Aidan saw the hallway of the small cottage like he had never seen it before. It was bathed in sunlight and beckoning to him to run to his freedom. His eyes were wide as he took a step forward, almost afraid that if he moved to quickly it would destroy everything, like a dream.
Saige watched Aidan as he very slowly walked out of the room. She sat up slowly, her heart constricting in her chest. When she moved her arms, the chains clinked together, and she was suddenly, painfully aware that Aidan could leave, but she could not. She felt as if there were an anvil on her chest and she couldn't breath. She couldn't even call to him, or say goodbye. Aidan's body was just about to disappear into the hallway.
Finally, a whimper escaped her throat and he stopped and looked back at her. She regretted it immediately. Aidan ran back to her side and just stared at her. It was so painful.
"Go, Aidan," Saige said, pulling her eyes away from his. "You have to go,"
"Saige I…"
"GO!" She shrieked.
Aidan looked at her, and then glanced back at the open door. His heart was torn. Should he really leave Saige here all alone? What would Edgar do to her if he weren't around to protect her? Would it be worse for her after he was gone? It would certainly be selfish to leave her. But at the same time…this may be his only chance. If he didn't take it… He would probably die. If he left, maybe he could have a chance to save them both.
Saige seemed to be thinking the same thing.
"Aidan," she said softly, "If you go, you can call the police and lead them here. You have to go."
Aidan just looked at for a long time, before she screamed at him again. "GO! Now, before it's too late!"
Aidan nodded and bolted for the door, not allowing himself to look back. He ran right down the hallway and plunged through the door.
The smell of the forest wrapped around him like a warm blanket. Freedom was a beautiful thing. But…he wanted so badly for Saige to share it with him. He stopped only a few feet from the cabin and stared at it.
What was Saige doing? He couldn't think about that now. He had a job to do. He had to get the police and rescue her. He looked back at the woods and took a deep breath. He made his decision; he slowly put one foot in front of the other walking towards his destiny.
Saige watched Aidan disappear, he was gone far too quickly. She stared at the empty doorway for what seemed like an eternity. But he didn't come back. Finally, she felt her heart shatter into a thousand pieces and she turned to bury her face in the bed and just cried. She knew that as soon as Edgar found out Aidan was gone, he would pack her up and leave. And it was unlikely that he could ever get back there with the police in time. She cried for all she was worth. She couldn't even remember when she had cried this hard before. It certainly wasn't when her father never showed up for the custody hearing, or when Dianne betrayed her, or even when her parents split up. This was so much worse than all of those times. Now, she was truly alone, in every sense of the word.
She was so busy crying that she didn't even hear the door to the cabin open, and someone step inside until they were at her side.
Aidan didn't know why he chose the path that he did. Maybe he was crazy, maybe he was stupid, but it just didn't feel right to leave Saige there all alone. He ran back into the cabin and stopped in the front door. He could hear Saige crying in the bedroom, but he didn't go to her, not yet. He needed to get her out. If he was going to leave this place, he wasn't gong to do it without her. He ran into the kitchen, digging through the drawers for something, anything that would help him escape.
He saw knifes and cooking utensils, but he didn't take them. He didn't even think of a weapon. All he could think about was freeing Saige.
Finally, he decided to take a small mallet and he ran back to the room. The sight before him was enough to bring him to tears. He didn't even think it was possible for someone to cry like that.
Horrible, heart-wrenching sobs tore at Saige's throat, and her chest heaved with the effort. She was shaking with the effort of holding it all in.
"Oh Saige…" He whispered. Somehow, he knew he was doing the right thing by coming back. She wouldn't survive without him.
He ran to her side and carefully turned her over.
When she saw him, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates. She said nothing for a long time; she just sort of let her mouth fall open. Aidan smiled at her, thinking that it was a good sign.
"Aidan…?" She choked. "You came back…"
He nodded slowly. "I couldn't leave you…"
"NO!" She screamed suddenly. She began kicking and screaming, flailing her arms wildly. "You have to go! Get out of here! I don't want you around!" She screamed. "Get out of here!"
Aidan moved back a bit. "Saige I…"
"No!" She screamed again. She started to sob again. "You have to go, this is your only chance."
"I'm not going to leave you." He said firmly.
"Leave me!" She begged, "Please, just go! You have to forget about me."
Aidan shook his head again and pulled her into his arms. "You won't get rid of me that easily. C'mon, we're gonna get you out of here." He moved closer to her and grabbed the chains and started pulling on them rhythmically for all he was worth.
"That won't work Aidan…"
"We have to try!" He insisted. "Come on Saige! You can't have given up already. I thought you were a fighter."
She glared at him through her tears, "I am a fighter." She straightened up, helping him tear apart the headboard.
Unbeknownst to her, Aidan smirked, ever so slightly, and retrieved the mallet. He laced the chain around it and twisted, trying to break it. When he didn't have any luck, he unwrapped it and slammed the mallet against the chain to weaken the links. Still, they held. He tried twisting them again as Saige continued to shake the metal headboard violently.
She kept shaking until they heard Edgar's car pull up.
They both froze.
"What do we do?" Aidan whispered.
"I don't know. Hit him with that thing you have." Saige suggested, also in a whisper. Aidan looked down at the mallet in his hands and pondered this for a moment. Was it possible for him to knock out Edgar with that tiny thing, and if he did, for how long? Would Saige get out in time? Aidan unconsciously began to chew on his lip.
"Aidan!" Saige snapped; he looked up. "You have to do it…"
Aidan cursed harshly under his breath and, in a bout of rage, grabbed the headboard and shook it fiercely. As he shook, he felt as if something was loose. He stopped and carefully shook it; it was loose! The bar Saige had been chained to was coming loose!
"Saige…" He whispered carefully, as not to disturb Edgar in whatever he was doing, "The bar is loose."
"What?" She gasped.
"It's loose…we could have you out of here by tomorrow!" He grinned excitedly.
But Saige did not share his excitement. "We don't know what could happen between now and tomorrow! I could be free today."
"Saige, think for a minute," Aidan pleaded. "We could knock him out, but probably not for very long. And what if we couldn't get you out in time? Then we'd be in even more trouble."
Saige groaned, "Fine, you be that way. But if we're dead tomorrow, it'll be your fault."
Aidan smirked, "Fair enough,"
It was at that point that they heard Edgar pounding down the halls, rushing to the door. He had realized it had been left open. He stopped in the doorway and just stared at them, amazed that Aidan at least hadn't left.
But instead of being angry, he actually looked quite pleased.
"Incredible…" He muttered to himself. "Incredible! He didn't leave her…this is too good to be true! We'll have to try again…" He laughed heartily and trailed off as he left the room again, this time making sure to lock the door.
"So…" Saige grumbled after a moment. "What's the plan?"
"Well…first we wait until he leaves…"
