Chapter 1: Present

Megan woke on the plane headed to Salem from California where she had been looking at a university she was going to attend the next school year. UCLA was one of the few colleges she had received acceptance letters from. She was planning on majoring in Law. However, once she had received a very concerning voicemail from her mother telling her to not come home yet, she became worried. She knew that her mother had told her to stay away but her tone of voice was scared and panicked and Megan knew she had to come home to see what was wrong. Her sister, Mandy Jones, was at a friend's house for the week but should also be home soon. Megan's flight was to be landing any minute, it was only a 1-2 hour flight into Portland International Airport. Once she landed she collected her bag from the baggage claim and called an Uber. Her bags were fairly small so she decided not to bother the driver with opening the trunk. She had a small suitcase on wheels and an even smaller backpack on her back. She has dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes, like her mother. She didn't consider herself tall but average. She looked skinny but that is because she had more muscle than fat. She worked out and took self-defense classes every other week to keep in shape. Salem was moderately high in crime even though they lived in a nice neighborhood, so it is better to be ready than not. She lives with her mother and her sister. She never knew her father and her mother doesn't talk about him. She always wondered why but thought it best not to ask. She had a brother but a couple years ago he died in a tragic car accident. A criminal on the run was speeding and hit his car head-on. This provides some of her fuel for majoring in law. She isn't sure if she wants to be a police officer, a lawyer, or a field agent but she knows she wants to be in that spectrum. On her phone, her Uber app said the car was a white Hyundai with the last three letters LTA on the license plate. The driver is a white male with glasses. When her Uber drove up, the car and the driver seemed to match so she didn't bother looking at the license plate. When he pulled up he said, "For a Megan Jones?" She climbed into the car with her bags. They pulled out of the airport and started to get on the freeway. Just as she settled into the backseat with her suitcase and carry-on bag, an oncoming headlight illuminated the driver's face and she realized this wasn't her Uber driver. Upon closer inspection, she realized that his face seemed familiar somehow. She remembered watching the news a couple of days ago when they said that a prisoner escaped in a jail transfer. The man in the front seat of the car matched the description. She began to panic but didn't want the man to know she had caught on. She looked at the door handles and saw they were locked but she would be able to unlock it without too much effort. She decided that once they got off the freeway she would ask him to stop at the store first and she would run inside and inform someone. She asked him to stop at the store first and hesitantly, he nodded his head. They pulled into the parking lot of the closest CVS. Once they stopped, she grabbed her bags and ran inside. She grabbed the closest employee and told them her situation. They said she could hide in the backroom until he leaves and told her to call the police. Later, once she knew the coast was clear and left CVS, she called her mother to tell her what happened.

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