I woke up disoriented in a double bed with fluffy black bedding. The blanket was so poofy it felt like it was incasing me. After I got over the supper comfy blanket I started checking things out. I was still wearing my clothes and my boots were by the foot of the bed on the floor. My coat was gone, unfortunately, but that could have been way worse. The fact that I still had my clothes on was a really good sign. I needed to figure out where I was before I started panicking. I'm not an expert but as far as I know panicking never actually accomplishes anything. Especially in the movies, they just run out the door and right into the waiting arms of the abductor and then they're back to square one. I tried to get off the bed only to realize one of my wrists were handcuffed to the head board.

I looked around the room at the things I could see without getting up. It's never to early for an escape plan. The walls were painted a light shade of yellow. Not the best color but I've seen worse. There's a wooden night stand next to the bed. I pulled open the drawer but it was empty. Across the room is an old brick fireplace. Cool, love fireplaces. Next to it looked like a door to a closet or bathroom. On the outer wall there's a pretty big window... Big enough for someone to crawl out of. I looked back at my wrist and smirked. About a year ago I accidentally locked myself out of the house in the middle of one of the hottest day of the year. The experience was so miserable that I taught myself how to pick locks so it never happened again. After some educational videos, some crying, a few broken locks, and time I've gotten pretty good at it.

Mom always joked about how I was supposed to be a criminal child but I never had something big to rebel against. I always keep a couple of bobby pins in my hair just for this kind of thing. I ran my fingers through my hair hoping she hadn’t taken the bobby pins out. When I found one a simple bobby pin never looked so important. I pulled it out of my hair and set to work. It was a really cheap lock so it didn't take long to open it. After my wrist was free I pulled my boots back on and as quietly as possible I crept toward the window. Every noise I made sounded amplified. My own breathing sounded like someone was breathing loudly in my ear but the only way to make it stop was to stop breathing. I opened the lock and pushed open the window. The house I was in was a simple two story house. It's the kind of cookie cutter house you'd make out of gingerbread for Christmas.

I looked at my few options of escape. My best bet was to get onto the roof and climb down a pole positioned near the roof. I'm not exactly sure what the pole was for but at this point it didn't matter. Surrounding the house was a forest the only thing I could see for miles were trees. With everything covered in snow and ice it would have been an amazing view but I'm stuck here so it's not a very nice view. If I managed to get out of here I would need to walk for miles in snow and ice without my coat. About thirty feet from the front of the house was a pond. The surface was covered in a thin layer of ice and snow. I kicked my half baked plan into drive when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I didn't even think as I climbed feet first out the window and onto the roof. Fight or flight is a very real thing.

I shuffled over to the pole scraping my knees on the roof. I slide down the pole like it was a fireman's pole. I wasn't as good at it as a fireman but I didn't fall off so good enough. The second my feet hit the ground I started running. I didn't even know where I was going. I was totally making this up as I go. I was on the track team at school. I was never the best runner but I did decent work. I was really motivated to go as fast as possible so I'm sure I was going faster than I ever have before. I bet my track coach would be proud.

I barely made it twelve feet before I heard shouting behind me. I ran toward the pond for a reason I didn't know yet. I knew I could beat her there. I had a head start. My boots thumped loudly against the dock as I ran thanks to pure luck I didn't slip on ice any ice. I spun around when I was a few feet from the end of the dock because the only other option was frozen pond water. Three people skidded to a stop on the land where the dock meets the ground. Damn, there are more of them. On the left was a girl one or two years older than Damon. If that was even her name. She had blond hair and blue eyes. She looked closely related to Damon so I'm guessing she was Damon’s older sister. In the middle was Damon and on the right was a middle aged woman that seemed to be the one in-charge. She had one blue eye and one green. Damon took a step toward the dock with her hands raised like you would approach a scared animal. I took a step toward the water. She's not getting close to me. “Cade...” she whispered my name soothingly and looked at me like I was the crazy one here, “Please come off the dock. We can go inside and get warm. I'll explain everything.”

“No.” Nope. Not happening. This is the only leverage I've got. I'm not just going to follow them back inside to my likely death. No, thank you. Damon took another step forward. I backed up until the heel of my boot connected with the edge of the dock. Damon frowned and took a step back to try and get me to move off the edge. I didn't move. Her sister huffed out an impatient sigh. She sounded like a brat. I had honestly forgotten she was here, “I'm tired of standing out here in the cold!” before anyone could stop her she ran at me.

She extremely underestimated the fight or flight mode I was in. I spun around and jumped off before she even made it halfway. I stuck my tongue out at her on the way down. The ice shattered beneath my feet and I fell through the ice into the water. It was colder then I thought it would be.