Tangled By Fate

"Nng!" Catherine shuddered in dull pain. 'Why does my face hurt so much?' she wondered. 

Slowly, she opened her eyes. She found herself in a dark, cold place. The floor was icy cold. The temperature made half of her body numb.

In the middle of the darkness, a bunch of firewood was burning on the ground. The fire was enough to illuminate the surroundings. 

She saw several wooden boxes and nothing more. As for how big the room was, she was uncertain.

She tried to sit up when she realized that her legs were tied. Her wrists were also tied on her back.

'What? Why?' She was confused. She tried to recall what happened before she fainted. Remembering the thugs, her blood turned cold.

'I need to get out of this place before they come to kill me.' She struggled to loosen up the rope, but it was tied in such a way that there was no way she could not loosen up an inch. 

Feeling vexed, she looked around. She lost once but didn't give up. As she stared at the fire, her eyes suddenly lit up. 

She rolled her body close to the fire. Slowly she lifted her legs and moved them in the fire's direction. She held her legs high, afraid to burn her beautifully shaped legs. 

Her heart was racing. She bent her head to see if the rope was being burned. But her legs were too high. She lowered them a little bit. She sensed a burning sensation on her ankles. 

She raised her legs again and took a deep breath. 'Come on, Cathy. You can do this. Just endure for a while. Ver will heal your pain.' Coaxing herself for a few seconds, she lowered her legs once again.

The fire's peak touched her ankles along with the rope. The rope slowly burned and so did her shoes. The moment the rope loosened up, she immediately spread her legs and moved away. 

"Haah… Haah…. Haah…" she panted as she checked her wounds. Her skin was slightly swollen. It didn't have any other injuries. But Since it was winter, the burning wounds pained her greatly.

'Let's take care of my arms.' She placed her arms on the floor and guided her legs to slide them inside her hands' circle. 

It took her some time to fold her entire legs and slip through the circle. Slowly and surely, her hands came forward. 

She let out a deep breath and then put her wrists close to the fire. Along with her skin, the fire burned her rope and she forced her arms to spread, and the rope was unknot as it burned.

She didn't wait any longer. She hurriedly stood up while grabbing a piece of firewood in her hand. She looked around the house and realized that it was a desolate warehouse. 

'Why am I here of all places?' she wondered. 

While looking for a door, she found one in the corner. She quickly grabbed the doorknob and twisted it. However, it didn't work. The door was locked from outside. 

'They already tied me down. Why did they have to lock the door?' Catherine was irritated. 'Wait, I cannot make loud noises, or they might find out that I'm here.' 

She looked around to see if there was a window. She found one. It was open; no iron rod, nothing. She could easily slip out from there. But, it was too high for her to reach.

She put down the fire and used the empty boxes to gather in front of the window, like stairs. 

Although the boxes were empty, wooden boxes were heavy to begin with. She was out of breath when she added the last box. 

Wiping her sweats, she climbed the boxes. She reached her destination. Her heart danced in joy. She slipped her head through the window to see what was down there.

Her heart turned cold when she saw nothing but water. She used a fire torch to look carefully. Wherever her eyes went, there was only water. 

'This warehouse is right beside a river! No way! Do I have to swim in the cold water?' Her whole body shuddered thinking of the consequences. 

It was winter. Also, the river seemed frozen, it might be still dangerous. It was no better than walking in the landmine field. 

She was debating what to do when she heard noises coming from outside. She looked behind and saw someone opening the door. 

The thug leader entered the warehouse. He was drunk but acted sober.

His eyes went to the fire where she was supposed to be. He narrowed his eyes when he didn't find her. 

He walked closer to see it wasn't his drunken mistake. She wasn't there at all. 

He immediately scanned the area only to find Catherine beside the door. While he was walking closer to the fire, Catherine took this chance to step down and walk toward the door.

Just when she was about to get out, she was found out.

The leader didn't hesitate to shout, "The bitch is escaping. Catch her!'

Catherine heard his scream and dashed out of the warehouse. Although that guy shouted, there wasn't anyone to hear him. 

The surrounding area was empty. It gave her a chance to run toward the road.

She spotted a broken carriage with two horses. She took a second to think before running toward the horses. 

The horses were puzzled as she unfastened their belts. She climbed one horse and slapped the butt of another horse. That horse ran away. 

"Hyah!" She urged the other one to run too.

The thug leader had already come out of the warehouse. Noticing that she was leaving with his horse, he went nuts. 

"You bitch! Come back before I slaughter you!" roaring, he chased after her.

The big guy was coming at her, Catherine's heart jumped in fear. She patted the horse's neck, "Go! Go! Hurry!"

As if to realize that she was in danger, the horse sprinted forward, facing the dark road.