Chapter 221 221
Sabine POV
I trail the couple as they step off the bus and disappear into the train station. To keep up, I weave through the press of commuters people rushing, heads down, minds fixed on catching the train that will take them home. Everyone is in motion. Everyone belongs here.
They slip through the barrier just as the train pulls in, doors already open. Perfect. At least I won’t have to linger and risk being noticed.
I follow them straight to the barrier and push forward.
It doesn’t move.
“Ticket?” A uniformed attendant lifts an eyebrow at me, unimpressed.
“No?” I say slowly. “I thought you could get one on the train?”
“It’s sold out. Pre-reservation only.” He clicks his tongue like I’ve insulted him, like I’m trying to steal a free ride.
I was. Though I could pay just not right now.
Bloody cheek.
Well. There goes that plan. Bugger.
My throat suddenly feels dry, craving cold water, so I duck into a small coffee shop near the platform. It reminds me painfully of the places Mum used to take me warm, familiar, safe.
I grab a bottle of water and a sandwich from the fridge and place them on the counter, freeing my hands to dig out some cash. I pull a note from my pocket and lay it down
and the server immediately thrusts a small, strange-looking computer toward me.
“We’re cashless,” she says, smiling like a machine.
“Excuse me?” I stare at her. What the hell does that mean?
“No cash. Card only. Or from your phone’s wallet?”
She might as well be speaking another language. She’s already looking at me like I’m odd, and I’m not helping myself staring down at the phone in my hand, half-expecting some secret wallet to magically appear.
“Here… unlock your phone.” She brings it close to my face.
The screen lights up. Then asks for a code.
“Oh. That’s… odd.”
“It’s not my phone,” I blurt. “It belongs to my friend. I lost him and thought he might find me here.”
Well done, Sabine. Thinking on your feet.
“Yeah, he should be able to track it if he’s got the right app,” she says easily. “It’ll lead him straight to you. Sorry, I really can’t take cash but there’s a small supermarket around the corner that does.”
Track my location?
Also… what is an app?
“Okay. Thanks.” I step out of the queue, letting the people behind me move forward.
Shit. Bugger. Shit.
It feels like the world has raced ahead without me, sprinting forward while I was locked away, unaware. I could kill Father for hiding me when everything was finally becoming interesting.
I don’t even know how to use this stupid phone why did I take it? I drop it onto a small coffee table as I shove my cash back into the hidden pocket sewn into my leggings. It’s not very hidden with that bulky wad pressing against my thigh, but my long T-shirt helps disguise it.
What am I supposed to do now?
I didn’t even think to take my medicine the one Father insists I need every single day.
He says I have diabetes. Says I need the insulin shot daily. But I stopped eating sugar after Mum died, grief hollowing me out, leaving me thin for years. I’ve only started filling out becoming more woman in the last two.
Still, with the rubbish that guard forced on me every night this past week, I can feel my body craving the medicine more than ever.
I need somewhere to sleep.
Three hours until dark.
Maybe I can catch another bus. I just need to keep moving. Always moving. Maybe I should have planned this better but chances to escape don’t come often, and when they do, you jump or you lose them forever.
“Hey—hey! Excuse me, you’ve forgotten your phone!”
The voice follows me as I step out of the shop.
I don’t turn back.
I don’t stop.
I keep walking.
I need to keep moving.