As the new Bible was placed with care into its original box, lid fitted and bow tied, Leah felt a mixture of happiness and sorrow. A gift as endearing as Wren's was precious, but her father's betrayal of her mother was a load she wasn't sure she wanted to carry.

Her eyes closed as she tried to pull up images of her mother's face. Only red taillights tainted her memories, and her eyes flew open. Strange, after all these years, that was all she remembered about her mother.

Sighing with heaviness, Leah reached for her phone still lighting the area around her.

"Are you trying to send a code to your true love or something?" Samantha's voice startled the heiress, and she looked up with a scowl as the red-head emerged from the night much as Charles had done not ten minutes before. Why couldn't she have just a few minutes to herself this night?!

"I don't know what you are talking about," Leah said, pulling her gift closer to her side, and flicked the light app off as she had been in the process of doing before being interrupted. Again.

The shiny silk of Samantha's dress somehow shimmered, even in the dark. She moved to sit uninvited at Leah's side. "Your phone looked like a beacon. I could see it all the way from the mansion window." When Leah didn't respond, Samantha sighed. "I was just trying to be funny."

Leah raised a brow. Samantha being humorous wasn't a good fit, but she refrained from saying so. "I was just using it to open a gift..."

"I see. You know, I promised a gift to you as well. I'm sorry I haven't given it yet, but expect in a day or so."

"Um, okay." Why did she have a bad feeling about this gift? "Thanks." She flinched at her flat tone. True to her word, Samantha had been attempting kindness, but she had always responded with the opposite.

I need to ask Wren if the Bible says anything about being kind, she decided. But until she knew for sure, Leah wasn't offering warm hugs at any time soon.

A twig snapped in the forest behind the girls, causing both to stiffen and turn. The outline of trees looked spooky silhouetted in the dark, and Leah yelped when Samantha's hand clamped tight on her arm.

"What was that?"

Leah scoffed, shaking the girl's grip off. "I don't know. Probably a deer or something." Leah didn't say she was a tiny bit frightened as well. Night had a way of playing with one's imagination. She rubbed the tender spot, sure Samantha's long nails had left indentions.

"Could it be...?"

Leah strained to see Samantha's expression. "Could it be what?'

"A - a werewolf?"

A dramatic silence ensued before Leah doubled over with laughter.

Samantha huffed. "I don't know what's so funny! Bates assured me they were real."

Leah only laughed harder. "And you believed him?"

"Well - uh - of course not!" Samantha attempted a forced laughed of her own. " I was just teasing... again."

Leah had never been so tickled as she was at that moment. It was hard to believe Samantha was the one cheering her evening, but her mood was improving by the minute.

"Leah?"

Her laughter now contained to a small giggle, Leah turned to smile at the girl. For the first time, it was genuine. But, it didn't last. As if someone had hit rewind on a remote, her lips fell and her eyes widened in horror. A scream split the peaceful night and Leah had the faint recollection that it was her own as she leaped so fast from the bench, her feet twisted together sending girl and ball gown sprawling on the cobbled path. Pain radiated from her hand as it hit the edge of a concrete brick, but she hardly noticed. She stared transfixed, not at Samantha's rigid figure, but the tall frame pressed close behind her.

"Hello, Little Miss. Its been a while."

She would know that voice anywhere.

Terror froze Leah's mind. She couldn't scream or move. That is until Samantha's trembling voice snapped her to reality.

"Leah? What - what is going on? Do you know this man? Why do -? He's pressing something on my throat. I think its a knife." The girl's words spilled out and a new fear ignited inside Leah, surprising even herself. She gathered her full skirts into one hand, and staggered to her feet, raising herself to her full height.

"Don't you dare hurt her, Leroy!"

Leroy's dark chuckle struck her like a dart. "You aren't in a position to make demands. Give me six seconds and your friend will die. One second to make the cut. Five seconds to bleed her out."

"What?!" Samantha shrieked, and the heiress raised her hands towards them as if to halt him.

"No!" Leah cried, "Don't, please. I'll do anything. I'll tell you anything. Don't hurt her!"

Another sinister laugh. "I know that, Little Miss. I could have easily gotten to you first, but I learned a valuable lesson at the hospital. People like you," He clucked his tongue as if in disapproval, "won't behave unless another person is in danger. I don't know why I didn't think of it before. If I had held my blade against a nurse, I could have gotten my information and escaped without having to play your silly games."

Leah scowled, defiant. "I don't know how you escaped prison, but Wren will make sure you go back!"

"Oh, I hope he comes after me. Now, listen carefully. I'll let your friend live if you do as I say. One wrong move, I swear I'll kill her." Then, he directed his attention to Samantha. "Stand up, girl!"

Samantha's whimper as she was hauled to her feet squelched any fight left in Leah. Defeated, she nodded. "I'll do as you say if you promise to leave Samantha unharmed."

"Good girl. Head for the woods. Stay in front of me."

"Okay." Leah moved slowly as she walked close to Samantha. The girl's fear wafted to her and she stopped for only a second. "It's okay, Sam. I'll do as he says."

"Leah," Samatha whispered but Leroy's low growl forced the heiress to move on.

Leah trudged through the garden, rotating from walking on the garden's cobbled path to soft dirt and mulch as she wound through the roses. The edge of the white fence surrounding the garden rose up before her; she paused to glance back at the two dark figures behind her.

"Climb over it."

Leah didn't bother to answer. She gathered her billowing skirts and struggled over the low fence. It wasn't high, but her gown being extra long made it difficult. To her dismay, she managed to catch her foot between the pikes and fell in a heap to the field grass beyond it. As she pushed herself to her knees, an idea caused her to reach to her neck and remove her necklace with one hard tug; she dropped it to the grass.

"Find me, Wren," She whispered and picked herself to her feet. The walk continued to the ever-nearing forest.

When they reached the edge of the dense wood, Leah struggled against her creeping fear as she stared up at the towering trees. Behind her, Samantha's uneven gasps rattled and she was shocked at the intense desire to ensure her nemesis remained unharmed. It was a curious emotion as Samantha had never done anything to endear herself to Leah.

"Keep moving!" Leroy hissed, urgency lacing his words. So, Leah did. She led the way into the shrubs and thorns, yanking her dress as it snagged every few steps on thorns and bramble. The heavy skirts protected her bare legs though and for this she was grateful. She hoped Samantha's slinky dress afforded her the same protection.

Leah assumed their trek wouldn't be as long as it was, but the forest didn't seem to have an end. Fighting as she was to push through the dense underbrush, fatigue was climbing into her limbs. An occasional sob from Samantha told her the girl was weakening as well, physically and emotionally.

"Do you know something Wren told me, Samantha?" Leah stumbled on a fallen tree trunk but caught herself from a nasty tumble as she gripped the rough bark of a standing one. "He said God is always with His children and that He fights for us."

"But, I - I'm not - His child. I don't even believe in Him."

"Stop talking!" Leroy snapped.

Leah needed to let Samantha hear her next words. " But, I am His child. I'm going to pray for Him to protect you. Okay?"

"I said to shut up! Not another word!"

Fury in the knife wielder's voice sealed Leah's lips. She didn't dare disobey him again, but he had no power over her mind. As she promised, Leah prayed like she had never before.

The hike continued. To Leah's relief, Samatha stopped crying. Whether it was due to Leah's words or that her remaining energy was focused on surviving, Leah wasn't sure. Her own fear was dying, followed by a numbness penetrating anything rational.

Suddenly, the forest split with a string of curses as Leroy spat every foul word ever created. Leah spun as Samantha was pushed forward to sprawl on the forest floor. In an instant, Leah was at her side, comforted to feel the closeness of another as she rested a hand on the girl's trembling shoulder.

"Cursed snake!" Leroy was shouting and Leah's emotionless mind began to crack. Leroy was staggering in place, one leg lifted. She couldn't make out much more, but the truth finally struck her.

To her relief, nothing needed to be said to Samantha. The red-head scrambled to her feet in complete unison with Leah and they used the opportunity handed them with the best choice possible. Linking hands, they ran a wide berth around their still cursing kidnapper and in the direction they had come from.

Leah turned only once to look behind. Upon seeing Leroy's dark shape staggering in pursuit, she knew the stakes had been raised. The deal was off. If caught, Samantha would surely die.

"Run faster!" Leah gasped, tugging Samantha's hand. "It's our last chance!"

Perhaps it was because those words were the truth, Samantha found the strength to move her feet a bit quicker.