The Forbidden Princess

Chapter 11: Keep Moving

“We just left him lying there in cold blood!"

“I'm going to need you to calm down and focus on getting out of here right now." Caleb was irritated.

“Did I just really kill a man?" I started to replay the entire incident.

“Him making it out alive is the last thing we need to happen."

“So you're not one bit traumatized or worried?"

Caleb stopped and looked straight into my eyes.

“Listen to me, that man was not a nice man. Does he deserve to die? No. But us getting out of that situation safely was slim to none." Caleb emphasized.

Not even seconds later, I heard a siren. The siren sounded like it was coming from the direction we were heading to.

“Do you hear that?" I cautioned.

“Hear what?" Caleb was confused.

“Just concentrate and listen."

Caleb looked around and eventually caught on to the sound of the siren. He gave me a troubled look.

“We have guards on these grounds. We need to tread lightly," Caleb whispered.

“What kind of guards?"

“They are most likely armed and could possibly have guard dogs with them." Caleb pointed out.

“What do we do now, do you think they know who we are yet?" I pondered.

“I'm guessing that man in the cabin must have alerted them...let's just hope he didn't say anything." Caleb implied.

It became dark and gloomy. We barely could see and only had a watch and a phone to guide us. We continued to navigate through the woods in a discreet manner. It seemed like the guards hadn't started their search yet. This bought us some time to prepare and think things through.

“Are you gonna tell me why your name was written on the note from earlier?" I brought it up again.

“It's not even my name and we don't need to worry about it, the man is no longer a threat to us."

“So you want me to sit here and believe that when you were staring it down like that?"

He stopped again.

“Do you want me to make up a fake story of how I'm the most wanted criminal and there was a bounty out for me?" He slowly started to chuckle.

“I mean that would be more believable."

“Let's just drop it and get you back to your princess life in one piece." He stated.

“You think my life is some perfect walk in the park, don't you?"

“I never said perfect, but d*mn near close."

“You and that note can both go f*ck off." I started walking in a different direction.

“If you wanna know so badly…" Caleb quickly blurted out.

“I'm listening..."

“My parents ended up in federal prison and now I'm presumably a target." He let out.

“Both of your parents? How did that happen?" I asked sincerely.

“They weren't both at fault, but of course you know how justice goes. Popularity over the truth."

“I'm sorry about that Caleb, I just didn't know," I apologized.

“Well, now you know. So can we drop it and start moving?" Caleb gestured and picked up the pace.

I couldn't imagine having both of my parents in federal prison. As much as I despised my parents, I couldn't face seeing them locked behind bars. There was definitely more to the story, but we were in so much fear at the moment I had to just save it for another time.

*BARK*

*BARK*

*BARK*

Caleb and I gave each other a distraught look.

It was the guard dogs and they've been brought out to play.

We kept up our pace and moved along the trees one by one. It was pitch black and we were already getting tired. My body was sore and aching from all the stress and running around.

“Paige, c'mon we can make it up there. Don't start lagging now." Caleb budged me.

“I'm not lagging, I just feel so beat up from the entire day already," I replied back.

“We don't have time for that now, keep a clear mind and force yourself to push."

I started to count my footsteps inside my head to keep me from shutting down. My arms started feeling like noodles and my back was not cooperating. But we were almost there and I had no time to stop.

*BARK*

*BARK*

“They're getting closer I fear." Caleb stopped.

I didn't know how to feel anymore, Caleb was the only anchor holding me from collapsing. And if he's losing hope, then this whole thing is a jump ship.

We both went behind a tree to take cover and quickly think. Worst case scenario is we get caught by a guard dog, and we end up going through hell. That's of course if we don't make it out. We both had no idea how to go about any of this.

“You trust me right?" Caleb questioned.

“You're all I've got," I responded.