To leave or not to leave, that was the real question.

I stared at the set of keys dangling from the ignition, as if mocking me to grab them. When I licked my lips, they burned from being so chapped from the cold. The house was dark except for the one light upstairs. Everyone was inside. No one would be coming out to check on me soon, either. Damn, so close to freedom...I'd just have to make a decision whether to stick around or not.

I took the opportunity.

Can you blame me? I mean, I couldn't just not do something. Yes, Cage was probably going to die because of me. No matter what Micheal said, I knew the human anatomy well. The bullet hit Cage right in the back of the neck. It had to have hit a vein. It was lodged right underneath his brain, there was no way Cage could survive something like that. And yes, I kissed him because I liked Cage more than I should. This was a terrible idea but I had to take the chance that it wouldn't end up with me dead.

Cage stole my car and destroyed it. Now, it was my turn to do the same. Car for a car, right? Kicking the bucket of cleaning supplies away, I closed all the doors and slipped into the driver's seat. God, I was such a despicable human being to make my great escape when Cage was hurt because of me. But I needed to get back to Fern. Despite my affection towards the Crows, I wasn't going to stay with them forever. I needed to leave, and this might be my only chance to escape.

The blood was covering the backseat but the windows were tinted so I wasn't worried. My heart was pounding. It took several tries to get the key to turn because my hands were trembling so much. The engine roared back to life, making me flitter with terror. I hoped the noise didn't attract any attention. Carefully backing out of the driveway, I could only let out a deep breath when I hit the road and began to drive far far far away from Cage Vickers and the Crows and Delia's home.

My stomach turned with nausea, but also excitement. I was finally free. They couldn't catch me. I had no idea where I was going but in that moment, I was too elated to care. I could finally go back home. Cage couldn't ever find me again. The only thing that I had left to tie up was the tracking chip in my arm.

After following the twisting paths of the gravel roads, I finally came up on one of the main streets. Other cars rolled along smoothly. The sky was cast with grey, the promise of twilight looming close. A sloshing noise was consistent with every car from the unshoveled snow on the roads. Canada looked similar to Ivey. I didn't know what I expected. Rolling to a stop behind a blue Chevy at a red light, I started to rifle through the glove compartment for something sharp.

There were a lot of green Jolly Rancher wrappers in there.

Finally, I found a knife with a leather sheath covering the blade. The Chevy began to drive away as the light turned to green. Dropping the knife on my lap, I followed the main road for a while until public stores began to dot the sidewalks. Wow, this was going surprisingly well. As soon as I got the chip out of my arm, I was free to go back home. It would take a lot of work, but my will was strong enough to see Fern again that I believed I could find an airport.

I also had the option of going to the police.

It's been ten minutes since I left Delia's house. I decided that I was far away enough that I had a few moments to get the chip out. Pulling out of traffic, I parked the car in the lot of a closed Denny's diner. My stomach twisted with trepidation. I still couldn't believe I left. Perhaps it was for the best. Cage would throw a fit when he noticed I was gone. If he was still alive, that is.

I stared at the blade in my hand. I had to do it. I had to. Desperation was strong in my head as I gritted my teeth and stared at the blade some more. Heath injected the microchip right above the blue veins in my left wrist. Okay, I can do this. November, you have to do this. You don't want Cage to find you, right?

I reached over and opened the glove compartment, which was stuffed full of oddities. I had no hope of finding what I needed, but after rifling through for a few short seconds I located a couple of small white washcloths. Grabbing one, I twisted it around and carefully placed the thick bunched up end into my mouth, biting down hard.

Taking a deep breath for courage, I dug the tip of the knife into my arm. The scream was muffled by the washcloth, but the tears blurred my vision. Pain shot up instantly, making me cringe. Thank God I took human anatomy. The knowledge was probably going to save my life. I needed to avoid the veins. The chip was right under one of them, so it would be difficult to pull out. Forcing myself to slice it in deeper, I made a long cut down my arm. The pain was unbearable, although not as bad as I expected.

Blood began to decorate my leggings. When I finally couldn't handle cutting my skin anymore, I dropped the knife. I couldn't control the hysterical gasping through the cloth in my mouth, my teeth aching with the pain of biting onto it. The slit in my skin had a faint orange light that flashed through occasionally.

Fern's face flashed in my mind. With renewed to do or to die mentality, I forced my fingers into the cut. Blood poured out from my arm. Avoid the veins. Okay. I can do this. Digging around, (Yes, I just used that phrase to describe the inhumane thing I was doing to myself. If Jonah King could remove his tracker, then I sure as hell could too.) I fumbled to feel the glass of the chip. Bile rose up in my throat, but I shook my head furiously. No. I was not going to throw up, or cry, or pass out. I couldn't. I had to survive.

How did I sink so low? How did I ever find myself sitting in a car with the backseat drenched in the blood of Cage Vickers in Canada, the driver's seat slowly being decorated with my own as I performed a totally unsafe operation to remove a tracking chip that was involuntarily injected into me? Oh yeah, it was because I went out to get food one night for my pregnant sister and my car was suddenly hijacked. No big deal.

My heart flew up to my throat when my fingers touched the stiff glass. Pain blinded my entire arm as I forced my fingers to create tweezers. With a yank, I pulled the damned chip out.

Oh no, my arm was gushing out blood.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. But I was too exhilarated by the fact that I got the tracker out to care about anything else. Ha, Cage wasn't as clever as everyone thought. Let's see you try to catch me now, you beautiful jerk. Taking off my jacket, I created a tight bandage for my arm. The pressure helped ease some of the pain. After a few moments of panting, I reached up with my good arm and pulled the washcloth out of my mouth.

Jumping out of the car, I placed the orange glowing tracker right underneath one of the tires. I went back into the car, slammed the door shut, pulled on my seat belt, and destroyed the chip by driving over it.

Damn, I was so proud of myself.

Even though my arm felt like it was on fire, I couldn't help the small smirk that decorated my face. Easing back into the street, I began to drive with vigor after making sure the tracking chip was not stuck to the tire or something stupid like that. It started to rain, darkening the sky even more. Lights began to flash on and Alberta came alive. It was just as pretty as Chicago. The next problem I had to solve was getting directions. All I knew about my location is that I was in Alberta, Canada.

I switched on the windshield wiper and peered out. The cold air was fogging the glass, but I could make out the butt of a truck in front of me. Looking back, I noticed a line of cars beginning to form behind me. Being stuck in traffic was never a fun thing, but I was more than happy to sit in the blood-covered car patiently than to be back in front of Delia's house, wondering how long it would be before Cage died. The silence helped clear my head.

I needed to find new clothes, disinfect my arm, and ask someone for directions. Then I could make my way to an airport. That all sounded fine, except for a few certain things. For one, the car was running low on gas. I had no money and no way to find new clothes. The car was starting to smell from the blood as well. I probably should have thought this out before I left. It was just that the opening to escape was so immediate that I didn't think about anything else except going back home to Fern.

Somehow, I ended up separated from traffic. Following the road, I noticed my surroundings begin to visibly change. I think I took a wrong turn somewhere from the main intersections. Trying to brush off the starting panic, I continued driving. The stores and houses were quickly disappearing. Soon, I only saw the white fields of snow and an occasional barn.

The rain was coming down harder. I could barely see where I was going. The roads were slicked with the dangerous mixture of ice and snow. Suddenly, the wail of a police siren right behind startled me and I nearly slid off the road. Glancing in the rear view mirror, my heart sank. A police car was tailing my own.

Well, shit.

Heart pounding, I slowly eased the car off to the side. God, could things get any worse? There was no logical explanation I could give to a police officer right now. Both me and the backseat were covered with blood and the car wasn't registered under my name. As the police car slowly rolled to a stop behind me, I could only imagine the felonies I was potentially facing. I needed to find a way out of this, fast. Maybe I could sweet talk the police officer-

Great idea, November. Flirt with law enforcement to get yourself out of this mess. As if I wasn't already in enough trouble. Man, I really hated my brain sometimes.

I felt like vomiting. Pulling the key out of the ignition, I waited in terror as the police officer made his way to the car. It was a tall, shadowy figure that I assumed was male. Hey, maybe that flirting idea wasn't so bad after all. Again, desperate times call for desperate measures. My stomach flipped with panic. How the hell was I supposed to explain any of this? Oh God, I was going to spent my glory years in prison, wasn't I? Oh my God. Oh my God. I'm going to cry.

I nearly peed my Victoria's Secret panties when a hand suddenly slammed against the car window.