Suddenly he pulled her into a kiss. She jerked away from him roughly, but he held onto her arm. “You’re her now,” he kept repeating as she struggled to get out of his grasp. “You’re her now. You’re her now. You’re her now.” She heard him calling behind her; she propelled her legs faster still, her heart pounding in her ears. His voice was getting farther and farther away and she kept running until she couldn’t hear him anymore. She wandered lost for what seemed like hours into the night. It was silent except for the breeze rustling the corn. She came to the end of the fields and stopped. She could see the road from where she stood. It was so close. She smiled with relief. She could feel the freedom she craved in her grasp. She burst out of the corn, her sanctuary. A rough hand grabbed her by the ponytail and spun her around with an excruciatingly painful yank. He grabbed the map from her shaking hands, balled it up, and threw it into the field of darkness. “I told you, you can’t never leave.”
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