Running From Faith Hill

Epilogue: Nowhere In Particular

There they sit, talking, as if the past week’s events haven’t happened; as if Lily-Rose hasn’t left her new friend and family behind; as if Rob hasn’t picked her, among the many people he could have chosen, to run away with from Faith Hill.

They find themselves in a wood, one day, collecting berries they have become accustomed to the taste of, when Lily-Rose asks Rob for the second time, “Will we ever go back?”

Rob pauses and, after some thought, replies, “Yeah. I think we will.”

They return to their little shelter under the trees and sit, with bellies full of water from the river they discovered nearby, and pile the berries before them, licking reddened hands clean. The juice is sweet and bitter at the same time, and Lily-Rose longs to taste it upon Rob’s lips, so she leans over and kisses him.

“No matter what I said to the voice,” she starts, “I can’t help but feel glad that I moved to Faith Hill.”

Rob is silent, letting the name of his former home settle in his stomach like a weight. Then, he says, “But you’d still have your family. You’d still have a home.”

Lily-Rose takes Rob’s hand and holds it to her chest. “You feel that, Rob? I’m still alive, and so are you, and my parents, and Emily. You said it yourself when you first told me to run.” She smiles. “You said as long as they didn’t try to run, they’d be fine.”

Rob moves his hand away and picks a handful of berries from their pile. Shoving them in his mouth greedily, he says, “I know, I know. But I feel guilty. I just wanted to run away with you.”

When he takes his hand from his mouth, there is a deep red stain of berry juice on his lips. A laugh bubbles up Lily-Rose’s throat and she presses her mouth to his. “I never knew you were such a messy eater.” Sighing, she leans back on the trunk of the tree, feeling blissfully at ease. “You know, I don’t think Faith Hill was at all evil. I think it was lonely.”

Rob cocks his head. “Lily-Rose, it tried to kill us.”

This time, she laughs properly – an eye-watering, stomach-aching type of laugh – but when she lifts her head, Rob is staring at her with an unreadable expression on his face. “Well, it was funny in my head,” Lily-Rose says. “But I was being serious when I said I thought it was lonely.”

Rob is wordless for a minute, and then he nods, agreeing. “Maybe you’re right.”

There is a sudden gust of wind and, as she looks up at the sky through the branches of their tree, Lily-Rose sees it shake the leaves. It feels almost like Faith Hill is still there, a constant companion.

“Don’t worry, Lil. This isn’t the end. One day, when we know it’s safe, we’ll go back, and we’ll get your parents.”

* * *

There have been many strange happenings starting, first, at the village of Faith Hill. People go missing, people become crazy, people are killed in tragic accidents.

There was a pair who returned there one day – said they were searching for an elderly couple. But the people of Faith Hill warned them from investigating. The pair replied, “We know.”

Lily-Rose Crow and Robert Miles became urban legends. No-one else ever heard from the strange ‘voice’ they claimed to have, but it was true.

And they didn’t go back on their word.