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melissabik

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I can’t believe I’m lost in the woods again!  They should put signs in here saying, “This way to the highway.”  I wanted to believe that I knew where I was going, but I knew I was lost.  I had been going in circles, wondering how I had gotten myself into this mess again.  I had hoped that Sam would somehow miraculously show up and find me like he did the last time.  There was no such luck.  I didn’t want to stop moving because I knew Levi was somewhere out there, looking for me.   I tried not to think too much about what I did to get away; it made me want to vomit.  I told myself I would never do that again, and Sam didn’t really need to know all the gory details anyway…  I knew that hours had passed because the sun was up in the sky.  My feet were begging me to stop walking and my side was all ready giving up on me.  Come on!  We have to make it!  Sam is out there somewhere, looking for me!  As I continued going in circles, I thought about Sam.

Who was I kidding?  Sam wasn’t coming.  He was unconscious in that motel parking lot.  Or maybe he had woken up and is putting a pack of ice on his bruised head.  I didn’t know what to think, but I knew that there was no way Sam was going to find me this time.  That made my heart sink.  He wasn’t my REAL prince charming, my white knight…  He was just an ordinary guy with an impeccable sense of style, great head of hair, chiseled body features, and a wicked cell phone that can transport you to the future and back.  Suddenly my feet gave way and I tripped over a rock, falling into the dead leaves.  I groaned as the stabbing pain ran through my legs.  I couldn’t go on.  I was either going to die because of Levi, or I was going to die because of me.  I felt dead all ready.  I was starving for some food; I was weak.  I could feel my body shutting down, even though I was trying to force it to keep going.  But when the body knows it can’t take it anymore, it doesn’t lie to itself and keep fighting; it gives up and closes shop.

I woke up to a face that I didn’t recognize in a place that didn’t seem familiar.  “Hello,” replied the woman with a weathered face.  She looked to be in her mid to late sixties, and she had a blonde bob tied back with a handkerchief and she was wearing some house dress that looked quite ridiculous.  As I looked around me, I realized I was in someone’s bed, probably hers, and the sun was setting outside.  “Sam!” I yelled, jerking up in the bed as the woman ran to my side.  “Sh,” she said, trying to quiet me while she placed a warm cloth on my forehead.  She pushed me to lie down again as she patted my head with the cloth.  “You must get some rest, dear.  Your body still isn’t recuperated quite yet,” she replied.  Her voice reminded me of my grandmother.

It made me feel safe.  I had expected to be dead by now, by the hand of Levi.  I wasn’t expecting to wake up in a nice little cottage in the woods, in a soft, warm bed, by a great big fireplace that was nice and toasty.  “How did I get here?” I asked.  The woman smiled as she went back to the fire.  “Humphrey found you outside in the woods near our house.  He saw you fall down and ran after you when he didn’t see you get up,” she replied sweetly.  Humphrey?  Who was Humphrey?  “You were lucky he found you; you were on the verge of a terrible fever and it was getting quite cold out there,” she continued.  “Who is Humphrey?” I asked, feeling completely lost.  “Oh, Humphrey is my son.  He went out to chop some more wood for the fireplace for the night,” she explained.  I nodded my head, only slightly comprehending what was being said.  “I’m Katarina,” I replied.   “My name is Millie, and I own this cottage.  But no one ever comes all the way out here.  No one really even knows that this house even exists.  We don’t get very many visitors.  I was surprised when Humph brought you inside.  After I cleaned you up and got your clothes washed, I put you in here to rest.  You’ve been out for most of the day; since about 8am this morning… Although you seemed completely drained, so I don’t blame you.”  Millie was a talker.  That was very obvious. 

I didn’t know if I wanted to tell her the reason I was so drained.  I wasn’t sure she would believe me, or if she did, that she wouldn’t want to allow me to recuperate in her house.  But I knew I had to tell her; even if she might kick me out of her house.  “Someone is trying to kill me,” I said quietly.  Millie kept talking, as if she never heard a word I said.  I tried again.  “Millie, someone is trying to kill me,” I said more coherently.  That got Millie to quiet down.  “What are you talking about, dear?” she asked, coming back to check if I had a fever.  “There is a man out there who kidnapped me and took me here into the woods.  He was going to kill me, but I escaped.  I just kept running until I was exhausted and fell,” I explained.  Millie looked at me in shock.  “Kill you?  For what?” she asked as she sat down in her chair next to the fireplace.  “He’s crazy… and I know that he’s somewhere out there looking for me.  I’m terrified…  You believe me, don’t you?”  I was afraid she was going to think I was crazy.

Millie was quiet for a moment.  She wasn’t looking at me, but she was looking out the window.  “I think I do…  There’s a man who just came to the door…  I’ve never seen him before…” she replied.  Panic gripped me; was it Levi?  Had he found me all ready?  “What does he look like?” I asked, hoping it wasn’t true.  Millie continued to look out the window, trying to make out the stranger’s face.  “He doesn’t look too young.  He has a long scar on the side of his face… I wonder where he got it,” she inquired.  I jumped out of the bed with a look of horror on my face.  “That’s him, Millie,” I replied in fear.  She turned to me with panic.  “Are you sure?  Maybe you should take a look yourself; I could be wrong,” she suggested.  I decided to take her advice; even though I knew 100% that it was Levi.  Sure enough, I was right.  He was talking to a man, I was guessing it was Humphrey, and I could see his scar protruding from a mile away.  “It’s him, definitely,” I breathed, feeling sick at the thought of how close he was to finding me.

I began to hyperventilate as Millie tried to calm me down.  “It’s okay, don’t worry.  I won’t let him harm you.  We’ll just have to hide you somewhere until he leaves,” she replied while she rubbed my back.  We turned to hear the door open to the sound of two men’s voices.  I looked at Millie.  She grabbed my hand and began pulling me out of the room.  We ran to the end of the hallway, where there was a rope hanging from the ceiling.  Millie pulled it to reveal a set of stairs that folded out.  Bless the woman!  She has an attic!  I quickly climbed the ladder quietly as Millie followed.  There were mostly boxes up there, but there was also a blanket and a rocking chair in the corner.  It was freezing, so I sat in the rocking chair and covered myself with the blanket.  Millie made sure I was comfortable.  “As soon as he leaves, I’ll come back and get you, okay?” she whispered.  I nodded.  She climbed down the ladder and closed the door behind her.  I was left there in silence.  I tried not to make any sound so much as breathing.  I could vaguely hear voices coming from downstairs.

“Have you seen a girl wearing a grey sweater and jeans come by here?  She has brown hair and it is in a ponytail,” I heard Levi say.  “No, we’re sorry, but we haven’t seen any one like that around here,” I heard Millie answer back.

“Really?  I was just talking to your son, Humphrey, and he said that he brought in a girl just like that this morning, and that she was sleeping upstairs…”  Damn, we forgot to let Humphrey know what was going on…

“Um… Oh, we did see a girl.  She stayed with us this morning, that’s true; we let her have something to eat.  But then she was on her way.  She seemed in a hurry…”

“So would you mind if I look around?” I heard Levi say.  You have got to be kidding me!  He was going to search the house?  But he wasn’t a cop; he didn’t have an arrest warrant…  “I can’t allow that, sir,” I heard Millie’s sweet little grandmother voice say.

“I’m afraid I don’t give a damn, ma’am,” replied Levi.  Suddenly I heard footsteps.  “Hey!  You can’t do that!” I heard Millie yell.  “What do you think you’re doing?” I heard another voice, most likely Humphrey’s, say.  Then I heard footsteps going up the stairs.  My heart began to pound.  I could hear him going into each room, opening every door, until he came to the attic door.  “Where does this go?” Levi asked.  I began to panic.  I didn’t know whether to hide, or wait for Levi to find me and just get it over and done with.  This was beginning to cause problems for people I didn’t even know; Millie and her son didn’t deserve that; they never had to help me.  “That’s just our attic.  Look, I told you that girl you are looking for isn’t here anymore.  She left this morning,” Millie replied angrily.

But Levi wasn’t buying it.  “Then you wouldn’t mind if I looked up here then, would you?” I heard him say.  Okay, I don’t want to die.  I didn’t have these wonderful people save me for nothing…  I got out of the chair and looked around the attic; somewhere I could hide…  The boxes were all too small for me; he would have found me right away.  Suddenly I spotted an old trunk in the corner next to a small window.  I quietly rushed over to it and opened it.  There were a few things inside, another blanket, some books, and some clothes.  I quickly removed the blanket that was taking up the most room and hopped inside.  At that moment, Levi opened the attic door and was climbing up the ladder.  I knew Millie must have been having a heart attack.  I could hear Levi searching all the boxes; I looked through the keyhole to see if there was anything I could see.

I could make out Levi, tearing through the poor boxes, and I could see Millie and Humphrey in the back, with horrified looks on their faces.  Levi moved closer and closer to the trunk; my heart raced faster and faster.  He was going to find me…  He finished tearing through all the boxes and continued to look around.  His body was so close to the trunk, if I opened the top, I could touch him.  I didn’t move a muscle; I didn’t even breathe.  “I told you, she’s not here,” Millie said.  Levi just stood there.  He turned around to the trunk and I could see he was looking right at it.  “What’s in the trunk?” he asked.  Oh, no…  God, please don’t let him find me…  “It’s just some books, clothes, blankets…” I heard Humphrey reply.  Levi stared at the trunk for a minute or two.  “This would be a great hiding spot for a girl…” he thought out loud.  Then I saw his hands reach for it and try to pry it open.  I braced myself for the inevitable; I waited for the trunk to open and for Levi to find me and kill me right there in front of those nice people.

But he couldn’t get it to open.  Try as he might, using all of his strength, he couldn’t open the trunk.  “It’s locked,” he stated with annoyance.  “Well, of course it is,” Millie replied.  I could see Levi’s vein popping out again.  “Then where is the damn key?!?” he yelled.  “We haven’t opened that trunk in years; Humphrey lost the key when he was little,” I heard Millie say.  Smart Millie!  She knows how to think on her feet!  Levi stood in front of the trunk for a minute longer, staring at it.  I continued to hold my breath and not move a muscle.  Then Levi gave up and moved away from the trunk.  “We were telling the truth,” Millie said haughtily.  “You did… I guess I’ll be leaving now; thank you for allowing me into your home…” replied Levi as if nothing had just happened.  They left the attic and once again there was silence.  I sat in the trunk for what felt like hours.  My whole body was beginning to ache from being in the same position for so long.

Finally, I heard the attic open, and I saw Millie come up the stairs and open the trunk.  I climbed out and gave her a hug.  “Thank you so much, Millie.  You just saved my life,” I replied with gratitude.  “You’re lucky I still have the key to that trunk,” she said.  So when I opened the trunk and closed it behind me, it locked it…  “Someone is really looking out for you…” she added.  A picture of Sam popped into my head.  “Oh, no… Sam…” I whispered.  Millie nodded.  “You kept whispering his name while you slept…  He must be your love…” she said observantly.  I nodded.  “And he’s in trouble.  I have to go back to find him,” I replied.  Millie nodded in understanding.  “Of course, dear.  You need to get out of these woods as soon as possible, and as far away from that man as possible…  I can have Humphrey drive you back to town,” she offered.

“That would be wonderful,” I replied.  It was as if Millie was an angel; she was doing so much more than I would have asked her to do.  “Come on, I’ll tell Humphrey to get the pick-up and you two can be on your way back on the road in no time.  You’ll find your Sam soon enough,” she soothed as we climbed down the ladder.  Humphrey went and got his truck, and just before I got inside, I turned to Millie and gave her another hug.  “Thank you so much… Thank you for everything you have done for me today.  You didn’t have to help me at all; I almost made things worse for you… I am sorry for causing all of this trouble, but thank you for being an angel,” I said.  Millie wiped a little tear from her eye and smiled.  “You just get inside that truck and get as far away from here as possible, okay?  Then one day come find me and we’ll have some tea and cookies…”  I laughed at her comment and hopped inside the truck.  As we drove away, I watched Millie waving goodbye as she got smaller and smaller.

{This one was long! Please rate and comment! worked really hard on this chapter! thanks}