-for reference: RCMP* - Royal Canadian Mounted Police 

***

My feet beat on the ground, and tension radiated through the granite rock. My heart pulsed and my breaths were ragged.

 "Run!"

His voice was enough, enough to propel me forward through the forest with every damn muscle in my body. I knew better than to turn back, to lose my only chance to escape this mess. He had done this for me, so I could live on.

Leaves crunched beneath my feet like the smash of a skull. I cursed the change in season. Between the bare birch trees, my body's visibility would dig its own grave. That cruel man would surely find me. He'd tie me up again in his musty log cabin. My mouth ran dry. I couldn't stomach the burning taste of the gag, which had been in my mouth for the past three hours.

A familiar cry ripped through the evening until it was cut short by a thud. 

Only silence followed. 

I stopped dead in my tracks. I fell on my scrapped knees and buried my head in my hands. 

Peter, my sweet Peter! 

That monster didn't need to hunt me down. He had just torn out my heart. 

The tears wouldn't fall. I took ten ragged breaths, stood up and looked around. I needed to find West, so I ran toward the sunset. If I didn't make it by dark, I would be a goner. They might as well send the search dogs to find the little morsels of me. He had whispered it in my ear when Peter was sleeping, the most haunting words I had ever heard.

"Let's play a game. You run, but I will find you sweetheart, and I promise you, there won't be enough help in the world to put the pieces of you back together."

I looked down at the little red circles on my arm and realized that he could have done that. 

But he waited, just watching the two of us stumble out of our haze. If anything the lack of his actions was more unnerving than a straightforward blow would have been.

He still waited by letting me run through this unfamiliar forest. 

The uneasiness and light-headedness stuck with me long after I woke up, chemical reminders of my captor.

I wouldn't let him win. My feet kept a brisk pace, avoiding tree roots and rotting logs.

It took twenty agonizing minutes, but I made it to that damn highway. I stood at the side of the road and stuck up my thumb in the hope that someone would take pity on a young woman in my situation. 

The first truck whizzed by and the driver didn't even turn his head to acknowledge me. I tried to chase it down, but it maintained its speed. The second and third did the same. 

My chest tightened and I could feel my sinuses begin to swell. My eyes stung. The tears would come soon. 

Not for Peter, my mind couldn't even process that yet, but out of fear. 

What if that monster found me?

I ran out on the road as the next red pick-up came near. With a pulsating heart, I waved my arms and watched his eyes go large. I could jump out of the way at the last second if I really needed to, but his shock triggered the brakes. He came to a stop only a few meters from me.

He jumped out of the vehicle and readjusted his hat, one of those real country John Deere ones. He looked to be in his earlier twenties with a bitter expression on his hairy face.

"Jesus Christ lady! What are ya doin' in the middle of the road like that?"

"Please, you need to help me." The tears came freely and I didn't want to choke them back. 

"Alright, alright. Hop in and I'll take you into town."

"I need to get to the nearest police station."

He raised his eyebrow, but with a hint of a smile. "You in some kind of trouble?"

The worst, the kind where all that remained was the aftermath. I needed to get help to find Peter's body, contact his family and arrange a funeral. My arms and legs turned to lead at the very thought. 

There was no way he made it out alive, not after I heard the grind of the axe during my run.

***

Two years later, I sat in small-town Kenora and sipped on a peppermint tea. I had gotten the call today. That monster had been convicted and sentenced to life for the first-degree murder of my boyfriend, Peter. I couldn't look that man in the eyes again in the courtroom. It had been bad enough picking him out of a lineup when I was concealed. I had tried my best to be certain, yet wearing that blindfold in the cabin... I had shaken it off. My gut instinct and the police would take care of the rest.

I scanned the cafe. A young man two tables away watched my movements. He shot a smile my way and I averted my eyes. I feigned interest in the drink menu Male attention still left a bitter sting on my conscious. I didn't want anyone since Peter. He died horrifically to keep me alive. It wouldn't be fair to replace him with another.

The man didn't take the hint and walked over to my table. An unfamiliar face in this town, I was sure to attract some attention.

"You look familiar," he said and sat down without an invitation.

I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair. "My picture's been in the news lately, that's probably why."

"Nah, it's not that. I have a hard time forgetting the face that left me this close to committing manslaughter-"

I froze and my heart raced. 

"Out on that highway, two years ago."

"Oh," I said and let out the breath I had been holding. I took a sip of my tea to process. His baby face gazed back at me, free of that grisly beard. "I really have to thank you for picking me up."

"I had no idea what happened to you. That was a real scare. They just caught that guy, didn't they?"

I nodded and let the heat of the glass warm my fingertips. It was a big enough trial that most people in the province knew about it. "They did."

"Awfully brave of you to come back to these parts."

The words came out before I could stop them. "I can't explain it. I just need to feel closer to the man I loved and lost. Kind of like a morbid celebration. My friends think I'm crazy."

"It's a beautiful gesture, really," Baby Face said with a sincere smile. "I just wanted to thank you, for putting that man in jail. They just found more victims."

My blood ran cold. There were more? I had only kept up with the trials until I found out the verdict.

"My sister went missing three years ago and never came home. We found her. Or I should say, the RCMP* found her just a few weeks ago."

"I'm so sorry," I said and placed a gentle hand over his. I knew that sting, the clawing beast.

He nodded and got up to leave. I didn't try to stop him. We couldn't all be strong. Talking about a lost loved one was no easy task.   

***

The next evening, the sun grew lower in the sky. I breathed heavily, but it was different than last time. My exertion was by choice, not necessity. These woods were free of the monsters that once plagued them.

This hike may not have been my brightest idea. I couldn't recall the path back to the hotel. Leaves crunched behind me. 

Tears leap to my eyes. How could this be happening again?

"Lost?" asked a masculine voice.

I turned around and let out a breath of relief. Baby Face stood before me with a goofy grin.

"You scared me! How do I get back to town?"

"You're pretty far out. I could walk you back to my pickup and drive you back again. You wouldn't want to be here by yourself after dark."

I hesitated. It seemed too convenient. But what other option did I have?

I walked with him for a few minutes until we reached a junction.

"On one condition," he added. "I have a bag of marshmallows here that need toasting."

My eyes darted from the path to the stone fire pit. He had a good blaze going already. My fingers, numb from the onset of fall, longed for its warmth.

"Okay, just a couple."

We sat down on the bench together opposite the fire. The conversation flowed from my lips, free from their drought. When I spoke with my family, so many topics became windows into my 'twisted' soul that they just didn't want to hear. In this forest, I could bring Peter back to life for a stranger. I could dig out the piece of my soul I had buried so deeply. 

Baby Face understood after losing his sister. Moving on didn't mean leaving loved ones behind forever. Before I knew it, darkness enclosed us and for once fear didn't paralyze my thoughts. This man had made it possible. He had saved me once and maybe he was here to do it again.

Baby Face leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I'm so happy I found you again."

I smiled. My body warmed next to the fire.

"I've been dying to finish our game. I bet your scream is far more exhilarating than your boyfriend's."

Ice ran through my veins.

How could I have been so blind?

Fear had clouded my memories of the attack until now.

There had always been an accomplice that night.

I just never wanted to believe it.