Chapter I

I woke up with a start. My heart was pounding and hitting my ribcage with fear because I was sure I heard voices. I sat there frozen; not daring to breathe or move for fear of making any sounds that would conceal the voices that might have been there. Shit. I heard them again. As quickly, and at the same time as quietly, possible I put on my boots and walked over to the window. I slowly raised my head to take a peek and then I saw three people. They were walking, no, two of them were dragging the third person with them, towards the barn. Shit, shit, shit. They were too close which prevented me from running away. So all I could do was hold still and wait for them to go away.

"… Let me go!" pleaded a woman's voice.

"Shut up, bitch! You're not going anywhere." A man's voice said. Oh, shit.

"Please, I have food and …"

Smack!

I knew where this was going the moment I heard that man raise his voice.

"You make another sound and I'll cut that lovely tongue of yours out, girl." Sneered the man who slapped the woman.

They were so close now I could see their faces. The tall guy who hit the red haired girl had a long auburn beard covered with frost and it seemed he was about thirty or more years old. The shorter one was much younger and above his upper lip was a hint of a moustache.

"Ya sure this place is safe?" asked the younger one.

"No, but we'll be done quickly with this girl here." They're going to rape and kill her right here, I thought and I could feel my stomach drop and blood freeze in my veins.

I can't let that happen.

I dared to take a glimpse through the small hole in the wood and what I saw, flickered a flame of courage in me. Poor girl was barely standing there, without any energy left to fight. Her jeans were torn on the left side, revealing a bleeding leg, and she lacked a jacket or something warmer to protect her from the cold.

But you can't be seen, that's the key to survive. Stay hidden and no harm shall come to you. This rule kept me alive and the rational side of me nodded enthusiastically. I can't just let them violate the girl. I'm not an animal, I argued with my brain.

I took another glimpse and now her face was turned in my direction. I almost let out a small cry when I saw that this girl was so young, younger than me. I have to help her.

"I'll go first, you go outside and watch for any intruders," said the older guy.

The younger one left the barn and the one with the beard grabbed the girls arm and dragged her to the working bench in the corner.

"Please, I'm begging you, don't do this," cried the girl.

The man said nothing and started unbuckling the belt of his trousers.

The girl was trying to push him away, but he was too strong for her.

"Hey, bastard!" I heard myself yell. I didn't even come up with a plan when I found myself standing with a gun in my hand and pointing it to his head.

He looked up, his eyes, filled with lust and surprise, met mine and there was an evil smile starting to form on his lips. Then I pulled the trigger. The bullet hit him in the head and his lump body fell on the floor. I was staring at the body for a few seconds when I heard the other guy approaching. Now what? Gonna kill him too?

"Hans, what's going on? I heard a gunsh-what the fuck?!" He saw his companion's body lying on the floor, blood oozing from his head.

"You bitch, what did you do? You're gonna pay for this!" He pulled out a knife, started walking over to her when I shouted: "Leave her alone or I'll shoot you too!"

The guy stopped abruptly, his arms above his head and voice completely different now. "W-who a-are you?" he whimpered.

I noticed the girl turned her face towards me and this was the first time her teal eyes met mine. Her gaze was empty and distant.

"It doesn't matter. Just turn around and run away," I ordered the guy, hoping he would listen, my gun still pointed at him.

"O-okay," he said and ran through the door almost tripping while he turned on his heels. That went well, I thought sarcastically.

I waited a few more seconds just in case the other guy changed his mind but he didn't so I let out a loud sigh and dropped my arm to the side.

The girl was still staring at me when I turned my gaze back to her.

"Hey, stay there, okay? I'm coming down, I won't hurt you. I promise," I said quietly to reassure her I meant no harm. I tucked the gun behind my trousers, scrolled the sleeping bag and attached it to my backpack and grabbed the blanket which was still lying on the floor. I lifted the ladder so I could climb down. When I saw the girl was still there, now sitting on the floor, her face in her hands and sobbing, I sped up and jumped from the ladder when I was close to the ground.

I approached her slowly because I didn't want to scare her even more. When she was in my arms' reach I stopped and kneeled before her. I wasn't sure what to do next so I started talking.

"Hey, there. I'm Elsa."

The girl slowly lifted her head from hands and looked at me. Her teary eyes were not empty any more. There was now only pain and relief. "I-I …" Her voice was shaking so she inhaled deeply and started again.

"I'm Anna."

I smiled softly at her. "We need to get you somewhere safe, so I can clean your wounds," I said. "Do you mind if I help you stand up?" I asked her, slowly reaching her arm so she had time to yank it away if she didn't want to be touched.

She shook her head so I gently took her arm and helped her get on her feet. She was weak and her face was drained from colour which made her freckles, covering her cheeks and nose, more visible. She was bleeding from several wounds and her face was covered with a couple of bruises.

"There's a village … A village about one hour from here," she said.

"Do you think it's safe there?" I asked.

"I was there when they," she pointed to the body with disgust reflecting in her eyes, "found me. I was alone."

"Okay, we'll go there then." I took my backpack and wrapped Anna with the blanket.

"Thank you, Elsa."

"It's just a blanket," I smiled at her.

"No, I mean, thank you for doing this. For saving my life." She looked at me with tears in her eyes. In that moment I felt like my heart was being ripped into thousands of small pieces and then being put back together again. Something about her was messing with my feelings and I couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not.

"I … It's okay, I mean, I couldn't let them do that to you."

We looked at each other for a few moments thinking what to say next, so I asked her: "So, um, in which direction is that village?"

"To the north," she pointed with her arm.

"Let's go then. Oh, and we should watch out for the other guy, I don't know if he actually ran away."

Anna stiffened. "But don't worry; I won't let him near, okay?" I quickly added and mentally slapped myself for bringing that up.

She nodded, not entirely convinced. We had never seen him again though.

Then we started walking. We were progressing in silence until I noticed Anna's heavy breathing and I was starting to worry that she would collapse. "Are you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I think so," she nodded, but she didn't sound sure.

"We can take a break if you want to," I offered even though we'd been only halfway through.

"No, I can make it." She sounded determined.

"Just let me know if you need to rest, okay?"

"Okay."

We were walking painfully slowly. It was cold and the road was covered in icy mud so we had to be careful not to slip but after what seemed like two hours had passed I caught a glimpse of a church.

"Hey, Anna, is this it?" I asked Anna.

"Yeah, we're almost there," she whispered. I looked at her and saw that she got paler; if that was even possible.

"You're cold," I said, more of a statement than a question.

I wrapped her left arm around my neck and put my right arm around her waist so I could hold her firmer. I quickened the pace when I grew worried that Anna wouldn't make it to the village.

"Hang in there," I said and I could feel her squeezing my hand which held her waist.

I was almost dragging her by the time we reached the first house. It was a small abandoned village with a church and about twenty houses which were scattered around the place.

"Go to the third house on the left. It's got a high fence and I know how to enter it," Anna said weakly.

"Okay," I agreed and started walking towards the building. I was pretty sure it used to be a beautiful villa with big windows so the light could reach deep into the house. Now the windows were covered with iron bars and the blue colour had almost completely faded away.

"There, can you see that handle?" Anna asked me and pointed to an iron bar that actually looked like a part of the fence.

"Um, this one?"

"Yes. Now pull it."

I did what she said and a part of the fence flew open just enough for a person to fit through the gap. I helped Anna to go through first then I followed her, holding her arm because she seemed she was about to collapse. Lastly, I grabbed my backpack I left on the ground, so I could squeeze myself through, and pulled it towards me. Then I closed the gate shut.

"Almost there."

Anna nodded. I was taken by surprise when she tugged on my arm and started to lead the way. We entered through the back door and ended up in what looked like a garage. Anna didn't stop though. It looked like she knew exactly where we were going.

"Anna, wait."

She stopped and turned around, her exhausted gaze fixed on me. "What's wrong?"

"I have to make sure no one is here. You wait here, I'll be back quickly."

"Just check the ground floor," she hissed because of the pain and slumped against the wall behind her.

"Why, I mean, someone could be hiding upstairs."

"Just … Trust me, okay?"

I looked at her not sure what to do. Her words struck me with wonder. Do you even know how to trust anyone after all this time? I asked myself. I've already broken several rules of survival, checking out the area before settling was one of them, because of this girl. But yet I still live. What was even more surprising though, I found myself trusting her.

I nodded, grabbed my gun, took it off safety and started searching the house. When I exited the garage I ended up in a hall with some doors on the each side. I entered all of them and they were all empty. When I was about to go further down the hall, I heard a noise coming from behind me. I ran back to the garage when I found out Anna wasn't there any more. I didn't know why but I started panicking.

"Anna! Where are you?" I almost yelled but I managed to make it a whispered yell. A sound of glass shattering. My head snapped into the direction from which the noise was coming from. Only then I noticed there was another, almost hidden, door and I sprinted towards it. I slowly opened it when I saw Anna lying on the ground, unconscious, glass shattered around her (she must have hit the shelf filled with glasses) and my heart almost stopped. Shit, don't be dead, please. Shit, shit, shit. I ran to her, lifted her head and relief took over me when I was sure she was still breathing.

Then I saw it. There was a small gap in the ground. I realized Anna was trying to open some sort of a secret passage but the effort was too much for her already exhausted body. I gently laid her head on floor and pushed the stone hatch further so it was big enough for us to enter together.