The night was pitch black. The moonless sky covered the whole forest with stars hiding behind the dark group of clouds. The deafening noises made by the mating cicadas and other nocturnal creatures around didn't make him any less frightened. It was two in the morning and his plan to finally escape is about to commence.
There was no other source of light except the flickering illumination coming from his portable gas lamp.
He needed to reach the ravine. That is the only way he could leave the estate without being noticed. His father's property was walled by tall security welded fences with razor barbed wire toppings. His father, Lord Fionn Lewis McKellen, made sure that no one can infiltrate his 5,000-acre property. The kind of high-end security fence his father acquired is also being used in airports, railway stations, power stations, military bases, hospitals, and even prisons. It took him over a month before he discovered that old ravine within the heart of their forest.
Luckily, there was a huge mass of soil erosion in that part of the forest and not a single soul noticed what happened in that area.
At least ten-meter-long of security fences were totally damaged and only a few pieces of stainless steel and mesh wirings were left hanging by the cliff.
His father's henchmen were surely searching the whole estate, trying to find him and bring him back to the mansion.
I will never go back!
He gritted his teeth out of anger.
Not in a million years will he be forced to do something his greedy father wanted him to do.
He clutched his brown satchel next to his chest as he traversed the savage and wild bushes blocking his way. It was a very secluded area and for decades now, no one has ever cleared the area. By the help of his gas lamp, he found a long sturdy branch trapped in between the messy vines and used it to clear the wild weeds and bushes covering his path.
He's been running away for almost an hour now and he will never cease to run until he sees his escape point. Whatever it takes, he will leave this hell-like life and create a new one, far away from his father and his claws.
His eyes widened when he finally reached the end of the shrubs and was welcomed by a tall dead tree standing solely by the end of the cliff. Its shriveled branches were dancing freely as the cold summer wind blew.
"This is it."
He climbed up to the cliff and reached the bottom of the dead tree where its emerging large roots displaced the soil beneath it. When he looked down, he cannot see the bottom but he can clearly hear the running stream of water below the cliff.
The depth of the ravine could be at least a hundred meters before he could reach the surface touching the stream. It was pitch dark there but he didn't feel any fear for his only goal that night is to totally leave that cursed place.
He did not waste any time and grabbed the roll of thick hemp rope from his satchel. He quickly tied the rope around the trees' body and made sure that it was tightly secured. He pulled the end of the rope and tied it around his hips.
He checked the sturdiness of the rope for the very last time before he went down and tossed himself to the edge of the cliff.
He was about to dive in when he heard a couple of cautious footsteps trampling over some dry leaves approaching his location. A fading light broke the darkness covering the bushes where he first came from.
It could be his father's henchmen.
As the light continued to move closer to where he is, he carefully took out his little silver dagger from his bag and prepared for defense.
The crackling sound of dry leaves on the ground strengthened so he motioned the edge of the dagger to where the sound was coming from.
The vines dangling from the trees parted in the middle as the moving light and crackling sound of the footsteps stopped.
He raised the dagger on midair when a familiar face appeared behind the swinging wild vines.
"Brother!"
"Agnes?" He recognized her only sister's voice.
In an instant, he hid his dagger back to his satchel as Agnes walked closer to him.
Her face was anxious, he noticed as the light coming from her gas lamp illuminated her face.
"Is this really goodbye?" Her voice cracked. A tear fell down from her right eye.
"How did you know I am here? Go back now, Agnes. It's dangerous." Worry flooded his face.
"I've been following you since you left your room earlier."
He stepped toward her and caressed her cheek.
"You're stupid. Do you know that?"
She hugged him instead.
"If only I could may you stay but I won't stop you." She pulled out the brown purse inside her jacket and deposited it inside his brother's satchel.
"Take this and save me, brother."
He broke their embrace and look at his sister's agonizing face.
"I will see you again, my dear sister. I promise."
She crossed the space between them and embraced him again. This time as tightly as she could. For the uncertainty of meeting him again in the future is really slim.
"Goodbye, Agnes."
Then he jumped off the ravine and disappear from Agnes' sight.
"Goodbye, Alistair."