She could feel his warm breath hitting her neck. His arms were wrapped tightly around her tense body. She was barely breathing, trying to build up the courage for what she had to do next. It was the worst thing, having his naked body pressed completely up against her backside, his mouth pressed in on her neck. She inhaled deeply, and slowly tried to release herself from his grip by taking hold of his arm and gently lifting it up. As she tried to roll away from him, he mumbled something angrily in his sleep, and his arm twitched. Peyton lost her breath completely for a moment, and stayed still. It seemed like he was still deeply asleep though, and so she continued to move away from him. Peyton quietly crawled to the end of the bed and grabbed her underwear and nightgown. She slipped it on as fast as she could, not taking her eyes away from Derek for a second. She tried to convince herself that she was not completely insane as she closed in on him again. Her hand reached out to his neck, and her hand started trembling more and more the closer she got. The key around his neck was shining so innocently, as if it was asking her to come take it, but the chance of grabbing it without being noticed was almost too dangerous to even try.

Well, she was desperate.

Her hand closed around the warm key, and she slowly started pulling the necklace upwards, over his head. Her hand trembled more and more, but she tried to control it, holding her breath. It got harder when the necklace got to the point where his head was lying on the pillow; she'd have to drag it underneath his head. Peyton's eyes filled with tears, because it seemed completely impossible to do this without having him wake up. Well, she had to suck it up and take her chances. Her breath started increasing as she started pulling the necklace underneath his head. He didn't wake up. The necklace was almost off him. She started thinking that this might actually work, and her heart started pounding in excitement.

Then out of nowhere, his strong arm grabbed her hair and pulled at it, making her scream in shock. His eyes had popped open, and he was furious.

"What the hell are you doing?"

His voice thundered through the room, making her wince.

"Let go, let go!" Peyton shouted and tried to get him to let go of his painful grip on her hair.

Derek dragged her closer to him by her hair, and his hands closed around her neck. She felt the air get squeezed out of her from his firm grip, and tears started falling. "Stop-it!" she breathed heavily. Her hands desperately fumbled around, trying to get hold of anything that might help, while her vision started getting blurry. Her hands closed around a solid object on the nightstand, and she frantically hit it straight into his face. He made a loud groan, and his hands loosened around her neck. Peyton wildly ripped herself off him, and just stared at him in shock for a moment, regaining her focus. The thing she had grabbed from the nightstand appeared to be a digital watch. Peyton grabbed the key and fumbled to get it into the keyhole of her chain. Just as it unlocked, Derek grabbed her arm, but she wasn't gonna let him stop her. Peyton bit his hand as hard as she could, and he screamed in pain, letting her go.

Then she turned and ran; she ran for her life. She ripped the bedroom door open and ran across the hall. The entrance door was straight ahead, and she tore that one open as well; miraculously it was not locked. Her bare feet led her across the moist grass, and she ran in between the trees, not thinking about the twigs and branches ripping her up. She was scared out of her wits, and the only thing she could think, was that the farther away she got from him, the better. She had no idea if he was far behind, but didn't dare look.

Peyton was breathing fast and out of control, and put all her strength into keep moving. It was dark and scary, and the trees surrounding her made it hard to find her way. When it felt like she had been running forever, she courageously took a glimpse from behind her. There were only trees and darkness; no Derek. She stopped for a moment, and leaned into a tree, trying to catch her breath. She allowed herself to cry for a tiny moment, but then she started moving again. Even though Derek was nowhere in sight, she didn't feel safe just yet.

She kept walking as fast as she could, barely breathing, barely keeping it together. Then she heard it; a twig breaking not far from her, and heavy breathing. Peyton froze, not knowing what to do.

Then his controlling voice reached her ears. "Peyton… come out, come out, wherever you are… fucking hell, bitch… Peyton!"

Peyton was terrified her pounding heart was going to give her away, but after a short while, it seemed like he continued moving in a different direction. Peyton breathed out in relief, and started walking as silently as she could in the other direction.

It felt like she had walked forever. She was scared and she was cold. She didn't know where she was heading, but figured the forest had to end somewhere. Peyton tried to imagine how she would have reacted 3 weeks ago, if she'd known where she was going to be right now. The thought made her shake her head. How could this have happened to her? Had she really been such a horrible person in her previous life? Had she really, as Derek said, led him on? Was this all her fault?

It felt like she had been walking for hours now, and finally decided it was time to take a break. Peyton looked around herself one last time, making sure that it was safe, and then she leaned herself in on a tree, weakly sitting down. She didn't think her feet could have carried her for another minute anyway.

Her whole body was aching in pain. Her feet were exhausted, and her body was trembling from cold and fear. She allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment. There was at least one highlight to this though… Even though she was lost and cold… having no idea of where she was or how to find her way home… she was out. She was free of him.

Peyton managed a small smile.

Then she thought of Brooke for a moment. This scary night made her think of the nights after her mom had died… Brooke had been there with her every night, keeping her arms wrapped around her, making her feel safe in her broken world. Peyton smiled at the thought of such a beautiful memory. She was going to make things right with Brooke. And she wished Brooke would be there with her now. But maybe she would get to see Brooke again, soon. And Lucas too… everyone. Then she wouldn't hide her feelings anymore. She had to be honest with Lucas… let him know her true feelings. Now that she knew what she had to loose, she couldn't live with that regret…

Peyton's head pounded. She had a growing headache, but didn't pay attention to it. Maybe this nightmare was almost over. She prayed it was over, she prayed she would find her way back to civilization.

The minutes passed, and Peyton could feel her eyelids growing heavier. She couldn't sleep, she couldn't allow herself to sleep, not yet. She needed to find her way out of the forest before he found her again… She was so close. Maybe she could just close her eyes for a moment though?

But as she closed them, there was no going back. The power of the darkness overpowered her, and she entered a world of dreams at last.