Hey Baby

Chapter 35

Roan's POV

I woke up to the feeling of rain bouncing off of my skin.  I flinched and wiped my face with the back of my hand.  It was lightly drizzling outside which made me sigh. 

It would be the ONE time I need good weather that it rains.  It had been hours since I had jumped out of the car, so I was surprised no one had found me yet.  Now that the adrenaline wasn't blocking my thoughts, I understood that he basically let me go.  There were many guards surrounding the area, so he must have called them off. 

I hope Aviva was okay, I feel really bad about leaving her by herself again.  I was still in the lavender dress from before, which was ripped in some small areas because of my extremely stupid decision to run. 

I stood up and admired the beautiful but scary woods around me, only lit with the last remanence of sunlight.  I took a step out and didn't feel any pain in my feet, which definitely was a plus.  I really wasn't sure where I was supposed to go.  I needed some sort of real shelter, and real source of food and water. 

I carefully started walking in the opposite direction that I had been running from.  I flinched at every sound I heard around me, scared that it was going to be some sort of wild animal, or even Caleb coming back to get me. 

I kept taking deep breaths and slow steps until I heard the sound of water flowing over rocks.  I cautiously started walking towards the noise until the trees parted to show a small river with a slow current down the hill.

I smiled and bent down to cup my hands in the water.  It tasted fresh and cold, which was a relief to my dry mouth.  My stomach growled since I hadn't eaten since this morning, but calmed down when I kept drinking more water.  I found a little ledge to sit on while I looked at the sun that had almost vanished from the horizon. 

I needed to find something, or somewhere to go.  I wasn't too far from Caleb's house, so I thought about sneaking back there to see if I could grab any supplies. 

Then common sense kicked back in and I realized that he had probably planned on me doing that.  You know, almost force me to come back to him after he did nothing.  I had to find another house to sleep in.  I made the decision to try and find the road again. 

I could still stay in the woods, but I needed to be able to see the road. The moonlight was fairly bright, and my anxieties were calmed by my newfound absolutely genius plan.  I walked a lot longer than I anticipated.  I must have run a lot farther than a half-mile. 

About 45 minutes later I saw the small dirt road about 100 yards ahead of me.  I figured this was a safe distance, and started walking away from the direction of the house. 

I tried to stay quiet, but the constant snapping of leaves and sticks made that virtually impossible.  I walked for a long time hoping that something would finally show up in this barren countryside.  I wasn't tired, but I definitely was bored, and my feet were stinging and sore. 

I didn't know whether to stop or to just push through it some more.  I decided to keep going and just breathed through the pain.  I was going a little bit slower, but progress was progress. 

My surroundings were bright but I looked up from the ground to see a pair of lights coming towards me quickly. I jumped behind a big tree and prayed that they would just speed by. 

My fears turned into a reality as the car stopped a few feet away from me.  I saw 2 flashlights start to scan the area.  My heart started racing as I knew it was Caleb for sure. 

I had 2 options: run, or hide.  Your basic fight or flight.  I heard the doors close and footsteps.  My choice was clear- they hadn't seen me yet, and Caleb would catch up to me in seconds if I ran.  I held my breath and stayed completely still.  "Marc, sei sicuro di aver visto una bambina?"  I heard an older woman say.