The Start

The Start

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as I stand outside in the warm heat, waiting for the gas pump to finish filling my Nissan Pathfinder. It was the end of May, and already the days were getting warmer and the left over heat from the day was keeping the night less cool. It was a different kind of warm than I was used to. I could feel the humidity in the air, compared to the dry heat that was always pressing down on me in New Mexico. This kind of weather pulled at the reaches of my memory from long ago. A memory I could not place but could feel was wanting to come to the surface if I just reached far enough. But it slowly slipped away before I could place it. I glanced around the parking lot of the gas station, feeling like I was being watched. Seeing only empty cars and a few locals inside the store talking to each other, I take a long, staggering breath.

"Easy, Brinley, easy," I whisper to myself, trying to calm my racing heart. Lola whines from the passenger seat, sensing my anxiety. I reach through the open window and rub between her ears. Her dark, marbled color fur under my hand releasing some of my anxiety immediately. "We'll get there soon, babe."

I pull up my new phone out of the back pockets of my jeans and look at the GPS. Gaxton Lake, Wisconsin was only four more hours away. We had been driving for close to twenty hours already. I had only stopped for gas and food, letting Lola out to use the bathroom then. I didn't trust staying still. Not until we get there, and I can lock the door behind us.

I glanced around again, jumping when the pump released, signaling that my car was full. Pulling a small wad of cash from my purse, my hand pushes something cold and metal also hidden in there. I pull out a .45 caliber gun and flip it over in my hand. A Rugger. Efficient. Something Mr. Marshall, the lawyer, had given me not two days prior after meeting with me to go over my fathers will. A gun, a wad of cash, and instructions for me to run. Go home, grab what I can, and run.

A small lump forms at the pit of my stomach and works its way up to my throat, thinking about my father. His dying wish. For me to leave. To go and start over. He had met with Mr. Marshall's six days before his death. Given him the instructions, a few last-minute tools, and a plea for me to be safe. And now he's gone. And I am left standing in the middle of a small-town gas station, heading to a town that I have never been to, to a home I know nothing about, with only the belongings in my car.

Go and be who you are meant to be, his voice whispered in my mind. Swallowing down the lump, I put the gun in my waist band and go inside to pay for the gas. Cash only until Mr. Marshall is able to set up a new bank account. One that he did not know about.

After paying, I got back in the car and gave a small smile to Lola. "We can do this," I say firmly as I start the car and pull back on to the dark highway, heading to my new home.

Chapter One

It was just after midnight when I pull the car off the highway. The further North I drove, the greener and darker it became. Completely different than the desert, where all you could see is sky. Now in the middle of the night, I could barely see anything beyond the reach of the road.

"This must be the middle of a forest," I say to Lola, following the GPS directions to turn right, then left. The road was shrouded by shadows. An uneasy feeling settles over me.

What are you doing? I asked myself for the hundredth time. What indeed. Making either the best decision of my life, or the worst. But at this point, I couldn't go back. He would be so mad. I shivered at the thought of what he would do. He would have noticed hours ago. Mr. Marshall had taken my phone before I left his office, trading it for the one that was signaling me to take my last turn and arriving at the destination at the end of a dead-end circle.