"This is ridiculous." One of the female voices said. Before Sasha could rejoice about someone coming to their senses, she said, "She could be anywhere out here. How are we supposed to find her?"
"We don't have to find her, necessarily. If she's in here we might scare her out and directly into another patrol. Either way, she's going to get caught."
"Good point."
Sasha realized they were right. She couldn't just sit in this hiding spot the rest of the night. It would be too risky. Not to mention, her daughter was out there without her. Sheriff Harrison might have been with her but Tara needed her mother. A question now lingered in her mind, though. What if she did get moving and ran into another mob? What would she do? How would she defend herself? She had no weapons. She couldn't fight. What was she to do? A mob of four men would easily overpower her. Perhaps they would even outrun her. It began to make her wonder if running was pointless. Was she only delaying the inevitable? Maybe she was doomed to be caught by these insane people no matter what.
No, she couldn't believe that. She refused. There was a way out of this, there had to be. She had been through too much to let it all end in this ass backwards town full of paranoid lunatics. She had overpowered her abusive husband. If she could make it through that, she would survive this. However, the thought did not bring her comfort. Desperately, she tried to convince herself she would walk away from this but something deep inside her said this was how it all ended.
The little voice in her head which only pointed out the misery in life was back. It was a hard thing to fight under normal circumstances but now it was nearly impossible. Experts always talked about the flight or fight response in the human brain but they never seemed to mention how it worked in those who suffered from depression. Somehow, she had a feeling it affected her brain negatively.
The group continued through the clearing until Sasha could no longer hear their footfalls. Giving it two more minutes, counting each second out, she finally stood up from her hiding place. Her next move had to be into town. Without her cell phone, there was no calling for help. Her best bet would be to find an empty home, break-in, and use their phone. Of course, she didn't have Harrison's cell phone number but she hoped calling the police would do the trick. It was her only hope of getting her daughter back and getting the hell out of here.
Chapter Seventeen
Harrison drove around aimlessly looking for Sasha. His town no longer resembled home, rather, it seemed to depict a scene straight out of an apocalyptic movie. He spotted smoke billowing up towards the heavens in the distance and feared the worst. An eerie quiet had draped over the town and Harrison didn't like it. It felt too much like a benevolent calm before a violent storm.
Tara sat in the back of his truck kicking her legs impatiently. Harrison knew she wanted to be with her mom again. Desperately, he wanted to give that to her. Originally, he had planned to drive Tara straight out of town and come back for Sasha but his gut told him to find her first. There was no telling what the people of Carlisle might do when they caught her. The smoke in the distance made him wonder if they had already caught her. Images of Sasha tied to a pole on top a burning mound flashed through his mind and he couldn’t control himself. He had to know it wasn’t her. It seemed crazy to believe his town would resort to burning her alive like some sort of twisted witch trial but he had to be certain.
"Tara, honey, I need you to do me a favor, OK?"
"OK."
"I need you to sink down as low as you can in your seat. Think you can do that for me?"
"Yeah."
Tara sunk down in her seat giving Harrison a strange look. She couldn’t understand Harrison was trying to protect her and he knew that. The less she knew about the situation the better. Tara becoming hysterical would not do either of them any favors. It was a miracle she wasn’t already there, considering the torment she had already faced. Harrison found himself on edge. He couldn't imagine what was going through the young girl’s mind.
Turning the truck around, Harrison decided to head towards the smoke. He hoped he would get lucky and stumble upon her wandering about. All he wanted was to reunite mother and daughter and get out of this town. Hell, he would probably never be coming back either.
No one in their right mind would come back after such a horrible display of violence and mistrust. The hysterical outbreak had damaged the peaceful community beyond repair. No matter the outcome of the night, Carlisle would never be like it once was. If Sasha would have him, he would like to move away with her and Tara. He'd grown rather fond of her. After all, she seemed like a strong woman. She had to be. Weathering this kind of storm and not falling to her knees in terror. Even Harrison was having a hard time keeping his composure.
Rounding the final corner in his truck, Harrison caught a glimpse of a horrific sight. Where Sasha’s home once stood now had been reduced to a mere pile of embers glowing radiantly in the night. Loose articles of clothing were sprawled out across the lawn covering something thin and body shaped. Harrison’s blood went ice cold. For the first time since before being deployed, Harrison prayed to God. Please don’t let it be Sasha, he begged.
