The Runaways

Chapter Thirty-Four - Reality Is Better Than Dreams

Warren

"Norah?"

"Norah?"

"Norah?!"

The black and white forest seemed to go on forever. I couldn't remember where I came from and I couldn't see it's end. The trees were all the same, all planted and grown in perfect rows creating an eye straining pattern. For all I knew I could've just been walking in circles this whole time.

"Norah!?"

My throat felt sore from calling out.

"Norah? C'mon... please..."

"Daddy?"

I whipped my head around as fast as possible. A little girl appeared in front of one of the rows of the gray over arching oak trees. Her blonde curly hair was matted and tangled. Her face was covered in dirt and scabs. She was wearing nothing but an oversized gray shirt that was covered in dirt and tears. She had chains around her hands and ankles. She stared at me with hazel eyes that did not belong to the six year old I once knew, but it was the eyes of pure anguish of a child who had been catapulted into some of the worst in the world.

"Norah..." I breathed and slowly walked over to her, kneeling in front of her so I was at her eye level opening up my arms and waiting for her to embrace me just like she used to.

"Why didn't you stop them? Why did you let them take me Daddy?"

"No, no, Norah I tried I fought so hard..."

"You didn't fight hard enough."

My arms sunk to my sides, "I know."

"You know no matter how hard you try, no matter how hard you fight, you can reverse what they're doing to me."

"I know."

"You know I'll never heal from this."

"I know."

"You know I'll never forgive you for not being strong enough."

"I know."

"I liked it better when Mommy was around. If you could've kept your marriage together like a man maybe she would've fought hard enough for me."

"I know."

"What kind of father can't protect his daughter?"

"Me."

"What kind of person brings a child into a world this dangerous?"

"I'm so sorry Norah."

"Sorry doesn't bring back my innocence. You know that."

"I know, I know but you have to know how hard I've tried... I've tried so hard to protect you,I'm trying so hard to find you, I'm going to try so hard to make it up to you. I promise."

"A good father doesn't just try. He just does It."

I woke up in a cold sweat on the cold itchy grass. I just laid there for awhile, I was always tired, some nights I don't get any sleep, some nights I never reach REM and thus feel like I slept for five minutes. But when I do sleep well enough it's always nightmares like that. Reciting the thoughts that had ran through my head a million times but this time spoken through my daughters voice. It's like it's own sick form of torture. But who can blame her? She has every right to feel those feelings. Sure she's still only six and isn't able to think at such a capacity like that yet, but she's still probably thinking about where I am and why I haven't come to get her yet, and why they're doing so many bad things to her.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, glancing up the sun had just started to rise. Inside of the small tent the other had made from sticks and bushes was just me Corban and Remington. I pulled my bag over onto my lap and began looking through to make sure I had everything I would need. I was hoping me and Cleveland could leave soon so we wouldn't bother the others.

"Warren?"

I looked over and saw Corban lifting his head up and squinting in the bright morning light.

"Sorry," I whispered, "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Are you leaving?" Corban asked in a sad voice.

"Yeah, I am."

Corban gave me a sad look before he slowly sat up wincing from his injured back. He reached over and grabbed his jacket and pulled out from one of the pockets an envelope filled with paper and handed it to me.

"I wrote down everything I thought would be useful for when your looking for your daughter. How they switch out the kids, where she might be, when she may be rotated next... all that." Corban whispered.

I held the envelope in my hands feeling how much paper was in there, how much information Corban had to dig through years of trauma for to get for me. I looked back at him and smiled, "Thank you so much. I know this must've been so hard for you... I wish there was a way I could repay you."

Corban looked like he wanted to ask me something but he just smiled back, "I wouldn't be any better than the Syndicates if I'd didn't do what I could to help more kids like me out of there."

"Thank you Corban. I really mean it." I said. I sat there for a moment just enjoying the relief of knowing I have a chance of finding her, "Corban?"

"Yeah?"

"What were you thinking when you were her age? I know its a sensitive question, but did you hate your dad?"

"No. Not at all, I've never actually have. Holding onto hope of seeing your parents again while your in there, it's all the hope those kids have. It's all they want. When I was younger I used to take the blanket they gave me and I would roll it up and wrap it around me to make it feel like my dad was hugging me. It got cold at night but, at least it felt like it, just a little bit..." Corban said.

"So you don't think my daughter hates me?"

Corban shook his head, "Your all she has, she could never hate you."

I smiled and covered my eyes as I felt them start to tear up, I quickly wiped them away and nodded. "Thank you."

"I hope you find her."

"I hope you find your Dad too."