"That's our Athena."

"She made it out alive."

There were two options, she chose the second one...

The smell of gasoline and sweat filled her nostrils as it made her sick. The hit in the head she remembered getting, made her head pound as if minions were playing the drums. As she lifted her head the light hit her eyes directly, making her headache even worse. She quickly closed her eyes again and moved her head to the side, trying to focus on something else.

“He’ll be here soon!”

Her eyes widened in shock suddenly as she heard someone speak. It was an unfamiliar voice to her.

“He said to keep an eye on her!” The man spoke again.

“What have I been doing this whole time?!” The other hissed back.

“You’re here now! Move!”

“Jeez…”

“GO!”

Areum wasn’t stupid. She put two and two together. She knew who was coming and who was behind this, so she had two options. It was either wait for him and go through hell, or she tried to escape. There was no third option. Areum knew the dangers in both cases, but it was one way or another, and she couldn’t allow herself to go down without a fight. She just couldn’t.

She took a deep breath and hung her head down, closing her eyes and pretending to be out of it, as the door to the basement opened. It was true that she was tied down but her hands weren’t tied well enough, so as long as she keeps calm he will manage to get her hands free. She needed to play wisely, after all, there were two of them and one of her.

Easy does it.

Eun taught her a few tricks.

Just in case.

***

“Don’t let the attacker know your next move,” Eun warned. “Remember the mouse is wise, but the cat is wiser.”

Areum nodded her head and got into position.

“Let’s try again,” Eun smirked. “Don’t hold back.”

“I won’t,” Areum barked back.

Eun ran towards her as Areum stood still, waiting for the latter to come closer. The moment the latter approached Areum bent down, slamming into her knees and making her fall. Eun smirked, getting up and going for another attack only for Areum to throw her over her back and back onto the ground.

Eun stood up and clapped her hands. “That’s a very good job, Athena. You might never need it, but it’s good to know. It’s good to be prepared.”

***

Her sister-in-law had a point there. It’s always good to know a few moves in case one needs them. The most important thing was that her hands were free, the rest was all tactics and movements. She heard the latter walk up to her and she felt his eyes on her, but he didn’t speak, nor did she move. She knew better than that. The male checked her pulse and mumbled something unclearly under his breath, before walking away.

He sat on one of the chairs, his back turned to her. She started to release her hands again, making sure that she didn’t move much on the chair so that the guy didn’t notice anything. After a few swift movements, she managed to release her hands. Slowly lifting her head, she noticed the man staring at his phone, which gave her an upper hand. Areum slowly moved and bent down to untie her feet.

Was she dizzy? Yes.

Was she in pain? Yes.

Was her headache killing her? Yes.

Did she have time to think about it? No.

The adrenaline in her was keeping her stable.

She had a reason to live and giving up was not an option. 

“Damn it!” The latter hissed but never turned around. “Stupid game!”

Areum blinked in disbelief and shook her head as she stood up, picking up the rope from the floor. With slow and silent steps she walked up to him and before he could react or even call out for help, Areum wrapped the rope around his neck and pulled it. She had no intention of killing him but just making him pass out and tie him up, just in case. As she secured that he was out of it and couldn’t escape, she walked up the stairs and leaned her ear on the door.

She heard footsteps and it sounded as if the person was pacing up and down. She thought for a moment and looked around to see if there was another way to escape… and there was. She quickly walked down the stairs and looked for a tool that she could use to break the lock that was on the window. Of course, it was easier to break the glass, but she didn't want the attention, so she looked for another option.

“Think… think… think…” She mumbled to herself until her eyes landed on a pair of chain cutters.

She quickly grabbed them, before she pulled up a chair and climbed on it to reach the window. The window faced the woods and that was alright, the woods were good. There were a lot of places to hide in case they run after her once they figure out she is gone. She cut the lock on the window and opened it, throwing the cutters into the grass before pulling herself up. It was a small window, but thankfully she was slim enough to fit through.

Once out, she took a deep breath.

But the danger wasn’t over, just yet.
 

A peaceful night for all turned into a living nightmare once Junmyeon got a call from Baekhyun telling him what had happened. Little Ari was alright, but she was under a lot of stress since she was there when it all happened. Junmyeon and Baekhyun concluded that it was best if she stayed with Eun and Junmyeon.  Bringing a kid on a search mission was not a good idea. So in the end they dropped her off at the mansion before taking off again. The police were there as well, so he couldn’t reach Ari even if he wanted to.

“How is she?” Junmyeon asked, walking into the room.

“She refused to eat or drink,” Eun sighed. “She won’t even talk to me…”

Junmyeon walked over to them.

“Don’t you think we should call your friend a therapist? Maybe if she has someone to talk to would help.” Eun sighed.

“I will call her right away,” He took out his phone.

The word worried doesn’t even describe how he felt. His world came crashing down together with the news he heard and it was like a bad nightmare from which he couldn’t wake up. Dal’s was supposed to be in jail a long time ago, but was that the case? Of course, it wasn’t! His father had ties and he saved his precious son every time! Junmyeon was angry with the justice system and with everything that his sister had to go through in court and is still going through.

He was tired of it all and he just wanted to put a stop to it. He wanted to see his sister happy again, and not go through . He sigh in frustration and dialed the same number again in hopes that this time it will be answered.
 

“What?!” Dal hissed. “What have you imbeciles been doing?!”

“She escaped through a window…” The man mumbled.

“And you didn’t hear anything?!”

The man shook his head. “She managed to-”

“I DON’T WANT TO ING HEAR A WORD!” Dal pointed his finger at them. “ING IDIOTS! A ING WOMAN DEFEATS YOU! GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND DON’T YOU DARE LEAVE EVIDENCE!”

“Y-yes!”

“And you!” He pointed a finger at his bodyguard. “Get your team and search the woods, but be careful. They are looking for her!”

Without any more questions, the men did what they were told. Dal rubbed his temples and reached for his phone to call his father.

“We have a problem…” Dal sighed.

“What now?!”

“She escaped.”

“Get your home! I’ll deal with this!”

With that, the line went dead.
 

Areum tan through the woods. She was tired of running, but she couldn’t stop. In the distance, she heard the dogs barking and voices calling out to each other and she knew that she had to outrun them. The woods she was running through were familiar to her. It was an old camping area with a cabin. Dal would take her here and just leave her for days with his men. Not caring if she had food or water.

That was one of his punishments as well.

She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. Her phone was in her pocket and was broken so there was no use for it. It was probably by them. Her body was in pain but she wasn’t bleedin