Page 6

Remembering the Past

S age dug through the box of shoes from the back of Marco’s closet, searching for the perfect pair. Alana had an impeccable taste with brands like McQueen and Gucci. Sage couldn’t believe her eyes and was almost afraid to touch them.

Almost.

Finally, at the bottom of the box there was a gorgeous pair of ruby-red pumps.

"I bet if I click my heels together three times these won't get me home.

" Sage giggled as she stared at them intently.

She stood back up, grabbed a hanger to place the dress on, and walked over to the full-length mirror.

Holding up the little black dress and the shoes, Sage was able to see that she had created the perfect outfit for a night out.

Perhaps she would have to invite a certain detective out for a couple of drinks.

If only my face wasn’t plastered all over the news.

Sage sighed at the realization and then began to search the apartment for scissors, shears, or anything else that she could use to change the length of her hair.

She could use some of the money that she had taken from Troy to purchase some lightener and hair color.

While part of Sage felt sad about losing something that she had known for years, she looked forward to the change.

After an unsuccessful search, Sage finally settled on using a sharp butcher knife. Guess this will have to do. Walking back to the bathroom, she put her hair into a ponytail. She took a deep breath and began sawing through the thickness of her hair.

Sage removed the hair tie and examined the damage she had done while murdering her hair, which is exactly what it looked like she had done. She sighed, wishing a pair of shears would magically appear in her hands so that she could fix this disaster.

Glancing around the room, her eyes fell on a baseball cap. It was perfect. All she needed to do was tuck her hair up into it while grabbing everything she needed. Sage went back to the box and dug through everything hoping to find something a bit more casual.

Nothing .

"Was the princess too scared to wear comfy clothes around her prince?

" The snide remark slipped from her mouth.

Sage had a vendetta against Alana the moment she realized that Alana had the man of her dreams at her fingertips.

All she had to do was stick her ass out on the hood of the car, whereas Sage couldn't get his attention without committing murder.

Bastard.

It wasn't completely Hans’ fault. It had taken Sage a few years to accept, but had she not wandered off from where she was supposed to be, they could have lived happily ever after a long time ago.

Hans had never been the type to tell her to stay put and then change his mind, wanting her to come find him instead. I should have known better.

Sage moved away from the closet and began going through drawers, looking for a pair of sweats and a shirt that wasn’t two sizes too big.

After what felt like hours she found a pair of light gray sweatpants and a gamer-boy tee.

"Well," she giggled at the shirt. "I guess I'll have to make do with this.

" She continued searching through the drawers just in case she could find another gem tucked away.

Instead, she found an envelope at the bottom of one of the drawers.

"What could this be?" Sage pulled it out, slowly opened it, and peered inside. "Holy shit!" she exclaimed, dumping the cash out over the bed, diving into the bills just like she had seen people do in the movies. “There's so much here! I could go on the run and survive perfectly fine."

Sage was making snow angels in the mound of cash sending them flying in various directions.

In a single instance, Sage realized that a majority of her problems had just been solved while causing just as many issues at the same time.

She lay there in silence, enjoying for the first time in years what felt like true peace.

At least her brain was not running a million miles per minute, which made things even better.

Sage rolled over and before she could muster up her next thought, she had drifted off to sleep.

???

Only a few hours had passed when the visions disturbed Sage’s sleep. So loud. So real. She got up quickly and rushed around, throwing on the clothes that she had found earlier. "I have to do this."

Was she trying to convince herself otherwise?

Yes .

Sage blazed through the kitchen, searching high and low for the keys to one of the cars that Marco kept hidden in his garage. She finally came across a set of keys in one of the drawers in the living room.

“ Got it!” she yelled, grabbing one last thing before she exited the main house into the garage.

She had no idea who she was yelling to or sharing her joy with, but the excitement was there for the ghosts of Christmas past to endure.

She hopped in the Cadillac XLR and started searching for a place to insert the key with no luck.

The start button stared back at her. Sage had never seen a car like this but she pushed the button.

A message on the dash alerted her to push the brake before hitting the start button.

Vroom . This baby purred like a kitten.

Living in the forest for half of her life, Sage didn't know a whole lot about cars, but she did know that this one would have all eyes on her.

She needed to be extra careful on this mission to ensure that no one saw her.

Sage pressed her foot to the gas pedal but it accelerated much faster than she had anticipated.

In a panic, she applied more pressure than necessary to the brake, causing the car to buck.

Sage drove back and forth on the dark winding road a few times until she felt comfortable enough to move on to the main road.

Overall the car was easier to drive than most she had driven, once she got a handle on the road, it was nothing but smooth sailing.

Beep.

Sage quickly glanced all over the dash to see if there was something wrong.

"Welcome to Satellite Radio, would you like to listen to your most listened-to Females of Metal station today?"

"Yes?" She hesitated. "What the hell is this?" The words escaped her mouth quietly and she hoped that the infiltrator was unable to hear her.

A message on the dash flashed: Starting Females of Metal Radio before the music began to play and a beautiful voice came over the speakers.

"Okay, Marco, you had good taste in music at least." Sage started bobbing her head back and forth to the beat of the music. Her foot pressed down on the gas a little bit harder and soon she was zooming down the road, rolling down the windows so that she could enjoy the crisp night air.

Soon, Sage started to come up on street lights, letting her know that she was getting closer to her destination.

Don't worry, just a couple more minutes, she told herself, trying to gather her composure.

Pulling over to the side of the road, she gathered her hair and tucked it under the baseball cap that she had found before pulling back onto the road as soon as she was ready.

Sage’s destination was creeping up, and she was back in familiar territory. Shutting off the headlights, she pulled into the parking lot at Hans’ apartment complex. She looked up to his window to see that the bedroom light was still on.

"Fuck!" She slapped the steering wheel. "I can't believe that bastard is still awake.” Sage sat back in the seat crossing her arms, letting out a little pout.

"It's going to be okay, Gretta." Hans looked at her, a pain in his eyes she had never seen before, while he still attempted to protect her from the cage he had been locked up in across the room.

“ Shush you.” Gretta’s attention was turned back toward the fireplace. "You're such a pretty girl." The old woman ran her fingers through Gretta’s hair. “If you continue behaving and doing what I say, then you can keep yourself from ending up like your little friend over there."

"Let her go!" Hans grasped the side of the cage so tightly that his knuckles turned ghostly white.

"Ah ah!" The woman wagged her bent-up finger at him. "She doesn't need you, ya know? I could just have you killed."

Gretta turned slightly to look back at Hans, reminding herself to try to be strong. She didn't want him to see the tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes... She didn't want him to worry.

Turning back around to face the fire before her, she allowed only her eyes to dart around the room to appear less suspicious. She was trying to find where the key to that cage might be. It didn’t take long before something on top of the mantel caught her eye. "There it is," she whispered.

"There what is?" The old hag looked down at her with her iced over sky blue eyes.

"The crackle of the fire. It's one of my most favorite sounds.”

"Ah. It is nice, isn't it?" For a brief second this woman showed a shred of humanity and Gretta had almost forgotten that this was someone holding them captive in the forest.

"It's gonna be okay." she heard Hans' voice fading out.

Sage exhaled slowly as she came back to her current reality.

"Fuck it. I am going to be okay."