I stretched my legs after a long night of sleeping on a bench I had found in a nearby park, and yawned. My arms and legs were stiff, but as far as I could tell, I wasn't frostbitten at all. Which was amazing, considering everything that had happened in the past few hours.

And as I opened my mind to it, thoughts came flowing through, unbidden, showering me in pain so deep that I groaned and held a hand to my chest. It hurt so bad! The pain and guilt of my wife and children threatened to keep me under a dark cloud.

But I managed to pull myself out, remembering that my children had to still be alive and I had to find them.

Slowly, I got to my feet and watched as I exhaled and the air floated away like fog. That in itself told me the temperature, because for some reason I didn't really feel that cold. I mean, sure I was a little chilled, but I felt like I should have had hypothermia from staying out all night.

And that could only mean one thing: whatever happened last night with the fire, that wasn't a dream. Sure, I remembered it, but I was in so much pain and filled with grief that it almost didn't seem real to me. And let's be real ourselves, it was a little strange.

As I started heading out of the park, I tried to sort in my head what I would do. How would I find who had taken my kids and murdered my wife? All I remembered from last night was seeing a black van by the house before it sped away. A black van, how helpful.

Reaching the more busy part of my town, I pulled open the door to a mini mart by a gas station and instantly felt a gush of warm air hit me. For being early October, I could scarcely believe the heat was already on everywhere. it wasn't even that cold.

Going through the isles, I grabbed a granola bar, orange juice, and some jerky before piling it all on the counter. Then I remembered that I didn't have a home to go to so I grabbed some more items.

By the time I was done paying with the credit card that was thankfully in my wallet, I had a plastic bag full of assorted food, a backpack, a flashlight, some rope, and one of those prepaid phones. Even though I really didn't know what I would use the phone for.

Outside the station, I dumped the contents of my purchase into the backpack, leaving out the granola bar and juice before I tossed the bag away. Feeling the heavy weight on my shoulders, it helped to ease some of my nervousness in my gut, knowing that at least I had a bit of a plan.

I decided that it would be best not to walk in the middle of town, considering that the police might be looking for me or those strange men who had taken the kids. I didn't know exactly what everyone knew at this point so I wanted to play it safe.

Instead, I chose to head behind the houses, staying on the edge of the woods that seemed to surround the small town. It was much slower going, with me only having my sandals on. Even though most of the brush had died away. it was still harder walking then on cement.

As I walked, I chewed on the granola bar and drank the orange juice, feeling the food start to give me more energy.

Once I was done, I tossed them into the woods, not caring that I was littering. Yes, I normally would never have done that, but there were more imprinting things on my mind.

Spotting the thrift shop, I dared to enter after looking around to make sure no one was paying attention to me. The store had just opened and the only person in it was Frank, the owner. He didn't really know me well, but I hoped that he hadn't heard about what happened last night yet.

After grabbing some socks I found and some old boots, I plunked them down on the counter and pulled out my credit card.

"Is this it?" he asked me casually.

"Yup."

"Seven fifty is your total."

Man, his voice could easily put me to sleep.

I handed over my credit card and he swiped it, watching the screen a it went through.

But something I wasn't expecting, was when he turned back to me and said, "It was declined."

"Declined? Can you run it again?" I suggested. I had literally just bought something with it from the gas station.

He shrugged and tried running it again, but shook his head, "Still declined. Got another card?"

I looked in my wallet, but frowned when I saw that all I had was a rewards card for the grocery store and three dollars.

"That's all... I brought with me," I said slowly.

"No cash?"

"Three dollars. That's it."

Frank scooted the boots aside, leaving the socks there, "Well three dollars will cover the socks but not the shoes."

Great. I needed those boots.

"Look, I can pay you back-"

"Sorry, no tabs. Cash or credit only," he droned.

I huffed internally and turned away from the counter, searching my mind for any other option. But there only seemed to be one, and it didn't seem like a good option at all.

However, I really needed those boots, and they were only four dollars, so if I did take them, it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

Having made up my mind, I turned back to the counter and reached for the boots.

But just as I grabbed them, a voice made me freeze.

"Stop right there."

I turned my neck to where the voice came from, the door of the shop.

It was a cop.

"Yes officer?" I asked, trying to act completely innocent. There was no way he could know that I was about to steal them.

The cop ignored me and nodded to Frank behind the counter, "Thanks for stalling, Frank." Stalling? What in the world?

The cop walked over to me and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, "Now, I need to bring you down to the station, so put your hands behind your back."

Well good to see you! Thanks for reading my second chapter of this story :D I sincerely hope you are enjoying yourself! If so, please let me know by voting, commenting, or giving me a follow!!!! Thanks!

Ithildae