I gasped, looking straight into the barrel of a deadly gun. Not again.
“Don’t make me tell you again,” the voice behind the gun shouted, thick and raw. “Hands up or I shoot.”
Obediently, I rose my hands into the air, crouching on my knees and shaking. I braced myself to get yet another bullet embedded into my already dead body.
Dallas climbed up the tree to join us. Oh god. He’d get shot too.
“Dallas, run,” I barked, but it was just a bit too late. The gun holder had spotted him as well. The gun shifted to face him, stayed in that position for a few moments, before dropping to the ground with a clatter.
“Dallas?” the person behind asked. I sneaked a look at the person who had just pointed a gun at me and Dallas to see a teenage girl with strawberry blond hair and a belt full of weapons attached to her. I scrambled to my feet.
“Ember,” Dallas breathed, a wide grin stretched out across the face. The girl sighed.
“Oh god, not you,” she groaned.
“We need your help,” Dallas cut straight to the point. He rushed past me, grabbing the gun lying on the wooden flooring before Ember could grab it. Before she could do anything about it, Dallas chucked it over his shoulder and it fell out of the tree. I slowly spun round, looking at where I was. We must have been about 100 feet of the ground at least. The top of the tree was very large and flat, easy to stand on. If Ember had created the floor then she was very talented. It look perfect, and easy to walk on. As my eyes ventured further into the depths of the trees branches I spitted something even more impressive. A tree house.
This wasn’t the sort of play house that you’d expect to see in a tree. This was actually like a proper house, with proper windows, and solid roof, and the size, perched in a tree.
“Wow, did you make this?” I questioned.
“No. It just appeared out of thin air when I moved here,” Ember groaned, sarcasm oozing out with her words. “Of course I made it.”
“Sorry,” I uttered. “I was just asking.”
Piper trotted up to me, her tail wagging frantically. Dallas took a step back as I crouched down and began to stroke her back.
“Uh, what are you doing?” ember scoffed. “Piper, come here.”
Piper, blatantly confused, looking between me and Ember, then eventually dragged itself towards Ember, it’s head bowed.
“Is she yours?” I asked.
“Yep, she’s mine,” Ember nodded, turning round. “Now if you don’t mind, you can both go away. And Dallas, don’t come back here.”
“But we really have to speak to you,” me and Dallas interrupted at exactly the same time. Ember groaned, as if this was really hard work for her.
“”Can’t you go and talk to someone else? I’m busy here.”
“With what?” Dallas barked, sounding pissed off.
“With… stuff…” Ember hesitated. She took a different approach. “Look. It’s none of you beeswax Dallas.”
“It’s about Unseen though,” I interrupted. “We’re so close to finding out who he is. Just give us half an hour to explain, then, if you still want us to go, we will.”
Ember considered this for a second, her eyes flickering between me and Dallas. Moments passed before she gave in.
“Fine,” she groaned. “But let’s talk in my house. It’s cold out here.”
YOU ARE READING
Dead Connections
Mystery / ThrillerDeath was the beginning for Skylar, although she didn’t realise until it was too late. Skylar Una Stone was 14 when she was kidnapped and murdered by a masked man wearing entirely black who went by the name of Unseen. Now, she is desperate to find...
