Kaitlyn crashed through the woods, the cracking branches beneath her feet filling the dark silence. The green-tinted night spread around her as far as she could see. She had been on the run for thirteen minutes and eleven seconds. Scanning the forest, she could see the body heat of several startled animals. There wasn’t a human form in sight. If they were chasing her, they weren’t close—at least, not yet.
Faster.
She had to get out of the woods and into civilization … a town. There had to be one near here, somewhere. They would be combing the woods for her for days, but she didn’t plan on being there that long.
Recalling the phone Lucas had given her, Kaitlyn came to a halt, swung the bag off her shoulder, and dropped it to the ground. Unzipping the side pocket, she slid out the smooth, thin phone. When she pressed the round button on the bottom, the screen came to life.
A small square on the screen said ‘Maps.’ Not knowing what else to do, she tapped it. She was surprised when it opened to a map. She had spent extensive time with Frank learning to read the terrain and navigate maps, so it didn’t take her long to realize the pulsing dot was her location. When she moved forward, the dot moved with her. Genius.
There was a major highway approximately fifteen miles due north. She stuffed the phone back in the bag and took off in that direction. The undergrowth was getting thicker, and the hills steeper. Reaching up, she grasped hold of a branch to help pull her forward, and then another until she made it to the top. She broke free of the thick shrubs and trees, finding herself standing on the edge of a cliff over a stream.
A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she stumbled back, losing her footing. Had they caused her to malfunction remotely? Closing her eyes, she tried to steady herself, to wait for the dizziness to pass.
Instead, like a tidal wave, her memories came crashing back.
It was too much. She wanted to grab the sides of her head and scream, but as images flashed through her mind and emotions spun her around, she breathed deeply and pulled herself back up the slope. She had to keep moving.
Memories of a young girl streamed through her mind. A young, dark-haired girl stood outside in a raincoat and yellow boots, waiting for the bus. She turned and smiled at a woman with dark hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes. It hit Kaitlyn that the woman was probably her mother, and the girl Kaitlyn herself. The next flash was her, slightly older, sitting cross-legged under a Christmas tree. A tall, slim man with curly blond hair and grey eyes handed her a wrapped box. The girl squealed when she opened up the box, finding ice skates, and threw her arms around the man. “Daddy!”
Daddy. The man was her father. He was wearing a red sweater with a snowman on it. His jaw was chiseled, and his eyes were the same color as her own.
Keep moving. The influx of memories weakened her. She wanted to drop to the ground, curl into a ball, and wait for it to stop, but her pursuers could be gaining on her. Lucas had given her a chance, and she wasn’t going to let him down.
She seemed happy as a child. She laughed and smiled a lot. Athletic; she raced horses, played soccer, practiced karate, surfed, and later, rock climbed.
Kaitlyn ran faster in the shadows of the trees, pushing herself. Keep moving.
And then she was a teenager. School and parties. Boyfriends, dances, and kisses. She gasped when she saw Evan for the first time. His blond hair was shorter, but his green eyes sparkled just like in her dreams. They walked arm in arm through a park, so natural and happy together. He turned and kissed her. Kaitlyn couldn’t help but wonder if his kisses made her feel the way Lucas’s had.
She almost tripped over a large root when the next image flashed in front of her vision. Okay, so she definitely wasn’t a virgin. One mystery solved, as Quess would say. Just seeing the images of her and Evan naked and entwined together on a twin bed made her temperature start to climb, but her sensors quickly regulated her body.
More memories crashed through, like watching home movies. Kaitlyn’s breath caught in her throat when the memories started to dim and she was walking by herself. She finally understood the meaning of the hairs standing up on the back of one’s neck. Tensing, she came to an abrupt stop.
She was about to see something really bad, she could feel it. It was as if she were back in her old body and feeling what she had felt at the time.
In her mind, she watched herself cross Washington Blvd, the main street of her town. She’d done it a thousand times over her lifetime. She paused at the center line, waiting for a truck to pass. Mr. Freeman from the bakery smiled and waved from the driver’s seat. She hurried across the street and turned down Lance Drive, a shortcut that would get her home faster. It was a moonless night, and the streetlights gave off an eerie glow. That’s when she heard it: a woman screaming, begging for someone to stop.
In her memory, Kaitlyn froze momentarily, but then jumped to action. Whipping out a cell phone, she dialed nine-one-one and in a hushed voice told the operator a woman was being attacked. She gave the street, and clicked off the line. Kaitlyn ran up the hill in the direction of the screams, which had softened into muffled whimpers.
She spun around, searching. It took her a few moments to realize the sounds were coming from behind a large dumpster. Kaitlyn gasped when she saw a man on top of a woman, her clothes ripped and face bloody. The man was too intent on the woman to notice Kaitlyn approaching.
She glanced around, searching for something to use as a weapon. A metal pole was sticking out of the dumpster, so she pulled it out, trying to be quiet. Kaitlyn grasped the pole like a baseball bat and swung as hard as she could at the man’s back.
“What the hell?” he screamed as he slumped forward, grabbing his back.
“Help me,” the woman begged, mascara running down her cheeks. “Please.”
“Get off her, asshole.” Kaitlyn’s hands shook as she held the metal weapon.
The guy ignored her and kept slamming himself into the defenseless woman as if having Kaitlyn watching turned him on even more.
“Get off her!” She drew back again and smashed him on the head.
That caught his attention. He jerked up, stumbling away from the prone woman. “Bitch.” Blood trickled down the side of his face. He pulled his jeans up, but left himself hanging out.
Kaitlyn spared a look at the woman; she was frozen in fear.
The man turned and faced Kaitlyn, completely exposing himself and yelling, “You want some of this?”
Kaitlyn refused to look down. She swung, but the man blocked it and grabbed the pole from her. Kaitlyn took off in a sprint, but he was faster.
He tackled her to the ground and pushed his pants down. His naked body pressed to hers while her face was shoved into the pavement. “You like it hard? I’ll give you pain.”
He roughly rolled her around and climbed on top of her.
“No!” Kaitlyn screamed, shoving a hand in his face.
He grabbed her arms and pinned her down with one hand, and punched her in the face with the other. “Not so tough now, are you?”
He paused, hearing sirens wail outside of the alley.
“I called the cops, jackass,” Kaitlyn spat.
He jumped to his feet, pulled up his jeans, and kicked her several times in the side. Searing pain shot through Kaitlyn, sending black spots across her vision. When he jerked her to her feet, she lashed out, scratching his face.
The man howled, “You stupid bitch!”
He shoved her hard, throwing her to the ground. Her head slammed against the sidewalk. Everything started to fade, and the last thing she saw was a bright white light.
The next thing in Kaitlyn’s memories were of her eyes fluttering open and seeing Lucas’s exhausted eyes staring at her by her hospital bed.
So that was how she had died.
“She’s awake!” he yelled.
Nurses and doctors. Then several flashes of Lucas reading to her, helping her walk, and brushing her hair. He really was with her the whole time …
Kaitlyn shook her head as the memories came to an end, and she could hear movement. She didn’t know how long she’d been stopped, but at least she was hidden in the shadows.
Shaken to the core by the return of her memories, she shook her head, trying to regain momentum. She needed to keep moving or they would close in on her soon.