The Guthries Chapter 14: Still -

Mary still waited nervously outside of the bathroom for Esther to come out. She’d never seen her so ill before. Mary sincerely hoped it wasn’t nerves from getting the tattoo. She’d been going out of her way to make Esther come out of her comfort zone. She tried to pretend she didn’t hear the vomiting noises when Esther came back out.

Mary quickly moved some hair out of Esther’s face. Esther had been having a hard time adjusting to life outside of GCL. It seemed like without GCL, Esther was always confused. She’d thought that Esther would be the one keeping everything under control, but she had such a difficult time with electronics that Mary had to do most of the heavy lifting in those areas. Mary was still so grateful to have her. And no matter how difficult it was for her, Esther never complained.

Mary pulled her phone from her pocket and looked at the screen. It was Emily, from the Haven group. Mary sighed. Emily only wanted to talk about important things. Mary needed to make sure she had Esther’s number so she could call her from now own. She answered the phone.

Mary felt like someone threw cold water over her head and her heart stood still. She looked at Esther’s worried expression and tried not to panic. John had found them, and it was the nightmare of all nightmares. Mary hadn’t thought much of it when they said that Celeste hadn’t checked in a couple of nights ago, but now the dots were lining up.

Mary hung up the phone.

Mary’s phone buzzed. It was the text message with the address, so she called Uber. When the driver got there, they got in the car and rode the whole way in silence.

Mary blinked, and it was nightfall. The car had finally stopped. They were right outside of a camping reserve. She looked down at her phone and realized they still had a mile that they needed to walk. Mary contemplated what happened. She knew that Celeste would have never given them up quickly. She shuddered to think about what John and the others did to her. Mary knew she would rather die than go back there. She’d finally tasted the real world, and she couldn’t get shoved back into a box.

Mary glanced at Esther. She still looked ashen and hadn’t really said much since they’d heard about Haven. But this reaction was still out of character. Usually, Esther would spring into action, but she just stared sadly out of the window. Something was definitely off.

They finally reached a clearing and saw children running around everywhere. Adults stood awkwardly with stressed expressions.

Esther ran to Eli and scooped him up in her arms. Mary realized she didn’t hear her baby crying. Where was her son?

Mary’s head snapped over to look at Eli. How had he seen John?

Eli squirmed in Esther’s hands until she had to put him down. Then, he ran inside one of the tents at the camp. Mary turned to Emily, who was standing there looking down-crested.

Mary burst into tears. Esther threw her arms around her.

Mary sobbed in Esther’s arms. She had failed to protect her son. The only reason she’d run at all was to get Benjamin away from that way of life. To think that he might be raised to be a misogynistic monster like his father destroyed her.

Mary let Esther go.

Mary nodded. Esther seemed satisfied and began talking to Emily about the legal actions they should start to take. Mary turned and walked toward the fire and sat down. She knew she had to go and get Benjamin even if Esther was against it.

Originally published at http://notsuitableforsims.com on December 13, 2020.