Chapter 2
 

A whisper of sound crossed the concrete room. Ashley held her breath, listening. The ensuing silence confirmed that her paranoia only fed her imagination. She let out a slow breath and opened her eyes. She shifted onto her side, trying to find a comfortable position on the rickety cot. The meals in shelters came free, but so did indigestion.

She had only been able to make it to the next town over in her day and a half of running. That didn’t feel nearly far enough. The span of an entire continent couldn’t put enough space between her and her fatal error. Just down the street, Southern Illinois University teemed with life and students full of aspirations. As a university town, Carbondale, IL offered endless possibilities for her mission. Most of her brothers and sisters either attended or pretended to attend the school. Young people in the transitional stages of their lives were particularly susceptible to their cause.

Simone, her mentor and guide, explained the detrimental consequences of revealing their secret group. At sixteen, Ashley ran away from home. She’d been on the streets nearly a year until the day she tried to snatch a Gucci bag from the wrong woman. She had long dark hair trailing down her back with blonde streaks framing her face. Her tall, slender figure made her look like a runway model. When Ashley seized her opportunity to grab at the purse she’d been eying, the woman retaliated. With one swift motion, Ashley was on her back, looking into two intensely.........