1.

Looking back through her rear mirror, she sighed at the town she had left behind, the one that made her suffer for all these years, the one she was running from. 

Grace Donovan swallowed down the spit in her mouth as she continued to drive away, hoping to never have to live that kind of life anymore, the one she had lived for five good years of her life, not that they were good years. It took everything in her not to turn back when she made this decision, because of the fear that leaving him, leaving everything behind would have repercussions. 

Those she hoped she wouldn't have to deal with, and that was why she was running now, as far as she could go. She had left everything that could help him find her behind so that she had nothing he could trace her with on her, including her phone and laptop. She wouldn't put it past him to install a spyware app on her phone and laptop, so she wasn't going to take that chance. 

Grace had been married to Jack Norrland for five years, and in those years, she had never had any happy moments. He had always been so rough and cruel, and he had always made her feel small, but she had somehow managed to grow a bit of courage and that had been the only reason she had packed her things and left in the middle of the night when he was out of the country on a business trip. 

Jack was the operational manager of a big company that manufactured plastics, and he was doing pretty well financially, so she never really lacked anything physically, but she lacked care, love, and respect from the man she married. She could remember all those beatings she had suffered all of those years, with the scar she had to show for it, and she wondered how on earth she had never seen it coming. 

While they courted, he was the perfect man, but as soon as he married her, he showed his true color. First, he made sure she was cut off from her friends. It was easier because she had no family. She grew up in the orphanage, and when she grew old enough to ask questions, the only people that knew anything had died. 

“Don’t think about that, Gracie. You’re free now!” she whispered to herself, but was she free indeed?

It wasn't as if she had never tried to run before, but he caught her. She hadn't planned it well back then, she hadn't thought it through, which was why this time, she had thought about it for several days, mapped out her plan, and had been driving away from everything for six days now, only stopping at night, for gas, and maybe to grab coffee and snacks.

Grace kept driving until she got to West Virginia, and the first small town she came across was West Valley Rocks. That was what the sign said. 

There was no way Jack would find her here now, but she would have to keep saying it to herself until she believed it. 

The sky was really bright, with the sun resting against the top of the mountains in sight. This small little town seem like a haven, and its welcoming atmosphere made her sigh. Coming here wasn't planned, but she knew she would be running to a small town where no one knew her, where she got no ties with anyone. She only knew she had to go somewhere she would feel safe, and where best to achieve that, other than a small town like this. She wasn't sure of the population, but this was enough. 

“West Valley Rocks!” she whispered, testing it against her lips. It sounded right, it sounded safe, and it sounded like the haven she desperately wanted. 

The main street of the small town she was in looked so lively, with people walking about, some waving at others, some walking their dogs, and others smiling at children and the elderly. 

The only thing she didn't see anyone doing was pressing their phones, or having their head buried in it. It was good because no one would find out who she was soon. 

Grace worked so hard all her life as an editor, crawling all the way to the top as the chief editor of a glossy magazine firm. She had appeared in the magazine herself a lot of times, but she doubted anyone here w would engross their time in reading magazines like that. Even if a few of them did, they wouldn't recognize her with her hair dyed jet back from the natural blonde color she had, and from wavy to straight. 

She slowed her car as she drove drown the main street, looking from left to right for somewhere to grab a cup of coffee. She needed to do a lot today, like find an apartment or a hotel to crash before that, and then she needed to find a way to sell her car. It had brought her here after she had had it swept for a tracking device of any kind, but it still doesn't mean she would want to keep it. It reminded her of Jack too much, and that had to go. 

The last thing she wanted, no, scratch that. The last thing she needed, was any form of reminder of her husband, or ex, as she had finally been able to get him to sign the divorce papers. 

A week ago, he had come home late, and drunk, and she had waited up for him, bathed, and clothes in her most sexiest lingerie. She had taken him to bed, gotten his clothes off him, massaged him, and then, she had handed him a pen just before he fell asleep. 

Finally, she spotted a coffee shop down the street on the right side of the road, and she stopped the car in front of it, behind a black truck that looked like it could swallow hers. 

Sighing, she pulled down the front mirror and she used it as a guide to pack up her hair in a tight, neat bun. Grace hated being messy, so much she had never put her hair in a messy bun before, but maybe she would add that to the change she wanted here in this town. 

She looked around her car to find the clip she could use to hold it up in place, and when she was down, she smoothened her blue and pink sundress down her body, knowing it would have creased from sitting down in her car for five hours after leaving the motel she stayed last night. 

Getting down from the car, she locked her car and walked towards the shop. As she opened it, the bell above the door jingled loudly, making her jump so hard she missed her step. 

As she started to tumble forward, someone grabbed her wrist to hoist her back up, and she froze.