If she could just go back and redo it all again. All of this because she locked her keys in her car. If she could have just gotten Millicent's attention before she walked into the woods. Millicent still had her apartment key and that's what she needed. She had already given her key to Mrs. Beckwith even though she told them they could keep them. There were a couple of items still in the apartment that they had opted to leave for the next residents. One of them was a small flower vase that was kept on the mantle. The vase was where Ella kept her spare car key. She had completely forgotten about retrieving it from the vase when she was packing up. At first, that was a relief when she realized she had just locked herself out of her car, until she then realized that she didn't have the key to the apartment either. So now she was locked out of the apartment and her car and the apartment manager was gone until the next morning. She had no way to get in touch with her, since the phone was locked in the apartment. Ironically, there was still phone service and would be for a couple of more days. She had knocked on the doors to the apartments of the people she knew, to ask if she could use their phone, but none of them were home. She had chided herself for refusing to purchase a cell phone. She had never been accustomed to such technology at the convent and she didn't see any reason to start now, considering she would only be away from the convent for a couple of months. Then she saw Millicent down in the clearing walking toward the woods. That was something that at the time was so weird. Why was Millicent there? Why was she walking into the woods? Maybe she had seen an animal? But she thought Millicent had already left for school earlier that evening. She had been away from the apartment for at least a couple of hours. Regardless, she just needed her key...so she went running toward her and yelling her name, but Millicent seemed to be completely oblivious to the fact that Ella was calling for her. By the time she made it down to the woods edge, Millicent was already well into them, and Ella couldn't see any sign of her, but there was nowhere else she could have gone. She had to be in there somewhere. It wasn't a huge area of woods, so she couldn't have gone very far. There were close by businesses and a busy highway that bordered all other sides of this area, so she couldn't be that far away ...that's why she went in looking for her friend. She wasn't trying to be nosey...Well, she's not going to lie to herself... she was very curious as to why Millicent was still there, even though her car was gone. She supposedly left for school earlier. But still she wasn't trying to be sneaky. She was trying so hard to get her attention. So many "if's"...so many things went wrong that evening. If just one thing could have gone right, she would be at her Aunt Mary's right now. The things that happened that evening after entering the woods are all too disturbing to think about now. It doesn't matter anyway...she is where she is, and nothing will change that.
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In the darkness of her dreams, she saw herself standing at a window looking down, only to see a misting, swirling fog. She could not see the ground and did not know how far down it was. She had no idea where she was. Soon after, she was led down a dark hallway to a room with a large altar. She felt herself being lifted up and then placed back down on the hard stone surface. Now all she could see was a large man, holding a knife in his hands, with the sharp edge pointed directly over her heart...Then a different man with deep blue eyes was looking down at her, and his hand was caressing her face, telling her everything was going to be ok. A loud bang on the door made her startle and rise up. There, coming through the door, were several large angry men, dressed strangely in what looked like animal furs and carrying ominous looking weapons. Some had clubs with sharp objects attached to the ends and others had sharp axes and swords. She could hear her own screams escaping from her lips, and she opened her eyes to notice she was lying in her bed in the safety of her room in the convent where she lived. She was still trembling and had to tell herself it was just a dream. She was safe and no one would ever be able to hurt her.