It had been at least a week since we had heard from or seen Theodore. Imagine our absolute shock to hear someone knocking. At the back door. Harry and I rushed over and found Clive standing there, vigilantly glancing around him, hoping not to be seen. I opened the door and threw my arms around him. "Oh my god," I thought you were dead!" I gushed, thankful to see him alive and thankful to see him, period.

"Shhh," Clive whispered and came in, pulling the door closed quietly behind him.

Clive gave Harry and affectionate hug as well and then sat down on the couch and crumbled into a mess of tears and confessions. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed. "I'm sorry I've been such a coward. Theodore is insane and somehow. . .I don't know how. . .I bought into his crazy plan and. . . ." He cried so hard, he had Harry and me in tears as well.

"I'll get you some water," I said, rushing down the hallway. I came back and handed it to him and he chugged it down easily. "What happened?"

"I'll have to tell you on the way," he said, still hiccuping with emotion. "I came to rescue you."

"What?!" Harry and I both asked excitedly.

"I have a boat," he explained. "Down the coast a way. I couldn't leave you two trapped in here. He's an absolute maniac."

"Tell me about it," I said, trying to control my distress at the memory. "He. . . " I gulped. ". . . he held Harry at gunpoint," I continued. "And he threatened to kill him unless I called my parents and told them everything was okay."

Clive buried his face in his hands and cried some more. "This is my fault. I should have gotten you out of here when I had the chance. But we need to leave now before he finds out."

"Get the packs," I instructed Harry quietly.

"What packs?" Clive interrupted.

"We have two backpacks ready in my room, just in case we had to sneak out."

"Harry, go slowly and get one pack," Clive instructed him. "Don't make it look like you're in a hurry. Maybe we can make him believe that you're just going out in the woods for a day."

"There are no cameras in my room," I told him.

"But you can see bits of the hallway from the cameras in the other rooms. We don't want to tip anyone off that you're running. Just do it to be safe," he explained.

"Good idea," I nodded. While Harry got his pack, I went to the learning room and nonchalantly grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, hoping to provide a bit of a distraction. I wrote my parents' names and phone numbers on it and brought it back to Clive. "Please take this and, if anything goes wrong, contact my parents and tell them to get help," I told him. "Wait, why didn't you bring the police?"

He shook his head sadly. "They know Theodore too well. He and the local chief are very friendly. Theodore has the chief brainwashed to believe he can do no wrong. He's been able to explain away any accusation or unusual occurrence and get away without question."

"So the 911 call I made?" I asked.

"Not a single investigation about the unconscious kid carried out of his house that night," Clive said sadly. "Pathetic."

"Then get police from another town!" I said, realizing I sounded ungrateful but I was beyond frustrated at the whole situation.

"I'm getting you out!" Clive snapped impatiently. "Let's get moving!"

Harry returned with his backpack and he headed out with Clive while I went to get mine with my heart racing about a thousand miles an hour. We actually had to sneak straight through the woods and then turn towards the shore about a half mile out; otherwise Theodore could potentially see us from the house, from the great walls of windows and the upper decks.

I left the house with an initial sigh of relief but I knew we weren't entirely free yet. I caught up with Harry and Clive and we moved stealthily towards the shore. "Clive," I shouted in a gravelly whisper. "Call someone! Call the Coast Guard or the police from Vancouver. Tell them to come towards us now."

We were moving swiftly as he answered, "I'll call as soon as we're in the boat."

I was irritated by his hesitation, but it did occur to me that maybe Theodore could track his calls so maybe he was waiting til we were out of range. Theodore was a definite psychopath, so who knew what Clive's reasoning was?

We soon arrived at the rocky shore, just a few yards from the fence line. I quickly scanned the waterfront and panicked. "Where is it?"

Clive's eyes were wide with fear. "It's gone!" He breathed. "Oh my god, he knows." He turned and instructed us in an eerily calm voice, "Go towards the treehouse and if he sees you at all, tell him you were planning to spend the day there. Just for fun. That you have food and blankets in your packs for a picnic."

I nodded, choking back my bitter disappointment at the lack of a boat. Before I turned back, I said, "I'm a good swimmer. Is there any place close enough-"

"Afraid not," he cut me off. "We'd be in the water for at least thirty minutes. Plenty of time for hypothermia to set in. Don't worry, I'll come back for you. Now go!"

I grabbed Harry's hand and rushed through the woods but we were both stopped short by the reverberating sound of a gunshot. I gasped in fear, throwing my hand over my mouth. Theodore had found Clive, I knew it. And now he was coming for us.

We ran faster and faster through the woods, arriving at the treehouse, panting in exhaustion. We were just about to climb up when two of Theodore's men stepped out from behind the gargantuan tree, rifles pointed directly at us.

"Nice day for a hike," said one. I recognized him as one of the men who had carried Harry out when he overdosed.

"Yes," I said shakily. "It's a lovely day. Come on, Harry," I said lightly, surprising myself with the calmness that began to take over.

"Where are you going?"

My heart froze when I heard his evil voice. I turned around slowly to find Theodore with his 9 mm pointed at us as well.

"We were going to spend the day in the treehouse," I said. "It's the perfect fall day for a fire in the fireplace."

"Really?" He said sarcastically. "Is that why I found a boat tied up on the shore? Your buddy Clive came to rescue you?" He said in disdain.

"What did you do to him?" I demanded but not exactly wanting to know the answer.

Theodore just shook his head and laughed. "Let's go back to the house, shall we? Where we can discuss this like civilized human beings?"

"Ha!" I barked out a derisive laugh. "You're no good at lying."

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter, does it? I'm the one with a gun."

A disturbance in the trees jerked our attention - and the guns - away from the treehouse clearing. Just before he crashed through the foliage, Clive's voice rang through loud and clear, "Run!!!"

"Keep your pack on!" I screamed to Harry as we took off in a sprint. "And keep your head down!" We raced back towards the river, knowing that if we went back to the house, we'd be dead. We'd have to take our chances at surviving the frigid water.

"What are we doing?" He yelled in a panic.

"Just keep going," I screamed. "Follow me!"

Before he could answer, three distinct pops filled the air before I felt a searing pain in my right shoulder. I frantically searched for Harry as I crashed to the ground, only seeing him diving for the underbrush about ten yards from me.

And then I blacked out.

* * * * *

#DRAMA

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