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

him. But they will find out soon enough, and it will be a story that is worthy of having a much more prominent platform than page eleven.

By the time my work here is done tonight, the story of the missing man will be front page news.

I fiddle with the lock for a couple more seconds before walking away from the unlocked door and heading into the kitchen. I’m tempted to get another beer out of the fridge, but I only have two left now, and I should save them for what is to come. I know I will be craving one to toast to the success of this plan in a little while, and I know my guest will like one too. Therefore, I resist opening the fridge, and instead pour myself a glass of water from the tap before heading up the stairs. Reaching the top, I turn off the last light in the hallway before stepping into the bedroom and closing the door.

The cottage is now in darkness. All is quiet. All is still.

But it won’t be staying that way.

In a short while, all hell is going to break loose on this hilltop in the Cumbrian countryside.

43

LAURA

The first thing I feel is the cold on my skin. It’s perishing, and I already seem to know that I won’t be able to last long out here like this. I’m not dressed for the elements. I’m only wearing my nightdress, and I have nothing on my feet. The horrible sensation of the muddy field underfoot is enough to tell me that.

Why am I out here like this?

What am I doing?

All I know is that I have to keep running.

I’m being chased, but I’m not sure what by. The sense of incoming danger is enough to keep me putting one foot in front of the other and heading into the gaping darkness in front of me.

I think I hear the sound of a dog barking, but it’s quickly lost on the wind. But the helicopter engine isn’t. It’s far too loud, and I look up to see the aircraft hovering above my head and shining a torchlight right down on top of me.

They’ve found me. Even all the way out here. There’s no escape.

I’m going to go to prison.

I suddenly remember what I am running from. The police. They are everywhere, and they are here for me. But I can’t let them take me. I can’t go quietly. I have to keep fighting, and the only way to do that is to keep running.

I suddenly come to a ditch and leap over it, only just making it to the other side but not without landing badly on my left ankle. I feel the pain in my damaged limb but get back to my feet and keep going anyway. I am sure that the police officers will be able to clear that ditch too and I am certain that the dogs will.

They have my scent, and they won’t give up until they sink their teeth into my flesh.

I’m being blinded by the light from the helicopter above, but I raise my hand above my eyes to shield myself from the beam, and that’s when I see the row of trees in the distance. If I can make it into the woods, then maybe I can lose the helicopter. That will be one less thing to worry about.

Then all I will have to deal with are the people and animals chasing me on the ground.

My ankle keeps buckling beneath me, but I refuse to give in to the pain or the sense of inevitability about my capture, and before I know it, I have reached the trees.

I reach out for one of the sturdy trunks and cling onto the bark for a moment as I take the weight off my ankle and try to get my breath back.

My heart is beating impossibly fast, and I feel like it is only a matter of time until it leaves my chest completely and keeps on going, leaving behind my dead, useless body for the dogs to feed on. But then I discover I still have enough strength to push on and so I do just that, leaving the tree trunk that helped me in my hour of need and heading deeper into the dark woods.

The helicopter’s spotlight is dimmed now that I am beneath the canopy, and while I can still hear the sound of the engine overhead, I feel more confident that I am more disguised by the thick foliage that surrounds me. But any relief I feel is quickly tempered by the sight of the huge wall in front of me.

Where the hell has this come from?

I don’t know, but I don’t have time to find out. The barking is growing louder and more regular behind me, and I can see the flashes of the torchlights from the many police officers who are on my tail.

It doesn’t matter how this wall got here. All that matters is that I get over it.

I reach the wall and jump as high as I can, not thinking for one second that I will ever be able to actually reach the top of it and pull myself up. But somehow, I am able to spring off the ground and soar to a great height, easily making it to the top and gripping onto the edge as hard as I can.

I look down beneath me, and I see the dogs have already joined me at the wall. Fortunately, they aren’t able to leap as high as me and remain stuck to the forest floor, although their barking and snarling is a reminder that they will be more than happy to sink their teeth into me should I lose my grip on this wall and tumble down towards them.

But I have no intention of doing that,