Anna ran as fast as she could. Her breath was growing shallow by the minute. She had no idea how long she had been running. 'Had it been an hour, or two?', all she knew was that she had to keep running. Her feet were starting to hurt real bad from all the running, but she couldn't stop at the moment.
It was only a matter of time, till her aunt found out that she was gone. The last thing she wanted was her aunt's men on her trail; she barely made it out of there. She had no idea where she was, It was practically the middle of nowhere. All she could see around were trees, She had been seeing those for quite a while now.
Hailey her cousin, told her that she would find a road leading to the city, if she took this route. Anna took the route, but she still hadn't found the road Hailey told her about. She stopped running, she when she was out of breath, panting. She couldn't anymore, her feet were hurting more now.
She stopped for a while to catch her breath, as she felt the shortness of it. Anna looked around for where she could rest a bit, she saw a tree log. She walked towards the tree log and sat down. She looked down at her blistered feet, which were covered with bruises now.
She needed to get it treated soon, she tried taking out the little twigs in her foot,she groaned, because of the pain. Anna was so thirsty, her throat was dry. She looked around once again, why did aunt bring her to such a place?. It was practically the middle of nowhere.
She hadn't seen a single house around. She wouldn't have escaped if it wasn't for Hailey, who let her out of her locked room. Anna remembered the first time her aunt brought her to her house. Her parents had just passed away, and she was still grieving. She was just twelve years old at that time.
"Dont worry dear, I promise to take good care of you." Her aunt assured her at the beginning. She appeared nice at first, but Anna started to notice changes in her aunt's behavior towards her after a few weeks. She was homeschooled, she wasn't allowed out of the house, so she couldn't make friends.
She tried to sneak out once, but she was caught by her aunt's men. She was punished severely for that, and had to sleep in the cold basement for days, with little to eat. She remembers, crying herself to sleep most times. Thinking about that time brought tears to Anna's eyes.
She thought things would change when I started college, but it only got worse. She was monitored even more than before. Her aunt always had people watching her every move, so she was scared of socializing. Few weeks ago, her aunt brought her here. "Why are we here aunt" Anna asked, but she went ignored by her aunt like always.
The only person she could barely talk to was Hailey, her cousin. She was the one who brought Anna books to read, when I was bored. Books became Anna's only companion. Hailey was very kind to her, when her mom was out. She was the total opposite of her mother.
"Where am I for God's sake?" Anna muttered to herself, her voice was hoarse when it came out. It was going to be dark soon. She was sure this wood wasn't safe at all. There could be snakes, or even bears for all she knew. The thought of that alone made her stomach turn, she closed her eyes and opened it again, trying to encourage herself.
She dragged herself up, after a few minutes, and continued walking. She couldn't run anymore, as she was exhausted. Her legs were getting weaker, but she ignored it. It was dark already, Anna could barely see anything in the woods she was in and she walked slower to avoid tripping.
She was cold, hungry and tired. She hugged herself trying to keep herself warm, as best as she could, she was shivering already. She didn't know how long she could keep walking, she was so exhausted, but thankfully she was far from that wretched place.
She stopped for a bit to rest, she felt dizzy and closed her eyes for some seconds, and fell asleep. Anna woke up when she heard voices from afar, she gasped
"oh no they caught me!" She exclaimed. She had no idea where the energy came from, she began to run as fast as she could, her heart palpitating with fear.
The voices were getting closer; it would only take a couple of minutes till she was found. She looked back, fear etched on her face. She looked ahead, scrutinizing her eyes as it was dark. She saw what looked like a road,after a few seconds "I finally found it".
She said, relief washing over her, like a bucket of cold water. She could stop a car passing by and ask for help, maybe they could help her call the police. That was her only way out now at the moment, or she would be dragged back there. Anna ran as fast as she could towards the road.
She stood in the middle of the road panicking, as she knew they would be here in a couple of minutes. She waited for a single car to pass but no car seemed to be approaching. "please..please..please..please" she muttered, with her eyes closed. She was so tired, and she couldn't run anymore.
She looked around for a place to hide, if they finally reached there. Anna saw a bush near a tree, nearby she walked quickly towards it and hid herself in, it helped a bit that it was dark. Anna sat there, looking towards the road hoping that a single car would pass, "just one ple..".
As she was muttering, she saw a light shining from afar, was it what she was thinking, that was definitely a car. This was her chance, she couldn't lose it. She gathered the last ounce of strength she had remaining in her. Anna stood up and walked towards the road, waiting for the car to come closer to where she was.
She closed her eyes, and made the one of the craziest decisions she had ever made. With her heart thumping faster than ever, Anna sprinted forward to the front of the car. Her heart racing, almost pumping out of her chest. The car came to a screeching halt, thankfully, before it ran over her.
Anna fell to the ground out of fear and exhaustion, her eyes closed short, she was trembling. A man came out quickly from the car wide eyed, he was shocked because of what just happened. "Are you okay ma'am?" he asked, walking forward, bit by bit, with a hunched look on his face.
"What's wrong lucas?". A deep, cold voice came from the back seat of the car. "Sir, it looks like she jumped in front of the car on purpose". Lucas said, with a slightly shakened voice, confused by how she could do something like that. Did she want to die so badly?
The door of the car opened and someone walked out of the car. A deep frown formed on his face, when he saw her laying on the ground. Anna opened her eyes a little. She was exhausted and stricken with fear, she knew her aunt's men were almost there. The man had a grave on his face.
"This is the last thing I need right now, is she still breathing?" He asked his secretary. Lucas moved forward to check if she was still breathing, still a little panicked. "She is sir, i think she just passed out of shock sir." He said, looking at his boss' face for an expression.
Devon walked towards where the girl was laying, she looked pale. She opened her eyes a little, she was trying to say something to him. He raised his eyebrow with a deep frown, what was she saying. He squatted down, trying to hear what she was saying. "Plea..please help me ".
She pleaded, exhaustion etched on her face. She was asking for his help. Was that the reason she jumped in front of his car ?. He wondered, looking at her Curiously.