The sun was setting. It illuminated the dirt-streaked window of the Greyhound bus and bathed her in light. But Ginny didn’t want its warmth. She glanced anxiously behind the bus to see who was behind it. It was absurd that he’d be following her, but she couldn’t get the seed of doubt of her head. Charlie North didn’t give up easily.
But there was no one on the highway behind them. This far up from Dallas, and this late at night, Ginny Graham was one of the last ones on the bus. At the time that she bought the bus ticket, she hadn’t really thought her plan through. At eighteen years old, she was pretty enough to capture the attention of anyone preying on weary travelers. But none of them could be worse than the man she was leaving behind.
Charlie had been dashing at first. Older than her, he portrayed the warmth and comfort of a man that she’d long dreamt of. Her parents had died in a car crash when she was fifteen, and she’d bounced around from foster home to foster home until they finally kicked her out to the streets. She’s be starving for love, and she thought she’d found it in the man who offered her a ride home one night from work.
He was handsome, smart, and financially stable. But when she moved in with him, she found out just how mentally unstable he was. If another man looked at her, she got a slap across the face. If she was late getting home from work, the open palm turned into a closed fist.
And when she was finally brave enough to fight back, he beat her until the blood flowed.
When he left for work the next morning, she grabbed all the cash she had, stuffed what she could in a backpack, and fled. She left her clothes and her belongings behind. After she’d paid for the bus ticket, she had only ten dollars left in her pocket.
Ten dollars wouldn’t get her very far, but it didn’t matter. She’d rather starve to death than to be anywhere near Charlie again.
The bus slowed to a stop and opened its doors. A few stragglers climbed on and dispersed themselves throughout the seats. Anyone taking the bus didn’t want to socialize. And that was fine with Ginny. She didn’t want to talk to anyone either. Slumping further into her seat, she tried to hide her face in the fabric of her hoodie. Her eyes were still black, and her lips were still swollen and red.
“Next and last stop, Cat’s Haven, Oregon,” the driver said over the speaker. His eyes met hers in the mirror, and she knew he was talking to her. She’d been the first passenger on, and she’d be the last passenger off.
Cat’s Haven, Oregon. Something about that town sounded nice and cozy. Quaint. Certainly small town. It was hard to hide in a small town. She would have preferred to drown herself in the sea of people in a large city, but maybe she could hitchhike to a city after Cat’s Haven.
The sun finished its trek low beneath the horizon, and the stars were out by the time the bus finally rolled to a stop. She flipped up the hood of her sweatshirt and kept her head down as she followed the rest of the people off the bus.
“Thank you,” she whispered hoarsely to the driver. Charlie had strangled her until she thought her windpipes would burst. It still hurt to talk.
He merely nodded at her. She figured it wasn’t anything new to him to find a battered girl riding his bus as far as it would go. Probably happened to him everyday. She’d always been so concerned about the monsters under her bed, but the real monsters roamed the streets with handsome faces and slick silver tongues.
Her feet hit the pavement as she jumped from the steps, and the doors to the bus slammed behind her. A cold wind whipped around her face, and she tugged at the neckline of her sweatshirt. Ten dollars wouldn’t get her a hotel room. She’d have to find some sort of shelter to hunker down that night. Maybe she’d find an abandoned house along the way.
She became aware of her heartbeat as she started to panic. She should have planned this better.
How was she going to survive until she got a job?
Straightening her shoulders, she moved purposefully along the curb of the parking lot. Passing the bus terminal, she headed along the deserted street as she searched her surroundings. There was a crunching sound in the tree line to her left, and she froze.
“Just the wind,” she muttered. But the wind had died down. Narrowing her eyes, she peered into the darkness. Nothing moved.
Obviously her paranoia was getting the best of her. It was most likely a squirrel or a bird hopping along in the leaves. Shaking her head, she started walking again.
The crunching in the leaves followed her. Freezing again, she whipped her head around. If this were a movie, she’d call out to see if anyone was there. The ironic thought made her giggle nervously. If someone was stalking her, they weren’t going to just announce themselves.
Keeping her eyes on the trees, she began to walk again. This time she saw the flash two yellow eyes staring at her.
A scream bubbled in her throat as she started to run. Her blood pumped through her veins as fear urged her legs on faster, and the cold air nipped at her face. The sound grew closer and closer until she could feel the warm breath of something on her neck.
Something large and firm pressed against her back, and she fell forward. Catching herself on her hands, she immediately flipped her body over to defend herself, but something sharp scraped along her chest. Screaming, she reached out her legs to kick the animal away, but it was too strong for her.
And big. Whatever it was, it was big. It blended in with the night. Something bit into her shoulder, and she opened her mouth to let out a piercing scream. Her head slammed into the pavement, and she fell mercifully into the darkness.
* * *
He was hardly asleep when the call came through. Although it was nearing two in the morning, Ben Graves was still on his couch watching television on mute. The light flicking in the dark room was soothing, but it did nothing to lull him into sleep. He had far too much on his mind.
Family duties weighed heavily on his shoulders.
When his cellphone rang, he answered it instantly. “Ben Graves,” he said quietly. If anyone was calling him this late, it was an emergency.
“Doc! Doc, it’s Danny. You gotta come open up. I found a girl, and she’s hurt real bad.”
Ben as instantly up and pulling on his shoes. “Stay calm, Danny. Tell me what’s wrong with her.” His voice seemed to soothe the trucker, and Danny calmed down.
“I found her on the side of the road by the bus station. I don’t recognize her. She’s got some deep gashes along her chest and a nasty head wound. She’s unconscious, but she’s breathing.”
“Breathing is good,” Ben said as he grabbed his keys. “Monitor her breathing and her pulse, and see if you can’t slow the bleeding on her wounds. Press your shirt or a clean towel to it, and hold it. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
He drove like demons were chasing him. The trucker hadn’t said that she’d been stabbed or shot. He emphasized gashes, and that could only mean one thing.
It looked like an animal attack.
