Hello to all my new followers! Thanks to The Lemonade Stand for the rec of Found Missing this week. So glad you're all enjoying it :) I love reading your reviews and personal stories as we go on this journey with Bella.

Thanks to Fran, Dani, Ariel, and Gemma for everything!

Even though the car ride to Rose's isn't long, my body hurts from shivering. It could be from the rain, even more, from nerves, but I'm leaning against the inside of the passenger door, head ducked beneath the window.

The last thing I need is someone to casually mention to him I had been seen in a car - with someone else driving, no less.

This is not part of the plan. I wasn't supposed to take this opportunity of a power outage to escape, but it was the first thing my mind thought of, and now I must live with it.

I have a car of my own in case of emergencies. It sits in our garage, untouched for the most part; it's part of the facade we've perfected. We're the happy couple, the couple who spends the night out on the town on the weekends together but comes home afterward to shatter the image.

He knows the mileage on my car if I were to ever use it without permission, and he checks it every day on his way into the house once he's home from work.

And as always, it remains the same as the last time he checked. And it will stay that way, since I bolted from the life I never wanted without one thing to my name.

Besides the clothes on my back and the shoes on my feet, I have nothing.

Well, not nothing.

Alice grips the steering wheel tightly in her grasp, checking the rearview mirror every so often, though she tries to hide it. I know she's nervous. I know I've put her in a horrible position. Dangerous.

So, when I say goodbye to her, it's not just for tonight. I know it has to be forever.

I'm more heartbroken to leave her after these handful of weeks of knowing her than I am after years of being with him.

"Find a way," she urges, and I nod, but only for her sake. I don't feel comfortable or safe to even think about contacting her.

"I don't think I could ever thank you for what you've done for me."

She pulls me in for a hug, neither of us ready to separate, but I know it's in her best interest for us to go our separate ways. If he lost feed to the surveillance, there's a good chance he's already on his way home to find me missing.

I savor the contact, squeezing her one last time before I sigh and move to step out of the car. What exactly I'm stepping into, I really am not sure. I'm equal parts terrified and relieved, though I swallow my nerves the whole way up Rose's driveway.

I don't have it in me to turn around and watch Alice go.

Instead, I focus on putting one foot in front of the other as I continue to the front door, unsure of what I will see on the other side. Alice had called her when we were on our way, so she's at least prepared for my arrival, but I'm still unsettled in a way that threatens my courage.

What if I can't do this?

What if surviving with him is easier than surviving on my own?

I don't have time to figure out any answers to my question. The door flies open before I can knock, and my sister stands there looking almost as panicked as I am.

"Hurry," she says as she rushes me inside. "We don't have a lot of time."

See you tomorrow! I'm off to the beach for a few days so you know what that means: I'll be coming back with PLOT BUNNIES. Always happens. Let's see what this trip brings!