Escape

After the child had told his story there was a moment of silence in the room in which no one spoke. Mr. Huna seemed to be contemplating something with a serious look. While the Mystil couple just stared at the man with clear anticipation. Meanwhile, the child who was at the center of all this was neither looking at his parents nor the man, strangely his focus was on the restless baby in the mother's arms.

' I was wondering if it was just my imagination, but I'm almost certain.'

As I looked at Jacob fidgeting I confirmed what I was initially thinking. Since Mr. Huna entered the room I had a bad feeling, and I noticed that Jacob had been fidgeting nonstop since he entered.

As my vision shifted back to Mr. Huna I noticed he was only a couple of inches from my face staring right at me smiling. His smile reminded me of when I used to hunt, he gave the same vibe I got before being attacked by a predator.

" It must be hard trying to adjust to this new life, but do not worry you are not the first who has been reborn and has needed help adjusting," Said Mr. Huna.

The entire time I had barely been listening to the man, instead planning for ways to kill him or escape should things go the way I thought they would. That was until he spoke of others being reborn. This halted all my thoughts and made me realize this whole time I believed that I was the only one.

Even though I knew something was suspicious about Mr. Huna, my curiosity couldn't be stopped as I bit the bait he had laid.

" There are others like me?" I asked.

" Why of course, you see I am part of the Northern Church, and over the years many like you have been found, all in need of guidance in a world unfamiliar to them."

Somehow Mr. Huna had guided me to the door leading outside without me realizing it all while he was talking. Opening the door and gesturing for me to go first he continued talking.

" We have a group of people at the church there to help those who can't handle the sudden shift in the environment. If you follow me back to the church I can let you meet the others like you."

By now we were a couple of strides from the wagon, but it was at this moment when a couple of inconsistencies appeared in my mind. I noticed I was being guided to my father's wagon, while the owner of the said wagon was nowhere in sight. I also noticed that both of the Mystils were still in the house, while I was being led outside before I had even made my decision to leave with Mr. Huna.

The other thing was that I had to go to the church to meet the others like me. I took note that Mr. Huna had said the church "found" the reborn people, not that they had come to the church. If they were trying to help why not bring someone who could relate and share their experience? Instead, some snaked-tongued predator was sent.

Even without the other reasons, this man was just all-around suspicious. While he was suspicious I knew physically I couldn't beat him nor outrun him. I also knew I couldn't depend on the Mystils, who seemed to be a part of whatever plot this man had.

That's why I didn't react when brought outside. While I couldn't outrun Mr. Huna, the barn was on the path to the wagon. My plan was simple, the back of the barn was pointed toward the path and there was a small hole wide enough that my small body could leap through. The other side of the barn that was fenced off in the front faced a forest, the same forest which I had explored during my free afternoons. While Mr. Huna could catch up going around the barn, with the head start I knew I could reach places in the forest where even Fuster couldn't find me.

Trying to act normal I decided to ask him some questions.

" If I left when would I be able to see my family again?"

" Once we have made sure you have been properly accustomed to your new surroundings you can leave at any time. You know, you are actually quite a peculiar case, most of those reborn show signs of their maturity and intelligence by the time they reach 4 to 5 years of age. But according to your father, you were completely normal and they only knew because you told them."

While we were walking and talking, throughout the entire time Mr. Huna had the widest smile glued to his face with his gaze staring straight ahead. Looking ahead I saw out of the corner of my eye that I was only two steps away from the hole. Once I was directly parallel to the hole, I abruptly lept left with all my might, just barely clearing the hole.

Rolling forward, I gave myself no time to celebrate I immediately started running towards the open barn doors. Making it across the barn and into the yard without a problem I reached the fence, leaping up I caught the top with my hands and yanked the rest of my body up and over the top. Running as fast as my legs could take me I finally reached the forest, glancing back I saw that Mr. Huna had just made it around the corner of the barn.

Strangely the man wasn't running and even stranger was that he still had the same eerie smile he was wearing from the beginning. Seeing my glance he waved before giving a short whistle. Confused, I tried to rationalize what he was thinking. It wasn't until I looked beside him at the thing which made me pale with fear, that I understood the reason for his nonchalant attitude.