So, I know the first part of this story was a different formant from how I normally write. I'm not used to writing in the first person at all. So I've decided to have Norma keep a diary because a lot of 'GONE GIRL' is first person and through diary entires. Both Nick and Amy tell their story in the first person. It's an amazing book and if you haven't seen the movie, read the book first. It will blow you away.

I also know that Norma would never leave Norman behind easily, but at first I thought about having Sam kill Norman. Then I decided that was too grim. So, hopefully our heroic Alex will help Norma rescue her son if he doesn't decide to turn her in.

Keep in mind Norma is an abused woman and Dylan is an abused child so they'll be defensive and scared of relationships.

Thanks for the feedback an I love hearing from you guys. I know this is a new story formate I'm playing with and we're just seeing if it's going to work or not. At the very least, we can have some Norma and Alex love tension which is always nice.

2.

~ Norma had found them a furnished cabin to stay in for a few weeks. A few weeks here and there was the best they could do for now. They would run, from state to state, only to circle back to Arizona to get Norman when Sam was arrested.

It had been remarkably easy; the drive from Arizona to Oregon. Dylan hadn't complained much and hand't asked many questions. He'd seemed relived just to get away from Sam.

She'd found the highway took her right into a picturesque county that had a billboard advertising weekly rentals of summer cabins. The kind of thing families would rent who went white water rafting or mounting biking or hiking.

The cabins were old and the pool condemned, but Norma sensed they would be private and left alone here. The owner of the property telling them they had a computer in the front lobby for her to use; free of charge.

Dylan hadn't seemed to mind the down graded living conditions. His mother paying for a month in advance on the musty little cabin with a TV that barely got any reception and a tiny micro kitchen thrown in almost like an afterthought.

Still, it was theirs and Dylan had a cramped little bedroom that belonged to him. Outfitted with new, clean sheets she's bought him at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

She'd instructed him to play outside, and enjoy the majestic outdoors. It was rare that he could do such a thing. Rare that they be outside without the worry someone might see them; but they were a long way from Arizona now. They both looked different than the pictures of themselves she'd made sure to leave behind and it was unlikely anyone would recognize them.

She had her diary on her lap and watched Dylan throw rocks into the condemned pool for a while before she started writing in it. His white cast seeming to radiate in the morning light like snow. It reminded her again why she'd done all this. Why she had to do all this.

She'd kept the diary ever since Norman's 'fall' and had hidden it in the AC vent of the house were Sam or Rose would never think to look for it. She had to keep a diary to keep her thoughts and plans organized. To keep herself motivated.

She'd never kept a diary before, never thought of herself as a writer before, but words and ideas had suddenly become powerful once written. She would write them down and it was like they had stopped being something that she 'might' do and stated becoming something she 'would' do.

She liked the diary she'd bought a few days after she'd taken Norman to the emergency room. It was a thick leather thing. The kind of book fit for a witch's grimoire and the first few months she wrote non stop about her life, her parents, her brother, Dylan, Norman, Sam and their marriage.

It was brutal. Like standing naked in front of a mirror and seeing all the things you didn't like about yourself. It was painful and horrible, but she had to do it.

Sam hadn't allowed her to have the internet at the house, or a cell phone, so she had to go to the library to do all her research. Going to the gym, eating right and losing weight had been the easy part. The hard part was staging her own crime scene and finding her new identity.

But now that it was done, now that she was here, she wondered if she'd made a mistake.

She took her pen up and opened the tick leather volume.

' Dylan and I are safe here in Oregon. As far as we could get from Sam before leaving the country. Some county with pine in the name. Pine is in the name of everything here. White Pine, Pine Bay, Pine View, Pine Valley, Pine Mountains. They are very proud of the pine trees here. It is beautiful and I wish we could stay here forever. It's peaceful. Birds singing and everything is green. I can see mountains. Real mountains to with snow on them. No more dry desert air where nothing grows and the lakes are man made.

We drove for days and here we are. Like the pioneers of the Old West. Only without a member of our party. I feel so empty without Norman. I have his clothes and his stuffed dog in the car, but no Norman. I can't forgive myself for leaving him behind but I couldn't pull him away from Rose once that woman had him. She pushed me down and if I'd called the police, there would have been a report. I couldn't have that. Not once my plan was in motion. Everything had to be under the radar.

The thing is, as much as I hate to admit it, Rose would never abuse him. He's being well taken care of. Even if they are telling him I'm dead now. In a few weeks, I'll go and get him. I know her schedule and she won't know or expect the new me.

It was the right thing to do. What I did. I know it was extreme and I can't take it back, I know Sam will go to prison forever, but it was the right thing to do. He hurt me and that was my own fault. But he hurt my children and I can't forgive him for that.

If I'd just left him, he would have found me. Arizona favors fathers. Its' judges are all men and they favor fathers. I have no job, no education and Sam and Rose would have hired some fancy lawyer to take Norman away from me.

They were already trying to gaslight me. Trying to make me think I was a bad mother when HE was the bad father. He was the one who broke Dylan's arm. I was only wrong for helping him get away with it.

No, what I did was right. He was cheating his partners and I made his crimes more obvious. He was hurting his family and I only made that crime more obvious to. I'm sick of him getting away with it. Everyone always gets away with everything and I'm sick of it!'

Norma fished that last sentence with a flourish. She's pressed the pen on the paper down so hard it left a mark into the next page. He anger still evident even days after their escape. She didn't like that she was so angry but it was better that she was angry on paper than in person.

She looked over her previous writings. Her inspirational quotes to keep her motivated, her previous entires had seemed so harsh and angry when she was creating her plan.

Now that the thing was done, she was almost in shock that she'd done it.

She realized the big heavy diary could be evidence against her if ever found, but she refused to even think about getting rid of it. She quickly stashed it back in the cabin. Under her mattress with the cash money and went down the trail to the lobby to look online.

It was time to see if Norma Bates had been missed.

~ Norma had been a little disappointed to discover her story hadn't made bigger news. That Sam had waited two days to report her missing.

The dragon inside her seethed.

'Looks bad for you, Sammy Boy' it hissed when she read the small article in the local paper. She and Dylan were classified as missing and she was relived to see Norman was still under the care of Rose. Still, it had been three days and Sam had just now reported it? Did he honestly think she would come back? She had made sure not to take anything noticeable. Not to pack any bags that he would miss.

Hell, the family SUV was still in the garage. Her purse and ID was on the kitchen counter. Was he an idiot? No, the article had said he'd called family and friends first. Meaning he'd called his mother to tell him what to do. Also, the small reward money had pissed her off to. Sam Bates was worth a lot more than what he was offering. It was an insult.

'Makes you look guilty.' the dragon fumed happily. She could picture this dragon inside her clutching its' solitary egg and eyeing it's missing egg greedily.

'I'll get Norman back.' she thought. She would go back to her cabin right now and write that in her dairy. If she wrote it down, then it would happen. She found that it would happen if she wrote it down. Her thoughts wouldn't be just thoughts anymore, they would become actions. Powerful actions that made her powerful. Perhaps her diary was a witches grimoire, capable of magic once she decided to put it use.

She saw the old grainy picture of herself on the computer screen. The news asking of leads to the missing Norma Bates. The unflattering picture was one of the half dozen or so that she'd left behind. A picture that was out of focus and could have been of anyone. She looked nothing like the creature in the picture now. The dark brown hair and dark sunglasses she always wore then. Her added weight really distorted her face to. Dylan looked different to with the hair she'd purposefully kept dyed brown. Not at all like the kid she knew he would be without cosmetic modifications. There had been nothing at all in the missing persons report about Dylan's broken arm. Maybe Sam hadn't wanted to explain it, but it was all the better for them.

"I will get Norman back." she whispered to the computer screen.

~ Deputy Alex Romero had caught a kid throwing rocks in the windows of one of the abandoned homes of Pine Wood Street near the old cabins. Around the same time Norma Bates was thinking there were too many things named for 'Pine' around 'White Pine Bay' he was thinking the same thing.

A simple flash of lights and a loud chirp of the sirens had made the kid with the snowy cast on his arm jump.

He hadn't been breaking the law exactly, Alex would have loved to have thrown rocks through old windows of an abandoned house when he was this kids age.

To his credit, the kid didn't run away when he saw the cop car. He just turned around to face the music. A guilty and ashamed look on his face. He looked ready to burst into tears at any moment. Like he expected Alex to start beating him.

Perhaps it was from his own childhood, but Alex could always sense these kids. Smell them a mile away. The look of fear in their eyes. The constant walking on egg shells wherever they were and then the outrageous outburst of anger whenever they couldn't stand it anymore.

He could always tell the kids who were used to the casual slap across the face or cruel words that cut to the bone. He didn't bother asking how the boy got his broken arm. He already knew. Already knew daddy got drunk and the kid wouldn't stop bugging him during the big game. Or worse yet, brought home a C on his report card, and mom went into the other room while daddy lashed out the punishment.

"Folks staying at the cabins?" was all Alex asked and nodded to the run down summer place that would be condemned next year by the county.

The boy with the buzz cut looked afraid to say anything and afraid not to say anything.

"My… my mom and I. Just us." he said in a small voice. His eyes wide with fear.

Alex nodded and picked up a rock from the ground. He expertly flicked it at the grimy window and shattered the last of them.

"Well, hop in. I'll drive you back." he said.

"No." the kid said worriedly

"You're not in trouble." Alex said quickly. "I'll tell your mom you were out walking and I wanted to make sure you got home safe. What's your name?"

The kid looked like he was thinking a moment. Like he was going to give one answer and then thought better of it.

"John. John Deeds." he said.

It sounded like a lie to Alex. Like the kid didn't want to give his real name. Even now this 'John Deeds' was avoiding eye contact.

"Well, hop in, John." Alex said.

~ Norma's heart almost leapt out of her chest when at police SUV pulled up to the cabins. They were alone here. The place so run down that even a sleazy motel by the highway seemed a better option. Norma only chose it because of the privacy. Because of its isolation.

Now, had someone recognized her? Impossible. She was Vicki Deeds now. She had ID to prove it. She found she couldn't move when the SUV pulled up to a stop in front of her and she saw the uniformed cop get out. He looked at her appraisingly, their eyes feeling each other out like in a dual.

Then, he moved to the back and opened the door. Her son, cast and all, popped out.

"Dylan?" she cried without thinking.

"Told me his name was John." the cop said slamming the door shut as Dylan raced to her.

"Oh!" Norma said quickly. "Well, John Deeds is his legal name. We call him… um we call him Dylan. We have a lot of Johns in our family."

She felt Dylan's arm encircle her was it protectively. It was the same way they used to stand together whenever Sam was in one of his moods. Dylan trying to protect her in a way that only a child could.

"I see." the cop said.

"What did he do?" Norma asked.

"Nothing." the cop said. "Playing by the woods."

"So why did you arrest him?" Norma barked angrily. She could feel that anger come out and didn't like it. Why did the cop scare her like this if Dylan hadn't done anything wrong?

"He wasn't arrested." the cop said. His voice was calm and irritatingly professional. "We have a lot of vacationers this time of year. A lot of strangers in the area. I want to make sure he's were he's supposed to be. It's not safe to trek around the woods alone. He could have slipped and had a bad fall. It's happened to more experienced hikers. Not to mention stranger danger, ma'am."

Norma let out a breath.

"Oh, yeah. You're right." she said filing foolish for her rush to anger. "He'll stay around here from now on."

"I'm Deputy Romero." the cop said.

"I'm…" she almost said Norma Bates but stopped herself. "I'm Vicki Deeds. This is my son John."

"Who you sometimes call Dylan." Romero reminded her.

"Not anymore." she told him quickly and unlaced Dylan's arms from around her waist.

"You and your son are visiting here alone?" Romero asked.

Norma nodded. Dylan looked uncomfortable. He didn't like the presence of the cop. Of the man in their world telling them what to do.

"Yes, just for a little while." Norma said and Dylan hid behind her.

"There are nicer places to stay." Romero said looking around at the peaceful but run down cabins. "If you don't mind my saying so."

"We're fine." she snapped. She wanted him to leave. Leave now.

'Go away you meddling fool!' the dragon inside her breathed fire.

This Romero person looked her in the eye as if seeing the dragon and wasn't afraid. It was as if he saw the dragon and wanted to know why it was there.
"Well, you two are all alone out here, so, I hope you don't mind if I come out this way and check in on you." he said.

"You don't have to-" she started to say.
"I kinda do." he said interrupted as if just to torment her. "A woman a her child all alone out here?"

He shook his head as if he didn't like the idea.
"We'll be fine." she told him.
"Because I'll be driving by." he reminded her childishly.

He looked at Dylan.
"I'll see you, John." he said. "Nice meeting you, Ma'am. Don't hesitate to call the Sheriff's office if you need anything."

Then, he was in his SUV and the menace was gone. Norma get the fear go away.

"I'm sorry, Mom." Dylan said. "He surprised me."

"It's not your fault." she said. "We did good. You remembered to say your name was John Deeds. That was good. I was the one who forgot."

She turned around and they walked back to the cabin.

"Did he ask how you broke your arm or where your dad was?" she asked him.

"No, I just said I was on a road trip with my mom and he asked if I was having fun. I said yes." he said.

"Well, he's not going to bother us again." Norma told him.