" 'You must do the thing you think you cannot do.' Eleanor Roosevelt." ~Aspen Hill
The light broke over the mountain on the fifth day of Aspen's kidnapping. Her ankles and wrists were in clappes on a chain connected to the metal chair that had been bolted to the ground. We all know that moment in time where you've wanted something so badly that you started to give up hope that it was ever really going to happen, that's where Aspen was mentally. She prayed every night and every morning, but it didn't seem to be working. She was slowly losing faith in everything. Her team, herself, and even Aaron, his ghost that is. You always hear stories about people seeing their loved ones who have passed away, so why couldn't she be one of those people?
She needed a plan. Shaking her head, Aspen glanced at the floor that was covered in her trimmed red hair. She knew one of her bobby pins had to have fell to the floor when Mr. Crazy cut her hair. Her heart raced when she heard a door slam shut and a vehicle start.
"Where are you?" Aspen mumbled looking through the hair. Running her hand over the concrete flooring, her heart skipped a beat when she tightly grabbed hold of one bobby pin. Silent tears made their way down her cheeks as she started to picking the lock on her left hand. The click came quickly after she started. Aspen was a master at this by now because her older sister, Mary, used to lock her out of the bathroom after taking the key. Before Aspen could really register her movement, the cuffs were off and she was halfway up the moaning staircase.
A low creek escaped the door as she opened it to reveal an oak kitchen in what seemed a very unorganized house. Aspen stepped into the kitchen letting the warm sunlight hit her face for the first time in what seemed ages. Shutting the door to the basement her mind began to race. Who knew how long he'd be gone. What if he caught her again. Shaking her head, Aspen let the thoughts slip from her mind. She had to get out of there and quickly.
"This will have to do." She spoke softly grabbing a knife that sat on the grey granite counter top. She didn't waist any more time finding the front door. Ripping the door open, Aspen's heart was beating so fast and heavy, she thought it might just fly from her chest. She stared down the road for a moment. Aspen knew she couldn't take the main road, she would be found to quickly. Turning as three sixty, she surveyed her surroundings. She wiped the sweat from her brow, she was clueless. Aspen bolted for the trees to the west of her.
Being lost in the woods was better than being stuck in that house any longer, was all that ran through her mind as the adrenaline kept her legs running farther and farther from that hell hole. Once she thought she was a safe distance away, Aspen stopped running. She stopped everything. Sitting on a fallen tree, she put her head in her hands and finally let it all out. Aspen didn't just cry, she bawled. Tears of both relief and pain. She was exhausted by everything. The running, the crying, the fear.
She wasn't there long before she picked herself up and began again. Aaron might not be here anymore, but hell would freeze over before she gave up. plus she had to make sure Jack was okay, that he had somewhere to stay. He's already lost a mother. . . And now a father. How was a ten year old supposed to deal with that alone?