Chapter 2

The steam of the hot water shrouded the bathroom in fog. Jennifer stood under the shower head, allowing the hot water to wash away the day. It had been long and exhausting by the time she"d finished packing up everything at her dad"s house. She was despondent and confused.

She turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, moving to the bed in the room, and sitting down with her phone in her hand. She placed a call because she could not stop thinking about the scarred man at the reception. The investor who was offering her a major fight.

"Jen? What are you doing calling me today?" her manager, Ryan Saulis, answered.

"Hi, Ryan. I know it"s late," she said.

"Wasn"t the funeral today? Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yes, it was. I"m fine, mostly. I cleaned out my dad"s place. Found a scrapbook filled with all my fights. I guess I"m sort of unsettled."

"That"s understandable. I"m sure he was proud of you, Jen."

"Yeah, I think he was." She paused and then decided to get to why she was calling in the first place. "So, I was calling to ask if any fight offers have come in for me. Have you heard anything? Has anyone contacted you about me recently, like today?"

"No, haven"t heard anything Why, did someone contact you directly?" he asked.

She didn"t want to tell him about the unusual encounter with a strange, scarred man she thought might be an investor. If he had been for real, he would have reached out to Ryan. "No… I was just hoping there was something for me to focus on. A fight to get ready for. As I said, I"m a bit unsettled by all this." Jen sighed wearily.

"I get it. I"ll see if I can"t set something up for you soon. For now, get everything settled there, and then we"ll get you back to the gym."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan."

" I"m so sorry about your dad, Jen. He was a good man."

Jen smiled. "Yes, he was. Thanks, Ryan. I think I"m gonna head to bed. Good night."

"Night. We"ll talk soon." Ryan hung up.

Jennifer headed backto the bathroom and dried her hair as she tried to push the thoughts of her father and the man in black from her mind. She slipped on her sweatpants, and a T-shirt and climbed into bed. It had been such an exhausting day that she drifted off to sleep without even pulling up the blanket.

Sunlight hit her eyelids hours later, stirring her awake. Her hands moved at her side, and she felt a dampness underneath. She figured she must have fallen asleep on the wet towel, leaving it on the bed. She opened her eyes and found that the sunlight was hard to focus on. There was a thick white fog all around her. Had she left the water running while she slept, causing steam to envelop the room?

She sat up quickly. She regained her focus, suddenly realizing that she wasn"t in bed at all. She was sitting on wet grass, and there was a breeze in the air.

"I"m outside? How did I get here?" she said softly. She realized that she must be dreaming. She wiped her hands over her face, attempting to wake herself up.

This didn"t change anything. The fog began to lift as she sat there, and more sunlight hit the ground around her. When she looked down, she noticed she was still in her T-shirt and sweatpants, her feet bare.

"Where am I?" she said as she stood up. She didn"t know how she had gone from her hotel room to this field. Had she sleepwalked? Even though she had no history of doing it, maybe the extreme shock and grief made her stumble to a field behind the hotel in her sleep. That seemed plausible.

She turned in a circle, looking for the hotel or any sign of people, but there was nothing around but grass and more grass. It was all she could see within the fog, though the higher the sun rose, the more the fog dissipated.

"Hello?" she shouted.

There was no response; her voice just echoed across the hills of grass.

She felt nervous, on the verge of panic, but she knew better than to allow her emotions to get the better of her. Panic did her no good in a fight, so she did her best to shove that feeling away. Now was no exception.

There had to be a logical explanation for being in this fog-filled field. Of course, what that logical explanation might be eluded her at the moment. She wondered if someone was playing a prank on her. Or maybe she"d been drugged and abducted, but if that were the case, where were her kidnappers?

A strange thought occurred to her then, and her stomach tightened at the thought. Could this be the exciting challenge the scarred man had spoken of? Was this some sort of extreme and controversial MMA boot camp training?

Jen walked carefully through the fog, which was turning into a fine, hazy mist. She paid close attention to everything as she walked in case this was some awful exercise or MMA prank reality show. She had to be ready for anything, maybe even an ambush. It was awful for them to do this while she was grieving, but she knew some reality TV shows liked to do extreme things like this. She thought they had to have signed consent for people to participate, but maybe this was a trial, or something to get individuals interested in joining.

The grassy field before her was big, and she had only seen grass so green and plentiful on travel shows, like in mossy moors in Scotland. It was very pretty, but it also made her feel alone and uneasy because there was nothing around but grassy fields and forested areas. After walking for an hour, she started to feel like someone was watching her, even though she couldn"t see anyone.

Her mind bounced back and forth between feeling worried and amazed by her circumstances.

"Hello? Anyone there?" she shouted again.

The only response was the call of the birds in the distant trees.

Jen continued to walk. The ground was softer than she was used to. It was almost spongy, like the putting green on a golf course. Of course, this was no golf course. No putting green was this large. She continued to scan the area, staying on the grass a bit away from the forested area in case there were predators. She wanted to have a chance to get away if anything came after her. Then, she saw it: Not too far away lay a dirt path. "Oh, thank God," she said. "A hiking trail." She made her way to it as fast as she could. Now, she could find civilization and discover what the heck had happened to her.