I call a taxi. I have ten minutes to get my things together. I don’t want to take much. I have a bag hidden in the back of the wardrobe with some clothes inside. Simon has got passports; I don’t know where or how he got them. Still, I won’t allow myself even to hope that I can get away until it has actually happened.

The taxi ride is short and it’s only a short wait for the bus. Simon has given me a pay-as-you-go phone to contact him with. I made sure it was charged earlier this morning.

I try to suppress the excitement building inside me, but it’s almost impossible. Is this really happening? Can I really get away? My mother got away and so it can be done. I heard him tell her countless times that she belonged to him and he would find her wherever she went – then when she finally did go, he did nothing. Could I be so lucky?

I get off the bus and Simon is waiting for me. I try not to run towards him, but the excitement pushes me forwards. We hug and he brushes my hair out of my face. I never thought I could ever feel love, but maybe this feeling I have for Simon is love. I don’t know. I feel safe with him, something I am not sure I have ever felt before.

We go back to his apartment. As I cross the threshold to his flat, I get a bad feeling, as though someone is watching. I shake it off; there is no way R knows where I am. He wouldn’t even be home yet. We have to get going before he gets back to our house, though, because I don’t think it will take that long for him to find me here. I don’t have friends.

Simon tells me we have to go and visit his friend Leon, who is holding onto the passports for him. He was worried that R would figure it out and do something to him. Told me that if anything happened to him then I could get the passport from Leon Quick.

Simon’s bag is on his bed; he shows me the cash he has stashed inside. I don’t care about money, but I know that we need it to get away. He tells me my father will never hurt me again. I want to believe him, I really do.

I reach up and touch Simon’s face. I don’t know how much time we have but it feels right. He leans forward and kisses me again, and I kiss him back. In the back of my mind, I don’t truly believe we will escape. A part of me even wonders if I am awake and out of bed yet. Getting this far always felt like such an impossibility.