Chapter 109
Chapter 109 Run, baby.
She almost didn’t believe it when she heard the lock click. It took several tries at different keys before it
finally worked. Doris threw on another sweater before she carefully creaked open the door and peeked
into the hallways. She wasn’t sure how it had gotten so dark in such a short time, perhaps Jospeh took
all of the light with him.
She quickly pushed his kind face away from her mind. Kindness counted for nothing when she wanted to
survive-she learned that the hard way. Lessons are always learned the hard way and she had gone
through more than a few of her own.
Slowly, Doris creaked the door open and slipped out through the small crack. She clicked the door shut
and locked it behind her as if she hadn’t left the room at all. It would only fool them til morning, then they
would be after her. Hopefully she would find the camp long before that happened.
It could have been hours or mere minutes until the sun came out, she didn’t know but she was certain of
one thing. She had to hurry before anyone else came knocking. Joseph had been the only one to check
on her since she’d been here besides Mr. Hugh. But, she already had an appointment with him so she
didn’t expect him to wonder about her until evening. That gave her enough of a chance to try and get as
far as possible from here as she could.
Doris kept her steps light as she followed the same path Joseph had led her down less than an hour
before. She skimmed the walls and peered around eacher to make sure the guards were still fast
asleep before she hurried by. She had no idea if Joseph was off for the night after he left her or if he was
doing a round of the grounds since no one else was up to do she. She just knew she had to be extra
careful.
Her feet felt as if they were gliding on air as she rushed to the door that led outside. Not one sound
thumped against the ground as if she weighed nothing. Though, her heart was the loudest thing inside
her. It could have even woke the dead.
When she reached out to open the door, she banged against it. The sound was so loud, she had to hold
her breath and listen for any trace of steps hurrying her way to throw her back where she came from.
She counted silently in her head and stayed still as ice. When she reached thirty, she moved to open the
door but it was locked.
Doris pulled out the keys and tried every single one of them until one finally fit in the hole and allowed
her to tum it. The cold breeze the chilled her face was almost a relief. She nced back once before she
hurried out into the snow that still held their footsteps.
It was dead silent. Like there was no life for miles and miles no matter where she headed. Doris didn’t
know what direction to head in, she didn’t know which one would lead her to where William was but she
had to try. All she knew was that she had to make it through the trees but she was dead if she didn’t get
a horse first.
Doris scaled the walls and peered over the edge of the corner. Two guards were in deep conversation
with their backs to her near the stables where William had stolen the horses. Doris quickly pulled back
and hid herself from their view again. Her breath grew louder to her ears. She tried to calm the sound but
it only made her feel as if she’d gotten louder the more she tried.
This was ridiculous—how was she going to get out of this one without a horse? She’d be walking all
night now and would arrive to them with missing toes from the frozen air.
Doris nced at the trees and saw an opening between the darkness. She kept her steps light as she
hurried towards it. It was much colder than she thought it was. When she came out with Joseph, she felt
hot as if she couldn’t feel any trace of the cold air but now it was like she was coated in her ownyer of
ice. It was what she deserved for using his kindness for her own benefit.
A distant howl sounded in the distance, it made her skin ripple with goosebumps. What if they hunted her
like an animal when they found out she was gone? She knew she had to keep going and at least try to
get away. She’d never forgive herself if she sat around and did nothing while her future was decided for
her. Especially if they ended up wanting to kill her just to spite William.
She moved between the trees carefully. There were no traces of another guard for miles and she hoped
that meant she’d left them all behind her. Each crunch in the snow made her cringe and heart race as if it
was trying to exit her chest. How far was the camp from here? She remembered it being long by carriage
but fast by horses. Perhaps if she ran she would get there quicker—as ridiculous as that was.
Doris nced around and saw nothing but more trees. She took a long deep breath before she took off
into the darkness away from Life Pharmacy. The forest didn’t look familiar but she knew that William
headed this way when they were on their horses.
Doris cursed those guards for surrounding the area and making her run back to the camp rather than
ride. They must have realized that William stole a few of their horses the night they escaped before they
were found out and now made sure it was always monitored.
It didn’t take long for her breath to run out with barely any ground covered thanks to the thick snow. She
wasn’t used to running like this, she copsed to the ground and rested her head against her knees. She
had to keep going.
She allowed herself a few breaths before she got up again and continued on. Life Pharmacy was now a
distant shadow behind her but she knew it was still too close forfort. The sun started to poke up
above the horizon and she wondered how long it had been since she left her prison. Did Joseph notice
she was gone yet? Or would he wait a few more hours before he checked if she was awake?
She didn’t want to imagine the betrayal on his face when he realized what happened
and where his keys went. She deserved his anger and hurt, but she didn’t want to see it. He had to
realize that she didn’t deserve to be a pawn, he had to know that. Why else would be be so kind to her?
Any time a small branch broke or something shifted behind her, she paused to make sure nothing was
trailing her. She kept to the trees and didn’t dare to stay out in the open for long. It was only a death wish
and she had no reason to be caught so soon. Even if she was heading in the wrong direction, it was
better than sitting around. Anything was better than being a prisoner, they were foolish to underestimate
her.
Louder howls echoed through the trees, she wasn’t sure how close they were but it made the hair on the
back of her neck stand up. Doris quickly ducked behind arge boulder and searched for any sort of
weapon to grasp onto.
She closed her fingers around a sharp rock and listened to the change in the wind. Paws beat against
the ground and she knew in her heart that they had found out she was gone. It took them a lot quicker
than she wanted and now the only thing she could do was
“Run, baby!” A loud voice broke through the silence. A manughed so loud it made her flinch. “We’ve
already got you!”
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Doris stood and took off through the trees. She ran as fast as she could and couldn’t hear if anything was
behind her or if she was about to be mauled to death. Keep going, keep going. Her breath was loud in
her ears as she panted harder. Don’t look back, keep going
A rope wrapped around her chest and yanked her back into the darkness. Some man she didn’t
recognize in the slightestssoed her back and dragged her through the cold snow until she was at his
feet. He took a long drag on a cigar in his mouth before he blew out the smoke and smirked down at her.
“That was pretty fun. You almost got away with it, little one.”