I opened my eyes.

Dark all around me. Dirt on my face, wet soil sticking to my hair.

I jumped when I felt a hand touch my arm.

"Rhiannon," A deep voice said. "It's me." But it couldn't have been. I had been buried alive, right?

As my eyes adjusted, I realized that I had not been buried alive. Tall trees surrounded me, bushes all around, and it became clear that I was back in the woods.

Beck kneeled next to me, concern painted on his face. I was so confused. Why was Beck here? Wasn't Dane just about to kill me?

The sky told me that time had passed since I was in the graveyard; the sky was a deep cerulean blue, a beautiful color that only appeared in the early hours of the morning.

I sat up. "What happened?" My voice was rough and cracked. I tasted dirt.

"I saw him burying you." Beck brushed the dirt out of my hair. "So, I killed him."

I never thought I would be more grateful to hear that someone had murdered my boyfriend, but I was still quite confused.

"Why were you there?" I backed up, just in case he was yet another person secretly plotting to kill me.

He cleared his throat and looked down, almost embarrassed. "I changed my mind. About escaping. I tried to find you, but you two were already gone. When I walked into the pool room and saw that the drain was open, I connected the dots, so I followed you out."

He continued. "I was just about to say something to you when I saw that he had a gun pointed at you. It's lucky I didn't. Obviously, I couldn't attack him then, it was too dangerous. But I heard everything he said." He paused. "I'm sorry about your sisters."

I felt a lump in my throat. I had almost forgotten that my sisters were dead. I had hoped it was a dream. A nightmare. At least he was now aware that I knew that he didn't want to kill my mother. He knew I didn't hate him, and that counted for something.

"What then?" I asked, to distract myself from my sisters.

"I followed you to the graveyard, and I realized what he was going to do to you. After he hit you with a shovel, I took that same shovel and hit him."

"Where is he now?" I was afraid that Dane would follow us.

Beck didn't say anything, and it became clear to me that he was probably dead, underground, exactly where I was going to be killed. I gulped. Yes, he had it coming to him, but the thought was still unsettling.

"Anyway, I took you out of the hole and carried you here." I looked up at the blue morning sky and wondered how long it had been.

The woods were different here than right outside the academy. Where we were right now, there appeared to be many pine trees, whereas at the academy, they were willow trees.

"I walked all night," Dane calculated. "That's about 6 miles." He sounded nonchalant, but my mouth dropped open. He had walked all that way, while carrying me. I could barely walk a mile without getting a cramp.

"Do you have food?" I asked him. I didn't know what Dane had done with my bag. It could've been anywhere in the forest.

Dane shook his head. I thought about what Dane had told me the first day I got to the academy. The school was surrounded by 13 miles of forest, and Beck had only walked 6 miles. Impressive, but that meant 7 more miles of walking, without food or water.

"We still have 7 miles to walk," I felt guilty; I probably didn't sound too grateful for all he had done.

He smiled. "Did Dane tell you that? That was probably another lie to discourage you from wanting to escape." I really could be gullible.

"So how long?"

"About a mile left until we reach the border line." When he said this, my heart dropped in excitement. "If I'm right, we'll reach Michigan in the next hour or so."

"If only I had my phone," I thought aloud. Once I was back in the U.S., I would've been able to call the police; in Canada, I wasn't able to make out of country calls.

He reached into his back pocket and pulled out something blue and purple. My phone.

"Here you go," he said, and instead of taking the phone, I embraced him in a tight hug. The boy I thought had ruined my life, in actuality, had saved it.

He didn't return my hug. I could feel him tense up, as though I was electrocuting him, not showing him affection.

"It's OK," I said to him. "We're free."

With that, he took me into his arms and he kissed me. No, his lips weren't as soft as Dane's. No, it wasn't as perfect. It wasn't even the right time. But, even with that, it was so much sweeter.

"Let's go," I said, even though I didn't want to ruin the moment. My sisters deserved justice. My mother deserved justice. Mac deserved to see me again, to know that at least one family member would still be with him.

We walked for the next hour. He had estimated that we were only a mile away from Michigan, but it was more like a mile and a half. We were both feeling weak, but the thought of freedom kept us going. The sky was barely touched with sun light, and the air was beginning to get warm again.

Finally, we reached the border. We exited the woods and ended up on a thin dirt road. We were surrounded by mountains, and for the first time in two weeks, I could truly appreciate where I was.

Rolling hills and green mountains, birds flying in the sir, undisturbed. This was the type of place I would have loved to go to, when my life was normal. But it was time to go home. It was time to return.

I pulled out my phone, and dialed those fateful numbers. Beck gave my hand a squeeze, and the 911 operator picked up.

I spoke into the phone. "Hello?"