Krystal was no longer in school and that made Amber nervous. She hadn’t seen her in two weeks. Even if she could only observe her from a distance at school, it had been a little bit reassuring. Now, there was nothing. After finding out what Krystal’s parents had done to her the first time she disappeared, she knew it could only be something equally bad or worse. 

The terrible thing was, Amber only had 3 months before graduation and she’d already been accepted to a college in California. She could never leave Krystal like this, though. She’d been terribly affected by the conversion camp, and now she was under house arrest. How could Amber just go off to college in another state and pretend she’d never known Krystal Jung? 

She and her parents had yet to find a solution. They’d reached out to the local child services but they were firmly on Mr. and Mrs. Jung’s side. They hadn’t been able to tell them the full details of course, but they felt that what they could share should have been enough for anyone to want to step in or at least check in. Apparently not. And there weren’t too many things they could do beyond that.

Why did it have to be so hard to legally help someone in need? 

Amber sat in her car, parked across the street from the Jungs behind an overgrown bush, and tried to take note of any activity within. The parents had kept up their usual schedule and Amber hadn’t seen Krystal come or go. One day, when both of Krystal’s parents were out, she’d run up to the door and knocked with all of her strength. A girl who looked like an older, but shorter version of Krystal had opened the door and told her to go away.

She gritted her teeth at the callous selfishness of Krystal’s entire family and the hateful hypocrisy of the entire town. A young girl needed help and there was nowhere to turn!

If legal means didn’t work -

No. Her mom would kill her if she did anything that might land her in jail. Which meant she had to be careful and find the right opportunity to do the right thing the right way. 

She cranked her car and drove away vowing to set Krystal free no matter what it took. 

Krystal was once again shuttled out of her parent’s home early in the morning before most of the town was awake to spend the day being ‘counseled’ by the priest before her wedding. She sighed. Days were blending together and she couldn’t seem to focus. What was there to focus on anyway? Her parents’ disgust? The pastor’s condemnation? The four walls of her bedroom that had been stripped of any decoration or personality? 

She hurt. She hurt so much but she also felt nothing at the same time.

Her c