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"What is it?" I asked, dread clawing at my throat.
"There's not time, you need to go!"
"Where are we?" I said hurriedly. "Which way should I go?"
I had no idea how long I had been out between when I was knocked out, and when I woke up in the basement. What if we were back in Illinois or something?
"We're in upstate New York, outside of a little town called Norwich. I'm not familiar with the area at all. He hadn't had me arrive until a day before he brought you here," Anna said. She began to tear up. "Eva, I am so sorry how I treated you when you first arrived. I was so jealous of you. You don't know what it's been like, seeing your husband so obsessed with another woman. Obsessed doesn't even seem strong enough a word for how he has been about you."
She began to sob, great gasping cries that tore at my heart.
"Come with me. You can get away from him too," I said pleadingly. She straightened her shoulders. "I promised 'till death do we part.' I will not abandon my vows," she said, her lips trembling.
I couldn't help but give her a quick hug. I had so much gratefulness to her. Finally, the urgency of the situation came back to me, and I pulled away from her. I opened the door and took one last look back at her before heading out the door, hopefully never to see this nightmare again.
I started jogging as soon as I stepped off the back porch, aware that I had lost precious time with that last interlude with Anna. My heart ached at the thought of her facing the Reverend's wrath alone. When I reunited with the guys I would bring them back with me, and have them help me drag her away if that's what it took.
The house was surrounded by a dense forest. It was slow going trying to pick my way carefully through the trees and dense underbrush. Gnats swirled around me, I was sure I had eaten at least a dozen.
I walked for what seemed like hours. The forest grew dimmer as the day passed. The Reverend had left a few hours after lunch but it had taken quite a bit of time to get me loose from that chair, and with how long I had been walking I was sure it would get dark soon. I shivered at the thought of sleeping in the forest alone. The forest had been mostly silent as I walked, with the exception of a few birds chirping from up above. Every so often I thought I heard a beeping sound. I couldn't find where it was coming from though and thought I must be imagining it.
As the light faded, the forest began to come alive. Strange growls and the crunching of leaves nearby had me trying to walk faster…which led to several trips and falls. I was filthy from how muddy the forest floor was. The tennis shoes that Anna had given me were soaked in mud. Moisture had seeped into the shoes, and I had gotten several blisters. My wrist was chafed from where the handcuff kept rubbing against it.
Any light had almost completely disappeared when I finally saw a break in the trees up ahead. I heard some cars driving by, and almost cried in relief. I reached the edge of the tree line and peered out. The road was surrounded on both sides by forest. I could probably get away with walking on the edge of the forest so that I wasn't seen and still be able to follow the road. Eventually it had to lead through a town right?
The road stretched on forever. I was exhausted, but I had the terrible feeling that if I dared to stop the Reverend would find me. Occasionally a car would drive by and I would lunge deeper into the trees so I wouldn't be spotted. I had been walking for what seemed like several hours when I came to a section of the road that turned into a bridge due to a large ravine. I was going to have to leave my safe spot at the edge of the forest and walk on the bridge in order to keep going. Thoughts of finally getting to a phone and being able to call for help propelled me forward. I waited in the trees, listening to see if any cars were nearby. When all I heard was silence, I hesitantly began to walk as quickly as I could across the bridge. My head began to spin from looking over the side of the bridge, the ravine had quite the drop.
As was my luck, I heard a car approaching from behind me. I started jogging, hoping to be able to get to the other side of the ravine before it got close. I was just about across the bridge when the car arrived. It sped past me, not slowing down at all. I breathed out a sigh of relief. I was being too paranoid. The Reverend wasn't going to find me. I heard another faint beep. It sounded like it was coming from inside of me. I patted my clothes but didn't feel anything. The light was very dim now, but I held up the handcuff to see if I could see anything on it. It looked like regular metal to me. I rolled my shoulders back and continued on.
It was pitch black now. The Reverend had done a good job of buying a house in the middle of nowhere. I had never been anywhere as remote as this. There weren't any lights along the road. I was lucky that there was an almost full moon or I would have probably gotten myself killed walking into another ravine. My back was still feeling strange, and I kept looking over my shoulder, peering into the darkness for the eyes I kept imagining were watching me. Nothing was ever there.
I finally decided I was going to have to find some shelter a little deeper in the forest, away from the road, so that I could sleep for a few hours. I walked a few feet into the forest and found a wide tree. I shuddered at the thought of the creepy crawlies that I was sure where all over it. I was actually grateful for the dark from hiding them from view.
Anna had given me a small windbreaker before I left. I contemplated whether I should take it off and use it for a pillow, or keep it on to try and protect myself from the cold. Now that it was September, the nights were getting freezing. It didn't help that my clothes were soaked with water and mud. I decided that I would use a pile of leaves as a pillow and keep the coat on for some warmth.
After choking down an apple, I laid down in a pile of dead leaves. I was exhausted. It was the kind of exhaustion that you could feel in your bones. Tears leaked out of my eyes despite my best efforts to stop myself from crying. I had never felt so alone. I had no idea how far away I was from civilization, let alone if I was actually heading the right way to actually reach civilization. The dark played tricks with my mind. I envisioned various ghastly beasts and monsters surrounding me. Every rustle of leaves and cracking of branches made me jump. Besides being cold and uncomfortable from laying on the ground, my back continued to twitch and ache as well. It felt like something was waiting to burst out of my skin.
My mind kept whirling, and I could feel another panic attack coming on. Suddenly the air grew even frostier and silence took over my senses. I knew the score…a specter was nearby. I didn't have the energy to yell at it. I waited patiently for it to come nearer, resigned in knowing that another sorrowful vision would be coming soon.
As the forest was so dark, I could only see the bare outline of the specter as it leaned closer to me. I braced myself for the icy touch. This one laid its whole hand on my face and a tremor went down my spine.
I lived for stolen moments like these. Lexi had arranged for me to disappear for the weekend, citing urgent business I had to attend to in the north. I had left the castle with pomp and glory, riding out with several armed guards to make sure it looked like I was heading towards official palace business. A few miles out, once we reached a quiet, sheltered portion of the forest that was safe from inquiring eyes, my guards veered left, nodding as they passed me. I was once again grateful for their loyalty as I headed the opposite direction.
I had been given directions of where I was going, and I rode hard, the anticipation of seeing Beckham after weeks of being forced to stay away lighting a fire beneath me. It was two hours before I finally reached the spot where we were to meet. My directions had led me to a clearing. A thatched cottage stood tall before me. I was immediately entranced by its beauty. The walls of the cottage were a smooth cream material, and lush, thick, flowering vines wrapped their way up the walls. The roof was made up of what looked like burnt red tiles, and a charming chimney rose from it. It was also covered in the gorgeous vines, and a thin trail of smoke danced out from its depths. I was delighted that Beckham had chosen such a charming spot for our rendezvous.
I was inexplicably nervous as I approached the door. I took a deep breath, but before I could knock, the door swung open and Beckham was there, sweeping me into his arms. He gave me a kiss that was so ardent I knew that he had felt the pain of the last few weeks without each other just as much as I had. When our kisses began to head us in a more serious direction, Beckham finally pulled away from me.
"Hi," he said, flashing that smile that always made my heart start beating faster.
"Hi," I answered, taking a moment to observe his beauty. Growing up my mother had told me stories of beings worshipped in other worlds. My favorite stories were always about the gods of Mt. Olympus. When she was young, before she had married Father, Mother had once had an affair with the leader of the Mt. Olympus gods, Zeus. She often regaled me with the stories about everything that happened during that time, but I especially loved hearing stories about Apollo, the god of the sun. Beckham looked how I had always imagined Apollo when Mother told me those tales. Gold skin, gold hair, gleaming blue eyes that were brighter than the Capian Sea beyond my palace. Every time I looked at him I was grateful he was mine. The fact that he was as golden on the inside as he was on the outside pushed him as close to perfection as I could imagine.
Bringing me back from my musings, Beckham took my hand and led me into the cottage. I immediately fell even further in love with the place. While I couldn't complain about the palace, its gleaming white marble walls were sometimes cold, especially with the current company. This place on the other hand felt warm and snug.
As Beckham took me on a tour of the cottage, I decided that this would definitely be considered the perfect spot for a love nest. There were squishy couches and arm chairs set around a large stone fireplace, with plenty of throw pillows to lounge on. The floors were made of gleaming, brown wood. The walls were white, but the kind of white that looked aged and lived in. A table for two was set next to a quaint kitchen with white cupboards and a red accented island. There was an office, or small recreational room that held a wall of books down the hallway.
I stopped short when he led me to the main bedroom. The bedroom was in the back corner of the cottage, and light streamed in from large windows on two of the walls, bathing the room in the glow from the sunset. There were wispy, gauzy, white curtains around the bed. They were waving slightly from the breeze coming in from an open window. I was enchanted. Suddenly standing in front of the bed with Beckham avidly watching me was too much, so I walked swiftly out of the room with him following closely behind.
"Everything alright?" he asked, a knowing smile on his face.
