Part 1
Every night after a long and hard day at work I made my way home on my cute little pink vespa. It was good twenty minute commute and the weather was starting to get cold. Even through my fuzzy beanie I could hear all four motorcycles rev their engines and start my way. My stomach dropped and I whirled around to see who was behind me. In the dark I couldn't even make out their shapes. It made them seem ominous and all powerful, like the serial killer you are sure is hiding under your bed. Panic made my thoughts jump and tangle together. I mean it wasn't like this was a surprise, I knew they were going to come after me eventually. It was just so different to have it happen now. It had seemed so far off--
BAM!
My vespa, which I had named Charlie, rammed into the barrier that separated the road and the river. I went flying and landed heavily on my back. Fortunately the continents of my backpack took most of the fall. The air left me and I began to slide down toward the river, showers of rock and dirt proceeding me. Desperately I threw my hands out, grabbing at brush and rocks to control the decent of my body and not really succeeding. All the while collecting bumps, bruises and cuts from various pointy rocks and thorny bushes. When I finally hit the water I was thoroughly pummeled and it was almost, almost a relief when I submerged into the frigid water.
Instinctively I struggled upward for air, adrenaline pumping through my veins. Didn't the water know it was still fall? My limbs were already finding it difficult to move. Firmly I planted my feet and took several deep breaths, running the plan through my mind again. Above me I could hear the motorcycles pulling over and voices shouting to each other.
I had to act now or they would kill me and that would be the end of it.
Steeling myself I let the weight of my backpack pull me under. Once I was under the water I let everything melt away, it was just me and the river. I couldn't rush this part, everything had to be done just right. The river was gently pulling me downstream and I need to move quickly for my plan to work.
I pulled out the oxygen tank I had been hoisting around all month. I hadn't really known when they were going to make they're move so I had prepared weeks in advance. Putting the mouthpiece in my mouth I took a deep breath and let it out. I could breathe. It was going to be okay. Anxiousness and adrenaline was still messing with my movements and hindering my hands, but I did my best to work with it rather than against it.
I had wrist and huge ankle weights that would make it easier for me to stay under the water and near the river base. For my plan to work I had to stay under water until it was believable that I had drowned. I pulled out two steel poles and rammed them into the river base and braced myself against them. Once my backpack was empty I let it go, hoping the motorcyclists would think it was my body. I needed to get as far away from them as possible and for that to happen I had to do the unlikely: I had to move upstream, against the river.
After that it was like I had a list of things to complete.
1. Strap oxygen tank onto back... Check.
2. Get to edge of river were the pull is weakest... Check.
3. Use poles and begin climb up river.... in progress.
It didn't help that the water was freezing. I ended up lying flat against the floor literally crawling upstream, using the poles as braces. Progress was slow, and I kept worrying that they were going to grab me and pull me out of the water. But they never did. And so I just kept going.
I don't know how far I went, I didn't dare poke my head out of the water. When my tank was finally out of air, I crawled out of the water as quietly as I could and waited for the tell-tale sound of a motorbike.
Nothing.
As quietly and as quickly as I could with my teeth chittering and hands shaking, I tied the weights, poles and oxygen tank together and threw them into the river, they sank to the bottom and I could only hope they wouldn't be discovered.
I pulled off any excess clothing I had and threw that into the river, it would only slow me down. Then I made my feet move. I was shaking from cold and the only way I was going to warm up was if I started to run. It was slow going. All I wanted to do was sit down and sleep. I was exhausted and my muscles were cold and sore. They groaned each time I moved and stiffly obeyed my commands. I had to stay off the roads, they were on bikes and they would be patrolling the river. My best bet was to move uphill into the forest.
The commute from work went through a canyon. It was a nice scenic drive that was beautiful at any time of year, and best yet three quarters of the drive was in close proximity to the river. When I had been forming my plan I had thought it likely that they would use the river. It would be a nice way of getting rid of the body, no mess. I had been betting that they wouldn't attack me while I was at work, surrounded by coworkers. It was more likely they would kill me either at home or during the drive home. I had made two plans, just in case, but exit by river had always been the better of the two.
I worked my way up towards the summit of the mountains that surrounded me. There were several places that I had to backtrack and find a new way around. They were impassable because of cliffs or trees and I new I didn't have the strength to try and scale them. I kept one eye on the skies, moving steadily east. It kept me from running around in circles.
Eventually I hit a back dirt road. It was such a relief to finally reach cleared ground that I began to follow it a ways. I rationalized that they wouldn't be looking for me this far up and if I did hear a motor I could always dive for the trees.
The temperature steadily dropped and my sopping wet clothes amplified the freezing air, letting it seep into my bones. I needed to find somewhere to stop soon. I might be forced to find a cave or light a fire. I didn't want to make it easy for them to find me, but what was the point if I was rendered useless from hypothermia?
When I came to a fork, I chose the smaller path. Frost's poem made the decision for me. It made all the difference.
It led to a cabin, two stories, small, and just what I needed. I checked the front door, locked, duh. According to the mailbox the cabin belonged to a Corbet family, silently I asked their forgiveness and started to look for possible entries and alarms. All the first floor doors and windows were locked, and I didn't see small white boxes near the entries, or little red lights. I hoped that these people were just very trusting and hadn't put any alarms in. I climbed up the railing of the front porch and pulled myself up to the roof. As luck would have it, one of the windows was ajar. (i was beginning to worry that I might have to go down the chimney.) Silently I slipped into the window and listened for signs of life. I hadn't seen a car, or any vehicle to signify that they were using the cabin, but better safe than sorry.
Cautiously I checked each room, keeping a minimum of one light on. The kitchen had canned goods and a modest supply of dishes. There were two bathrooms, three bedrooms, a small garage for four wheelers, and a small living area/ dining area. I rushed to the bathroom and stripped, jumping into the shower and letting the warm water wash over me, banishing all memories of the cold. It was bliss, pure and simple. I toweled off with an impossibly small towel and threw my clothes into the dryer. I made myself a small meal of beans and corn and snuggled up into one of the beds.
At that moment I didn't care if they found me. I was warm and needed rest. They could do whatever they wanted with me, when they found me. I was going to sleep.
Part two
My eyes opened.
You know when you wake up and you know something is wrong? Something was definitely wrong. It was the fifth time I had woken up that night, I kept waking up from bad dreams, people in masks, hands grabbing me, tying my hands and feet, gagging me... Each time I jerked awake, I had been able to relax enough to sleep again, but this time hadn’t been from the dreams. I sat up and pulled the tiny towel up and under my arms, wrapping it around my body.
The morning light was just coming in the window. It was just before sunrise and the sky was brightening slowly.
Then I heard a car door slam.
My stomach dropped and my heart hammered twice before I made it to the closet. Roughly I shoved the vacuum, broom and boots aside so I could cram my body behind the coats, scarves and hats.
It was only after was firmly situated between the wall and the contents of the closet that I realized three things. First, I had left the bed unmade, second, my clothes were still in the dryer and I was completely naked except for a towel, and finally if they had come for me, the closet wasn’t going to be enough.
I leaned against the wall, shaking, my legs ready to give out. I had braved hypothermia, hiked miles, after fighting a river for the better part of the night. I was tired. I was scared. I was dead. And on top of that I was going to be caught naked, oh, they were going to have fun with that. I laughed softly and rubbed my forehead, tears streaking down my cheeks. Despair settled in and I waited for the door to open...
“Daniel! Come get your bags!” It was a female voice...
I swore very, very quietly and gathered my nerves. It wasn’t them... It was the Corbets! They had come up for the long weekend. I could hear Daniel running in and out downstairs, the Corbets moved in slowly. I could hear the heavy clonking of luggage hitting the porch and front door. I didn’t have much time, how was I going to get out of here?
“Jared...” It was the woman again, must be the mother. Someone was wrong, had she seen the dryer?
Clothes, I needed clothes! I slipped out of the closet and began opening drawers, very gently. They gave easily, making hallow sounds. Empty. I needed out! I went back to the closet and threw on a coat.
“Daniel, Irene, get behind me. Call the police.” Male’s voice. The father.
Oh no... Oh, no! If the police were alarmed, they would hear about it. I zipped up the coat and ran down the stairs.
“Please! Please, don’t call the police!” When I reached the bottom I could see Jared, the father. He was holding a fire poker like a baseball bat, ready to take a swing at my head. He was tall roughly six feet, clean shaven, dark brown, wavy hair, button up shirt and jeans. Irene was clutching Daniel desperately. Irene was blond, hair styled in a bob, wide, light blue eyes. Daniel was maybe fourteen or fifteen, shorts, shirt, he looked just like his parents. Instead of being scared, he was angry, determined, full of life.
“GET ON YOUR KNEES! LET ME SEE YOUR HANDS!!” Jared bellowed. I dropped instinctively his voice thoroughly intimidating me. I held my hands up and ducked my head down. Freak, who was this guy? A cop?
“Please...” My voice was trembling. I cleared it and took a shaky breath. “I just needed a place to stay. I crashed and fell into the river. All of my stuff was lost and I didn’t have anyplace to go.” I chanced a look up. His face was a mask of suspicion and anger. I didn’t know if he believed me or not. “I didn’t take anything, I swear, I had no ill intentions. Please.” I looked up into Jared’s face, pleading.
For a long intense moment, nothing was said and it was Irene, not Jared who broke the silence.
“Jared, it’s alright. Let’s at least let her get into some clothes. She can explain herself fully in a moment.”
All at once, I realized that I was in nothing but a windbreaker and a towel, a teeny one at that. Blood rushed to my face as I looked down to make sure I wasn’t flashing poor Daniel. Hurriedly I pulled the towel closer and allowed Irene to help me stand.
I was pleased to see I wasn’t the only one blushing and feeling incredibly embarrassed. Jared was looked down and pulled Daniel outside, mumbling something about people making themselves at home.
Irene smiled genuinely and all the stress and fear that had built up in these few moments this morning washed away. I’m embarrassed to say I almost fainted in her arms from exhaustion and lack of sleep. Somehow I held myself up and explained to her about the dryer. She got my things and helped me upstairs when it became obvious that my supply of adrenaline had stopped and my body was incapable of functioning on it’s own.
I had never been so sore and stiff that I couldn’t move. Everything hurt, my arms screamed when I reached out for the railing. My legs were just as bad, each step felt like a mountain. Irene was practically carrying me upstairs.
When we finally reached the bedroom, she sat me down and started to help me dress. Reluctantly I let my trusty towel go and peeled off the coat. She gasped, putting a hand to her mouth.
I looked down and whistled. I was a sight. Bruises covered my arms, ribs and (from the way it felt I assume my back) all up and down my legs. No wonder I felt like hell.
“What happened? All this from a crash?” Irene was sincerely concerned. It lifted my heart to know someone cared.
“Well, I did crash and then tumble into a river, so yes.” It felt good to be coddled and I’m afraid I was enjoying it much too much.
Irene shook her head and helped me pull on each article of clothing. “When I saw your face I thought you might be hurt but I didn’t really think the bruising was this extensive.”
“My face? What’s wrong with my face?” I stood up too quickly and gasped, grinding pain pulling me to a complete stop.
“Are you alright?” Irene was by my side in seconds one arm on my shoulder, ready to support me. I could’ve cried.
“I’m fine.” I hissed through gritted teeth.
Her mouth tightened into a hard line and she pushed me gently, but firmly back to the bed. “You, my dear, are far from fine.” She sat on a chair in the corner and glared at me. “You are going to tell me exactly what happened, how you came to get here, who you are and what you’re circumstances are. I have a strong feeling you are hiding something. It comes with being a mother. You can tell when children are lying.”
I raised my eyebrows and she raised one right back.
I opened my mouth and before I could speak she said, “I want the whole truth. I can see you conceiving a half truth. Don’t think you can deceive me.” Her finger was in my face, now.
I was impressed and irked by this woman. One moment she is treating me like I was a little baby, the next like I was a lying thief and how she had put together that I was hiding something in two sentences was a miracle in and of itself. I debated within myself. I could tell her, she would be in danger if I did so, her entire family would have the same fate as me. It would be better for them if I didn’t, but then again... was I really that noble? I could use them. They were trusting people, except for the father, he seemed to have some sense of the world. This woman wanted to see the best in people and gave them every chance to prove it. If I could play that...
But would she believe me? My story was fantastical to say the least. I almost wanted to tell her just to see her reaction... this woman who treated me like her own child.
I opened my mouth and began.
Part 3
I was hesitant, not really sure where to begin. “Three months ago I met a very nice young man. He was handsome, charming, intelligent, and... he took away my life.” It was like I had something nasty in my mouth and I was just getting it out. After that I spat whatever came to mind. “He said his name was Joshua and to just call him Josh. He came to my office looking for the head of security. Said that we were going to be robbed.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Where do you work?”
“I work in a bank, I’m-- I was Assistant Manager and rather proud of it. We were working with some foreign officials and they had some blueprints they were keeping in our vaults. We assumed that if we were going to be robbed that was what they were going to take.” I took a breath and prepared to continue. “We were wrong. We were never robbed.” I almost wanted to bury my head in the sand, I was so embarrassed. I should’ve seen it coming. “It was all to keep our attention somewhere else. I was so stupid to believe him.” I bit my lip, tears starting to well up. I wiped at them and continued, focusing on the feeling of anger that was starting to burn in my chest. “We had met with Joshua several times, everything he told us sounded legit. It seemed real.”
A slow smile started to creep up on Irene’s face. “You liked him, didn’t you?”
I laughed softly. “Yeah. Yeah, I really, really liked him...” I couldn’t finish. Stupid, betraying lacrimal glands.
Gently Irene prodded, “What did he do?”
“He accessed the bank’s computers and started pulling files off on one of our clients, a Jeffery Gorge. His company has been with us since the beginning, a loyal customer. I’d actually seen him a few times talking with the owner, he was-- wow. He was quite the businessman, very successful...” I stopped, I didn’t know how to explain what had happened. The whole thing had blind-sided me and turned my life upside down. Putting my experience into words was-- really hard.
I swallowed several times. “When I confronted Josh, I asked for the truth. So... He showed me the files.” I looked down at my hands. I laughed, rather hysterically. “He warned me, he told me not to. But I looked. I looked. Turned out that our dear loyal Jeremy Gorge was about as bad as, I dunno, Adolf Hitler. He was using just about every trick in the book: black mail, selling secrets, weapons, and to top his company was actually doing very well. He had enough money to buy anything or anyone. Most the time he didn’t even need the money, he had dirt on everyone. Half the cops were in his back pocket and he had connections in very high places.”
I sat back, flinching as my body protested. “Most of this wasn’t in the files of course, all they really told me was that Gorge was dirty. Josh was an agent, undercover, working for some... something. I didn’t catch it. I didn’t really believe him until I got a package with 50,000 in cash and a new passport, ID, birth certificate, or any kind of papers I’d need.”
I looked up at Irene, did she believe me? I didn’t. But I’d started this, I needed to tell her everything. “He said I was on my own. That I should run, they’d be coming for me.”
“And that’s what happened last night.” Irene finished.
“Yes, they came last night. Gorge’s men. I crashed, came up river and stopped at the nearest cabin for shelter. What I’m really worried about is that Gorge has access to a satellite, I’m a gonner if that’s the case...” I shut up.
“Hm.” Irene hmmmed.
…
I thought about telling her how I knew it sounded ridiculous, about how I knew that it was wrong for me to have used this cabin, to have forced myself on their family. But I kept my mouth shut, Irene was capable of coming to a conclusion on her own.
I waited.
Irene sighed, “My husband won’t believe you. He’s too practical...” I looked up hopefully, did that mean she believed me?
A knock resounded from downstairs. Irene stood and hurried down to answer. I hobbled to me feet and began to follow her. The banging on the door continued. Irene but her hand on the door and then stopped. Discreetly she looked through the blinds of the window near the door and turned to me.
“Hide.”
I practically jumped into the closet. As I did so I chanted, I love closets, I love closets!
When I was hidden and peeking through a crack, Irene opened the door. A tall, nearly bald man stood waiting. He had very light hair, almost orange. His eyes were dark, deeply set, his entire face seemed heavy, serious, intimidating. My nightmares finally had a face.
“Hello ma’am, I am officer James Conrad. I’m looking for this woman.” He held up a photo of... me, duh. I held my breath, they’d found me. Did they know I was alive?
Irene took the photo and carefully examined it. I have to admit it wasn’t my best, I looked scary serious. “No, I’ve never seen this woman before in my life. Who is she?” She leaned against the doorway, a beautiful picture of complete surprise.
“She escaped a mental institution last night.”
Really a mental institution? That was the best they could do?
“She shouldn’t have gotten far but... we’ve still been unable to locate her. If you happen to see her or any other suspicious activity, if you could contact this number.” He pulled out a card and gave it to her. “It would be much appreciated. You come up here often, Mrs...”
“Corbet and yes, we come here as often as we can.”
“I see,” His eyes flashed around the house, looking for me. I ducked, avoiding his eyes. “Do you know how I can contact your neighbors? I’d like to see if they’ve seen--”
After that I just shut him out and concentrated on Mrs. Corbet. All my hopes rode on her, did she believe me? The evil Conrad left and I stepped out of my closet. Irene still had her hand on the door considering everything she had just heard. I bit my lip, she turned and looked at me still thinking.
“Okay, I believe you. I don’t know how I’m going to convince Jared but...” she smiled and nodded reassuringly to me. “It’ll work out. I’m sure of it. For now, stay inside. I’ll go talk with him.”
Thus began my life in hiding.
