Chapter 1

August 8, 2011

Madeline Roman pretended she hadn't seen it. Her father had left his briefcase on the kitchen counter she went to the garage to give it him. Then she heard a growl from where her father would be.

She pushed her back against the wall and held out a compact to see what was happening. She almost screamed. Her father's arm was on the floor and he was being devoured by… whatever that was. Her father was gone, but the thing that ate him quickly morphed into him. "He forgot his briefcase." He said. 'Oh shit.' Maddie thought. In the time it took Dick Roman to walk 50 feet, Maddie had sprinted to the kitchen left his briefcase exactly where she found it, then bolted up the stairs to her room and locked the door.

She checked the security footage. Yep. She hadn't been hallucinating. She quickly copied the footage to a flash drive, then looped a 15 second interval on top of the footage of her bolting to her room so it looked like she had been watching cat videos while she was being traumatized. She reviewed the tape, nothing suspicious. She then started planning.

Escape Plan

1) Make an excuse

"going backpacking, will b gone b4 dinner." Her grammatically incorrect text had the perfect excuse to not be at home for a bit. Outdoors was the best place to disappear.

Maddie was excellent at survival (summer camp, Girl Scouts, frequent camping trips). And, unlike her father, she was not very "indoorsy", and loved the wilderness.

2) Pack up

This part wasn't that likely to be under suspicion, since she was going backpacking. Tent, sleeping bag, extra clothes, freeze-dried food, cooking pot, matches, water filter, camelback, flashlight, cordage, GPS, sunscreen, bug spray, extra batteries, and a Taser. All set.

3) Load up on cash

It's impossible to track cash, and Maddie needed to make purchases. So she took the money out of the jar under her bed. 16 years of allowances, birthday money, Christmas money, and her summer jobs she had held at Roman Enterprises. She was saving for college, but survival was more important. Almost $5000 was in that jar, and she put it in a plastic bag, so it couldn't get wet. Then she left.

4) Fake a kidnapping

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I'm camping, and I think there's someone out there."

"Your name?"

"Madeline Roman."

"Miss Roman, can you tell me your location?"

"No. I backpacked here."

"Just stay on the line, I'll trace your call."

"Please hur- AH!" Maddie started smashing her phone with a rock. When the phone was in fragments, she walked away.