“Excuse me, miss,”

I looked up to see a middle aged woman in a  official solid gray uniform with a TSA badge pinned to her chest standing behind Elisa.

“I need to talk to you.  Over there,”  The TSA ordered  pointing to a door a few feet away from where we were sitting.

“Hold on now-“  Sawyer began but, Elisa stood up before he could get a full sentence out.

“It’s fine. She is just doing her job,” She told him and walked to stand with the TSA.

“I need all of you,”  the TSA continued

“I think we have a right to know why ?,” Sawyer demanded. I could tell he was getting unnerved

“No we don’t.” said Elisa,”little thing called the Patriot Act”

 

“This way.” The TSA, instructed and she began to walk towards the office door.

Elisa followed her and apprehensively Sawyer and I followed after. 

The TSA  swiped her card through a complicated looking mechanism on the front of the door  and the continued to enter a long string of numbers before the door unlocked for her. I exchanged a nervous glance with Sawyer but, Elisa had a confidence about her and just looked straight ahead. It was a confidence I was starting to envy.

The room was bare except for a table, a long mirror that ran across the wall and what appeared to be some kind of square plastic mechanism on the wall that looked as though it at one time held a light or something.There was another door in the far corner of the room.

“Empty your bag, ma’am,” The TSA instructed Elisa.

Elisa bit her lip and opened her bag.

She  slowly pulled out a bright purple wallet, a pack of gum, a travel size lotion and 2 semi-automatics.

“Crap,”  Sawyer said under his breath.

The officer grabbed the handguns and looked inside each one and took out the bullets.

“Why do you have this in an airport ?” The TSA asked.

“We weren’t going to get on a plane,” Sawyer responded before Elisa could open her mouth.

The TSA didn’t bother to address him, she just took Elisa’s wallet.

“Is your license in here ?”

“Yeah,” Elisa said

“I’m going to run this, you kids stay here.”

She walked out the door in the back of the room.

“You bought a gun to an airport ?,” Sawyer asked Elisa, half amused

“ I figured as long as we didn’t go into the terminal we’d be fine.,” She explained. “I told you it was for protection, These people are just TSA’s there is nothing they can even  do.”

Sawyer wasn’t listening he was looking up at the wall where the plastic contraption was.

“Shouldn’t there be a camera where that plastic thing is ?”he asked into the air

“Yeah,” Elisa agreed. “It looks like someone took if off, you can see the wires.”

“This seems off . . .,” Sawyer  said.

“You want to get out of here ?,” Elisa asked

Sawyer nodded and looked back at the door where we had been brought in.

Elisa ran to the door and tried to pry it open.

“It’s locked,” she said

Suddenly, the back door where the TSA had just disappeared off to opened and there was a parade of footsteps as a mass of men in dark colored clothing came storming into the room. Before I could  see what was happening to Elisa or Sawyer I was pushed down on the dusty cement flooe and felt an immense amount of weight on my back. One of the TSA’s had me pinned down and  had his knees pushed into the back of my  legs. I fought this time but, there was no getting from underneath his  weight.

“Hands behind your back !,”The man shouted down at me.

I could feel the cold metal of what may have been a gun against my waist so, I  followed orders.  I felt a rough plastic restraint being fitted around my waist and cold metal cuffs on my ankles.

I was violently hoisted up , my eyes were watering from being pushed down  into the dusty dirt, I lifted my wrists to wipe my eyes.

“Hands behind your back!” I was reprimaned.

I saw blurry outlines as Sawyer was led out in front of me. We were walked through a back office like puppets, no one seemed to look up or even notice three cuffed and shackled people were being led out. We went through a back door and finally outside.  I saw a fleet of luxury cars in front of us and I was pushed into one that was either dark blue of black.

“Where-,”I started to ask a question but I felt a needle jab into my arm and things got fuzzier and soon the interior of the car went black.

 

***

When I woke up I was  seated on a couch in what appeared to be a large living room in a residential house. All the furniture was outlined with a deep stained wood,the cushioning seemed to be made of all silk and every corner of the room was decorated with large paintings or a large assortment of flowers. Everything seemed so untouchable.

Sitting on the either side of  me was Elisa and Sawyer who were still knocked out

  We were all still cuffed and shackled,  I looked out the large pane window nearest to me to see a familiar site.

A row of  pink rose bushes flanked by dogwood trees. Except I had always seen it from the other side. We were at the commune.

Inside Caine’s house.

“Sawyer . . . .Elisa,wake up,” I whispered to them and rocked my body so I knocked into them and they each came to.

“I think we’re at Caine’s home,” I informed them.

“What ?”Elisa asked,still slightly groggy

“I told you he had people in high places.” Saywer said after a few moments.

We all sat examining our captivity. And then out of nowhere Sawyer spoke.

“I love you,” He said, “Elisa I love you. That’s why I didn’t tell you about Juliana. I was going to tell you earlier but I—“

“I know.” She said,” And I love you too and I know you are only saying this because you think we are going to die or something but—“

They were interrupted by the door opening and Caine walked in with 3 Tranquility Lights. They were dressed in their ususal uniform' dark clothing and a utility belt where they carried a tasers in plain view. They also had few concealed weapons but those were nothing they bragged about..

Caine nodded to two of the TL’s and the approached Elisa.

“No!,” Sawyer yelled doing everything he could  to free himself while they began unlocking her chains.

Elisa  kicked her legs at the men as they began  to carry her off. She started biting and clawing, madly screaming at them to get off her  but,they overpowered her and carried her out.

Sawyer turned to Caine like he was about to attack him but, Caine had a disturbing calm look on his face

“Silence.” Caine said, “If you ever want to see her again.”

Sawyer kept his mouth closed but there was no denying the anger in his face.

“Now,now,now,” Caine said casually as if we were all old friends gathered to shoot the breeze,” What happened here. I though you and Juliana would have been perfect together.”

“And why would you think that?,” spat Sawyer, “You threatened me and forced her.”

“Now, Sawyer you know I gave you an ultimatum not a threat, we at the United Light, we are all one we must act as one so, it was for the good of everyone in our congregation . You must  not be selfish, for if we were meant to work for our own  interest than we would not  all have been put on this earth together. And you saw the light it brought out of the congregation when the wedding took place all the smiles, the festivites  . . . but, this breach of contract you are doing it’s just unacceptable. I mean really, Sawyer if you had been more welcoming to Juliana perhaps she would be more—“

“He was very welcoming.” I said. I felt very protective of Sawyer for a second and  I couldn’t let Caine put him down like that. If our marriage was a failure it was one of Caine’s not Sawyers

“Well,either way you both did not do as you asked and then running away . . . here is your offer. You have  a week to impregnate her, the baby will be mine and you two can do whatever you want together or separate but you will never be allowed back here”

“I won’t.” said Sawyer.

I knew he was thinking of Elisa.

“Well, Julianna the offer still stands for you, except I will stand in place of Sawyer.”

“I’m sorry,”I said, “Can I just see my parents ?”

“No.” He said, “ We must move to plan B.”

He reached over to a laptop by his side and opened it, turning the screen to face us. In it was a video of Elisa sitting in a hard backed chair tied up by her wrists and ankles in a room that looked like a basement with two TL’s on either side.

“No, “Sawyer breathed

“Yes,” Caine said, “Here is the offer I will put out for you, you can buy her freedom and your own from me for 500,00 dollars. I get the money,  you are free to leave your life as you please-- one caveat, you come nowhere near the protected living area. It would losen the moral”

“What about my parents ?”I asked.

“If they want to leave the protective living area to see you they can but,well . . . it's entirely up to them.”

It was a lose –lose for me. If I became pregnant I would have to stay with Sawyer knowing he would never love me like he loved Elisa and there was no way I was having a child with Caine. If I gave Caine his money I would never see my home again, I would be alone.  I knew my parents very well and even when there was a group outing  outside of the commune my father never left and my mother was always itching to get back. They were afraid of the lives they had before and after United Light colliding. I knew if I was banished by Caine I would never see them again. I could feel tears starting.

“Now, now, Julianna emotion is not becoming  . . . it is but a waste.” Caine said.

“We will get you your money,” Sawyer said.

“You can not speak for Julianna.” Caine mused

“I am her husband aren’t I ?” Sawyer said.

“Well played,” said Caine.

Two more TL’s came out from behind  us and led us out to a large black vehicle . Caine took a seat in the front seat while we were herded into the back. We drove down the path through the smaller houses that bordered the compound. I knew no one could see me from behind the tintedd windows. I watched as life went by everyone talking or visiting neighbors. People were also waving at the cars because they knew Caine might be inside. Who else would be in a tinted window SUV ?

I saw a familiar woman opening her mailbox and taking out the Light Path, the newsletter of United Light.

Mom.

She seemed unchanged. Had it really only been 3 weeks since I had last seen her ? I wanted to shout out to her to wave. She waved at the car like the others but, I let myself imagine she was waving at me.  The car crawled on and soon no amount of  neckturning or squinting made it possible for me to see her.

I turned my  back to the tan and boring interior of the car. Sawyer mouthed to me “your mother”, I nodded lightly.

The car drove out of the gateway and  to the edge of the commune and then stopped a few miles outside.

“Out.”Caine ordered

We were escorted outside by the TLs. We were in the middle of nowhere, there was a buzz of insects and the air felt hot and damp.

Caine got out of the car and stood in front of us with the two TL’s by his side. Where we really that much of a threat ?

“You have 1 month to get the money,” Caine informed us. “If I do not hear from you your friend dies and do not think I am bluffing because I will blow her brains out and have. My brother , the sheriff will lie to her parents and I will ensure no questions are asked. You try anything smart she dies, you try to fool me she dies and your parents die. Now, you can always come back and follow the rules and this can all go away. Last chance.”

“Fuck you,” Sawyer said to Caine.

Caine seemed un moved by the comment  but then he reached for one of the TL’s tasers and  in one quick move apulled the trigger. I didn’t see anything except a light come from the Taser but seconds later I heard Saywer let out a loud, uninhibited blood curdling scream as though a body part had been chopped off. He  fell to the ground and Caine took the other TL’s taser.

“I’m sorry, please don’t—,” Sawyer  begged, his voice breaking, I had never seen him or any man act so vulnerable.

Caine pulled the trigger on the other taser but, it’s electrodes landed on the far side of Sawyer, inches away from  his body.

  “Now,no Sawyer,” patronized Caine,peering down at Sawyer, “That is no way to talk to your father.”

Caine gave us a sneering look and walked into the car and rolled down the window,”One month,” he repeated and the car backed up and drove off, leaving us stranded.

“Are you okay ?”I asked. Kneeling down to see the two marks on his green oxford shirt where he had been tased.

“No.” He said, “Just give me a minute.”

I sat down next to him in the mudd ruining the rim of the sundress I had been wearing. It seemed like it was ages ago that I had gotten up and decided to put on the cyan blue dress with the large violet flowers splashed on the sides . I thought it would be very fitting for the Florida weather and lifestyle. Now, it seemed impractical. How long had it been since this morning ? It couldn't have been more than a day ago

After 15 minutes of lying on the ground Sawyer stood up, he reached my hand and helped me up.

“Are you okay ?,” I asked again

“Yeah,” he answered

Sawyer turned around and surveyed the surrounding area and then he turned back to me.

“I’m sorry I took control in there,” He said

“It’s okay,” I said. We had much bigger problems

“It’s just being in the commune isn’t safe. I mean, it gives us no options but out here we may be able to do something. I don’t know . . .”

“I don’t  think I was going to stay anyway,” I admitted.

“So,” said Sawyer, “We are in the middle of the swamp land in Louisiana, no car, no phone, no idea where we are.”

“Do you have any money ?, “ I asked

He reached into his pocket and found his wallet.

“Well,I have my bank card so, that’s good,” he said,”You ?”

I reached into the tiny brown crochet bag my mother and I had knitted. Inside was a chapstick, a few dimes and a small wallet but, there was no money in it.

“I have this.” I said pointing to the ring on my finger.

“Another gift from Caine, just so you know,” Sawyer told me,” I bet it’s worth at least  a thousand.”

“That’s good.” I said,” We can pawn it  . . .so,whats the plan?”

“I have no clue,” Sawyer said.

We looked ahead of us to only see a muddy empty road.

“Well, I guess we can start by finding civilization.”

***

Tuesday morning my biggest problem  had been how to wear my hair. I had always worn my cornsilk blonde hair in a long French braid down my back secured with 2 rubber bands but, when I unbraided my hair this morning and let the waves fall in my face I considered wearing it down, to try something new to start my day off as a different person. I finally decided on a pony tail, I thought it had looked decent very summery.

Now my ponytail was hanging limply as the humidity started to set in and I was starting to think the French braid would have been more practical.

With no idea where to go Sawyer and I did the only thing we could do; headed the opposite direction of Caine. We had been walking for nearly an hour and every few minutes  Saywer would repeat “I’m sure we will hear traffic soon.” I tried to believe him but, our situation was looking bleek. We were both tired and close to dehydration. What if Caine’s plan was for us to die out here in the middle of nowhere ?

“What are we going to do about the money ?,” I asked him

“I have no clue, I mean we have to act fast. I can’t bear to think of Elisa being held captive like that.”

“You can’t think about that,” I told him,my attempt at comforting him,” They probably showed you that to scare you they probably won’t really keep her there.”

I did believe that to be true, Caine had his bad sides and obvious secrets but I don’t think he was cruel.

“Maybe,” Sawyer said.

We continued to walk side by side in silence for what seemed to be another half hour when Sawyer stopped.

“What ?,” I said

“Do you hear that ?,” he asked

I listened but,heard nothing

“No,I-,”

“shhh—listen,” he instructed

I listened again.

And then I heard it softly in the background

Clomp,clomp.

It sounded like a horse and then I heard the neighing.

“A  horse.” I said.

“Yes,” said Sawyer, “and with that maybe a farm or something.”

“Maybe.” I agreed

We headed in the direction of the noise with a renewed  energy.  Soon we were at a clearing with a structure in the distance. A few horses were grazing in the clearing. The only thing separating us from the clearing was a wire fence. The fence was short and we were able to hop over it easily.

“What do we say, if we see someone ?,”I asked

“We will say our car broke down and uh, we need to use a phone or something.”

The horses  in the clearing seemed to pay little attention to us.

I assumed the horses were probably domesticated and used to being around people, that was a good sign. I looked behind me at the fence Saywer and I had come through. I wondered if the horses could easily jump over it as easily as we, and if they could would they ? Could these horses live like the Wild Mustangs in the West  I had read about in books.

As we approached the barn  we heard people talking inside.

“Excuse me,” Sawyer called out, “I’m sorry but, we are a little lost.”

We heard hushed voices inside and then we saw two burly men come  out of the barn, one of them with a auburn beard had a  rifle pointed at us.

“How’d ya get on this property ?,” He grumbled at us.

Sawyer  took my arm and pulled me in, so I was standing half behind him.

“We got lost, please we just need a phone to call a cab. You can bring it to us,” Sawyer explained

The two men exchanged a look and then the one with the gun snorted a laugh at us.

“Ya'll not going to get a cab out here,son” the man with the gun said. He scratched his  beard and looked back at me and then looked us both over. “Follow me.” He said.

Sawyer relaxed his position and let go of my arm and we followed  the man.

“What’d you say your names were ?” the Auburn haired main asked.

“My name is Sawyer Miller,”

“I’m Julianna,” I said.

“Wallace,” He introduced himself  "This here is my brother Lee. So, Sawyer you from around here ?”

“I grew up south of Baton Rouge but havelived for 10 years in Miami, Florida,”

“Miami ? That’s a ways away.”

“About half a day trip.”

Wallace walked us up towards a large house in the middle of a field.

“We got company !,” Wallace shouted into the house as we walked in.

A woman who looked around Wallace’s age came to the front of the house. She was dresses in jean shorts and a orange shirt with the words LOUISANA sprawled across in block letters.

“How are ya’ll ?,” she asked

"Good"

"Fine"

“They were a little bit lost so, I may drive them out to see if  I can fix their car,” Wallace explained.

“Actually if you could just take us to a bus station, that’d be great,” Sawyer explained.

Wallace seemed apprehensive but, nodded.

“Let me just put my gun away,” he said and walked down the hall.

“So, how long have ya’ll been married ?,” she asked

I looked down to see I was still wearing the ring I for some reasonhad not been able to take off since Sawyer put it on my finger. Sawyer, who I noticed took his off when he went to work wasn’t wearing his but, there was a tan line.

“3 weeks,” Sawyer said.

“Aww,” she cooed, “That’s nice, me and Wall have been together for 18 years. . . . can I get ya’ll some water or something ?”

“Water would be great,” Saywer said.

As she led us into the kitchen we walked past a hallway decorated with portraits. It appeared they had atleast 3 kids.

She went into the fridge and brought out 2 water bottles.

“Thank you, so much,” I said,”I didn’t get your name.”

“ Loranna Hickory.” She said.

Wallace came out from behind a back passage

“Ready to go ?” Wallace asked us.

We nodded our heads.

“They’re newlyweds, Wall,” Loranna said

Wallace just grunted and shook his head and headed for the door.

We thanked Mrs. Hickory and headed out to Wallace’s sedan. Once we were inside he headed down the paved road.

“I can take ya’ll back it’s only a few miles away.”

“I’m sorry ?,” Sawyer said

“ Back to that compound-thing up the road. I know that’s where you all are from, I can tell.”

Sawyer and I exchanged looks.

“No offense, sir”said Sawyer,”but we are running in the opposite direction of that place.”

He nodded and agreement and continued down the road

“What’s it like . . . I mean what do ya’ll do up there ?,” Wallace asked

“We don’t live there. But for those who do I assume they just live life,” Sawyer answered. I couldn’t tell if he really had no idea about protected living or if he was being vague on purpose.  Something about living around the United Light made us very secretive.

Wallace seemed to catch on that we weren’t revealing much and about our lives so we continued the ride in silence. After another 20 minutes of silence we got to a lone bus stop.

“This bus’ll take ya  into the Baton Rouge station and the  bus is right there,” Wallace informed us.

“Thank you,Wallace,”said Sawyer and shook his hand.

Wallace looked over at me

“She don’t talk much does she ?,” said Wallace

“Thanks,” Sawyer repeated and we headed towards the bus station.

We watched once again as another car rolled away from us leaving us in the middle of nowhere. 20 minutes later a blue and yellow bus rolled up to the stop. Sawyer paid the 2 dollar fare and we sat inside the desolate bus. It was another 45 minutes before the bus pulled into a newer area of town. We started seeing signs and more buildings. The bus finally pulled into shopping center. In the middle of the center was the bus station and next to it was a drug store and to the other side was a McDonalds.

“I don’t know about you but, I’m starving,” Sawyer said when we got off the bus

I noticed for the first time I was hungry too.

We walked inside the restaurant, it was like everything else in the area and was desolate. There was a mother with two small children in the back and two bus drivers sitting in another corner. Sawyer and I ordered some hamburgers and sat down in one of the booths.

“So,” began Sawyer, “When are you going to ask ?”

“Ask what ?

“About Caine and I about him being my dad.”

I would have lied if I said I hadn’t though about it. I mean I had no clue Caine had any children and I always doubted he had any fraternal-husbands. And if he had children, the why was he so adamant about having kids with me ? I also new Sawyer was 23 so Caine had to have been very young when he fathered him. I had of course also met Sawyer’s mother but,never his father. For some reason I had never questioned this.

“I’ve thought about it,”I admitted,” I had no idea Caine had a child.”

“He has more than one.”

“He seems so ,young” I said

“ It's called vanity," Sawyer laughed, "Anway, It’s one of the United Light’s dirty little secrets. The more I learned  about these  secrets the happier I was to get away. I can explain it all to you later.”

“Explain it to me now.” I said quietly.

“Well, okay you see the United Light’s belief in polyandry actually came from the fact that Caine wanted to have as many offspring as he wanted but, didn’t want to take care of raise kids," explained Sawyer," So he made sure the women he was with had someone else to help raise the child.”

It seemed harsh to hear Sawyer refer to himself as offspring.

“So,how many siblings do you have ?” I asked. I was intrigued because as an only child I always wanted a sibling.

“six but, they are all older,” said Sawyer,”They live in the protected living and have families you may know them; Donald, Celia, Madeline, Henry , Timothy and Bridget.”

As he said the names I could picture most of them. The protecteded living housed about  80 people, children included so,after a while you got to know everyone. The people who Saywer just listed were some of the younger members of the commune,in their late 20's to mid 30's.

“It’s almost like eventually everyone in the United Light would be somehow related to him.”

“Exactly,” said Sawyer,” I’m not sure how the others felt about his plans or if they even thought it was possible. Anyway, because we were his blood our parents he gave us  an option to live off the commune wih us. That's why, I was never really into this whole United Light thing I mean it was hard to believe it existed and I might live there one day when I spent so much time around regular people.”

Regular people. I always knew Sawyer saw me as something not like him but I never thought he saw me as irregular.

“I meant to say non-United  Light,” he corrected.

I   guess my face showed offense.

“I mean it,” Sawyer said,” I mean considereing all the people I’ve meat in college and at work you are one of the most normal people out there.”

“What about Elisa ?’

“She’s normal too,”

Mentioning Elisa brought us back down to the reality of the situation. I could tell we were both thinking about her.

“Well,I can maybe get a loan from the bank of atleast 30,000,” Sawyer said,”I mean once we get back to San Costa. I can also pawn all my furniture and all my stuff. ”

“I don’t think that adds up to 500,000.” I said

“I know. . . It’s just you have to understand, I love Elisa and I have no clue how I will live with myself if I let Caine hurt her. I am willing to do anything to be with her again . . . and I mean anything,even if it’s not legal or safe.”

“I will help you,” I told him.

“You don’t have to,” he said

“Yes, I do.”  I said ," I will do anything and everything you do because for once in my life I want to be there for someone.”

There were also a million of other reasons I wanted to help him. He could have left me behind lots of time but, didn’t he had given me a home and a life for 2 weeks but mostly it was because I was starting to  fall in love with him too.