The Psychologist's Secret

Planning Escape

I woke up and was immediately hit by the pain that, although faint and not altogether unpleasant, was gently reminding me of the past day's torturous events. Mentally, I was miserable. Physically, my body was sore from a beating, but it was also pleasantly relaxed after being forced to give in to Alek.

I glanced around the room, immediately noticing that Alek was gone. Quickly, I sprang out of the bed and began searching for something, anything to help me get out of here. "You won't find anything," said a voice behind me. I whirled around, terror bringing my heart rate up to a dangerously staccato rythm.

"Don't worry. I want out of here just as much as you do," Riley said, holding his hands up to show me he was unarmed. "Alek went to the store, so he'll be gone for a few hours."

I nodded as I looked at him, trying to decide whether or not I could trust him. "Why are you here?" I finally asked.

"Alek is my big brother. He came and checked me out of the hospital a few months ago, having won custody of me from our mother. We lived with Dad, but Alek's psychotic episodes just couldn't be controlled, so Dad sent him to that mental facility. When Alek showed up with you, he said you were his girlfriend and that you were a psychologist, packed up my stuff and brought me out here. He scares me. He's not the brother I grew up loving."

"How old are you?"

"I'm seventeen but I'll be eighteen in a few days. Alek said he'd let me leave if I wanted, that he'd send me to college. But with you here, that doesn't seem too likely. He doesn't trust me to keeep my mouth shut." He chuckled, rather bitterly I thought, before smiling at me.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I should have listened to my mother and just started my own practice, rather than taking that stupid job at the hospital. Now you're stuck here."

"Oh don't blame yourself. Alek would have kidnapped another inmate or something if not for you. And that would have been infinitely worse. At least now I have someone that's completely sane to talk to."

I smiled. "That's true. Riley, do you have any idea how we can get out of here?"

He shook his head. "We're alone in the middle of the mountains. The nearest house with people in it this time of year is twenty miles down the mountain in the direction of town. And it's the middle of winter, so the weather is too unpredictable to attempt that distance."

"What if we wait for summer?"

He thought for a minute. "The nearest people are five or six miles away if we're lucky, but the weather is a lot more predictable and we can camoflauge a lot easier. But that's a good six months away. What do we do until then?"

I sank onto the bed, burying my face in my hands as I felt tears burning the backs of my eyes. Then, I looked up, determination setting my face into a mask. "We keep Alek happy and learn what we can about the area -- what plants are edible, what kinds of animals there are to hunt, how to build unnoticble fires, that kind of thing. Do you have a cell phone?"

Riley shook his head. "Never needed one. Mom never used hers so I used it but she kept it when she stuck me in the hospital."

"Any idea where Alek put mine?"

"He keeps it on his person. I don't know which pocket it's in. There's no service out here anyway. Nearest tower's too far away to do anything. We'd have to get down the mountain about fifteen miles to a bar, and even then, it's easy to lose whatever little service you can get. It's not worth the trouble it would take to get it back."

I sat there, lost in thought for a few minutes. "How much longer do you think we have until Alek gets home? Enough time to do some searching on the computer? Is there even a computer?"