Chapter 4: LeavingI Quit Their Game

It was dawn, and the black car was waiting outside my house. My parents were still overseas, working on a project. They were sending me off through a video call. My mother's eyes were red. "Sure you don't need us to come home?"

"The base isn't allowing any family to come."

My father was right beside her, holding his tears back. "Take care of yourself. Tell the professors if anyone pushes you around. Don't hold everything in."

My eyes stung. At least there was someone out there who still hated to say goodbye to me.

…

Ronald and the others spent the whole night setting up the celebration for The Imperia Five at Melissa's house.

The chat group blew up the whole night.

Yves sent a photo of a wall filled with balloons. "You have the best aesthetics here, Helena. Help us out!"

Xavier replied, "She's still sulking. Don't give her any quarter."

Christian posted a cake for five people. "She'll calm down after she stays in the northwest for a couple of days. We'll livestream for her."

I did not reply.

"Once you get in the car, the nondisclosure process begins. Your personal phone and social media accounts will be sealed. Do you have anyone you wish to call?"

"No."

I went into the car, and my phone buzzed. It was a notification that said Melissa changed the group chat's name. It was now The Imperia Five.

She sent a snapshot. My nickname in the group was Princess, but now it was changed to Northwestern Girl. Melissa sent a laughing emoji. "I changed these randomly. She won't be mad, right?"

Yves replied immediately, "If she gets mad, she can crawl all the way back from the northwest to change it."

Christian laughed. Xavier said nothing, but he left a like on that message. Ronald replied, "It works well."

I watched them text and did not feel sad.

They had no idea that in ten minutes, I would not even be Northwestern Girl. I left the group chat and deleted their numbers, but I paused for a moment when it came to Ronald.

His last message came in. "Stop messing around and come over to celebrate tonight. And bring the hard drive."

He was imperious, so sure that I would do his bidding.

I deleted his number without saying anything.

A staff member handed me a sealed security pouch. "Turn your phone off and put it in here. Once the project begins, you won't be allowed to contact anyone outside privately, and no one outside will be able to find out where you've gone."

I turned the phone off, and the moment that screen went dark, all my connections to my old life were cut off. The black car slowly moved out of the courtyard. The tree that had grown up with us flickered outside the window and disappeared.

…

When we hit the toll station on the highway, I realized something was in my pocket. The lucky charm. I said I would give it to Melissa the day before. She hated that my name was carved on it, so she took a photo and stuffed it back into my bag.

Eighteen years together, and we did not even have a proper goodbye. The bar slowly rose. The professor reminded me, "Once we leave Imperia, there's no turning back."

I rolled the window down, and a dawn breeze filled the car, while my hair billowed. I opened my palm and looked at the charm one last time, then I let it go.

The charm fell onto the concrete pavement beside the toll station.

A sharp crack sounded behind us.

The car did not stop. It crossed the border and continued towards the northwest, nearly a thousand miles away. I did not look back. Not once.