Saturday September 16th, 2000

The rest of the week went by quietly, William never returned to school and Mia began to believe she had just imagined him. She started her day in the shower; the hot water helped wake her up. After she was dressed she dried her hair and went downstairs to watch some TV. It was early so the only thing on TV was infomercials, she stopped on one that was selling some kitchen appliance that no one needed but everyone wanted. After the third time of seeing how fast it could chop an onion she flipped the TV back off and went upstairs to her room. She turned on her computer and checked her new email; of course no one had her email address so there were no emails to read.

Mia thought about her home, she began to miss her room, the place she grew up. In an attempt to distract her from the good memories she knew lead to the bad one's she clicked on her favorite search engine and typed in the last name 'Bennet'. Of course without a specific location the search returned more than Mia would have liked, so she refined her search to town where they had their accident, Baltimore, Maryland. The first return was what she was looking for, an article about her family in a local paper.

Memorial service today for Lancaster family killed in boating accident

Saturday September 09, 2000, 7:00 AM

The bodies of Matthew Bennet (41), his wife Brenda Bennet (40), and their daughter Emily Bennet (18) have not been found. State police announced yesterday that the passengers did not survive.

A memorial service will be held this morning. The family was killed last weekend when their boat capsized during a storm.

Beginning at 11 a.m. at the family's church in Caldwell, speakers will pay tribute to the family.

"It's shaken the community," said former neighbor, Deborah Market. Today's service will allow congregants to "pause and grieve."

Mia wondered if he'd been there, if he had the audacity to show his face or if he hid in the shadows like the bloodsucker he was.

Mia had spent most of the morning adjusting things in her room, now that she had spent a full week in it she knew there were some things that needed to be moved around. After she rearranged her room she went downstairs. Her parents were already up, her mom was washing the dishes from breakfast while her dad read the paper.

"Morning," her dad greeted.

"Morning."

"So do you have any plans for today?" her mom asked.

"Nope," Mia replied already bored.

"Well, your father and I are going to the hardware store to get some supplies for the kitchen remodel; I don't suppose you'd like to join us?"

"Hmmm, sounds tempting, but I think I'll pass," she said skirting on sarcasm.

Her dad just chuckled to himself as he handed the paper to Mia. After her parents left Mia sat at the kitchen table and flipped through the paper. She read a few articles but couldn't fight the thoughts that crept into her mind, she started to wonder what was happening back home, if their plan had worked and if she could finally live her life without fear. Frustrated she slammed her hands on the table and stood to find something else to do.

Mia went back upstairs to her room and pulled out the sketchbook she stuffed into her cedar chest. She sat down, and flipped to the first page, the only thing on it was the word 'Remember'. With a deep breath to calm her nerves she turned that page over to reveal a sketch of herself. She knew the whole book was images of her and as she starred at the first one she remembered how she had created it, and why. Her life had been turned upside down and misery had taken over where happiness used to be. She wanted to keep a journal but couldn't bring herself to write the words so she decided on a sketch book. In order to make sense of it she had to start at the beginning, before he entered her life. She remembered the picture she drew this image from, she was in her room with one of her friends and they were listening to music and laughing when her friend snapped this picture. Mia was happy, and unaware of what was about to happen in her life. The next few pages of the sketchbook were similar to the first, copies from pictures, a time when she smiled all the time and laughed at everything. That would change and she knew she was getting closer to that point as she continued to turn the pages.

Distraught and in need of a distraction Mia put down the red sketchbook and pulled a brand new one her parents had bought for her. She just started to draw, not really having anything in mind. For awhile the pencil seemed to move on its own as if it were possessed. When she paused to give her hand a rest and take a look at her creation she realized she had drawn a face, well part of a face. Mia stared at the pair of eyes she had drawn; mesmerized by their depth and beauty, just then she remembered another pair of eyes she had seen recently. She turned the page and started again. As the hours passed Mia had created a number of pieces. When she couldn't hold her pencil any longer she closed the book and contemplated how she could be so interested in someone so dangerous.

Her parents were home by now so she went downstairs to help them with the demolition of the kitchen.

Sunday September 17th, 2000

The rest of Mia's weekend went somewhat like it started, she continued to check the time imagining what was going on back home. She couldn't sleep so she continued to draw. She found herself glad tomorrow was Monday, hoping for some distraction from her classmates.

William leaned back against the snow bank, letting the dry powder reshape itself around his weight. His skin had cooled to match the air around him, and the tiny pieces of ice felt like velvet on his skin. The sky above him was clear, brilliant with stars, glowing blue in some places, and yellow in others. Exquisitely beautiful, or rather should have been, would have been, if William had been able to really see it. It wasn't getting any better, six days had passed. Six days he'd hidden in the wilderness, but he was no closer to freedom than he had been since the first moment that he had caught her scent.

William reflected as he stared into the night sky, he had never doubted his courage before or his ability to face difficulty, until that horrible hour in a high school art class. He tried to embrace his former self, the man who faced things head on. He found it pleasant to think of himself that way again. As William contemplated this version of himself he began to see himself leaving, being strong enough to go back to the one place he wanted to be. He put his chin on his knees and stared up at the stars again already anxious to be on his way. He knew that Ella would see him coming, that she would tell the others. This would make them happy, Phillip and Katherine especially. William gazed at the stars for one more moment, trying to see past the face in his head. Between him and the brilliant sky a pair of bewildered amber eyes stared back at him. With a heavy sigh, William gave up and got to his feet. If he ran he would be back to Phillip's car in an hour.