8 Playing ghost

I never fully understood the change in my mother, or what caused her to run away with us. All I knew, is that I was scared. Lynn told me, "we'll be okay, as long as we have each other, and to not say a word about the money". Like always, I nodded my head and tried to stay calm. Frustrated I mustered up the will to ask her, "what will happen to us?" She smiled as if things were normal and said, "Little sister of mine, we are going to play a very very big game!" "A Game?" I replied in disbelief. She told me, "yes, a game and all of us are going to be playing together. The game is called 'playing ghost'. It will take weeks to play". She smiled very awkwardly, as if trying not to scare me. "Could I know the rules?" I asked her. Lynn picked up her index finger, and waved it back and forth. "Not until the first stop" she said. I sighed and nodded my head.

As I started to fall asleep, Lynn held me. We were on the road for what felt like weeks, but was only days with minimal talking. Mother made two stops a day, so that everyone could us the restrooms, and that she could gas up the van. Eventually we got into a rhythm of having us go once in the morning and once in the evening. Living on 2 peanut butter sandwiches a day, and water was tough. I never really liked peanut butter, but I knew it was at a point I'd rather eat it than to have starved.

We finally stopped at a camp site. Oh I was beyond excited to stop, because this facility had showers and a lake with a River. I asked Lynn, " what about the rules to the game?" "Don't tell anyone we ran away, and don't tell them about who your father is and if anyone asks, you don't have a dad and that we are okay", she said. I agree and we went and got all cleaned up. I finally started to feel good.

After Lynn told me, "go, and adventure Rose. we'll set up the tents". I must have turned pale white or something, because I have never been that far from Lynn except for school and the hospital, and now she wanted me to go off on my own. I ran over to hug her, and she patted the fuzz on my head. "you'll be fine" she sighed knowing why I was nervous. I nodded, and kind of did as she asked. I stood next to a very massive oak tree and watched as Emmett pulled out the tents. "I'll be okay" I whispered over and over to myself as I faced the the trees by the lake.

Taking a few steps, I look back every once in a while to see if I could still see Lynn. Gaining some relief and comfort, I took off full sprint to see a river for the very first time. The grass was so much greener, and the ground was very damp. Looking arround, I was amazed by how much I've never seen before. Spotting a large tree, I decided to sit on a root protruding from the ground.

Taking deep breaths, I started to feel uneasy right away. I glanced back to see Lynn and Emmett smiling at each other for once, and then started to look at my surroundings. As my eyes scan the area for the offensive being who unintentionally disturbed me. Turned out, I found a boy. This boy was staring so hard that I could feel his gaze burning into my skin. He obviously had realized that his cover was blown right away after I spotted him staring at me.