The Plan

The crimson red numbers glared at Sarah from across the bedroom, 11:45.

“Come on Sarah! Get yourself together!” She frantically gave herself a pep talk to try and calm her nerves, but honestly, it only made things worse. Her hands shook uncontrollably while stuffing whatever clean clothes she could find into the old tattered military duffle bag. She had to hurry, only an hour before her plan would fall through. 

“God Sarah!’, she yelled in her head, “You’re insane! This will never work! He will find you, and then what? What will you do then?” Sarah closed her bloodshot hazel eyes and took as deep of a breath as she could. Flashbacks of last night played in her memory like watching a movie. She could still feel the pressure of his rough, calloused fingers clutching her neck, wrapping tighter and tighter while she struggled to try and pry them off.  She could still smell the whiskey wafting into her face from his breath as he pressed his nose to hers and growled, “Don’t ever let me catch you there again! You understand me?” Eric’s grip tightened further still when he emphasized, “You understand me?”. 

Her eyes flew open and she gasped while clutching her neck as if expecting to still feel his hand there. 

“No!”, she yelled out loud, “No, I have to make this happen! I have to, otherwise…,”she wiped the tear that was rolling down her rose colored cheek with the back of her hand and quickly zipped the worn duffle bag. She turned back to the bedside clock one last time. The clock read 11:58 and with 2 minutes to spare and 3 sets of stairs to fly down, she threw the bag over her shoulder and ran out her apartment door. She was running down the dirty, mustard colored apartment house stairs so fast it seemed like she couldn’t feel her legs. She threw herself into the main door of the building and shoved it open.  

“Sarah! Over here!” Leslie, Sarah’s best and most trusted friend waved her hand through the open window of the gunmetal gray suv. Sarah ran across the street to the car and hurried to get inside. Leslie sped off immediately, constantly looking between her rearview and side door mirrors. 

“You did it girl! You actually friggin’ did it!” Leslie grinned from ear to ear periodically taking her eyes off the road to look at Sarah as she said it. 

“Yeah,” Sarah said as she tried to catch her breath, “I did it.” Nervously, Sarah looked down at her hands that were clasped together. She began rubbing her right thumb against her index finger. It was a bad habit she mostly found herself doing subconsciously when her anxiety was out of control. She often made herself bleed, and the last time she did still wasn’t completely healed.

 “Stop worrying!” Leslie reassured her. The car windows were down and the wind was blowing Leslie’s golden curls wildly around her face. “You’re safe now Sarah, he can’t hurt you anymore. I promise!” Leslie grabbed Sarah’s hand and squeezed it all while flashing a reassuring smile. 

Sarah sat back against the soft, black leather seat and looked out the window. They had begun to reach the outer city limits, just where it meets the beginning of the national forest. She stared out at the blanket of emerald colored pine trees that were thickening  with every mile that passed.  The knot in her stomach began to grow as she had more flashbacks of last night. 

Leslie had met her at their favorite coffee shop on Second Street and Main, Joe’s Cafe. It was a cozy little hole in the wall joint with the absolute best caramel latte and double chocolate brownies. Sarah would meet Leslie when she knew Eric would be out at his favorite watering hole after work, Scottie’s Pub. Between the hours of 5 and 9 pm during the week, Sarah had a 4 hour window of escape from her prison. If Sarah left the apartment to go anywhere except the places Eric said she could, and he found out, she would be subject to a beating that had sent her to the hospital one too many times. Yet she had learned Eric’s predictable schedule so well that over the years she was able to time this 4 hour block where she could get out of the hell she lived in and feel human, even if it was for a short time.

This particular night, the latte had the perfect balance of sweet and bold while Leslie’s jokes had Sarah holding her sides from laughing too hard. She held the ivory coffee mug with both hands and looked down quietly for a moment. 

“What’s the matter,” Leslie asked. “It’s not even 8:30 yet girl, why do you look so sad?”. Sarah stared into her empty mug and took a deep breath and then sighed.

“I’m ready, for real this time.”, she said. Leslie’s eyes widened in awe and she slowly set her coffee mug on its white saucer as she leaned forward towards her friend. They had talked so many times about Sarah leaving Eric, but Sarah always backed out of any plans they had come up with and dismissed them as crazy. 

“Are you certain?”, she asked Sarah. “I mean, absolutely certain?” Sarah looked over her shoulder with hesitation and looking again at Leslie, whispered, 

“Yes, I can’t live like this anymore. I just…” Sarah stopped talking when she saw the astonished look on Leslie’s face. She watched Leslie’s eyes widen as they followed something behind Sarah and then look back to Sarah’s eyes. Sarah knew what it was and she knew there was going to be a high penalty for her sitting in the booth at Joe’s with Leslie that night. Her heart began racing and her muscles tensed. She clasped her hands in her lap and stared into Leslie’s eyes with fear washing over her, not uttering a single word but screaming “HELP ME!” with only her eyes. Leslie stared back and knew she had to make sure Sarah followed through this time, she had to, because she knew the outcome if she didn’t, and her eyes began to well up with tears at the thought. 

Leslie looked back at the window that was behind Sarah, and exhaled loudly knowing the coast was clear.

“It was him, wasn’t it?” Sarah asked. “ He saw us, didn’t he?” Just then they heard the sound of a truck squealing its tires outside the cafe as if it were in a drag race.

“The hell with him!” Leslie burst out, “Screw him! We are getting you away from that asshole once and for all!” Leslie’s brow furrowed and anger quickly overtook any concern she exhibited before. Sarah couldn’t hold back any longer and blinked as the tears rolled down her face. She shook her head in agreement to Leslie and they began to devise her extremely calculated escape plan. 

“Remember, 12:00 sharp!” Leslie said, “I will be here and ready.” She looked at Sarah like a mother who was giving specific instructions to her child and emphasized every word. “You call me if you need anything girl! I mean it!” Sarah gave a scared- little- girl-look at her friend, and shook her head yes in agreement. She turned to the apartment house door as she stepped out of the car and whispered under her breath, “I hope I’ll still be here tomorrow.” 

Sarah shakily went up the apartment stairs, her nerves shot. Her stomach felt as if it was somersaulting like an elite gymnast at a competition. She looked at her watch, 9:02. She never would have dared to even be a second late getting home before. Before she would have feared arriving home after Eric and what consequences would have been administered because of it. Sarah reached her slim, petite hand out for the door handle to her apartment only to have the door swing wide open before she could grab the handle.

“Well lookie who decided to come home!”Eric slurred, sarcastically. He had a big, shit-eating grin on his face. His eyes were glazed over and Sarah was sure he had hit the  Crown Royal hard tonight. Before she could say a word he grabbed her arm with such force she nearly came off the ground when he pulled her through the doorway. 

“Eric, Eric, please, I….I was just with Leslie…I just had coffee..” Sarah stuttered her words and tensed up as he grabbed both of her shoulders and slammed her against the wall. His eyes widened and had a wild, almost animalistic look in them she had never seen before. 

The forest had become more dense with trees and the road narrowed as the pavement ended and turned to crushed gravel. 

“Just another mile and we will be there!” Leslie exclaimed. She continued glancing in her mirrors periodically. Sarah forced a smile, and choked down her anxiety.

“There’s no way he will find her out here,” Leslie said to herself, “There’s just no way.” She wanted to believe it, but there was still a slight doubt creeping up in the back of her mind. She refused to let Sarah sense her concern. Leslie had seen the aftermath of Eric’s drunken rage and brutality on her friend before. Not to mention the toll it had taken on the once confident and joy-filled girl she had grown up with. She was so sick and tired of watching Sarah constantly look over her shoulder and worry Eric was watching her every move. No, she was determined to help Sarah start new, to help her escape the nightmare she was caught in once and for all.  

The rustic weather beaten cabin emerged from the surrounding trees as they rounded the last bend of the drive. It was small yet inviting, and Sarah felt a sudden warmth in her heart that she hadn’t felt in years. Hope, she thought, a renewed hope. 

“Here we are! Gosh, I can’t remember the last time I was here.” Leslie pondered. She swept her blonde curls off her face and behind her ears as she squinted and held her hand above her eyes to shield them from the sun that was beating down on them.

“It’s really great!” Sarah exclaimed with a smile. “I can’t wait to see inside!” She turned quickly behind her when she heard some rustling in the shrubs by the tree line. Her heart started to race and she swallowed hard. A small fuzzy chipmunk ran out and scurried up a nearby maple tree. Sarah rolled her eyes at the little critter. 

“You’re being ridiculous!” she scolded herself. 

“Are you coming or what?” Leslie yelled from the old farmer’s porch. 

“Yeah! Yeah, coming!” Sarah grabbed her bag and hurried over to her friend.

It was like stepping back in time once inside. It was as if the 70’s era had exploded throughout the place. From the orange couch to the curtains that dawned large and obnoxious lime and yellow colored flowers. Wood paneling lined the living room walls and the shag carpeting looked like it had seen its fair share of foot traffic in its day.

Leslie labored to get the kitchen window to slide open. She huffed and puffed until finally the window gave way and with a loud squeak, slid to the open position. She stood back, proud of her accomplishment and smiled. 

“There! That musty smell will be outta here in no time!” she exclaimed. “I know it’s a bit dated, but after Uncle Johnny died, no one ever bothered to come out here anymore.” Uncle Johnny had been quite the outdoorsman, and escaped to his cabin hideaway every chance he got. Leslie had spent a lot of summers with her father and uncle fishing, hiking, and hunting. When he passed, Leslie inherited the place. She never seemed able to find the time to visit the old place anymore. 

“You will have no worries here Sarah. It’s so peaceful and serene, trust me, it was always my favorite place to escape to and not have a care in the world. If you need anything at all, just step outside away from the porch and you’ll get a fair cell signal. Inside, your phone’s as good as useless!” she laughed. “Unc never cared about that though. He hated technology anyway. He would have lived off the grid if he could’ve managed such a thing.” Sarah smiled. Peace and serenity, what she wouldn’t give for those. She couldn’t remember the last time she experienced either. Leslie brought in the grocery bags she had packed of food for her friend’s stay and hugged Sarah real tight. Sarah squeezed her back and thanked Leslie for everything. 

“Girl, you know I got you! But seriously, enjoy the next couple weeks. No one knows about this place except me and my family. Plus, there’s no neighbors near here for at least 5 miles in either direction! You are going to be able to finally relax! I’ll be back in a couple days to hang with you for the weekend, ok? There’s plenty of food and supplies here for you and I’ll bring some of that Sangria with me that I told you about too! It will be like when we were in college having a girls’ night!” Leslie hugged Sarah again and started out the front door. Sarah walked out to the porch and watched the faint red glow of Leslie’s tail lights disappearing down the drive. 

She stepped back inside the cabin and locked the front door behind her. She didn’t know why, after all, no one was around for miles. She poured herself a glass of Moscato Leslie had left, and hoped it would calm her anxiety that she felt creeping up in her chest. Her hope was that Eric would think that she had run off to another state somewhere and think she was gone for good. After a couple weeks, Leslie was sure she would be able to secure Sarah a place out in Concord, NH where her real estate friend had an office and business. A few hundred miles and plenty of places in between, Sarah would be golden and could start fresh. 

The sun had faded behind the treeline outside and the crickets and frogs had begun to sing their night time melody. A cool night breeze whistled through the open kitchen window and flapped the nostalgic curtains. Sarah got up from the couch and walked over to the window. As she reached up to close the window she looked out into the blackness that encompassed the outdoors. There were no outside lights and the moon was a mere crescent and not bright enough to make a difference. As she pulled and tugged on the window, she heard what sounded like heavy footsteps on the porch. She stopped fighting the window and listened. Her heart skipped for a second and sent a sharp stinging pain to her chest. She winced and put her hand to her chest. Thump, thump, the steps were clear as day. Sarah began to tremble and her bottom lip was quivering as she stood there, listening. She knew it wasn’t a bear, or any other large forest animal. The terrifying revelation was that it was a familiar sound, one she had heard so many times before. Her eyes widened and she began whispering to herself, “No, no no no no, please God, please!” Work boots, heavy soled work boots. The same sound of loud footsteps she had heard so many times before when he came home from Scotty’s and was drunk. Suddenly the footsteps stopped. Sarah stood by the window, paralyzed with fear. Her breathing was erratic and the pain in her chest became more sharp with every short inhale she could manage. The silence was deafening and she couldn’t get her muscles to move though her brain was screaming at them to do so. 

Bang! The door flew open with such force that it came off its top hinge and hung to its side. A large, dark figure was blocking the doorway. Thump…thump…thump…the figure staggered into the pale yellow light of the kitchen and revealed Sarah’s most horrific nightmare. Eric was covered in mud and his half untucked flannel shirt had a rip at his elbow. He looked like he had wrestled a bear in a mud pit. He looked at Sarah, his teeth clenched together and he was breathing heavily. His eye flashed daggers at her and she knew she wasn’t going to leave the cabin alive. 

“Why’d you do it Sarah?” he growled through his teeth. “Why’d you do something so stupid? Did you really think you could leave and I wouldn’t find you?” Eric reached his right hand behind him and Sarah heard a loud SNAP. She could see the gleam of the switchblade in his hand and she cried out, 

“Stop! Eric please! Stop! I…I’m sorry! Please!” She began crying and her mascara ran black down her cheeks. She had never been more terrified in her life. 

“Did you really think this would work? You and that stupid bitch Leslie. When I’m done with you, she’s next! Mark my…” Before he could finish there was a loud BANG! Eric fell forward, face down to the floor inches from Sarah’s feet. Blood began to pool around his head. 

“I told you girl, I’ve got you.” Leslie lowered the barrel of the shotgun and stood over Eric’s lifeless body like a hunter who had just shot their career trophy.