Run Away With Me : A fast-paced psychological thriller by Daniel Hurst (free e novels TXT) 📗

popped,’ I say as I feel my heart hammering away in my chest. The last thing I need at this late stage of my pregnancy is sudden scares. If you had asked me a couple of hours ago if I was ready to have the baby then I would have said yes, but now I’m desperate for him not to come yet.

‘I’ll see if I can find a spare,’ Adam says as he takes out his phone. ‘Be right back.’

Adam heads back to the staircase as I enter the bedroom and run my hands along the white linen bedspread, feeling a little flicker of excitement at how comfortable and cosy it feels.

After taking off most of my clothes and making a quick trip to the bathroom, I’m finally ready to crawl underneath the duvet and put my head on the pillow. I can hear Adam downstairs moving things around and bringing the last of the bags in from the car, but my eyes are closed before he can join me in the bedroom.

Sleep comes surprisingly quickly for me, and it’s a relief.

At least it is until the nightmares start.

9

LAURA

I turn around and look over my shoulder, but there’s nobody behind me. I’m not sure why I thought there was, but something told me to check anyway. The sense of dread is palpable, and while I’m uncertain as to why I feel it or what I have done to cause it to enter my life, I know it is there.

I’m walking through the home. Not the cottage in the countryside. My home. The one I have just left behind. The one I miss already.

Everything seems to be in its usual place, but I’m checking anyway just to be sure. I see Adam’s suit jacket hanging on the bannister of the stairs. I spot my selection of celebrity cookbooks on the shelf in the kitchen. And now I’m in Samuel’s bedroom again, or at least what should be his bedroom.

But there’s something wrong. The crib has gone. So too has the changing mat and the array of stuffed teddys that should be sitting in the corner. Then I notice that the wallpaper in here is peeling. The dinosaurs are all deformed. Some have their heads ripped off while others seem split straight down the middle.

This room doesn’t feel like it used to.

Now it feels like a very bad place to be.

I rush out of the bedroom in search of a safer place, but I stop when I hear the sound of somebody knocking on the front door. My stomach churns, and I put my hand to my mouth because I know that it is over.

‘Police. Open up!’ comes the cry from the male officer outside, and I realise that they have come for me.

How did I ever think that I would get away with it? I’m a criminal, and I deserve to be punished. I couldn’t hide forever. They have found me.

Now the time has come to face my fate.

I rush into my bedroom, ignoring the sounds of knocking downstairs and try to pretend like there is still some way out of this. The thought of going to prison terrifies me, and I can’t believe that I was ever so stupid enough to believe that I could escape the law.

I go to the window and look out over the back garden, trying to figure out if I can jump down and make my escape over the fence. But then I see the police officers are already out there on the lawn and they are all looking up at me and daring me to try it.

I open the window and lean out, determined to have a go at escaping anyway, even though it is clear that I’m surrounded and have nowhere to go.

But before I jump, a horrible thought occurs to me. I realise that even if I do escape then this feeling will never end. I will always be looking over my shoulder. I will always be worrying about being caught.

I will forever be chased.

The concept of never being able to achieve peace of mind again is a frightening one, and that is not a life I would wish on my worst enemy. How will I ever sleep if I can’t relax? How will I ever laugh if I can’t let down my guard?

How can I live when I have no life?

I’m halfway out of the window now, but I’ve decided not to jump. I’m going to turn around. I’m going to go back into the bedroom. I’m going to find another way out.

But then I see the police officer behind me. She has her arms raised out towards me and the flash of the handcuffs is like a lightning bolt to my brain.

I freeze. I don’t know what to do. It’s over. I’m caught. I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison.

Then I feel the windowsill collapse beneath me, and suddenly I’m falling.

10

LAURA

I’m jolted awake by the nightmare, and it takes me a few seconds to remember where I am and how I got here. I look over at Adam in the bed beside me, but he is still sleeping, somehow unaffected by my sudden jerking.

It was just a nightmare.

Or was it?

While I haven’t actually fallen out of a window, I’m not able to draw any comfort from the bad dream being over. That’s because I know why I had the dream, and that reason is very much a part of my reality now. We’re on the run, and the police aren’t just chasing me in my dreams.

They are after me in real life too.

It’s not the first time I’ve had a nightmare about being pursued by the law. I’ve had many experiences where I have woken up in my bed and felt the flood of relief that comes with realising that what I