Almost Forgotten

Chapter 10: I Will Keep my Mouth Shut

And now you won't love me for a second time.
I don't know why I run away.

I cannot even recall the hour I zoned out, but when it was the time for me to rub my eyes open, the dawn was peering out.

Waking in an empty bed was always a relief. I threw the covers off me, letting my legs drop off the bed when I stood up. On the chair at the side, there were pairs of folded clothes left out for me. The cold December morning made me put on a brown pair of sweatshirt and sweatpants before I left the room.

In simple words, it looked like a vacation lake house.

In more complicated, there was an open space where the kitchen and dining hall took one side of the room, while the couch stood at the other side, right next to the open balcony. A shiver goes through my spine, stimulatingly with the wind slapping across my face.

It's quiet. Landon isn't here.

My fingers are tapping over the wood surface of the counter while I search for any sign of surveillance even here. Corners are empty, the book shelf at the left side of the open door is suspicious but too much work to be examined at this moment.

Like a jolt of energy, the memory shakes me up when my hand flies at my chest and I can breathe again.

The ring is still there.

There is a folded blanket over the couch backrest which I use to wrap it around my frame when I walk outside. The air is wet, but the rain has stopped for this moment when I lay my palms at the wooden fence.

Mud is drawing over all the grass, dirtying over the natural paths which are leading into the wood. Remembering the pattern from the bedroom, along with this it's quite clear that we are in the empty circle, surrounded by forest.

The sun is hidden, barely seen when I enter the house for breakfast. Fridge was filled with food, fairly new but looking over each expiration date I would guess it's been bought and stored at least a week before this. Giving them at least another two weeks to plan out and find this place.

I suppose Landon spent three years yearning for this, but the actual escape plan was most likely two months old.

Taking a last bite of an egg, my hand is whirling around with a knife while I think of everything that happened.

He escaped on the anniversary of his arrest.

Send me a warning into the Bureau building.

He was aware about Leah being my child.

He knows where she is.

Those are not just the things he would guess, or send his dogs to run around and collect information. Those were highly hidden things, stored into safety for a reason and he couldn't know about it unless-

The cutlery slipped down my hand, reaching up to massage my forehead as I loudly exhaled.

Of course.

Not wasting a second I am up off the chair, the drawer being pulled open as I gather all the knives in my hand and are walking towards the front doors. Trying once, I don't mind as they are locked when I return back to the balcony door.

Walking out, there are stairs leading down when I go through the freezing air with blades almost cutting through my skin.

The trees are tall, beyond my capability of seeing when I stop next to low and thick branches where I store them, making sure to look around for trees. My stand is stern with slightly parted legs and a blade gripped between my fingers.