Chapter 1

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Rowan jolted awake, tossing herself upwards, her nearly gray eyes darting around the dark room in a panic. The smallest bit of pale light splashed across the wooden floor, peeking out from under the pulled curtains of the windows across the room from her. Rowan pushed her fingers through her hair, leaving her left hand tangled in her brunette strands, her right hand going to her mouth, her teeth tugging at the skin around her nails. She took a deep breath, sliding her left hand from her hair to rest on the side of her neck as she pushed off the bed onto her feet. She walked across the room, glancing around quickly; she had been spending the last few nights in this random cabin she had found in the woods roughly twenty or so miles off the highway that she had been traveling on. Her teeth tugged on her fingers again as she grabbed her heavy jacket off the hook and swung it on, grabbing her duffle bag as she opened the door. Her eyes flicking down to the shattered glass pane on the door, and then to her hand that rested on the doorknob.

Three days earlier

Rowan gripped the wheel of her jeep anxiously, her eyes bouncing around the trees, she had been driving blindly along a rough dirt road for at least an hour. Her headlights being the only source of light to guide her, the moon being nothing but a sliver above the treetops. Her eyes shifted forward, her pupils narrowing from the glare of her headlights reflecting off the glass of a window. Rowan rolled to a stop, threw her car in park and stepped out, closing the door as quietly as she could. Her head swiveled around, her hand still sitting on the door handle, after a moment to confirm that no one was home she walked across the little parking area and up the stairs to the deck. She reached the front door and tried the handle, locked, of course. Taking a moment to glance around again before she clenched her right hand and busted the glass on the door, shaking the glass pieces off her hand before reaching back through the window and reaching around to unlock the deadbolt. A small smile tugged at her lips as she tried the handle again and the door swung open.

Present

She studied her right hand for a moment, not a scratch or bruise across her skin. Tugging the door open, it snagged on the threshold a bit, she closed the door behind her as she walked out. Pulling her keys out of her jacket pocket, glancing down to unlock her car. She opened the driver door and stepped up onto the running board, hauling her duffle bag off of her shoulder and tossing it across to the passenger seat. She sat down, starting the car with one hand, closing the door with the other.

After a while she reached the highway again, driving onwards, she wasn't planning on stopping until the next town with decent food and a gas station. Which took her until nearly midday, looking down at the gas gauge, reading dangerously close to empty, she sighed and exited the highway. Entering a small town in the middle of nowhere Oregon, with two gas stations, one stoplight, and a few restaurants. She pulled into a gas station, parking at a pump she hopped out and started filling up. While she waited she looked around, the gas station store was filled with young teenagers, all laughing and buying candy and energy drinks. Behind the gas station she could hear the voices of two men, talking about money and bags, most likely a drug deal. The sound of a door creaking on its hinges drew her attention, she looked over her shoulder at the double doors of an old western style Saloon.

The Saloon

Food and Drink

Bar open 24/7

Rowan topped off her tank, stepping back up into her jeep, she drove over to the Saloon's parking lot, grabbing her wallet out of the glove box. Pausing a moment to stare at the handgun that she kept there, her eyes moved up as she closed the glove box and hopped out of the car. Walking across the parking lot, and up the ramp to the front doors, pushing them open as she walked in. A hostess greeted her as soon as she walked in.

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