Unknowingly Searching for you...

Helen's POV

You are being held captive! The people that surround you are not who they claim to be. Leave now, go to Eaglesdale and find Tithen. 

PS. Trust no one, even your parents and especially Aaron. 

Helena laid face up on a hard, bumpy, uneven mattress, her head resting on a carelessly folded suede jacket, holding a tattered piece of paper directly above her line of vision. The bold neat strokes were barely visible mostly because of the dim light provided by her battery drained camping light. Unsatisfied, she swung herself from the bed, making a loud creaking sound as her weight shifted, careful not to poke herself with the exposed, protruding metal wires. At some point after scraping her legs enough times, she knew better than to carelessly hop off without looking. She made her way to the window, pushing away the black, plastic wrapping used as curtains with the hope of allowing some natural light to come in. 

It was already 4.45 in the morning and she could have waited for daylight to fully come in but time was of the essence. Each minute wasted meant potentially putting her life in danger but what exactly was she looking for? This had to have been the hundredth time that she had held the note against all forms of light in search of a hidden clue.

Who exactly was this Tithen guy and how was he going to help her? After three weeks of questioning the few locals, one would expect at least one person to recognize such a unique name but it seemed that no-one had a clue. 

Two months ago, after mysteriously finding the note under her pillow, in her two bedroomed luxury apartment, these words had felt like a joke. Being held captive? By who? An imaginary ghost maybe. 

It was common for couples to prank each other on social media and she had smiled thinking Aaron was trying to bring some fun into their well structured, almost perfect relationship. She had appreciated their teamwork and numerous accomplishments but occasionally she had craved to be swept off of her feet and to experience passionate love. 

A horror emoji and three hearts were her response to Aaron and she had made a mental note to scold him for tearing a page from her journal, of which he had replied with “headed to the office! Forgot about my 6.30. Will call you at lunch. ” then kiss kiss at the end. 

If only then she knew half of what she knew today, she wouldn’t have rolled the note into a ball and dunked  it into the waste basket. Instead she would have packed enough clothes, withdrawn some money from the atm, immediately rented a car and driven to Eaglesdale. 

After her pointless examination Helena regretfully placed the note in between the pages in her journal before storing it in her handbag. She didn’t waste time moping about her failure, her day was already planned out and she knew exactly what to do next. 

After grabbing a small green bucket from the corner of the room, she poured some water from a bottle and splashed it on her face allowing the refreshing coolness to energize her. Brushing her teeth followed but she didn’t bother with the rest of her body. A dip in the lake on her way to Crawhill  should do the job. 

Crawhill was the name written on her map to describe the South side of Eaglesdale. She had already  explored the other three cardinal directions of the town and found many cabins similar to the one that she was in, most of the occupants being small families that relied on hunting for survival. A crackling sound came from outside near the bared window and she was suddenly alert.

"Aw God! " she whispered when the sound persisted. She listened carefully but the loud drumming in her chest made it impossible for her to identify its source. 

" I'm not ready! " she muttered to herself as she grabbed her shotgun and sharp wooden stick then tiptoed to the side of the window. The shotgun was good for protection against wild animals and the wooden steak was meant for plunging into any bloodsuckers that may want a piece of her. Up until now, she had never hurt a fly in her life but four years of karate training gave her confidence in acting if provoked. 

She listened again, slightly moving the black covers with the tips of her fingers, her eyes peering through the gap. The red hue from the sun shone through the lattice of leaves giving the tall shadows a more haunting appearance. Her hand tightened around the gun and she could feel a bit of moisture from her already sweaty palm. She was way too nervous but her hands were surprisingly steady and she moved as if she had done this many times before. There was nothing. Besides the chirping morning birds everything had gone silent. After a few minutes, she exhaled then relaxed, dropping her weapons on the ground and moving towards the bed so that she could wear her boots. One good wipe had them looking semi decent, which was surprising considering the amount of walking she had done in them. 

Stop imagining things, no one knows you are here, she reassured herself trying to brush away the heavy emotions that were creeping in. Very soon you will find this Tithen guy and things will get back to normal. 

Normal? What a big lie. How were things ever going to be normal? She could not unsee what she had seen and there was no going back. Unexpectedly her current circumstance became real and she fought the tears from streaming out. Was she meant to accept this as her new way of life, constantly living in fear and looking behind her shoulder? Only two months ago she was the youngest and highest paid senior manager at J&J investments, lived in a luxury apartment that she had bought with her own money and was engaged to one of the richest, legible bachelors in the city. It had all been almost perfect and as she would later discover, too good to be true. 

Everything had changed when another note with the exact same words appeared a month later from under her pillow. Aaron had been away on business this time, hadn’t set foot in her apartment for a week and had not been due to return anytime soon. The person who had written the note had been trying to warn her though at that time, the way it had been delivered to her had left her feeling threatened and violated. The fact that someone had easily walked into her  13th floor apartment, past the kitchen and lounge area then turned left into her spacious bedroom, with  gloved hands observing her while she slept,  trying to figure out a way of placing it under her head. The big question was how had they managed to do it in pitch darkness? Had the person turned on the light before coming towards her or did they use a torch? Was she under some type of surveilance, maybe a hidden camera. It just didn’t make sense. The person had gone onto placing their hand right under her head and she hadn’t felt a single thing. There were so many things, which she did not want to even consider that the intruder could have done to inflict harm on her body and she would have been defenseless, completely at their mercy. Nomatter how brave or well trained in marshal arts a person is, this experience would have had them quivering in their boots . Initially the police had empathized with her, showing up shortly after she had frantically called them and combed through her entire apartment. She appreciated the way they had meticulously interrogated her inspite of their implying that Aaron was the culprit. Him being a person of interest was now not so far fetched due to no signs of forced entry or that any person had entered at all. It was bizzare and she along with the police had doubted her own sanity after viewing the cctv footage of the hallway that led to her door. The cameras had rolled continuously throughout the night and revealed that absolutely no one besides her, had approached her door in the last thirty six hours leading to that moment.

Her first instinct had been to call Aaron to tell him about her experience but she had changed her mind midway and decided to take leave from work and go over to her parents house for a few weeks while she figured out what was going on.

After completing her morning routine, Helena closed the cabin door shut before securing the  chain with a thick lock. If she applied any force, it’s hinges threatened to come loose but that didn’t stop her from burglar proofing her temporary residence. There was nothing there to steal but she felt safe knowing that she was its only occupant and that strangers couldn’t freely enter and exit thereby violating her space. She double checked her backpack to see if her wallet was inside. Her map, bear spray, journal, water bottle and gun were neatly arranged with it. Today she had skipped breakfast which was mostly bread with baked beans. It was way too early to eat plus lately she lacked any appetite. Who could blame her. She missed her super comfortable queen size bed and those soft fluffy pillows that had never crossed her mind were suddenly precious to her. Is this how it felt to be homeless? If being stuck in an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere was considered as homelessness then yes, she definitely was and what made matters worse was the fact that she was completely alone.  That plus she only had $70 left in her wallet. Withdrawing any funds right now meant giving away her location. Even though her situation left a lot to be desired, she didn’t allow her mind to dwell on it. Armed with fresh determination, she set out for Crowhill.

It took her only ten minutes to arrive at the lake.  A  fisherman had set up his gear and sat at its bank, a short distance away. She carefully made her way towards him and he looked up the moment she approached. 

"Morning miss", he spoke first and she unintentionally frowned after recognizing him. A live worm was squirming in his hand as he mercilessly attached it to a hook.

"Morning Joe, isn't it too early to be fishing? " she asked, hoping that he would give her a short response. She had met him and his wife a few days back at one of the cabins she had visited. 

" Aw no miss, this is actually the best time to do it. You see at this hour,the temperatures are still cold which means the fish will be swimming at the surface. Look at that", he pointed at some shadows in the water and she followed her gaze to where he was pointing. 

"That's them right there and it won't be long before I catch em. If you have time you should come to my house for dinner tonight. I'm sure Emma would be delighted to have some company. " Aw so tempting. When was the last time she had a good meal? 

" Ah, I wish I could. I'm still trying to find that Tithen guy and I'm afraid I don't have time for anything else but I will take you up on the offer as soon as I find him,"  she reluctantly declined. 

" About that, Cliff told me that he knows a guy by that name but it's a long way and you will have to do a whole lot of walking". 

Her face lit up at his words and for the first time since arriving here, she had real hope. "Really!!! Where is he? How can I find him?" she asked with so much enthusiasm. 

"Do you have a map on you? "

She quickly produced the map from her backpack, flipped through the pages then handed it to Joe. 

" You see, we are here and you need to take this path right here", he stopped for a moment then looked around. "That's the path there", he pointed, then went back to the map. "Walk until you reach the end and you will find these crossroads. Turn right, walk again straight to the end, cross the small bridge and pass roughly eight cabins then you will find the person's cabin that you are looking for" . 

" Wow that's a long way Joe". 

"Yes it is. If you are patient, I can get someone to escort you. It's not really safe for you to be walking alone in the woods". 

"No, it's urgent. I really need to find him but thank you so much".