Chapter Text
Sabrina was awake at an obnoxious hour. The clock above the oven read 12:42, but she hardly paid attention to it as she shoved snacks into her large black backpack. On her back was another, smaller, backpack packed with things that she would need on a long trip. She took a deep breath to steady herself, she had planned this out. Everything else that she needed was already in her van, ready to go.
A soft creek was heard above from the second floor, and she froze, still as stone and listening intently. No one in the house knew that she was leaving, nor that she had been planning to go for about three months prior. Still, she wondered if anyone picked up on what she was doing, or if by some weird coincidence they would come down the stairs and stop her. She waited for a few beats, listening for more footsteps, for someone to come down the stairs and just catch her.
But no one did.
The silence returned and Sabrina grabbed her set of keys and set to work unlocking the many locks that bolted the front door shut. It easily took her ten minutes, but still, no one came down the stairs to witness her final escape.
She almost wanted someone to catch her before she reached her car. It was one of the many things that she would never admit to, but even as she pulled the door open, guilt settled into her stomach. She thought of her sister, who would probably yell at her for even considering this trip. She thought of Puck, who was used to be the only one to catch her sneaking out of the house, though she knew he wouldn't come this time. He had been gone for months, off on untold adventures with her uncle. Not that she would tell anyone, especially not him, but she missed seeing him every day, even if it was only through a video call.
No one was coming.
Definitely not him.
Sabrina was too good at sneaking around people. She wasn't called the 'Queen of Sneaks' for nothing. Heaving the other backpack onto her shoulder, she walked down the path to her van. She had spent the last two years saving up for it, using the excuse of 'that old jalopy is gonna break down sooner or later, and besides, I want my own car' to appease her family. Opening one of its side doors, she shoved both of the bags inside, then she climbed into the driver's seat. As she stared at the steering wheel in front of her, she had a troubling thought.
I should have left a note or something.
It was too late though, as the enchanted lock on the house had already been replaced and the only way to remove it was to knock on the door thrice and tell it that you were home. Knocking would give her away instantly, and she had already come too far to give up now.
So, she slid the key into the ignition and started the car.
Sabrina reversed out of the driveway and pulled out onto the road, taking another shaky deep breath. No turning back now.
She was doing this.
It didn't take her long to get out of Ferryport Landing. Her eyes wanted to follow the large and dented "welcome to Ferryport Landing" sign but she forced them onto the road. A bubble of anxiety welded up inside her chest as she approached the true edge of town. Once upon a time, there had been a barrier that kept all of the Everafters inside, but it was long gone now.
It has been about seven, maybe eight years since the war, and though Sabrina was a grown woman, she still felt trapped in her home. Her family decided that she deserved to take a break after high school instead of jumping straight into college like she thought she wanted to. While she was grateful that she hadn't left right away, being kept home was almost torture in itself. That was why she began planning this trip, to escape from her so-called vacation.
Ferryport Landing was behind her now, and as she adjusted to the feeling of leaving home, her anxious feelings subsided.
The drive out of the city was a boring one, traffic clogging the streets and increasing the estimated time of arrival by almost four hours. Still, she seldom took breaks until she reached the countryside. By then, the sun had appeared over the horizon. Its warmth shone through the windshield, bringing a smile to Sabrina's face. It had been a long time since she had last watched the sunrise. Her smile fell when she remembered the last time she had watched the sun rise and set on the same day was when Puck first left. At the time she didn't know that only a month later, he would stop returning her calls, leaving her in the dark.
They had only been fourteen then.
Sabrina had just pulled into a rest stop parking lot and turned off her car when an alarm went off on her phone. Three months ago, she had been given a prescription for her anxiety and occasional paranoia. While the medicine helped, she didn't like to feel dependent on anything. This, she suspects, was part of the reason her family wanted her to take time off from school.
Still, she popped the cap and took two pills, quickly washing them down with water. The rest stop she was parked at was on the border of Pennsylvania and New York, and when she glanced at the map, she noted that she still had to drive through Ohio and Indiana before she got to Chicago, Illinois.
Before she got back on the highway she wandered around the rest stop, stretching her legs and enjoying the scenery. Ferryport Landing was beautiful, sure, but one can only discover the same town so many times. Then she was back in her van, cruising down the road, blasting music.
As expected, the drive was mostly dull. Sabrina was too busy watching for traffic and weaving through cars to enjoy the scenery. It took her the entire day to drive through Pennsylvania, finally coming to a stop at the Ohio welcome center. The small building was shrouded in forest, but it was as good a place as any.
Even from her car, Sabrina could hear groaning and shuffling from the dense walls of trees.