I didn't even let myself think of an alternative though I could sense that part of me wanted to. The dingy window with no money, no car, and no plan didn't seem that wise. Still, I told myself that I had three minutes and that I needed to get away from this man who would drag me down to the border, whether I screamed and cried or clawed at the beautiful Canadian soil I stood on. I had to at least try to get away from him- that's what I kept telling myself anyway. I would never forgive myself if he took me back to that awful man and I had done nothing to give myself the best chance of getting away. I had given in once before to that beast and it had nearly cost me everything.

I awkwardly placed one foot on the old toilet, boosting myself up so my pelvis was at the same height as the lower window sill. It wasn't opened very wide, and it was beyond filthy, covered in webs and dust, but I just squeezed my upper body through the small gap and used as much power from my legs as I could to launch myself forward. The middle of my body seemed to get stuck, so I used my arms to urge my body forward, finally coming loose and ending up sprawled on the dirt, winding myself immediately.

I placed one hand on my stomach, trying to ease the pain as I wheezed with every breath, but I forced myself to my feet as I looked around for on-lookers. It was fairly late and quite dark so I doubted anyone could've seen me, but it didn't matter as no one was around. I forced myself to regroup my thoughts and formulate whatever plan I could muster up. Alistair had said three minutes and it felt like it had been a half hour already. I knew my perception of time was deeply flawed due to the adrenaline in my body, but it didn't matter, three minutes was not enough time for me to waste another second worried about having the breath knocked out of me. I ungracefully scrambled to my feet and frantically attempted to survey my surroundings. I knew that we were over an hour out of Ottawa and in a town of six thousand people, which meant there were very few places to hide and zero methods of public transportation that I could use to increase the distance.

I just started running, thinking that the further I got from the gas station the safer I would be. Everything else would come later.

The flimsy shoes I had on did nothing to prevent the aggressive impacts of my footfalls from thrumming up my legs, but I hardly noticed. My already hindered breathing immediately got worse, but I pressed on. I had run track in high school, had been quite the star as well, but I was certain I had never sprinted like I was running now. The threat was not disappointing my parents, the threat was a man who didn't understand and didn't care how awful my ex-fiancé was. And what would Josh do to me when he got his hands on me? I had seen the extent of what he would do to another man who crossed him, someone he had a minor spat with. But I had the potential to rip apart his perfect image. I pushed my body harder. I would not go back to him. I wouldn't let Alistair take me.

I watched as the limited amount of people who were milling along the street stopped and stared at me. I must've been quite the sight to see. I was still wearing the massive sweatpants that were two sizes too big and from the men's department and an old hoodie with some flimsy flats I had stuffed my feet into before being pulled out of my home. And now I was covered in dirt, breathing like a mad woman and sprinting my heart out in a small town late at night. I absently wondered if someone would call the cops just based on my appearance and bizarre actions.

But then I saw the most wonderful thing the world. A bright yellow taxi cab pulled over to let a young couple out.

I bolted across the street, eliciting a honk from the lone vehicle on the road, and darted over to the side of the taxi, my fingers brushing against the door handle to my escape.

The couple was clearly intoxicated, the dainty woman leaning against the man, but the man noticed me right away and made me pause.

"Hey lady, are you okay?" he slurred out, his body tipping towards me as he spoke.

"I'm fine, thank you." I said. I was amazed that- though I was panting like an animal- I still sounded the same way I did when one of my employees asked me how I was.

"Cause you look a little wild, ya know?" the man continued.

"John, that's so rude." The woman gasped, but started laughing right after.

Unfortunately, their laughter died when red, white, and blue lights lit up the buildings around us.

"Celeste." Alistair's even voice rang out in the silence of the street. My head snapped towards the sound, seeing him climbing out of his Lexus, moving slowly and nonchalantly, like he wasn't just chasing down a woman who had squeezed her way out of a gas station bathroom window to get away from him. The Lexus didn't have any sirens on, but it now had red and blue flashing lights swirling around it, causing every human being in the small town to ogle at me. "Don't get in that taxi Celeste."

My lower lip trembled, defeat crumpling my soul as in realized that I was trapped yet again. I wanted to yank open the taxi door and demand that he take me somewhere, anywhere, but there was no way that the man would drive me anywhere when I had no money and some form of law enforcement was following me. Even if that wasn't enough of a reason on it's own I looked more like a dangerous creature than a refined woman, there was a low chance he would've given me a ride in the first place. But my hand still refused to release the door handle.

"Come on, this is ridiculous, Celeste." Alistair continued, approaching me like we were good friends and I was acting just a little bit unruly. "Just come with me and we'll get this sorted out."

"I can't." I rasped out, feeling tears trickle down my cheeks.

"Yes, you can. We both know that cab isn't going to take you anywhere, we'll just have a simple conversation, like we did before."

"I can't go back." I whispered, more to myself than anything else. When I looked at Alistair again he was much closer than he had been previously. And he was here to take me back to Josh.

I had to try at least once more.

I let my hand drop off the car handle, meeting Alistair's eyes softly. I'm certain that I looked as feeble and weak as my heart felt in my chest. Then, in one fluid movement, I turned my back to Alistair and started to run once more.

"Celeste!" Alistair warned once, his voice loud and hard. When I didn't even flinch or break my stride I heard his footfalls resound after me.

I think part of me knew that I was only making this worse for myself, that there was no way I could outrun this man. Not only did he look stronger than half the men that went to my gym he had a massive, off road capable SUV that could move a lot faster than I could. I was in a tiny town I had only been in once before. I had no money, no ID, and now the whole town knew that I was a wanted woman. Someone would turn me in eventually, or my inability to survive on my own would force me to turn myself in if I didn't get caught first. But none of those realities were strong enough to make me stop running.

I had to give it all I had. I would never let myself forget my mistake if I just gave into him willingly.

I would either die from exhaustion, be shot by Alistair and the gun he carried around so proudly on his hip, or I would be taken back to Josh and god knows what happen then.

I hit the edge of the tiny town, realizing that I was now surrounded by open roads, farmer's fields and the occasional bunch of trees. I also realized that the sound of shoes chasing after me had let up which meant that Alistair had given up chasing me on foot and resorted to taking his car. That reduced my options down to the small patches of forest and anything beyond a fence; the only places an SUV wouldn't be able to make it through. Continuing in my current direction I would only be running along the side of the highway, an easy and visible target. When I switched directions, gritting my teeth and forcing my legs to pump harder, I heard the shrill squeaking of brakes, then the roar as the engine revved to catch up with me. But it was too late for the vehicle. I attempted squeezed myself through the fence, my clothing getting caught on the barbs. I let out a cry when the barbs tore into the sensitive skin on my abdomen.

Brakes squealed again, the vehicle coming to stop just behind the fence line.

I scrambled, gritting my teeth as I tried to push myself through the fence, the barb digging deeper into my skin. But my ankle wouldn't budge, trapped into a tangled mess of wire I hadn't been able to see.

The car door slammed, Alistair's steps neared me. Still slow and even.

I thrust my body forward with all the strength I had left in my body, my hands grabbing at dirt, my legs pushing as hard as they could. The tree line was so close. But the wire only tightened on my ankle, yanking so painfully against my force that I let out a scream of frustration and agony, but was unable to move any further.

"Stop moving." Alistair's voice carried the stern order just as his hands closed around my throbbing leg, "We could've been to the border by now."

At the mention of being closer to my ex I thrashed my body hard, eliciting another scream as the barb dug deeper into my stomach.

"Hey, hey, stop." His tone didn't leave room for argument, but his voice wasn't commandeering. "You're going to hurt yourself more. It's over Celeste." He murmured just as my ankle was released.

And he was right. The battle had been waged and I had not won. I had no choice but to remain still as he carefully assisted me off the wires.

An hour later we were in Kemptville, moving away from the American border and towards my home. I didn't understand why- though I didn't dare ask- until we pulled up to a small compound. This one was secluded, away from the small village with a long, winding and confusing road that led up to it. It was hard to see in the complete darkness, but I tried to memorize the route we took, just in case I was given another chance to escape. After my failed attempts I sincerely doubted Alistair would slip up again.

Though the complex looked similar to the other on the outside the interior was very different. The walls were dingy and in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. I didn't think a single thing that office was there for decoration, only functionality. Instead of plenty of men and women walking around, discussing things, there was only two people, both looking exhausted but completely focused on their outdated computers. Alistair didn't say a word to either of them; he just kept one hand on the connecting chain between my handcuffs, the other on my shoulder.

He pushed me down a small hallway that led to a single door.

The room that we entered was exactly like those awful rooms they show you on television. Low ceiling with wildly bright lights. A single rickety table and two uncomfortable plastic chairs. Once my cuffs were taken off Alistair gestured for me to sit down which I immediately complied with, more than ready to take the strain off of my wounded ankle, but sitting down agitated the gash on my stomach that hadn't been tended to yet. Alistair just lowered himself into the chair across from me.

"I need to see a doctor." I stated.

"No, you don't I have enough medical training to know that it won't kill you and that you had a tetanus shot recently enough to protect you. You can clean it with this and wrap it with this." He unceremoniously tossed me some dressings, bandages, and a bottle of something that he retrieved from his vehicle before we entered the building.

His cold behavior frightened me.

"What do you want from me?" I asked timidly, unable to look at him.

"I want you to start telling me the truth."

"You can't do anything to me, I'm supposed to be taken to America."

"Unless I have reason to believe that illegal activity has taken place in Canada. Your documents are in the government system. You have a multimillion dollar company that seemed to sprout overnight, and you're refusing to go back to America. Just tell me how you got to Canada, how your false information was put into the system, and who is really giving you the money for your work."

"I want my lawyer." I stated tightly.

"You lost the right to have a lawyer, Camila." Alistair retorted darkly. "It's just going to be me and you tonight."

"I'm not telling you anything." I bit back.

"I thought you would say that." Alistair said with a casual smile. He stood up and stretched his back gently, "Well, I'm not willing to fight with you anymore tonight. I'll check on you tomorrow morning."

"What...Wait!" I sputtered out when he moved towards the heavy metal door, "You can't just leave me here! Where will I sleep? What will I eat? Do I even get to have water in this place?"

Alistair gave me a tiny, sadistic smile, "I will make you talk one way or another. And keeping you in this room with no food, no proper bed, and a gross toilet is not the worst I can do to you Camila."

"I have rights!" I screamed, panicking immediately. "You can't do this!"

"You're wrong. You lost those when you tried to run away from me. Good night, Camila." Alistair said, then he disappeared, locking the massive door behind him.