Normally, the dark scared her. Without knowing who was lurking in the shadows she couldn’t breathe, but tonight was different. Tonight the dark would be her friend, her escape.

She held her breath as she gently pulled the blankets back off of her, hoping not to wake him.

As the bed dipped where she scooted to the edge a hand shot out and wrapped around her wrist. She froze, fear coursed through her body.

“Where are you going?” His voice was sharp, cold and demanding. It made her shiver…and not in a good way.

“The bathroom,” her tiny voice broke the tension. She forced herself to turn towards him more and look at him. She could barely see him in the moonlight that streamed through the uncovered window. His green eyes were cold and hard, he stared at her angrily. His pink lips were turned down in a frown, his lips moved slightly like he wanted to say something. But he never did.  She leaned towards him and ran a hand through his dark brown hair, the silky feeling causing her hand to stay a bit longer than necessary.

She force a smile on her face, hoping he wouldn’t see the fear that laid behind the smile.

“I’ll be right back. Go back to bed. You have an early day in the morning, baby.” His eyes noticeably softened and his lips turned up in a little smile. He mumbled something but she could not understand so she just smiled at him. His eyes shut and he removed his grip off of her wrist and moved his hand to her face. He stroked the back of his index finger from the top of her cheek down and then placed his hand under his pillow and fell back asleep.
She couldn’t believe that had worked. Oh how many nights that she dreamt of doing that, only for those dreams to turn into nightmares… But it had worked and this was real life and she took what she got and she ran.

She slowly closed the door, quietly to make sure he stayed asleep but then she walked to the hall across from their bedroom door and grabbed the coat, pair of shoes and the small amount of money that she stashed as she was “Getting ready for bed” the night before. She grabbed them and then quietly ran down the hall.

Her feet padded on the wood flooring, it made little echo sounds but she didn’t care. She couldn’t care.

The echoes came to a stop as she crept down the stairs and towards the doorway. She pulled the coat around the silky lavender pajamas he bought her nights before, and then slipped the sneakers on her bare feet. She tucked the money away where she knew it was safe.

Once she had put the security code in and open the door her heart raced and doubt found its way into her mind. She could turn back now and then do it when he was gone. He left her alone a lot now. But she knew this was the only time she’d get the head start that she would, she couldn’t let the opportunity slip.

So, she stepped out onto the welcome mat and she realized that the doubt was gone—in its place was something much more intoxicating.

She wasted no time breaking into a sprint. He’d realize she was gone for too long pretty soon and she wanted to be as far away as possible before that time came. The ground beneath her feet was squishy and made noises as her feet dug into the earth and then pulled back up. She wish it hadn’t rained the night before but she didn’t think he would be looking for her tracks in the dark and by the time morning came it wouldn’t matter if he found her tracks. She’d be on her way out of the town.

When she entered the woods the world seemed to quiet and her feet pounding seemed to echo so loudly, bouncing among the trees. The sound almost made her laugh. But she didn’t, instead she ran faster, her breaths quickened and her heart raced.

Every breath she took should have burned, every step she took she took should have burned, everything should have burned by this point, but nothing did. Her pace was continuous now. She didn’t have to stop and think about where she was going. She remember the path and if she forgets a single moment, she didn’t really care how she ended up away from here as long as she ended up away.

She remembered the time she found the path, the time she walked it. It was one of times he actually left her home alone. She remembered needing fresh air and then just deciding to walk into the woods. She remembered the way her heart pounded when she emerged from the woods maybe an hour later and saw that his car was already there. Parked where it always was. She walked quickly to the house and heard him shouting her name. She remembered the way she panicked and ran out back to the garden.

She remembered how she was bent next to a couple of flowers for barely a few minutes before he ran outside and saw her. She looked up from the flowers and acted surprised. She remembered the look on his face; a mixture of anger and relief. He had shouted at her, asking where she had been. And she had looked down at the flowers and lied. She said she had been looking at the flowers and didn’t realize he was home.

He believed her.

She wouldn’t be able to lie her way out of this one. The only way she would escape his wrath if he ever found her was death or serious injury and she didn’t find that particularly pleasant.

She didn’t know how long she had been running but she began to see car headlights and she knew she had made it to the road. She finally stopped and took deep breaths. The pain was finally catching up to her. Every breath she took it felt like she was being stabbed in her side, her lungs felt like they were being scorched. Her legs began to ache and she became wobbly and unstable. That was no good.

She wasn’t safe yet, she couldn’t stop. She started walking towards the way she knew town was. She stayed in the woods, far enough into them where she couldn’t be seen but she could see the cars zooming by. She wondered why there were so many cars on the road at a time like this.

She eventually had to stop again. She sat down on a near a log and took a deep breaths. She knew that they had lived far from town by the amounts of times he had brought her into town instead of leaving her on her own in fear that she would escaped.

She wish she knew where she was, how far from the house she was, how close to the town she was.
But she didn’t and it was getting early. Soon the sun would be starting to rise and she wouldn’t be able to hide so easily. So, she stood up and started jogging. She wanted to get there as soon as she could.

- - - -

The sun was raising by the time that she got to the bus station and bought a ticket. The clock on the wall in the building read 4:54 am. She was surprised she was able to purchase a ticket.

“Where will you be traveling to?” The lady behind the desk looked dead, dark bags under her eyes and zoned out eyes. She could relate to the worker.

“What’s the furthest place you’ve got for a bus today? Or the earliest? Preferably both,” She said and tucked her blonde wild and knotted curls behind her ears and made sure the lacey, silk night gown was hidden behind the large navy blue coat.

“We’ve got one leaving at 5:30 to New York,” The lady said and yawned. Her face turned a deep red as she began to apologize profusely.

“It’s okay,” she laughed. “It’s quite early, I cannot blame you.” And as if on que, she let out a yawn of her own and then she and the worker laughed together.

After all the fun stuff was aside she paid for her ticket and thanked the lady. She went and sat the furthest from the windows.

Slowly people began to file in, she stayed facing away in case one of them was him, but it never was and by the time 5:30 was here she was loading onto the bus along with everybody else, leaving behind the god forsaken state of California and on her way to New York. She would eventually make her way home, or at least contact her parents to assure them she was alive.

For now, it was one step at a time. It would be a long while before another step. Escaping your kidnapper was one big step and will need time to calm down.