I woke up with dim light filtering through the window. I looked outside and there was still some light snow coming down, but the blizzard was definitely over. I thought I even saw some patches of blue in the sky.

I got up quickly and rushed down the steep stairs to get my undergarments from the bathroom. I didn't see you anywhere. My underwear and bra were dry, so I brought them back upstairs and changed back into them and then into my own clothes. I pulled my purse, parka, hat and mittens out from under the bed. I folded the clothes you had lent me and put them neatly on the end of the bed. I made the bed, wanting it to look nice before I left.

Then I rushed back downstairs to look for you. You weren't anywhere inside the tiny cabin, so I went to the front door and opened it. I was greeted by a rather lovely sight as the snow was clinging to the trees in big, heavy clumps, and the tops of the trees were sparkling as the sun poked through. I looked for your car. It wasn't anywhere to be seen, but there weren't any tire tracks to suggest that you had driven away, either.

“All right, love?” I heard your token greeting, and I looked to see you coming around the corner of the cabin with an pile of wood in your arms.

You strode past me and into the cabin and set the logs near the fireplace, and then you quickly made your way out again. I watched you do this three or four times, and then I finally said, “Zayn?”

You stopped and gave me your full attention. “I'm sorry to be pushy, but we should really leave. I have to go.”

Your face changed. Your eyes became hard and I knew I wasn't going to like the words that were going to come out of your mouth.

“We can't leave,” you said simply.

“Why not?” I asked, growing fearful.

“There's no way out,” you replied. Damn you and your abrupt answers!

“What do you mean, there's no way out? Where is your car?” I asked, my heart starting to race.

You looked at me warily, hesitating before answering.

“Where is the car, Zayn?!” I yelled, startling you.

“It's in Winnipeg,” you said softly.

I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. Winnipeg was at least 100 miles north of Frost Fire. If the car was in Winnipeg, where were we?

“Wh...what's going on, Zayn? Why is the car in Winnipeg? And where the hell are we?!” I screamed, terrified of your answer.

“I told you we're in Canada,” you said quietly. “Do you want some breakfast?”

“No! I want to go home! What the hell is going on?!”

“Let's sit down,” you suggested, keeping your calm, but I could tell by your eyes that you were unsettled.

I knew then that you had no intention of taking me back to Frost Fire or back to Grand Forks. Or anywhere.

“No!” I screeched. “I don't want to sit down! I'm not staying here! I want you to take me home right now!”

“I can't do that,” you said and I literally wanted to strangle you right then.

“Why. Not?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“Because I want you to stay.”

“I don't want to stay! Haven't you been listening? No one knows where I am! I have to get home!”

At that point, it still hadn't sunk in that all of this was planned, premeditated. I thought that maybe it was just your screwed up way of asking me to stay. I mean, you did seem a little "off," not crazy or anything, but maybe just a bit socially...inept. I thought maybe you had just realized it was nice to have a guest after we got stranded together, and that you would like me to stay.

I can't believe I was so naive, but I guess that was a chronic fault of mine, always believing the best about people.

You just sat there and didn't answer me.

“Zayn!” I shouted.

“What?” You asked nonchalantly.

“How the hell do I get out of here? I need to get home!”

“I can't take you home,” you answered.

Again, I clenched my teeth and growled, “Why NOT!?”

“Because there's no way out.”

I was so frustrated at that point that I wanted to scream. I was screaming. But I wasn't scared yet. My brain was still trying to process what was happening. But as it slowly sunk in that you really weren't going to take me home, I realized that I could only do one thing.

So I ran.

I ran out of the cabin, slamming the door behind me. I ran like a bat out of hell toward what seemed like a path, possibly a driveway, and I hoped and prayed that it would lead me to a main road where I could flag someone down and get to the nearest town. I raced through the knee-deep snow, running as fast and as hard as I could, paying attention to the wide, milky white path between the trees that seemed to be a road. I had to slow down for just a bit to prevent myself from hyperventilating, but I didn't want you to be able to catch me. I took deep breaths as I jogged, trying to regulate my breathing, just like I did when I was swimming and my breathing got out of rhythm.

After running crazy for at least twenty minutes, I realized something.

You weren't following me.

I slowed to a walk and kept looking back over my shoulder and I saw no sign that you were trying to pursue me. So I stopped completely, just to listen, to see if I could hear your footsteps. All I heard was snow, falling. Wind, blowing. I tried to listen for the sounds of the highway, a semi truck or even a train.

I heard nothing but the snow and wind.  I kept walking anyway. There had to be some kind of road. How the hell did we get to the cabin if there was no road? And how far was Winnipeg? Had we come on a snowmobile? I tried to imagine you driving a snowmobile with me in front of you, passed out in your arms. It didn't seem very likely. I dropped to my knees and plowed some of the snow away with my gloved hands. If there was a snowmobile track, maybe the hard ridges were buried underneath the fresh snow.

My knees became cold very quickly as the snow melted through my jeans. It was quite foolish for me to be doing what I was doing, so I stood up. I kept walking, following the path I'd chosen, but it just seemed to become more desolate, not leading anywhere but further into the woods.

I walked until my heart had sufficiently slowed down and then I started running again. I had to find something - a road, another cabin, something! It was quite cold and I knew I couldn't wander around outside forever.

I ran for at least twenty more minutes, and then I stopped. My chest ached and my thighs were on fire from running hard through the deep snow.

I was cold.

I was thirsty.

And I was exhausted.

I knew the wind chill was below zero. I was already in danger of frostbite, and I knew that I had to be three or four miles from the cabin. If I didn't head back now, I knew I could very well die out there.

I had to make a decision. If I kept going further into the wilderness, I could die. I probably would die. But if I went back to the cabin, I would be warm and I would have food, and maybe I could reason with you. You obviously had some way of getting us to the cabin, and you had to have some way to get back out. You hadn't done anything to hurt me, but I was still scared.

I started walking back toward the cabin, following my tracks in the snow, even though I was afraid. Even though I was terrified.

Because it was becoming very clear to me -  you hadn't simply picked me up on the side of the road by chance. You hadn't brought me back to your cabin just to get out of the blizzard. The blizzard was just a lucky break for you, so you could use it as your excuse for taking me.

You had this all planned out.

You had stocked the cabin with food, clothing, toiletries, wood. A generator for electricity. You had blankets, books, and even a few board games that I had noticed. No phone, no computer, no connection to the outside world.

You had followed me from Grand Forks! I wondered if you had something to do with the blowout. Had you sabotaged my car so that I would get stranded, and then you could "rescue" me? Had you planned all of that to get me into your car? 

You must have. Your car was so warm and it made me so thirsty. So you gave me water....

The water!

You drugged me!

I couldn't believe I hadn't figured it out before that. Of course, you drugged me! I would never have fallen asleep that fast or that hard on my own. You drugged me so you could get me out there to your cabin in the middle of....oh, my heavens, I really had no idea where I was!

My heart was already racing and I felt like it might stop completely. I felt like I was going to vomit. I fell to my knees again and sobbed frantically, not knowing what to do.

I began to hyperventilate as the reality of it all kept sinking in to my brain.

I had been kidnapped.

Kidnapped!

I lost all concept of time as I sat there in the snow. Everything was numb, either from the cold or from my horrifying realization. Most likely from both.

I had been kidnapped.

I had no way to get out of there on my own.

I had to force myself to stand up again, force my limbs to move forward. They were frozen with cold and fear. But I had to go back to the cabin and try to convince you to do the right thing rather than to stay out there and  freeze to death.

And if you were planning to kill me anyway, I hoped it would be quick and painless.