, guilty feelings washing over him. “See, my dad he was pretty into girls, and sometimes he had his friends over when I was younger and we just had great times. Well one day, one of my dad’s friends, this guy, he owned a strip joint, and he just, like, asked if he could have me! Just like that, and he bought me!” She glared at Luke. “My dad just, like, sold me for fifty bucks booze money!”
Luke gasped. “I’m sorry, Ashlee. Really sorry,” he said.
“That’s not even all of it! This bastard who helped run the joint was always ‘testing out’ the strippers-yeah Luke, testing,” she said, noting Luke’s look of shock, “We did that too. And after he was done with them he KNIFED them, okay? So I guess I was pretty lucky to get out when I did, because he was pretty into me.”
Ashlee stood up to her full height of 5’3, and loomed over Luke. “But I guess you’re too good to be friends with a stripper-whore,” she accentuated the last word. “So I’ll go now.”
She stormed out the way she had stormed in, leaving Luke to stare at the swinging door wide eyed, book in hand.

* * *

“Where’s-“ Luke began, dodging a large orange ball in gym class, “Trisha?” He ducked, and jogged to the side.
“Dunno,” Ben replied, also ducking. “Lots of people are,” He put both hands out to slap a ball, “Running off.”
Mr. Earthwhite blew his whistles, and Luke and Ben’s team was on the offensive. They both tracked down a couple orange balls, and stood there, watching the pre-lunchtime chaos take place. The gym was loud, air thick with people screaming, and balls bouncing.
“Where are they going?” Luke wondered, chucking a ball as hard as he could at a short, unathletic fellow and hitting him squarely in the chest. With an oof, the boy fell to the ground.
“Dunno,” Ben said again, choosing a target and barely missing her.
Suddenly, a ball hit Luke in the back of the head, and he fell down on his stomach. “Ow,” he groaned, getting up. He looked back and saw an angry-looking Ashlee glaring at him. “We’re on the same team!” He shouted at her, the picked up another ball and threw it with a vengeance at the same boy he had just knocked down. They boy’s eyes widened, and he tried to duck but was still hit-this time in the stomach.
“Wonder why so many people are running away, what is it, two or three gone this month?” Luke asked, throwing the ball again at the same boy just as Mr. Earthwhite blew the whistle.
They switched sides, the boy Luke had hit three times staring at him frightened. The boy picked up a ball, and made a sincere effort to hit Luke-to no accord.
“What’s for lunch?” Ben asked, ducking.
Luke groaned. “Hopefully something edible,” he replied. Contrary to Ashlee’s report, three months later he had not gotten used to the food. Preoccupied, he didn’t see a ball flying towards him, and was hit in the leg.
Ben stared at him and laughed. “Yeah so you ever gonna talk to the Ash-babe again?”
Luke shrugged. “I think she pretty much hates me by now,” he replied.
Ben ducked as a ball flew at his head, bounced off the wall behind him and hit him in the back. “Buy her a Christmas present with a note or something,” he advised. “Girls love that stuff.”
Luke frowned. “Christmas-that’s coming up huh? I guess I could...” he shrugged. “But uh, except for I don’t have any money and there aren’t any stores at our disposal.”
Ben smirked. “So knit her a scarf,” he joked.
The bell rang, and all of the students made their way to the locker rooms to change and go to lunch. Luke scoffed, and muttered as he left, “Knit her a scarf.”

* * *

Chapter Four

Christmas was coming. The snow was freshly fallen on the ground, it was getting colder in the school, and semester finals were causing most of the students to huddle around the fire in the Student Lounge and study in a state of mild panic. Still, Luke and Ashlee hadn’t made up.
Four days before Christmas, a girl in tenth grade sat next to Luke on the large, overstuffed couch by the fireplace. She smiled at him, and he shifted positions so he was facing her more. “Hey,” he said, lowering his Philosophy book onto his lap.
“Hey,” she replied. “Oh, I got you a cup of hot chocolate,” she added, handing him a Styrofoam cup. She shivered. “It’s cold.”
“Uh, thanks,” Luke replied, taking a drink. It was warm, but not so hot that he burned his tongue. “I’m Luke” he said.
“Sarah,” she said. She smiled.
Sarah had medium long brown tresses and vividly green eyes. Her skin was lightly tanned, although Luke assumed she was partially Native American because there wasn’t any sun to be had lately. Her lips were full, her teeth extremely straight and white, her eyebrows arched.
She was Ashlee’s opposite in every way. And she was beautiful.
“Yeah, nice to meet you, Sarah,” Luke said, smiling. He noticed she was still shivering. “Here,” he stood up, offering her his place by the fire.
“Thanks,” she shifted spots. “You guys have it easy, we have to wear skirts,” she gestured at the long, gray pleated skirt she wore, then scoffed at the white socks. “As if giving us socks up to our knees is any consolation.”
Luke laughed, and took another drink of hot chocolate. “What classes are you in?” he asked.
Sarah named them, then Luke named his.
“You’re...sixteen then?” he asked.
“In three months. You?”
“Seventeen...in two months.”
“And are you with that Ashlee chick?” Sarah wanted to know, batting her long, thick eyelashes just slightly.
“No,” Luke replied, smiling halfway and raising an eyebrow. “I’m not.”

* * *

Christmas came with all of the usual festivities. Students exchanged gifts-those who had any-and that evening a magnificent Christmas dinner was served. Luke found it to be the first really good food the school had ever served. It consisted of turkey, beef, mashed potatoes, chicken legs and rolls. To drink they had the options of cranberry juice, apple juice, and soda. The fact that it was the cheap 25-cent brand didn’t matter to the students, most of them were sneaking six packs out of the gym when the teachers weren’t looking for later.
Then everyone gathered around an enormous Christmas tree in the Student Lounge that had been put up the day before, and hoarded over the presents the school had put there-all government funded. After searching for a long time, Luke finally found one with his name, and he crushed himself onto the couch next to Ben to open it.
“What’d you get?” Ben was asking before half of the snowman-smattered wrapping paper was on the ground.
He had received a crimson colored scarf, (apparently knit, Ben noted), pajamas, and a fifty-dollar gift card to the catalogue that was conspicuously placed in the Lounge-though no one had ever seen it before.
“Same as you?” Luke asked. Ben held up a navy blue scarf, and the same pajamas.
Luke laughed. “Well, it’s the thought that counts,” he decided.
For a quick moment he noticed Ashlee, holding up a light pink scarf, mittens, and a hat.
“Whoa look at that!” Ben said, watching the girls open their gifts. “They got more!”
“Yeah,” Luke said, staring at the slightly disgusted look on Ashlee’s face.
Just then, Sarah squeezed in-between Ben and Luke. “Hey,” she said, holding her present. She looked around at the other students’ gifts. “I wonder what this could be,” she said jokingly.
“Yeah,” Luke said. A boy in his class was coming closer to Ashlee-he was touching her arm, pulling her closer-and suddenly he was kissing her! Luke stared at them for a moment, then took Sarah’s arm. “Hey, come here,” he led her to the fireplace, and pointed up, slightly shyly. “Mistletoe,” he pointed out.
Sarah smiled. “I barely know you,” she said, singsong. Then she pulled his head down to hers, and they kissed, long and almost hard. She tasted like coconut, Luke noted. After a long, invigorating series of kisses, they stopped, realizing that the loud room had suddenly gone silent. Luke looked up. Everyone-including Ashlee, was looking at them. Then the room burst into applause. Sarah laughed, and Luke took her hand, leading her back to their place on the couch-which by now had been filled by several other students.
Sarah took her unopened present, Luke took his gifts, and then he led her out into the quiet, cold hallway. He scuffed at the faded blue carpet with one foot, then leaned against a cream-colored wall.
“So...” he said.
“You taste like coconut,” he informed her placidly.
Sarah laughed. “You taste like cream.” She touched his hair. “And you’re pretty cute.”
“You’re pretty,” Luke muttered, suddenly nervous.
“So...yeah,” Sarah said, tilting her head down.
“Yeah,” Luke agreed. He glanced back into the room. Ashlee was staring at him disdainfully. He pretended not to notice, but filled with newfound courage-and anger, he pulled Sarah close to him, and started kissing her again. She was only too willing to accept.

* * *

The gym’s bleachers were pulled out, and students of all ages were seated at random, packed full. Sarah was leaning against Luke’s legs, as he massaged her shoulders and played with her hair, while Ben was seated with his new girlfriend, Jordan. Ashlee was somewhere in the crowd, likely with one of her girlfriends or maybe her guy-of-the-week. Luke didn’t really care.
Just then, the Headmistress walked into the room; her cheerfully dramatic look replaced with one of stern resolution. She looked weary, for some reason, her tight bun just a tad looser than normal, a button on her blouse undone. “Students, as you may or may not know,” she began, just as Luke started whispering in Sarah’s ear. “There have been an extreme number of runaways lately. More in the last few months than ever in the history of this school. Due to this, security measures will be tightened.”
Luke looked up; this had caught his attention. “I guess that means we won’t be able to sneak out as much,” Luke whispered to Sarah. Their escapades to Seattle were well known amongst the students, though not the teachers. The two of them were known to sneak out just after their last class and hitch-hike the twelve odd miles into the city, then come back in the early hours of the morning. Luke had once again found work with his previous employer’s company, and was making a reasonable amount of money, even if it was only a part-time night job.
The Headmistress was still speaking; Luke tried to pay attention. “As you students may know, it is extremely unwise to run away from our fine establishment. Many of you are here on your parents bidding, some are sent from the State. In any case, this is not a Juvenile Detainment Center, and we are not treating you as such. But please bear in mind that those of you who were sent by the State will be returned to the State if you attempt to runaway. That is all.” Her stern, hard-edged look was expected to return to its usual state of sappy sweetness, but instead the Headmistress wearily ran a hand across her face, and walked out of the room quickly.

* * *

Luke sat on his bed, flipping through the catalogue, as Ben dressed for dinner.
“You really gotta stop sneaking out, Meat,” Ben told his friend. “You heard her, you’ll get sent back, screwed, over, done with!”
Luke yawned, and picked out a gift for Sarah’s birthday. “Yeah, I heard,” he replied, grabbing his jeans and stuffing them into his backpack. “And I also have,” he paused, and glanced away elusively, “Things to do.” He stuffed his shoes into the bag.
“What type of things? Screw Sarah? Because you can do that right here.”
Luke laughed, as he put down the ordering information in the catalogue and stuffed it in the envelope. “Man, I can do that in any of the spare rooms. I mean business.”
“Yeah, what kind?” Ben asked suspiciously, taking a few steps closer to Luke.
“Never mind, man, screw it,” he said. He took a brush and ran it over his hair. He brushed his overlong bangs out of his eyes, and grabbed the backpack. “Do me a favor and put this in the head lady’s box.”
He jogged out of the room, through a few of the corridors to the stairwell that led to the Dumpster. Looking both ways to ensure no one was there; he opened the door, and shut it quickly. He jogged around the side of the school towards the orchards. There was a little bit of snow on the ground but he walked around it. He grabbed a peach off of the tree before ducking into the woods.
The trees around him smelled musty, the dirt under his feet was soft, as Luke changed into his jeans and shoes, and took off the button-up, to reveal a white T-shirt. He set the clothes behind a rock, and put the emptied backpack on his back, then he jogged onto the main road and hitched a ride to Seattle.
He got as far as the central area, near the Dome, and had to walk downtown. It was overcast and chilly, the sidewalk was slick, and Luke wished that he had brought a coat.
After a long walk, he came to an old apartment building, much like the one he had known in Portland. He had always known that his employer had a stream of businesses in the Washington-Oregon area; it hadn’t taken him long to get hired in Seattle, one the business’s best locations.
Luke walked into the building. He jogged up the four flights of stairs, then knocked on the door. After a short pause, an older man opened it, then sat back on the couch.
“Kid’s here,” a man in his mid-twenties called to the back room. “Hey, Luke. How’s life?”
“Hi, Jay. Nothing much to speak of.”
Jay nodded. “Yeah, well, sit down. Take a load off. Tommy’s almost done with the orders.”
The apartment was old and ratty. It had tomato orange carpets and yellowed wallpaper that peeled off the walls and smelled of cigarette smoke. The linoleum in the kitchen was old and scuffed. There was a tiny table and four rusty chairs around it. Jay was cooking something on the stove. A door with a broken doorknob led to a closet-sized bathroom, and another led to the back room.
The old man sat on a dingy red couch in the living room, watching a TV that only half worked. At intervals he would answer the phone, usually with a “No,” or, “Wrong number.”
At one point, while Luke sat there tapping his thumb against the table, the man replied, “Yes, he’s here. Sure he can do that for you. Nine O’clock? That’s fine. No you’re not getting if for less that two hundred! Good. Fine. Okay. Yes, nine O’ clock. Goodbye.” He flipped the channel, only to get more fuzz, and called back to Luke, “You’re doing a job at nine. Make sure he shows you the money first.”
Luke nodded. “That’s fine, Benny.”
Just then a large, husky man came out, holding several different paper bags, none of them labeled. He handed them to Luke, who stuffed them into his backpack while receiving descriptions and addresses.
“And if any of them want jobs, make sure they call Benny to set it up,” the man added.
“Sure, Tommy, can do,” Luke replied. He hoisted the bag onto his back and started off to his first destination.

* * *

“Keep your eyes closed,” Luke said, leading Sarah on through the hallway. “We’re almost there.”
“Okay!” Sarah replied, excited. She bit her lip slightly, and smiled. Luke opened the door to the Student Lounge, and nodded at the others. “Okay, you can open now!”
Sarah opened her eyes, and gasped. The Lounge had been decorated with streamers and balloons (some of which had popped getting too close to the fire), and all of her friends were seated on the couches and the floor. A huge birthday cake sat on the coffee table, which read, “Happy Sweet Sixteenth, Sarah!” in blue and pink icing. There were birthday presents in stacks around the table.
“Surprise!” Everyone shouted, though not exactly in unison. Sarah clapped her hands happily, and leaned against Luke, who had his arm around her.
“This is great!” she said, almost tearfully. The crowd congratulated her, and ate her cake. After she opened her presents-most of which were from Luke, the crowd dispersed, leaving Luke and Sarah alone in the room.
“I didn’t do anything like this for you on your birthday,” Sarah said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him.
“My birthday celebration was great,” Luke replied, reminiscing on their nighttime activities of that day. “And anyway, I wanted to do something special for you,” he kissed her. “Because I love you.”
She smiled, and leaned on his chest. “Where did you get money for it all?” she wanted to know.
Luke smiled. “I have a job,” he replied.
“Really?” Sarah asked. “Like one of those school jobs where you do janitorial work?”
Luke laughed. “Sure,” he agreed. “Something like that.”

* * *

Chapter Five.


The snow melted as quickly as it came, and some of the students were preparing to go home for the summer. Finals came and went, with positive marks for Luke, Ben, Ashlee and Sarah, and soon it was time for students to leave for home.
Sarah, who had been sent by her parents, spent most of the week prior to her homecoming on Luke’s lap, crying and kissing him. “I’ve already written home,” she told him once. “My dad says he’ll pay for you to come out and see us in Spokane for a couple of weeks.”
Luke nodded. “Sounds great, Sarah,” he had said, kissing her. “I’ll do that.”
It sounded great not only because he cared for her, but also because there was a major spike in business in the Spokane area, and Tommy was only too glad to send Luke there to help out.
With a majority of the students gone, the school was quiet, and restrictions were lax for the people left over the summer. A bus came every day to take them to Seattle in the daytime, and picked them up at night. This made life easier for Luke, who could now work full-time, and come back at any hour in the morning without anyone noticing.
Ben was disapproving of Luke’s ventures, and himself got a job at McDonald’s. More than once he’d complained, saying that the school should start doing a head-count every night.
Luke agreed in his mind, but he was making a good amount of money, saving for college. He wanted to attend Gonzaga University after he graduated, like Sarah was.
Most of the days were the same, until one morning, upon his return to the school, he saw a note on his bed. He picked it up, and unfolded it. It read:

I know what you’re doing. I want to help. I’m good at this, Luke I’ve got experience too. Meet me by our Dumpster this morning before the bus leaves.

-Ash

Luke was shocked. How could Ashlee know what he was doing-at least in that sense? He had scarcely told Ben about the drug dealing, but the rest of it...who could have told her?
He checked the clock. It was 4:30. He sighed. Yet another sleepless night, then. He went to the empty showers, and took a long, hot shower, and then he brushed his teeth exceptionally well, as he always did.
At 7:30, half an hour before the bus left, he walked down to the Dumpster, in his new jeans and a long sleeved white shirt with a short sleeved navy colored T-shirt over it.
Ashlee was already there, leaning against the Dumpster. She was dressed in a pair of tight light blue jeans and a light blue halter-top. She wore a few chunky silver bracelets and rings, and hoop earrings. Her blonde hair was down, still cut short around her shoulders. As usual, she wore dark eyeliner and clear lip-gloss. Her arms were folded in front of her chest.
“Hey,” he said, brushing his hair out of his face. He wasn’t angry or upset, just nervous.
“Hi,” Ashlee replied, nodding her head slightly. She smiled, and walked towards him. “So can you get me in or what?”
“Um, yeah I guess, I mean I’d have to ask.” He shrugged. “Well, I just do women and blow-jobs, when they ask for it. But people are always wanting a girl, and we only have a couple, you’d be especially popular, you’re underage...”
“Yeah, so you can?” Ashlee asked.
“Yeah. But, um, Ash, how did you know?” Luke wanted to know his hands in his pockets.
“Just guessed, really,” she replied, walking with him towards the bus. “But, you know...”
“I can trust you, right?” Luke asked.
“Yes, of course,” she answered, laughing softly.
“Tell me something first,” he said, pausing next to the lawn, as he waited for the bus to come.
“What’s that?” she asked, looking him in the eyes.
“Why?”
“You tell me.”

* * *

“Hey, Benny?” Luke said, later that morning.
“What, Luke, can’t you come in I have orders, Luke, orders!”
“No, I’m coming,” he said, holding the payphone in his hand. “Um, I just wanted to know-there’s this girl from my school, she wants in. She’s good, she has experience. I trust her.”
There was a pause. “How old?”
“Sixteen.”
Another pause. “She pretty?”
“She’s beautiful,” Luke replied, staring at Ashlee. She smiled, and looked at her shoes.
“What kind of experience,” he asked. Luke could hear Tommy shouting at one of the deliverer’s in the background, and Jay yelling for them all to shut up.
“She was a stripper and a whore. She worked in Portland.”
“Yeah really?” Benny asked, sounding intrigued. “You know Boss had some joints in Portland.”
“Oh?” Luke replied. “Yeah, well, maybe she was one of his girls.”
“Okay, Luke, bring her in. Let’s have a look-see.”
“’Kay, be there in half an hour.” He hung up the phone.
Ashlee smiled. “How does it look?”
“You’re in, as long as Tommy likes you. So, what was your employer’s name?” he added.
“I...” she paused. “I think it was Robert or something like that.”
“Oh,” Luke replied, realizing he may be connected to this girl in more ways than he knew.

* * *

“So, do all of the delivery boys sell sex too?” Ashlee wanted to know later that day, as they shared a meal at the local McDonald’s (they didn’t really like the food, they just liked to laugh at Ben flipping burgers).
“Nope,” Luke replied. “Two in Seattle before I came, and a few of us back in Portland.”
“And you’re completely comfortable with this?” she asked, taking a drink from his chocolate milkshake.
“Yeah,” he replied, shoveling the hamburger into his face.
“Hypocrite,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“Hypocrite,” she dunked her fry into the tartar sauce and ate it. “You were mean to me for...I dunno at least a month or two when you found out I was a stripper.”
“Oh yeah...well, I had my reasons.”
“Which were what?”
Luke took a drink of her Coke. “If I told you that,” he replied, “I wouldn’t be all secretive and mysterious, would I?” He smiled.
She laughed. “I guess not.” There was a long pause, and then: “Does Sarah know?”
“No,” Luke replied his face suddenly blank. He stared at Ashlee, then grabbed his milkshake. “I’m done.” He picked up his heavy backpack, and flung it onto his back.
She picked up her still-full Coke. “Me too.”
They left the mess on the table for Ben. Luke saluted him as he walked out the door, and they made their way into Seattle. Luke accompanied Ashlee to her first couple of jobs, instructing her on essential things like always having a pocketful of condoms and special things she could do to make her customers want her more, thus raising her market value-and paycheck.

* * *

“Can I ask you something?” Ashlee asked, sitting on the bed next to Luke’s and watching him pack.
“Shoot,” he replied, taking his neatly folded shirts from his drawer and placing them carefully in his suitcase.
“Do you love her?”
Luke paused for a moment, then continued to pack. “I don’t know,” he answered. “I-I care about her. Love, Ash, that’s a strong word. I don’t think I’ve ever felt love. If I did, I guess I’d know.”
Ashlee sat up on the bed. “You’ve never loved? But what about your parents?”
He finished packing, then closed the suitcase before he looked up at her. “I never knew my parents,” he answered. “Their loss.”
Ashlee was stunned. “Well, who raised you?”
Luke sat down across from Ashlee. “Bobby.” he replied. “Robert to you, I guess.”
“The guy in charge of...I don’t know, everything?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that why you’re so comfortable with this?” she wanted to know, her face showing her surprise. “Because you were raised in the middle of it.”
“Yeah, I guess,” he replied. “Look, I dunno Ash, I don’t want to be here. I guess I’m stuck but out there,” he pointed to the window, “That’s what I’m used to. That’s what I’m good at, Ash. If I had the option to I’d be out of here in a second.”
“Why don’t you run away like everyone else?”
“What, so I can have the cops all over me again? That’d be great, Ashlee. Just great.”
Ashlee paused, then lay back on the bed. “Doesn’t seem like a guy like him would just take in a kid. Did they like, leave you on his doorstep? Or is he your uncle or something?”
Luke laughed halfway, and shook his head. “Neither,” he replied. Suddenly he noticed her position, and he smiled. “What are you doing, taking a mid-day nap?”
Ashlee laughed. “Nope,” she replied. Then, thinking better of it, she got up, and took Luke by the hand. “Your flight leaves at eight, right? And you don’t have to be there ‘till six. It’s four now.”
Luke smirked. “Thanks for the news flash,” he said.
But Ashlee wasn’t done. “All the other guys are off in Seattle, working their day jobs.” She reached up, and took his head in her hands. “Which leaves you here...to me.” She lay back down on the bed, propped up by her elbows; her light blue skirt sprawled out on the bed.
Luke suddenly smiled. “It does, doesn’t it?”

* * *

Chapter Six

The flight to Spokane, an hour and a half in length, went quickly, and Luke thoroughly enjoyed the complimentary beverages and peanuts he got in Coach. Sarah was there to meet him at the airport with her parents, and the moment he got there he was showered with kisses. Afterwards, it was a formal, “Luke, meet my father, George Stanton, and my mother, Henrietta.”
After shaking a few hands, he was led to their Mercedes, and driven to Sarah’s home, on the South Hill, one of the richest places in Spokane. Apart from it being a great house, there was a spectacular view by the side of the mountain, and a park and pool a few blocks away.
Not to mention it was close to downtown, where Luke had a few things to do.
Under the pretense of “visiting some relatives,” Luke escaped a few days later, and helped out at the local station, where they were up to their necks in deliveries. After a little while, he prepared to go back to Sarah’s place. His new friend Tanner walked up with him, hoping to get an invite to dinner under the pretense of being a cousin.
“The boss’s done pretty good though,” Tanner said at one point in the conversation. “With all of the incorporations, and not a single bust-up until you, but anyway you were just a delivery boy and you kept your mouth shut, so that didn’t really matter.”
Luke shrugged, and nodded, as they walked uphill on the cracked sidewalk, in the suburbs of Spokane.
“Except for that issue at the strip joint a couple years back. This psycho started killing off all the girls. Like a serial stripper-murderer. Killed them all the same way, too, I guess.”
“That’s sort of what serial killers do,” Luke muttered, but Tanner went on.
“He had this little room where he would keep them, you know? And when they found the girls, they were all hung up on the wall like ornaments. The guy had wire he’d use to tie their hands above their heads after he killed them. Basically it just about cut their hands off.”
Suddenly Luke felt sick. That was what Ashlee had been talking to him about! She had worked at that strip joint! He hadn’t really taken in her words all those months ago when she explained it to him, and suddenly he realized how much she must have gone through.
“Anyway,” Tanner was still talking, “They never caught the guy. Apparently a relative sheltered him, somehow, and he got away.”
Luke nodded, sick to his stomach. “Well, here we are,” he said, pointing to Sarah’s house. “So, I’ve got to go.”
“What’s that?” Tanner wanted to know. “What about...?”
“Squeeze an invite somewhere else, dude. I’ve got to go.” Luke walked up to the door, opened it, and shut it with a slam.

* * *

“Heard you didn’t do crap at the