Sins in the Snow

I have so much to do before tomorrow and I don't know what to start on or even how to start. Sometimes I wish I could just sit and chill and not have anything to worry about - oh, wait. I did. It's called Summer Break. Stupid me...

Anyways, thought I'd share a story with you guys and see how you like it.


I run my hands over the smooth, brown bark. It feels as though I was just here not too long ago... It's been an eternity since I came here, and yet, it still looks the same.

My two-year old runs around in the snow, making light giggling noises as he catches snowflakes with his tongue. I smile at him and all of a sudden, a pair of arms wraps around me. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" I turn around to face my husband and push him away playfully, but as I look into his eyes, I know I can't lie to him.

"What's wrong? You haven't spoken a word since we got here... What's so bad about this place? We did, after all, go to high school here..." I take a deep breath and shake my head.

"It's nothing, really." He takes a step towards me and cups my face in his hands, brushing his thumbs back and forth across my face. He searches my eyes for a moment, trying to understand why I am so upset, and right as he leans down, there is a loud cry coming from where our son is.

We both turn to see our red-faced son sitting on his bottom, crying his eyes out. My husband runs over to our son and I lean against the old tree. You know why I'm upset... He has to live a life without any idea of who he is.

And he'll never fit in. He'll never be normal. It's all my fault, too... If only I could have been more careful. We could have come out of this without any problems, but no... We had to have our son chosen for the Pods. How could they just take him away like that?!

"No, I won't let them!" My husband turns to face me, with our son in his arms, and when he sees my face, he just shakes his head.

"I won't either... That's why we came here. To start over..." I take another deep breaths, trying to calm the beast raging inside of me. My husband hands our sleeping son to me and I take him in my arms, brushing a strand of brown hair behind his ear. I press a kiss to his small forehead and a small tear escapes my eyes, rolling down my cheek.

"We are coming back here for him, Jade. Do you understand?" I look up at my husband and see that his eyes are glowing a fiery red.

"Lucian..." He closes his eyes and shakes his head before looking back at me. He looks away from me once more and I notice a tear drop fall to the ground. "It's-"

"Don't! Don't defend me!" A deep growl rises in Lucian's throat and before I know what's happening, Lucian's on the ground with his head resting on our two-year old's stomach.

"Daddy?" Layton looks up at his father, and as I kneel down in the snow, I wrap my arms around the two of them.

"Sh, Layton, it's okay..." I hear a car door slam shut and then Layton is gone. I whisper optimistic thoughts to my husband, but mostly they are for myself. "He'll come back. I know he will..."

Layton was brought back three months later. Considering that he was just a child, he had no idea what had just happened to him. None of us did, really... All we know is that when you are two years old, you are taken to a hospital and a lot of tests are taken to make sure that you are ready for the Pods.

When Layton turns twelve, he'll be made to enter a maze that is meant to take out the weak members of society. It is of such great magnitude that it takes two months to complete. Everyone is chosen to enter, but only six percent of people come out of the maze. Lucian and I were two of the lucky ones.

After the first maze, you are put back in one until you turn seventeen. The next five increase in difficulty, but the time is cut short. The second is seven weeks. The third is five weeks. The fourth is three weeks. The fifth is three weeks. The sixth is two weeks. The seventh is only one week.

You go to school one day and then the next, half of your class is gone. By the end of the week, only four classmates return. It's scary, never knowing when you might have to enter the Pods...

That's why Lucian and I are running. We don't want Layton to have to go through what we went through. We will do anything for him - that is why we have decided to go into hiding. No one will know who or where we are. They won't even know we're gone.

We've moved every month since then. Lucian teaches Layton in schooling and other methods that we use. If we are ever found, we'll be ready. We have a secret that no one has ever figured out before...

Until that day happened...