Olivia Willet ran through the woods, her breath ragged, her bare feet hitting the dirt with soft thuds punctuated by the occasional snapping branch. The night was dark, the only light the silver of the moon above. Its glow illuminated Olivia’s way as she ran, its curved form peeking out through the branches that crisscrossed above her, as though a silent witness to her escape. Her pace was uneven, her arms held tight against the baby bump on her stomach, as though she might drop it and leave it behind if she didn’t keep it close.
“I hear you out there!” called Brody, the almost-husband that she’d left yesterday, the day of their wedding.
A wedding that, if she had her say, wouldn’t ever happen. Not in a million years.
Frustrated tears formed in Olivia’s eyes as she ran. She was mad at her slowness, her body sluggish and clumsy with pregnancy. Pressing against a nearby tree and regaining her breath in slow, labored draws, she wondered what her next step would be.
She thought she’d gotten away. Taking the car and what few belongings she had, Olivia had escaped in the middle of the night and drove for hours, the fear of Brody’s anger offset by the wild thrill of the escape and the happiness that she felt from getting out from under the thumb of the man she once loved. As she caught her breath, the moonlight above sliced through the canopy of leaves, the glow landing on her arm, right on the finger-shaped bruises that Brody had left on her skin. As silly as she felt thinking it, it was almost as if nature was reminding her of what she needed to do, of what was at stake for her and her child if she didn’t succeed in her escape.
“There’s three of us and one of you!” called Brody, his booming voice edged with a rage that she knew all too well. “You think you can outrun us, you got another goddamn thing coming!”
The words cut like knife edges into her heart, deflating her spirit. She knew he was right—there was simply no way a nine-months-pregnant woman could outrun three fit men, no matter how desperately she needed to escape.
Her breath restored, Olivia launched into another run, her arms once again wrapped around her belly.
How did he know? she thought, her mind going back to the moment only a few hours ago when she returned to the upstate New York motel where she’d been hiding out. How did he know that I’d be there?
She knew driving her car away from the city that she needed to put as much distance between her and him as possible. Brody wasn’t the type to take an insult like his fiancée leaving him two days before his wedding lying down. And Olivia knew that he’d be hot on her tail as soon as he realized she was gone. He was out late for his bachelor party; she figured that he’d pass out drunk like he always did, wake up around noon hungover and groggy. She assumed that she’d have at least a half a day to get as far away as possible.
But she didn’t count on her pregnant body rebelling against her as she drove, filling her with a fatigue that was overwhelming. She knew she shouldn’t have stopped, that she needed to drive or die trying, but the need to sleep was just too much. Nor did she count on seeing Brody’s car, that menacing, black Mercedes, parked outside of the motel lobby. She didn’t know what to do. She panicked, grabbed her things, and drove off, the peeling of her tires out of the motel parking lot the final proof that Brody needed to know that his prey was here.
She couldn’t outdrive him. Her economy car was no match for his Mercedes. So she’d pulled off onto some forgotten road near Bear Mountain, one of the many lonely peaks that rose into the night sky. She drove as far into the woods as she could, only stopping when the thick trunks of the woods made it impossible to pass in any way but on foot.
And then she ran.
Olivia kept on, not knowing where she was going, chiding herself for forgetting her shoes with every step of her bare feet on the cold, muddy earth.
“You better stop now!” yelled Brody. “Think about what happens if you fall right on your face! Think about that baby in your belly!”
Again, he was right. But before his words cut into her too deeply, she remembered why she was running, what this man was capable of. The thought of her child living under the same roof as this man who’d caused her so much pain was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach.
But the muscles in her legs screamed out; her pregnant body needed rest and calm, not what she was putting it through. Part of her wanted to stop, to give in, to accept the punishment that would surely come.
Propping her hand against another tree, she attempted to catch her breath once more. And as she stood, a strange sight caught her eye. It was lights. Lights that looked like a city’s.
That’s impossible, she thought. The nearest city’s miles from here.
Whatever the source of the lights was, Olivia knew it was her only hope. Rejuvenated, she took off once again towards the lights. She ran, praying for a ranger station, or better yet, a logging camp. The lights grew larger and larger in the distance, and after several minutes of pained running, she grew close enough to see just what it was.
It was a compound; that was the only way she could describe it.
A series of large buildings, square-shaped and ringed with floodlights that looked out into the woods and overpowered the moonlight above. A tall, black fence encircled the property, which Olivia guessed was several acres. On the other side of the property, away from the compound, was a dozen or so small cabins. It was like a small town, one that she couldn’t explain.
“I see those lights! I know that’s where you’re going!”
Olivia scanned the property, looking for any sign of life. Her eyes locked onto a small road that led to the gate of the fence, a freestanding speaker box to the side of it. She ran over to the speaker, looking desperately for some sort of call button. Pressing what looked to be it, she spoke into the box.
“Hello, is anyone there?”
No response.
“Please, if anyone’s there, I need help. Please.”
Still, no response. Tears began to well in her eyes once again as every muscle in her body screamed for rest.
“I don’t know if you’re listening, but if you are, my name is Olivia Willet. I’m pregnant, and I’m scared. I think my life’s in danger.”
“There you are!”
Olivia looked over in the direction of the voice, and saw the silhouettes of Brody and the two men he was with, their figures black amidst the bright of the flood lights. The three were only a few minutes off, and began walking towards her at a slow, menacing pace.
“About damn time!” called Brody.
“Please, he’s here. Please.”
Unable to bear the sight of Brody coming close, Olivia closed her eyes.
“Please,” she said, her finger shaking as she pressed it against the call button.
Then, just as any last trace of hope left her body, the metallic thunk of the gate lock unfastening cut through the still of the night.
“Come in now,” said a man’s voice from the speaker box. “And shut the gate behind you.”
Olivia nodded, despite no one being there to see her do it, and ran towards the now-unlocked gate. She pushed it open, slid through, and shut the massive entrance behind her.
“What the hell?” called Brody.
Olivia ran towards the compound, up to the sturdy double-doors, and wrapped her fingers against them. Once the knock sounded, her body gave up. She collapsed in an exhausted heap, her body slumped against the cold steel of the doors.