As Ava stood outside with the bag in hand, she realized just how far they were out in the countryside. Everything she saw was loads of green over the countless off hills in every direction she looked. She had no idea which direction the town resided, which resulted in her having a fair chance of walking right back into their grasp.
"Are you sure you want to head back out there?" Raven asked as she stopped beside Ava. She could easily see that Raven was looking out in front of them with a longing gaze. Had she regretted her choice of staying here?
"I can´t stay."
"A shame," Raven responded.
Raven´s gaze continued to rest upon the hills in front of them, still with a longing gaze and a broken smile to match.
"It would have been good to see a friendly face around here, that´s all."
"You can come with me."
Ava, who had been awake all night thinking if she had made the right choice, was well aware that she had to survive on her own. She had no clue about her whereabouts, or how to get the furthest away from the town as she possibly could. Raven, who seemed like a resourceful woman, was the obvious choice to ask if she wanted to tag along.
If she was honest, Ava didn´t want to go alone. She would have given anything to have someone by her side for the time she would have to be on the run.
Raven laughed. "Good joke. He will have my head if I leave until I have repaid my debt."
"Where is he? I have not had the pleasure of meeting him at all."
"He is out of town", Raven quickly answered. "Won´t come back until the end of the month."
Raven´s answer struck her as odd right away. Why would someone who took in accused witches leave right after saving them? Was he trying to save his skin if they got found, or did he try to distance himself from these women?
"Head east. There is a town a day´s walk from here. I think you can find a place to stay there."
"Thank you."
"No need."
After Raven had made sure that she had gotten everything in the bag, she waved her off. After walking a few hundred steps, Ava turned around to look at Raven and the sanctuary from a distance. Right away, Ava got taken back due to the enormous size of the so-called sanctuary. Even as she had been walking inside, she had acknowledged the size of the building. Every hallway, door, and window made the furniture seem like it got created for dwarves. Yet, nothing had prepared her for what the mansion looked like on the outside.
It towered over Raven, who was an ant in comparison.
Ava could not take her eyes off the mansion. It resembled the castles from the stories her mother had read to her when she was younger. From a distance, Ava now realized the sanctuary had three different wings and was probably about three stories tall.
No matter the extent of the sanctuary, it was the outside structure that spoke to her the most. It seemed to be coming from a different era, as it was constructed out of bricks. The entire mansion felt out of place, as it did not belong in the area at all. Ava could not help but to question how much money this man had.
Ava rose her hand to wave goodbye to Raven, before turning around. She wanted to put as much distance between herself and the mansion before she started to second-guess herself. If Ava had chosen to stay, maybe Ava could have gotten a life of wealth and safety. She would never be cold nor hungry. Now, she was walking in the damp grass with her worn-out shoes heading towards the uncertain future.
She walked for what felt like days, yet it was only minutes as she could still see the mansion over the hill each time she turned around. Ava did not want to think about all of the possible outcomes she would have to face. She tried to push the negative thoughts into the back of her head. If she started to focus on them already, she would get demotivated before the day was over.
Nonetheless, her mind always seemed to wander back to places she did not want to visit. Her dreams were always the thing her mind seemed to dwell on, their contents, how life-like they felt, every emotion she felt during the dream - it all boiled in her head constantly.
The last dream was the one she came back to the most. Even though she knew it was just a dream, it felt like someone was trying to warn her about something she should know or remember. In the back of her mind, she attempted to tell herself how she would have recalled if her mother had been pregnant. Even though she would have been young at the time, Ava liked to believe she would have noticed.
Yet, there was not a single memory she could recollect about her mother before her death, where she had looked pregnant. It did not make any sense.
Ava stopped at the top of the next hill and looked around. The sun had started to set, leaving the sky painted in countless warm colors. Her gaze wandered about over the treetops. They were all glowing due to the golden hue coming from the sunset. It was a scenery she had never experienced before.
She was used to the sunsets back at the cabin and did not find them half as mesmerizing as she did right now. Back home, the heavy forest made sure to block out most of the sunlight, yet somehow the light always reflected in the waterfall.
Ava´s gaze fell on the small town at the bottom of the hill. From where she was standing, the village seemed just as broken-down as the one she had left and could never return to. Ava turned and looked back in the direction where the mansion resided; whilst questioning herself if she should head back.
As she thought about it, she had not walked far. It was maybe a few hours back to the mansion, which was about half a day away from her hometown. She could not afford to settle down this close. If it was a day worth of horseriding from her hometown to here, they have most likely checked here - and would surely come back.
Ava turned her back to the town, before once again heading east. She set her sights on getting to the treeline before it got too dark. Even though she was aware that she should not stay in the forest during the night, she did. Ava walked to the treeline that was more welcoming than the thought of beheading.
She glanced around at the trees as she walked into the forest until she found the perfect one. The branches hung low, yet it was a tall tree. It would shield her if it started to rain throughout the night, and the leaves would conceal her presence from anyone looking.
She had not done this type of climb ever since she had been young. Ever since she fell from a tree when she was eleven and fell into the river - she had never swum and gotten scared of heights. Well aware that she did not have much choice, she reached out for the branch above her and started to climb.
"Don´t look down", she whispered under her breath as her shaking arms continued to help her get further up. She repeated the same three-word sentence until she sat on top of a branch close to the middle of the thick three. It was high enough from the ground that no animal would come up here, and it was high enough that it would hurt her immensely if she fell throughout the night.