“Well, let’s get there then, and wait until she leaves,” said Shannon, trying to keep Megan’s spirits up as much as possible.
Megan knew what Julie and Dan were capable of and didn’t want any part of it anymore. She knew they wouldn’t sleep until they found them, and hurt them… badly. She knew they would have to get somewhere that they couldn’t be found, change their names, and start fresh or they would be found. She was so sorry she had helped plan all of this, and couldn’t forgive herself. She knew the only way to make up for what she did at all was to keep Shannon safe for the rest of her life, and make sure the plan in which she helped with, never worked.
“Would they hurt anyone else to get to me?” Shannon asked abruptly, thinking of all the possible repercussions of them leaving.
“I don’t think so Shannon. They aren’t going to risk getting caught. They wouldn’t do that if they don’t know where we are at the moment for the risk of us turning them in. Right now, we can’t prove they are after us so they won’t slip up and get themselves caught without finding us first.”
Well, that was good news at least thought Shannon. Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad after all. She could leave all her worries behind and start a fresh new life with Megan. Then, something popped into Shannon’s head that terrified her, and saddened her deeply. She could never see her family again, or her friends back home. She couldn’t risk going back to them, or contacting them and giving up where she was. There was no telling if Julie and Dan could find them that way, but it was a risk they couldn’t take. She started to cry, heavily, and Megan looked at her as if she knew what she was thinking.
“It’s going to be okay Shannon. It will all work out in the end angel.”
Shannon shook her head, knelt down, and cried harder. She didn’t want to lose everything, but knew there was nothing she could do about it. She would never see her friends from school again. She would never see her family again either. She would never be able to explain what happened while she was here. They would think she either ran away or something happened to her. It was the worst feeling in the world to know they would worry for the rest of their lives. As she was finally ready to move forward again, she opened her eyes and looked up at Megan.
“Let’s go Megan, I’m sorry,” she said as she began to stand up.
“It’s okay love, this is rough. It’s going to be hard for a long time but we will….”
Megan stopped herself, and crouched down, pulling Shannon with her. Shannon started to speak but Megan covered her mouth quickly, shaking her head, telling her not to say a word.
“Get on the ground Shannon, and don’t move,” she whispered. “Someone is right in front of us and coming this way.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN: RUNNING OUT OF TIME
The girls had no idea what to do next. They were face down in the leaves, trying to remain as calm as possible, watching a flashlight bounce up and down in front of them. They couldn’t run, the person was closing in and would see them move. Their only chance was to wait it out and see if maybe they would go unnoticed. It was an unlikely chance, but all they had to go on at the moment. The girls held their breath and tightened all their muscles as the person neared them. How did Dan and Julie find them already? How on Earth did they know which way they were heading and cut them off? All of these questions were running through the minds of the girls as the flashlight stopped on Shannon, illuminating her entire body to the flashing wielding maniac. She thought about running, but didn’t want to get hurt either. She was thinking of all the possibilities when a question was directed toward her.
“Ma’am, why are you laying in the leaves?”
It was a young boy, no more than ten years old standing there in a winter coat and faded blue jeans, pointing the flash light directly at Shannon.
Both Shannon and Megan took a big sigh of relief almost simultaneously as they realized they weren’t in any danger for the time being.
The boy hadn’t noticed Megan until she went to stand up, startling him and forcing him to stumble backwards.
“I’m sorry young man; I didn’t mean to startle you,” she said, snickering at his reaction.
“What are you two doing out here in the middle of the night?” the boy asked. “It’s freezing cold and pitch black,” the boy said, confused as to why the girls had been laying on the ground in the middle of the woods.
“Well,” said Shannon. “We are playing hide and seek with a couple of people and it’s our turn to hide.”
Of course she couldn’t tell the boy exactly what was going on so that excuse was going to have to do for now. She didn’t want to frighten him, or possibly have him go back and tell someone that they were there. They got up, dusted off their clothes and told the boy that if he saw anyone, to tell them they were still hiding. He agreed, ecstatic to be a part of the game as well. The boy headed back in the direction he came from and the girls went on their way, looking to get out of the woods.
The girls knew that the house where the little boy lived must be close to other homes and decided to start moving in the same direction he headed. They messed around for a few minutes, letting him get far enough ahead to not know they were following him. He might not understand and try to run if he saw them tailing him from a distance. They were careful to use trees as cover in case he turned around suddenly from the noise of them traveling through the woods.
After about fifteen minutes, a small house appeared in the distance, lighting up a section of woods ahead of them. The boy had already gone inside as the girls could see him talking with what looked like his mother through the window. They were in the kitchen as the boy explained his journey to his mother, hopefully leaving out the detail about the girls playing hide and seek with him. They didn’t want anyone getting suspicious and setting out to look for them. Also, Dan had a police scanner installed in his car and would be listening in to local authorities in case they got any calls. This worried Megan and Shannon far more than the authorities coming after them. They had done nothing illegal besides possibly crossing over some areas of property they weren’t welcome on in the first place. Other than that, they hadn’t done a thing wrong in the law’s eyes. The unnecessary attention that could possible alert Dan and Julie to them was what they feared.
They decided to circle the house slowly, seeing if they could find anything around them to suggest a city or town was close. Before they got into the light provided by the house’s porch lamp they started to circle around, aiming for a spot about midway down the driveway to emerge. The house had an extremely long driveway that was leading out into the darkness. If they got on the path and followed it away from the house, it should lead them to somewhere eventually, or so they hoped. After successfully avoiding to be noticed as they walked around the house they ended up on the driveway, about two hundred yards from the front door. There was no way they were in sight or hearing range, giving them confidence to move quickly in the night to see what was on the other end of the long, narrow road. It must have been an hour or so before they saw any change in scenery. They hit a road that intersected the driveway, but was just as desolate. They could go left or right, and both ways looked just as hopeless as the other. They decided to go to the right and began walking along a two lane road, sticking to the forest line instead of walking directly on the road. If Dan or Julie happened to drive by, looking for them, they wouldn’t be seen quite as easily this way. After a couple hours of walking, the sun started to come up, which was both a good and a bad thing. It would bring them a break from the freezing cold darkness they had been treading through for most of the night but would also draw attention to them much more easily. They would have to be more careful now, watching every car that passed, or movement in the woods. They were nervous, but confident as well. They were going to be okay as long as they didn’t try to make things happen too quickly.
After what seemed like days they finally reached a fork in the road, littered with road signs that promised civilization up ahead. It said a t
own called “Franklin” was three miles from their current location, and given the fact they must have walked thirty by now, that didn’t faze the girls a bit. They took the fork left, toward Franklin, hoping to find a way back to Ann Arbor from there.
“You think we are going to be okay?” asked Shannon, breaking the silence of nearly four hours.
“Yes Shannon, I think we are going to be just fine,” Megan said, smiling from the corner of her mouth.
By this point the girls were tired, hungry, and wanted to just get somewhere. It didn’t really matter where they ended up, they just didn’t want to be walking anymore. After an hour or so they saw the outskirts of the tiny town that was displayed on the road sign on the road behind them. “Welcome to Franklin – Population 216” read the sign.
“Two hundred and sixteen people!” Shannon said, almost angry with the sign it seemed. “There might not be anything here at all! I will go door to door asking for a ride if I have to do so.”
She was angry, and for obvious reasons. They had been walking for hours and were excited to finally be done with their journey when they realized the town they ended up in might not have as much as a payphone.
“I’m sure it will be okay Shannon,” Megan said cheerfully, trying to raise her spirits back up. “We might luck up here.”
As they got closer to the town they saw houses lining the street, about a quarter of a mile ahead. It seemed to have a few stores there, mainly thrift and resale shops. The only other thing they saw from the distant was a police station. Both Shannon and Julie knew it was only bad news to go to the police with this one. First, they would ask questions, and since it wouldn’t make complete sense, they would lead Dan and Julie straight to them to make sure they were telling the truth. Not only that, the police would probably call in the report on radio, tipping the two off as to their whereabouts. They were not going to go to the police with this one.
When they reached the town, they made their way over to a service station on the corner of an intersecting streets. There were a few people outside, heading to work it seemed, along with a few truckers that were fueling up for a daily run. Shannon walked over to the truckers, hoping to get some help. With her looks it was not usually a good plan to engage with drooling men, waiting for a woman to come along, but she didn’t look quite herself this morning and wouldn’t have attracted anyone in this condition.
“Hey guys, how far is Ann Arbor from here?”
The men looked at each other, almost confused at why she was asking them anything, but especially that question. They giggled at the fact that Shannon was clearly lost and looked like she had been that way for quite some time.
“Well honey, you are about two hours north of Ann Arbor. You need a lift? We are going that way.”
Two hours? How were they possibly that far away without knowing it? Megan hadn’t caught on while in the car with Dan? Why didn’t she tell Shannon it was that far away from the city before setting out on foot to find a way back?
“How did you not notice that you drove for that long to get to the cabin Megan? You have been there before, multiple times, and you failed to mention how far we were!”
Shannon was mad. She didn’t know if Megan was acting along with all of this as part of the plan once again, or if she truly didn’t know somehow.
“It isn’t that far from the cabin to Ann Arbor, Shannon. We walked the wrong way. We must have gotten turned around in the woods and headed north. Now, we have a choice to make. Do we try and get to Ann Arbor on our own somehow, or risk going with these guys? We really have nothing to lose now babe.”
Megan actually had a good point. They could ride back to Ann Arbor and get to Julie’s house with the truckers, or spend another full day looking for a way back. They would probably end up walking, which was over a hundred miles one way in the end. Shannon had made her decision and piped up quickly.
“We’ll take your offer. When are we heading out?”
The men looked at each other, surprised the girls had decided to get in the truck with them. They shrugged and replied, “Ready to go now?”
Megan and Shannon didn’t have anything else to do, so they thought now was better than ever.
“Let us head to the restroom first and we will meet you back out here. Don’t head out without us,” Shannon yelled as she headed to the door, knowing there wasn’t a chance in the world they would leave. She grabbed Megan’s hand and walked into the store with her, holding the door open for her as they entered. They went into the bathroom, knowing the ride was going to be long and there wouldn’t be time to stop along the way. They washed their hands together and looked at each other intensely. Shannon, with her hands still wet, reached out and grabbed Megan, hugging her tighter than ever. She squeezed her even tighter, letting Megan know that she didn’t ever want to be without her. Megan caught on, holding the back of Shannon’s head and whispering in her ear, “It’s all going to be okay baby. We will get through this.”
Shannon had no way of knowing but hoped to God that she was right. She wanted to believe her, but had a little ways to go first. As they walked back outside, they heard laughter come from the truckers as they were joking amongst themselves by the gas pumps. They were done fueling up and just messing around, waiting for the girls to get back out. As the girls walked up to them, Shannon reached out her hand, introducing herself politely.
“The name’s Shannon, nice to meet you,” she said, confidently shaking the bigger man’s hand, letting him know that she wasn’t going to be intimidated by him.
“Well Shannon, we have already come up with another name for you and our friends on the radio like it just fine.”
The next part of what the trucker said didn’t even register as fear struck Shannon like a lightning bolt.
“What… what did you say on that radio?” she said, trembling from head to toe.
“Well babe, I told all my friends out there how lucky we were to find two hot young ladies in Franklin, Michigan. Everyone usually talks this town down so much I just had to let them know. Why, do you want to keep things a secret between us?”
He smiled creepily, enough to give anyone the shivers.
Shannon looked at Megan with the most terrified face. Megan knew what Shannon was petrified, and she had good reason.
“We have to leave now. There are people going to kill us, and you just led them right to where we are. No more radio communication at all from here on out. We need to get out of here before they show up.”
Megan had taken control and was furious not only at the situation, but also at the fact that Shannon was scared all over again. She hated to see her worried but knew she could do nothing for her at the moment.
“Wait, you mean to tell me that someone was listening to us, and is going to be on the way here to kill you now?”
The truckers didn’t understand, which wasn’t really unreasonable giving the information they had just gathered in such a short period of time.
“Yeah, that’s the gist of it really,” said Megan, very bluntly, “we have to leave now.”
They all piled in the truck and the driver fired up the truck. Not only did they seem nervous now, but they had forgotten they had a job to do as well. They were more worried about Shannon and Megan’s situation and decided to give them the reins.
“Where are we heading girls? Might not be the best idea to go to Ann Arbor still, since we accidentally gave up your location.”
The driver seemed sad, hurt by what he might have done.
“I’m sorry girls; I was just trying to have a little fun. I didn’t know you were trying to hide. We will help you any way we can.”
“Well,” said Shannon, “let’s start by heading toward Ann Arbor. We will think of a plan along the way.”
CHAPTER TWELVE: NEVER TURN BACK
The girls knew they were running out of time and had to make their plans happen quicker than they had anticipated now that their location was most likely known by Dan and Julie. They st
ill wanted to get back into Julie’s house to retrieve anything they needed for their getaway journey but didn’t know how possible that was, or if the items they needed were still in the house. Dan and Julie might have taken anything they might have needed with them in case they tried to return for them. It was a risk they had to take and were willing to see what happened in the end.
“How much farther until we reached the city?” asked Megan, not recognizing anything along the way so far.
“We’ll be coming into the city limits in about fifteen minutes or so,” the driver said, “do you girls have a plan?”
Megan and Shannon looked at each other, not really sure of what they were going to do once they arrived. They shook their heads, letting the driver know they were going in blind, with no idea of what was in store for them. They had a better chance before the truckers gave away their location. Nearing the city, they needed to think fast and have a game plan of some sort before charging into the dark.
“I’ve got an idea,” said Shannon. “If you guys are willing to help, I think it might work.”
The driver and his partner knew they owed the girls and nodded quickly, agreeing that they were in on whatever the girls concocted.
“When we get close we should park down the street and walk to the house. That way they won’t see us coming as easily. You guys can knock on the door, and we will enter through the back. If anyone is home, maybe you can distract them, telling Dan and Julie that you have us and are willing to work out a deal. This will give us enough time to get in and out without them noticing. Walk them to the truck, acting as if we are inside. When they get there, we will have it staged like we got out of the truck and are running away. Convince them that they should head one way, and you head the other. We will sneak back to the truck and get inside after they have disappeared. We can make our getaway while they are out searching the streets,” Megan stated.
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