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I see fear in her eyes but also resolve. She grits her teeth and continues cutting, working through the zip tie with a ferocious intensity. It’s painful, but I barely notice. Cold air comes through the window, further chilling the room. It is dusk. Darkness will be our cover.
All I can focus on is the sound of the men in the living room, their voices rumbling ominously through the walls. If they decide to check on us, we are screwed if they realize she got out of her restraints.
One of them shouts something, and my heart freezes in my chest. But then they all start laughing, and I let out a shaky breath.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, the tie around my wrists loosens and falls away. My hands are free.
I flex my fingers experimentally. I rub my sore wrists, grateful for her quick thinking. We exchange a brief, tense look before I lead the way to the window. The night is clear, with the full moon already out, illuminating the icy wilderness beyond.
“Ready?” I ask her, picking up my backpack.
“No.”
I smile and give her a quick kiss. “We’re going to be okay.”
She looks at me, clearly not buying my reassurances. “I feel like we’re choosing our own death.”
She isn’t wrong.
I take the blanket and clear the rest of the glass from the window. “Let’s go,” I tell her.
She takes a deep breath.
“No matter what happens, run,” I tell her.
“Don’t you dare leave me out there.”
“I don’t plan on it, but just in case, you don’t stop. You don’t look back. You get your ass to safety.”
She nods, but I don’t trust it. I carefully boost her up. She goes through the window and disappears. I hand her the blanket. We will need all the protection against the weather we can get. I toss my bag out and quickly hoist myself up.
With one look back at the cursed cabin, I push myself through the window, landing with a soft crunch on the icy ground beside Mia. My heart pounds in my chest like a drum. We stand still for a moment, hidden in the shadows of the cabin.
I grip Mia’s hand tightly, her palm cold and clammy against mine. “Ready?” I ask again.
This time, she looks at me, determination burning in her eyes. “Yes.”
We sprint into the forest, leaving behind our footprints. The snow crunches softly beneath our feet as we make our way toward the tree line, my heartbeats thundering in my ears.
“How are your wrists?” I ask her, slightly out of breath.
“Fine.”
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“No time for sorry,” she says, her voice brittle as we navigate through the dense forest. “Just keep moving.”
We do. We run deeper into the woods, fueled by adrenaline and terror. Of course, because it seems like the forces of nature are against us, it starts to snow.
I feel like crap. I hate that I’ve put her in this danger. She was trying to be safe, but now she is in real danger. Her crazy ex is one thing. I might have been able to take him, but Vincent and his thugs are a different story. I don’t know how to fight that.
We’ve been walking for an hour with nothing but the blanket wrapped around her. My lighter and pocketknife are still in my pocket, small comforts in this disastrous situation. I want to put as much distance between us and those men as possible, but the cold is relentless.
“Our best bet is to keep low and stay in the trees,” I suggest, trying my best to sound confident.
Mia nods, her face half-lit by the moonlight. “Okay.”
“For now, we just need to get as far away as possible. We’ll figure out the rest later.”
